Red Pony Farm: A journey in motion

Freedom to bolt . . .

. . . being allowed to create a safety buffer. Could the habitual and abrupt removal of these 2 liberties (dare I say prey animal necessities) cause a horse to worry excessively when faced with fearful situations?

Getting behind on fencing projects inspired me to explore letting Lucy Loose to graze about the property. Lord knows she isn't going off down the trail on her own--nor down that driveway to death yet--especially when all the other are staying behind. Supervising her exploits at liberty has been very enlightening. I have witnessed that she can be very bold when she is uninhibited.

One evening this week she stopped short coming back from our mounted jaunt into the woods to look through the missing stump pile at the view of the cabin she hadn't ever seen from that angle, and at various other changes directly in front of her in that area. One thing that bothered her quite a lot, when we advanced once again, was the large pile of dark green plastic Dan had piled up when cleaning up the debris left from last winters fire wood pile. She gave it very wide berth in passing and blew slightly at it, then hurried along.

As soon as I turned her loose after removing the saddle she rolled in the sand and then went directly over to closely examine that pile of plastic, blow at it some more and touch with her hoof. This puzzled and interested me! Why was this monster so much less worrisome when she was at liberty?

Once I witnessed her stepping onto the great huge steel tail gate that goes on the back of the dump truck to get over it because it was in the path she takes (shortest distance) to visit Dove. She stepped on it coming back to. Never stopped to examine it at all. The next day she walked right passed Dan and the Dump truck while he was working to get the tail gate on and making all kinds of noise. When I am on her back she eyes it more cautiously.

Another time there was suddenly a big black 15 foot length of plastic culvert blocking most of that path. She just stepped around it to fit through a 16 inch clear space left between it and the fence.

I thought perhaps it was because with me up she has so much more to think about: balance, what I am asking, what I'm going to do next, etc., that she can't process it all so quickly or efficiently. And maybe I focus too much on some scary things to try and be ready for a spook, and send her more "this is scary" vibes.

Then my very insightful friend Margaret suggested also, that Lucy likely feels much more secure knowing that at liberty she can flee as she sees fit without being encumbered or forced to stay closer than she thinks is safe.

That got me thinking about the several times this year I have heard mention of horses getting claustrophobic when fetched up hard in the bridle and held for too long. Horses who want to move along much faster than they are wanted to by a rider. Horses who are too worried to be given any slack in the reins for fear they will run away. Horses who will bolt hard losing their head and don't know when they are safely away. There are horses who have lived too long with these rules, or been too abused, or too frightened to be safe any other way. So,

I want to be very sure that I remind folks here that I am not very experienced at all in training horses and do not advocate letting a horse bolt and flee when it could injure someone or / and itself. I am simply contemplating some witnessed behavior and creating conjecture.

I've ridden horses who were quite comfortable with strong pressure on the reins for longer than I was interested in holding it. But I've had others who flipped out with continuous pressure in a variety of bits and head gear alternatives. So there are no hard and fast rules here that I am trying to give.

I did have one horse though who got very grumpy from too much pressure on the bridle at faster gates, but would leap and shake and sometimes buck when I let her go in the canter. Therefore, I was very reluctant to let her go. She always wanted to gallop from the canter and we ended up in tug of war which turned the canter into a squeezed up twisting unsafe gate(funny, gallop didn't seem so appealing to me about then!)

We finally had some really nice long canters on very safe ground (some on long gravel roads) and I began to let her out slowly. I soon discovered how quickly she flattened out into a very solid gallop once we had the canter relaxed. After that several month period she found me willing to gallop more often and I in turn found her willing to just canter if I asked, or even just trot on a long rein. It was a rather remarkable transformation in her--and I image she felt that I had transformed just as remarkably.

Lucy is sensible and has demonstrated that she can be trusted on a loose rein and will respond to a rein aid quickly and go right back to loose rein. ( We are about to do some riding with a horse that she has only met once and who excited her quite a bit, so I may have knew information on this topic come next Monday;^) I don't want to mess up that trust we have but I certainly can't have her leaping on top of Promise! So there may be some holding going on.

It will give me a chance to work on my own discipline by exercising my commitment to be consistent in the "do as little as it takes but be willing to do as much as it takes" theory, releasing at the proper moment over and over and over and over again, all day! Can I do it without resorting to holding? I will let you know. Although connected that's rather a different issue than the fear reaction thing. Another peice of the puzzle nonetheless.

Lucy is also very emotional. Perhaps I could introduce or exacerbate that uncomfortable feeling of restriction that may make her less willing to be bold when I am on her back, if I began to grab her up and restrict her at times due to my own insecurity. Like when meeting potential monsters on the trail.

It's all a big experiment in a way isn't it?

Anyway I will be riding with a new awareness that I could inadvertently cause her to feel claustrophobic if I over react to her worry. I don't want to create any mistrust of my ability to not just keep her safe but to help her to feel safe.

What are your experiences and / or thoughts?

Lucy Again

What is significant in this image?

Why, the placement of the mounting box. It closely resembles the mounting box placement found in the riding school where I learned to ride, where school horses waited patiently for riders to mount with their off sides open to the arena.

Lucy resembled those school horses yesterday morning when I mounted! I was very pleased. The box has been placed so that Lucy stands between it and the fence line to keep her from stepping off to the side. Not anymore.

We also ventured out onto the real trail--off RPF. we even went into the 'deep dark forest' (a dense stand of hemlock and fur where sun seldom penetrates--and when it does it makes ordinary things look very odd and frightening to some horses).

Just after turning around (at a spot where Lucy was very forward) I heard the dogs bark from back in their kennel. It must be Kelly has arrived to drop off the little boys for the day. "We're gonna have to hurry back today Lucy." She happily strode out into her big trail trot, easily slowed over the short section of large rocks, and maintained a nice rhythm for me with few reminders. No getting overly wound up nor fighting to push the speed. It was quite lovely. This afternoon I am going to see how she does on a bit longer trip.

Quiet at the Hitching Rail

Some days I get to feeling a tad bit sorry because we are not doing 10 mile rides out on our own yet. But I don't want a frazeled horse and baby steps is what is working Lucy my Love. So baby steps it will be.

Last year at this time she could not stand qietly at the hitching rail (rope). She would rear and scream repeatedly unless Dove was tied next to her. And  even then she was not really quiet.

Now she eats breakfst there every morning and hangs out sometimes for a half hour or better while I finish chores. Today was longer because I had to clean out the piggy pen. She was just as quiet as you please. Did I mention I LOVE this mare?

We did trot work in the arena this morning.

Lucy Goosey . . .

. . . As you may remember, has been wearing her saddle during meals because she needs to  become 'OK' with wearing it rather than just tolerant. Last Friday I decided that since the saddle was on I would hop up and we would do a morning jaunt around the property through the rough cut but slowly improving and what will someday be worthy of being called bridle paths. It is working so well!

Sunday Lucy started really giving me dirty looks and tossing her nose at me when I went to put the saddle up while she is eating. It's a good sign really because it means she is no longer threatened by it's presence. Still, I would rather not be annoying her to that degree. So, I tried putting the saddle on then leading her to the hitching rail, tying her there and then putting her grain in front of her. This way she gets to eat in peace while I go off and tend to other critters. When I get back she is done and off we go. Lucy is already getting relaxed with the routine. She likes it. No more dirty looks! Life is just so good these days!!

At Least I Rode In, if Not Yet Out

This was taken after our session and you could easily miss it if you didn't know her as well as I do now after LL helped me to really notice: I have come back out to her after our session and she is OK with it. She isn't feeling that she still needs to be 'away' from me as she used to for hours after our sessions. She even turned and came up to me for scitches on the chest.

She has been wearing her saddle at meal times this week. This treatment has worked so well for getting her used to having the halter put on and taken off I thought way not give it try? She didn't even break the rhythm of her chewing when I saddled her up the first time. And when I put it on this afternoon (for the second time today--and this time with no food involved) she was completely OK with it. She was not standing like a horse in the jaws of the lion. She was OK with it.

We hand grazed. I mounted from the mounting block when she was OK with it--on the second try today! She grazed with me mounted. I hopped off when we approached 'the line in the sand' where her comfort zone ends and led her out into the woods.

Now I have been doing this quite a bit this spring and have been a bit frustrated because we are not progressing. I take her out to the first good grazing spot--come on Lucy, it's only 1/2 a mile! She cannot relax enough to graze more than a couple of bites and it isn't getting any different.

TODAY I understood how to let go of my logic and let her tell me hers. She told me her second "line in the sand' is only about 1/4 of a mile out. So that's where we stopped. And low and behold she was relaxed enough to search around and found several mouthfuls of greenery that she wanted. I led her back. We grazed some more. Lots of grazing today-just being together--well, I didn't actually eat any grass--I stood around keeping the reins out form under her feet, she grazed.

After a half hour or so I led her back to the arena and mounted again from the block with no "this is not really OK with me" faces. We rode to her first line in the sand and I asked her to go another 15 feet. She protested and tried to turn around and / or back up, I continued to asked, persistently, but not with increasing intensity, as that is a sure way to get her to explode. She made it 15 feet closer to the really scary spot and stood there quietly. I hopped off praising her lavishly.

I led her back into her safety zone and she grazed. 

I led her out into the woods again. We stopped at her second line and I asked her follow me 35 more feet down the trail. She did that easily. She found more greenery to eat. I praised her. She stood very nicely for me to mount from the ground! A BIG first for this spring!!!! We rode back directly and so quietly on a very loose rein!

Lucy & I found Our Teacher

"There is a world of difference between his standing still and not running away now when I toss this rope over his back, and his being OK with it." She drew our attention to the horses rigid stance, the tight jaw, the slightly raised head. She compared the moment of his resignation to the moment a prey animal finds itself in the jaws of the lion and struggle is futile.

It was a "light bulb' moment for me. I recognized that Lucy is not OK with several things I do to her. She is OK with the halter now when I approach her at pasture--she associates that with grain time. She is not OK with being caught in the round pen /arena--she associates that with being saddled perhaps. She is not OK with being saddled. She is not OK with being mounted. I am continually devouring her in this relationship.

It was during the 1:00 slot that I had this epiphany. Lucy and I were slotted for 2:00. Lucy had relaxed shortly after 11:00 and I had been able to wander closer to the arena and round pen area to watch the other lessons / training sessions.

Our ride to the clinic had been at 9:00. My heart was racing and my knees were getting progressively weaker as I grazed a nervous Lucy on the lead while waiting for the trailer to arrive. This still happens every time I load a horse in a trailer (I don't do it enough maybe) since being dragged across a yard behind a fleeing horse with a lead wrapped around my wrist.

Lucy screamed at the trailer when it arrived and she heard and perhaps smelled the horse inside. She loaded without hesitation and was happy to meet a new mare in the trailer with whom she became quite attached during the 20 minute trailer ride. However, she was not at all happy in the pen behind the shed-row at Piper Ridge Farm  where the Libby Lyman clinic was hosted this weekend.

Poor Lucy couldn't see her new buddy. Her new buddy was getting ready for the 10:00 group lesson. