You Said It, Big Guy

Miles' face right here? Pretty much sums up how we (I) feel about the weather this Spring and early Summer. Sure, there have been a smattering of nice days...usually on a weekday when I can't get to the barn for some reason or another. Mostly, it's been a lot of humidity, bugs and rain, followed by more f!@^#*g humidity. Today is just MISERABLE. I couldn't see at the barn because sweat kept running into my eyes and it BURNS, you guys.

Listen, there aren't a whole lot of advantages to living in Michigan these days, but we generally have pretty lovely Springs and Falls...even our Summers aren't too bad. This year, not so much.

Of course Miles, my native Chilean, seems much less perturbed than I am about all this. As long as I keep the mosquitoes at bay (by loading him up on toxic bug spray, sigh), he really doesn't seemed bothered by the weather. Goody for him. I for one couldn't WAIT to get myself and the dogs home today, where we are currently recovering in the sweet A/C. I know, I know, tough life:-) I can whine with the best of them. Still, we live in the fricking Northern Hemisphere, and it would be nice to reap the benefits again...preferably SOON, Mother Nature. Thanks a bunch.

The question is, what CAN'T I relate to my horse?

So, I had my annual review today at work. It was a good review overall, as I think is fair because, without bragging, I am damn good at what I do. I know I'm not a perfect employee because I am not a robot, which is probably a good thing since I work in a human services field.

There are so, so, SO many things I want to say, but I don't want to pull a Dooce, so I will stop here.

How does this relate to horses? Well, anyone who rides or interacts with a horse regularly is that horse's trainer. We can train them well or we can train them not-so-well. We can reward bad and good behavior; we can punish intentionally for undesirable behavior, or punish unintentionally because we are off balance or riding incorrectly (or have incorrect signals or body language with groundwork). Fairness is what is key. It's ok if our horses don't always understand what we are trying to tell them at first, but ideally they should always feel like we are on their side, and are giving them a fair shake. They should not be nervous or in fear because their trainer is playing "gotcha!".

We cannot fix what we don't know is "wrong" in someone's eyes, whether we agree with it or not, unless we are told and told clearly, and horses are no different. I want to be especially mindful of this when working with Miles. Now that we're past the getting-to-know-you stage and doing work at all 3 gaits, I want to be very careful about the signals I'm sending him. I KNOW there are things I let slide in the very beginning that I am more mindful of now. That doesn't mean I have to let him continue to do or not do certain things I don't like, but it does mean I need to be FAIR, and recognize he's not always doing things to be naughty (ugh, I need to face it that this boy rarely if ever does things JUST to be naughty;), but because he doesn't KNOW better-and why should he?

So, when correcting him, I need to keep this in mind always, and give him a message that's more "Oh, you silly thing, I know you want to look at that tractor every time we pass it, but let's try bending this way instead", and less "UGH Miles do you HAVE to give that corner your giraffe-neck full on attention EVERY time? ENOUGH already."

Attitude shapes behavior which shapes how we train and interact with our horses. I think, to this point, I've been pretty good about being mindful of this. However, the challenge is going to be 6 months or a year from now, when I might be feeling like he should KNOW something already-well maybe, maybe not. The point is, I need to look at myself first and ask, "What kind of training (managing} have I given him that would let him know either way?"

For now, though, it's FRIDAY, and I'm really looking forward to shaking this work-day off and spending the next couple of days hanging with my good boy. Happy Weekend everyone!

Did I ever tell you my horse is adorable?

So I lunged Miles tonight, working a LOT on trot to canter transitions, particularly to the right. He got his lead every time, which is GREAT, but tells me obviously I'm doing something to make him crooked under saddle since we have somewhat of an issue getting that lead. ANYWAY, he's a good boy, I suck, no big news there.

After lunging (which I did in his leather halter instead of a bridle or his rope halter, just to see if he's gotten any lighter-he has! Again, good boy:), I worked on flexing him (getting him to give to pressure by turning his head and softening). NOT the thing to do in a nice, wide, comfy leather halter, I realize.

I stood at his left side, behind his shoulder. I set my right hand on his rump and brought my left hand up just past his withers, where I would ask him to flex if I were on his back. Miles turned his head, looked at me, leaned on the halter, and shut his eyes. You guys, it was the cutest thing. He was all, "I'm tired after all those transitions, mom. Thanks for holding me up." It was so precious. I felt really, really bad when I had to bump on him and make him give and soften before I let him relax. Training is training, sigh.

