Nordstrom's fifth week of training

What we do with our horses is often very different than what other people do with theirs. Because of this, our horsemanship is a bit unconventional and we often have to go back and “adapt” to the real equestrian world. So I thought today I should introduce Stuey to lunging—something we rarely do with any horse—just in case he’s asked to lunge with his future owners. Stuey knows how to do groundwork in a halter and lunging is pretty much the same idea with a longer rope, bridle, and whip. He was a tad confused when I told him NOT to disengage his hindquarters and face me, and he thought trotting around and around was uninteresting (I agree, a main reason we don’t lunge without a purpose). I tried to keep him focused by practicing lots of walk/trot transitions, which he picked up nicely. At one point he got confused and stopped to face me. I lightly swung the tail of the whip into his sides several times with increasing pressure. He thought I was trying to desensitize him to the whip! It was so funny, he was just standing there all proud saying, “I can take it!” until I convinced him that people don’t desensitize horses to whips.

After he understood the lunging pattern I warned Kelsy (who was riding around the arena on her thoroughbred, Equinox), that we were going to step it up to “rocketing.” I knew this might get a little special, and sure enough, Stuey went careening around the lunging circle when I cued him into the canter. On the first turn off the wall he blew through his shoulder and pulled the line into a large oval. I was prepared next time and kept him bent with little bumps on the lungeline. When he settled into a decent canter (yes, he does canter like a normal horse if he tries), I rewarded him by letting him trot. We repeated this on the other side and waited for some nice steps of canter.

When we were done with the lunging practice, deemed “good enough” by Kelsy and I, I turned him loose with some long elastic side reins in the arena for the first time. At first he was confused by the unyielding pressure from the reins, and instead of dropping his head for a release, he went stepping off sideways in some leg yields each direction. What an over-achiever! I cracked the whip and he settled into a trot behind Kelsy and Equinox, following them around the arena in his side reins. He was very disinclined to give to the bit, but after much trotting and some cantering (the side reins effectively deflected “rocketing”), he finally dropped his head in understanding. I let him come to me to have them removed as a reward.

With no interest to go to the barn to get gear or my helmet, I decided to practice our trick to finish up the session. Trick Training Day Three (third time’s a charm I guess): SUCCESS! That wasn’t nearly the process I thought it would have to be… Today I jumped up and down behind him, ran up to his side and jumped on, ran past his hindquarters, and thudded into his hindquarters (all of this without a halter). He seemed pretty unfazed by everything, so with Kelsy ready and waiting with the camera, I went for it. And ta da, you can mount Stuey from the hindend!

After I mounted Stuey from behind in perfect “get away” fashion, I was left sitting on him bridleless with only a surcingle. I figured I was in the arena, so what damage could we do? I told Stuey to walk us over to the shade with Kelsy, and he did so just like we had reins. We stood around for a bit and then followed Perry and Cheryl out of the arena and into the barn. He didn’t seem to notice that I hadn’t any control, and stood unrestrained in the barn to get untacked just like our horses.

I think today marks the end of Stuey’s first one month training period. It is easy to forget all the little changes that led up to the Stuey of today, but just looking back at the pictures from the first week compared to now, you can see how much more content and “trained” Stuey actually is. What a good boy!

Tuesday, July 4 (Chesna) Day 31

Our track is back! We have been waiting hopefully for our neighbors’ to mow a track around their 120 acres of tall hayfield and the time has finally come. Our neighbor’s are the best for letting us ride our horses allover their property, and we love having our own personal gigantic racing track (our ponies may feel differently). Since the neighbors didn’t finish up mowing until the end of the day and Stuey was my last horse to ride, he got to test it out. The track is perfect for just about any riding goals, especially for free forward movement. There are no walls to run into or trees to avoid or hills to balance for, just windy turns and straight runways on flat pasture for as far as the eye can see.

Stuey went out with Kelsy and another summer camper. I put splint boots on his front feet for the first time so he can get familiar with the feeling. He wasn’t bothered. On the track we zigged and zagged around, so I worked a lot on just going straight. He was good about his speed and listening to my seat aids. We worked on cantering and our left lead transitions were nice.

He struggles more with his right lead. When we got left behind he didn’t want to focus enough to try at it, so I remained diligent until he worked it out every time. Twice we really rocketed in a hand gallop. He’ll be able to scoot if he’s ever allowed to really gallop. He has a nice long stride, and he loves doing it. People need not be afraid of speed when the footing is decent and you have enough room to stop. A short run every now and then on the young horses is good for them mentally. They need to know they can achieve ultimate forward with a rider without fear.

Overall we practiced too many little things to recount. The track is basically a large arena, so we accomplish anything you can in an arena and more while enjoying the outdoors.

Wednesday, July 5 (Chesna) Day 32

Today Stuey and I went back to the track with Kelsy and Ally (another camper). But before we could ride, Kelsy decided to mount using the side of the horse trailer. She claims a lot of people get on their horses this way so the babies ought to know how, and she hinted that I make Stuey do it too. It took her about five seconds. It took me a couple of minutes just to slither up the side of the trailer and find my balance (seriously, there are easier ways to get on). Once I was standing on the side of trailer over the tires, Stuey gave me that “oh my gosh what do you want me to do” look. He danced back and forth as I tried to get him to bump up to me without falling off of the trailer myself. I was only holding onto one of his reins and at one point he stepped too far away. I either had to fall off or let go, so I let go and Stuey walked himself back over the barn like, “ok, come and untack me now.” I went and retrieved him and to his disappointment climbed up on the trailer once more to try again. With several attempts he bumped up sideways to me (it was a little far away, but close enough), and I leaped on. Unfortunately my saddle rolled sideways a good six inches and I remembered I had forgotten to tighten my girth. Woops. I hopped to the ground again to fix that problem, and one last time had to balance precariously on the trailer and get Stuey close enough to mount. This time he understood what I was getting at and came over nice and close to the trailer and I on the first try. When I was finally on and ready to ride Kelsy rolled her eyes and reminded me that I was the one who had said earlier, “let’s make this a quick ride.”

On our way to the track Stuey stopped to meet Mr. Llama from next door. Mr. Llama was lying down by his fence, and Stuey was curious and boldly walked over towards him. Mr. Llama stood up surprisingly and sent Stuey flying backwards in shock.

I rubbed Stuey on the neck and turned him back towards Mr. Llama for a new approach. Stuey made it over to the fence and stood for a moment checking out Mr. Llama, who in turn was checking out Stuey. Then we continued on our ride. A big piece of advice: NEVER overreact to spooking. In fact, don't react at all if you can help it. Take a moment to reorganize yourself and your horse, and try to do whatever you were doing in the first place. Basically, don't encourage your horse to spook by building on their fear or making a big deal about it. They will recognize that you are unconcerned and they will shed their spooking as they become more exposed to things. It's hard to avoid or ignore your first instincts in a spook (tighten all muscles, grab with your hands and legs, kill all forward movement, and panic), but if you do then the spook will be over and done with instead of escalating more and more. Spooking is a horse thing to do, we all get scared sometimes, just don't buy into their fear. There is no need to punish a spook, just don't allow the horse to ignore your cues.

Out on the track we practiced leading and following and waiting. We went through all our speeds, including slow jog on a long rein. We worked on sideways and little circles and some short serpentines. Now every time I stop him I ask him to give vertically to the bit (giving laterally is bending, which he knows from day one). I also toyed with this at the walk, asking him to drop his nose in for an instant release. I don’t expect much, I just want him to start thinking about the concept of giving vertically for a moment. Giving to the bit is totally about consistency and practice and a million other factors, so we are just building the foundation here.

We also practiced cantering. Again, that nasty right lead was trouble for us. It was trouble for Kelsy’s horse too, so we played a game: Who Can Get The Right Lead First. I was trying different approaches to get the lead such as leg yielding left and then asking or arcing into a small right circle and asking. You can feel what lead a horse will pick up before you canter, especially at the trot. What happens with Stuey is that when I cue the canter he takes a stride to organize and then canter. Before that stride I have him on the right lead trot, but during that stride he flops over to his left lead trot and then canters. Eliminating that extra stride is one ingredient to getting better right lead transitions. Kelsy was watching us mess around, and she noticed that when Stuey does forequarters to the right (which he is awesome at) he is always prepared to pick up the lead. So I tried doing forequarters and sending him forward into the canter as we came out of the turn, and it worked like a charm. Maybe not the best for getting a canter transition in the middle of a dressage test, but there's time for refinement later.

It's hard to capture riding in writing (it makes much more sense to just go and ride), but for perspective: each activity we work on usually is only for a fraction of a minute. With release the horses learn things so quickly there's no need to ram things down their throat over and over. We just work on things as they arise and when opportunity knocks. We rarely grace the arena these days with the campers, and we rarely have plans or agenda's for how a ride goes. If you focus too much on how things are supposed to be happening then you and the horses can lose sight of fun, and then it's all pointless! It's important to remember that a little goes a long ways.

Friday, July 7 (Chesna) Day 34

Tonight we began bareback in the arena by practicing mounting from behind. Then I worked on bumping up to the fence to mount. We warmed up over some trot poles for the first time (not like Stuey needs much incentive to get his legs up), and practiced some spins. I was not interested in riding in the arena so I took Stuey out alone. We headed to a different section of our neighbors’ property. On the way out Stuey kept asking politely if he could turn around, and I answered with a gentle squeeze to keep him walking away. We were on a loose rein the whole time, even past Mr. Llama. When we reached a straight part of the track we opted for an easy trot. When I am bareback there’s a direct connection between my seat and his back, making it easier for me to control his speed using subtler cues. Plus, if he gets too fast bareback I start a-bouncing, and that is enough encouragement for him to slow back down.

