Two Horses, Two Experiences

For some reason this month has ZOOMED by! I guess once the skies cleared and the snow melted, floods receded, there was nothing left to do but......RIDE! For the past week, I've been on at least 2 horses every chance I could. Not at the same time, of course. I haven't been watching the Tommy Turvey videos or anything silly like that. I keep watching DVDs about the different personalities of horse and how the training varies from one horse to the next. Having owned a very nervous extroverted horse who thinks everyone including me is out to kill her, it's been difficult to work with my friend's horse, who by nature is very outward with his emotions, but uses them to dominate and take charge, unlike my mare who's looking for a leader to keep her from feeling so darn scared all the time.

I've decided to ride the dominant horse now and having worked with him on the ground until I feel he is safe enough to ride, we've begun discussing his difficult (in my mind) nature while under saddle. Asking him to walk off on a loose rein with a gentle squeeze, leads to a head toss and a nose that comes back as if to say, "do that again and I'll bite it off." My answer? Go for it big boy! I use a spanker: either a riding crop, dressage whip or the end of my rope reins tied to the horn. I tap him and very sternly tell him no, which is more for me, than him, but I do believe he knows I'm serious when he hears that on the ground, because my body language follows the sound of my voice. He's looking for a leader who has what it takes to lead and he won't take someone who is inconsistent, hesitant or easy to push on. I call it, "Lead, follow or get out of the way". He's perfectly happy to show you the way out if you let him.

Today was the 3rd time I've ridden him in 4 days. I would love to ride him everyday for several days/weeks, but I guess like everyone else, I have a job that pays for my horse passion and the time is just not there. He was much more responsive in the saddle today and did not fight the idea of going forward on the lightest cue or turn, with weight and seat cues first. I did have to remind him to go left when he would get lazy and not bend, but most of all I tried not to pull on his mouth or face. I thought about using the halter, instead of a bit/bridle, but one of my goals this year is to become absolutely feather light with my hands. This horse responds to pulling with more pulling, in his direction. He can out wrestle anyone and it turns the whole experience into a battle. Instead I use the carrot stick or my crop to tap him along side the right neck to tell him to move away to the left so I don't have to pull him in that direction. By the time our session was over, he was turning figure eights, patterns and circling quieter. Giving him somewhere to go and something to do makes a big difference; he is playful and curious by nature and riding mindless circles does not help his disposition. He was trained by using spurs to get him to go and so it's been a real challenge to teach him that he is responsible for responding to light cues and to relax and lower his head without tiedowns. Every day there is improvement. The goal is to get the owner back on again so she can regain her confidence and not get discouraged about her horse. I want her to understand that on the days that her horse is looking very nervous and right brained, she needs to remain calm and reassuring without getting run over, and on the days that he is calm and domineering, she needs to take charge and let him know what a good leader she is, so he will not even try to take over. It's a real balancing act and more than she had bargained for when she bought her first horse as a new rider.

When I was finished riding the "challenging" horse, I got on my lovely mare, Chanty. We have progressed so much in the last few months. I'm now asking her to stand absolutely still while I get on. I don't touch her head or mouth, just grab mane and put a leg up. Her job is not to lower her head and pull the reins away or step forward or toss her head around and look back at me. When I do get in the saddle, I still don't touch her reins, just quietly place my feet in the stirrup and when I do pick up the reins, it is because she has raised her head quietly and will stand still even with contact on her mouth. Yeah, I know you think, "what's the big deal?" I know I'd win a few bets if I asked several of my fellow horse owners at the barn to do the same. Our horses are pros at walking off the minute you put your foot in the stirrup and if you have a nervous horse like mine, it's almost a given. She was so quiet today that on our short trail ride behind the property, she walked as slow as the quarter horses that love the long stroll. At one point, I asked her to WHOA with the slightest cue and she stood and munched a little while the other 2 horses walked right by her and continued way ahead of her on the trail. Normally, Chanty would not let a horse get even a step ahead of her and if they did, she would race ahead to catch up and get home first. It was incredible-she was even calmer than the quietest horse on the ride, who began trotting and jigging when her buddy went off onto another trail for a short time so that it's owner could keep him from running back to the barn on the way home.

All the work at WHOA and stopping while Chanty was quiet, not while she was worked up has paid off; now she stays calm and with no pulling on her mouth, stops worrying about me hurting her and creating so much worry and distress. The last hurtle is the walk home on the driveway, when she can see the barn. Her pace quickens, her head comes up and the fast walk, sewing machine trot starts. Today, we picked several points on the driveway for markers so that she could see where we were going to stop. She would have to remain calm or I would not allow her to move off. Once she got real close to the barn, she was near our outdoor arena and it was there that I began another lesson. If she chose to speed up going home, we went into the arena and she had to canter around for several laps, change directions and canter some more. Then we left the arena, walked away from the barn for several yards and turned to go back.

After the 4th trip to the arena to canter, she finally began slowing as she walked back. It may have just been physical exhaustion, but it made her feel uncomfortable and she thought twice about speeding up. We'll have to repeat this lesson several days in a row (or at least 2-3 times in the next week) and she will get the message: "If you race toward home, you'll meet the arena surface and you are definitely going to have to go fast, but not because you want to."

No matter what I do with my horses (or other people's horses) I know that they will learn something and so will I. The hope is that we learn something positive that will carry through for the rest of their life and mine.