It's just amazing to me how far my boy has come. From not being able to leave the barn and screaming for other horses, to being so relaxed by himself with me in the ring that he can fall asleep. Love love love. Love my boy.

Mini flex! Also that lovely, soft expression I see more and more of these days.

Cautionary Tale

So, I says to myself, I says I'm just stopping at the barn! Just for a minute, I says. Feed the horse, get the grime off him, maybe let him graze while I do some reading. Easy Peasy I says!

Who cares if I left my barn boots at home! Pshaw, when's the last time a horse stepped on me anyway.

This is where you picture my swollen, bruised footsie. It was actually grossing ME out to see my own dirty swollen foot every time I viewed my blog (and WHY did that picture have to load so large. Grrrrrr. Anyway, y'all are better off without the visual. I know I am.

In addition to acquiring balloon-foot, apparently wearing flip-flops to the barn will undo the lunch-hour pedicure I had a couple weeks ago, sigh.

Honestly, I was hoping for more of a rainbow of color. It's swollen though, ho boy is it swollen.

Actually, he never put his whole weight down (ahem, otherwise hello broken foot), but it was just enough to teach my idiot self a lesson. Thank GOD he's barefoot.

I'm really very good about safety equipment, usually. Helmet EVERY ride, gloves when lunging, etc etc etc. That'll learn me.

Today turned into a gorgeous day in Mid-Michigan, so I'm going out for a short ride (foot is better but still bigger than I'd like it to be. I hope I can get my boot on!). You can see how excited Miles is about this prospect.


You should've heard this one holler at me! I still don't know what all the fuss was about~Miles.

Ridin' like a Ragdoll

So, I went out and bought His Highness a pair of Cavallo Simple Boots.

Sir was feeling ouchy on the gravel driveway and parking lot at the barn, both of which he has to navigate to get to the indoor and outdoor arenas, so Sir now has some first rate protection, WITH optional gel inserts, natch.

I had used them once before, just for 20 minutes or so in the outdoor arena, which is very deep and sandy, and they worked great. Today was spitting rain, muggy and BUGGY (have I complained about the bugs yet?), so we worked in the indoor ring, which has good footing but is considerably less deep.

So, as to be expected, Miles is lifting his front legs slightly higher with his new shoez. WOW did I feel the difference today! His trot almost felt passage-y - very bouncy/springy (in a good way), and I found myself posting slowly even though we were covering ground well. And boy, did I feel like I was alllll over the place. I pulled myself together, tried to unlock any areas (knees, hips) that felt stiff, get Miles driving more forward than up, and got us to a place that felt much better. How funny though! My thoroughbred with the flat kneed-daisy cutter trot has suspension, who knew? I think I'll be sore tomorrow, but that just shows how much more I should be riding and working out, sigh.

We had a bit of an issue with his right lead canter, which I figured would happen at some point. He's getting stronger and stronger though, so that will help, and I need to make sure he's either straight or slightly bent inside (neck AND body) before asking for the transition. His left lead continues to be a joy to ride and gets better and better. I could ride that canter all day....

Contact is coming along well, in that I'm finally asking for it rather than letting him tool around in a nice long and low frame. Time to get off that forehand. For most of the ride, until we started working on the right lead towards the end, he was great with the bit-some chewing, which is what I want, but no grinding or rooting (grabbing the bit and stretching his neck down), so I was super happy with that. I still can't wait to really work him in his english hackamore, just to see how he does with no bit at all.

The Belmont is being run in about 20 minutes-here's to a safe race! I've got no favorites this year. I have a love/hate relationship with racing anyway, which I'd love to write a post about sometime. Sure would be nice to see a Triple Crown Winner in my lifetime though:)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of Miles, looking towards the future in his first couple of days with me at his new home.

UPDATE: race is over, everyone appears to be OK, and the beautiful chestnut Drosselmeyer wins at 13-1!

The Mosquitos Have Eaten Us Alive..Today in Pictures

UGH the mosquitos have been out in full force the last couple of days. My poor Miles decided to get himself as caked-in-mud as possible to escape their torment (smart boy). I totally should've gotten a before picture, but after about 2 solid hours of scraping, currying, brushing, picking, wiping and spraying I got my boy as pretty and shiny as could be without a full blown bath. I'm pretty proud of my handiwork if I do say so:) Miles is pretty thin-skinned (I know, a thoroughbred-what are the odds!!), but put up with all my (vigorous) grooming because I kept him busy munching hay and beet pulp mash the whole time:) Behold, my shiny beast as I let him wander around the (enclosed) barnyard after all "our" hard work.