On our little journey we had to cross a culvert with water running through it. It also happened to be placed at the first turn where our friends and barn went out of sight. When I presented Stuey to the culvert he immediately went scooting backwards four times in a row. Each time I didn’t raise my energy, just represented my request to go forward. On the fifth time he leaped over and trotted off quickly down the trail. I did not grab at his mouth for rushing away, instead I rubbed him and said “good job Stuey!” as affirmation that he did the right thing. On the way back we had no problems with the culvert (everything is less scary on the way home, too).

We made it over to a wooded part of the property where there is a small campgrounds area. There is a hanging blue tarp and some sitting logs. I practiced mounting and dismounting using the logs, and also sitting over Stuey’s lower back as if I were riding double behind someone. He does not mind me fiddling around on his back. Out there we also worked on some sideways and giving to the bit. He is responsive and will be easy to bridle up in the future if people go about it correctly. We cantered a tad on a long rein just so he can work on sorting out his feet and balancing. The more we move around the better because he needs to develop more control over his movement. The more control he gains over himself, the more I can expect of him as a rider.

I forgot to mention a big achievement from Wednesday’s ride: we were cantering on the track and I asked for a lead change and he did it beautifully! We were on the right lead and nearing a left bend. I could feel him preparing for the turn so I cued a lead change and snap, we switched over to the left lead. It isn’t uncommon for them to change leads on their own in an effort to maintain balance and rhythm when we are cantering on the track, but I was especially proud because he did it off of my cues.

Today I strapped my little jump saddle onto Stuey to practice my two-point and for him to practice responding to “short leg” cues. Since I was riding alone and wanted to spice things up, I decided to try a mock cross-country course. It went as follows:

Obstacle One: Trot and canter alone across the property over to the woods with some resemblance of control and steering. Stuey did pretty well. It was getting dark and he was more energized than usual, but still obedient.

Obstacle Two: Open the latched metal gate to enter the woods from horseback. Stuey is getting great about doing gates, but today I had to remind him twice to settle and stand.

Obstacle Three: Trot through the creek and out the bank on the other side. Stuey took a look as if to say, “I have to do this alone?” and then went through nicely. He plodded up the bank with great skill.

Obstacle Four: Trot down the main trail in the dark woods. This was a little interesting. We kept lurching forward and back in a conversation of “I don’t want to” and “yes you do.” He wasn’t being bad, he just kept checking with me to see if I would eventually give in and let him go home. This is where consistency and determination comes in. I kept sending him forward regardless of his constant request to retreat, because if he learned that it worked to be a coward he would be one forever.

Obstacle Five: Walk, trot or jump over the little log pile jump on the trail. 100 feet away Stuey honed in on the pile and slammed on the brakes. Taking some remembered advice from Cheryl, instead of trying to push him forward through his fear with lots of force (because that wasn’t going to be an easy battle) I immediately backed him up several steps and then asked him to walk forward. I tried to stop and back him right before I thought he was going to himself, that way I could remain in control of the situation. If he stopped suddenly before I asked, I would still back him several steps and send him forward again. Playing this yoyo type game we eventually made it all the way up to log pile, which Stuey calmly walked over. What a goof!

Obstacle Six: Enter and exit the other part of the creek. In his distracted state (he was just waiting for something frightening to attack) he didn’t even notice the creek and trotted through as usual.

Obstacle Seven: Over the log on the other end of the woods. Again, Stuey wasn’t keen on this idea so we played the Back-up On My Cue Go Forward Again game until he stepped over. It was less of a process than the previous log pile.

Obstacle Eight: Yet another log pile. This one only took two back-ups to hop over.

Obstacle Nine: Over the original scary log pile once more for good measure. It was smooth sailing this time, Stuey didn’t hesitate at all.

Obstacle Ten: On the way out of the creek stop and step backwards back into the water. Stuey did this amazingly well. Plenty of horses struggle a moment before doing this. I think he was smart enough to understand that he wasn’t going back to the barn until he did it.

Obstacle Eleven, Final: Close the gate out of the woods. We had to discuss sideways a tad here because he was very focused on his friends and the barn. Once he remembered sideways the gate was easy.

Stuey was worried throughout our little cross-country course. He was very manageable, but it was a reminder that he needs (like any horse) more miles. By the time we reentered our field Stuey was all worked up. He was in a big hurry to get home so I tried to achieve a slow trot. I would let him trot, and if he got too rushed I would bring his forequarters across and trot in a new direction. I repeated this until I got some consistent steps of slow trot towards the barn. I then let him walk holding the reins on the buckle. He knows to take advantage of this time and walk like a gentleman. If he ever jigs or trots I just smoothly collect up my reins, halt him, and pause for a moment before walking on a long rein again.

I didn’t want to dismount at the barn because he was so intent on me doing so. I decided to work in the arena a tad first. Earlier in the day I had been riding very dull and unresponsive horses. By the time we made it to the arena I was riding a very hyper-responsive Stuey. It was difficult to adapt to this and I didn’t feel like I was getting much done. It didn’t help either that Stuey was kind of mentally exhausted. I finally just hopped off and gave Stuey a rub on the neck, deciding to shelve that which we were working on for another day.
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