His classic side profile



Again! In case you didn't appreciate him the first time:)



Hello Sir! You are handsome. You can see that I am also handsome, yes?



Let us be handsome together.




Another new friend! Do you see how shiny I am, small equine?



Enough with the pictures lady. You have not offered me foodstuffs in many minutes.



Look there! I see much grass for eating! You shall be allowed one more picture and then I'm out of here.

A Confession...and a Question

Ahem. My name is Sarah. I own and ride an OTTB. And I...don't have a trainer.
I know, I know!! It's wrong. It's so wrong.
Here's the thing; the money, it's tight. I want to be able to have a cushion (however small it might be) in case Miles gets hurt, or colics, or...whatever. We also have the aforementioned Herd, a few of whom are geriatric, and I want any extra dollars we might have to be set aside for them. Ugh, I hate money talk, so that's all I'm gonna say about that.
The other thing is...well, things are going well with Miles. Oh sure, I know we may have holes in our training, but we're progressing with no huge issues (omg did I actually write that? We're doomed now:). When I think back to our first rides, and how horribly he would drop his right shoulder, or wiggle and shimmy down the long side of the arena instead of marching in a nice, straight line, we have come So Far. I honestly credit Miles more than myself. Not to mention I've been ecstatic ever since we've been cantering in the outdoor arena...we are a horse and rider pair that can perform all three gaits, whoo hoo! It's the little things:)
Another thing is...I would have to seek out and find a trainer. My last trainer was and is amazing, but she works her butt off out of her barn, and can't travel all the way to mine for one lesson, which I understand. We have no trailer, so I can't go to her. I have a couple of contacts in the area for good dressage instructors, one of whom I adore and have worked with in the past but haven't spoken to in, oh, 10 years or so.
So these are my excuses, which are lame, I know. I KNOW I have position issues to work on...well, everyone does don't they? I'm sure there are things I could be doing to help support Miles more than I am. I do always try to error on the side of caution, and to maintain a soft, quiet position, but I miss those second set of eyes on the ground to help me.
In the beginning with Miles and his horrid ground manners, I summoned and utilized my previous 20 years of experience with horses (give or take;) naturally, but I also sought the advice of my friends at the barn-one of whom is incredibly knowledgeable and generous, and shared with me a TON of her Clinton Anderson information and equipment.
I had never really looked at any of the "Natural Horsemanship" guys before, mostly because they aren't necessarily geared towards the English world (although a horse with good ground manners should be universal in all disciplines!), but also because I had never had a horse who was so damn pushy on the ground before. It was a wakeup call, that's for sure. I honestly had no idea how to deal with this 16.2 hand high blockhead who kept crowding me. I would sort of sigh at him and try to shove him away with my elbow...yeah, THAT was effective (note-it was not effective).
Watching Clinton's DVDs and reading his material was a HUGE help. I'm not going to go into details, but his method WORKED for Miles and me, and definitely brought us closer as I became less exasperated with him and he grew to respect me and trust me.
I will also admit that I thought some of this Natural Horsemanship business (not just Clinton's method) was so much common sense. Weren't Clinton, Parelli, Lyons, Cameron, Cox et al just teaching what everyone knows to beginner horsemen and women? Well, no, not necessarily.
I will say I don't agree with all of Clinton's methods, and do not employ them all. While I love RFD TV just because I will watch any show with a horse in it, I think a LOT of these guys use their air time to hawk their carrot sticks, rope halters, DVDs, etc. Some of their shows are more infomercial than anything else.
Still, I imagine there are a lot of people out there like me, doing this on our own without a trainer. I am lucky to have a background in horses to help me, as well as the awesome people at my barn, but some people don't, or don't have "structured" training (eg taking lessons) in their past to fall back on.
Should that exclude them from horse ownership? In my opinion, not necessarily. In this day and age when soooooo many horses need homes, being a beginner shouldn't stop someone, AS LONG AS they have others around them that are experienced to help, and they are willing to learn. Ugh, it's a complicated subject for another day I suppose.
I also think it's really dumb to ask a question of my audience when I have one (maybe two!) beautiful, awesome readers, but Ima do it anyway. What is your opinion of the Natural Horsemanship trend? Good or bad? Do they do more good than harm, or vise versa? Are some better than others? Are they all selling snake oil? Or are they out there helping Jane and Joe Schmoe in a way that other well-known English trainers do not?
No judgement from me no matter what you say, promise! Unless you're mean to me, then I'll cry.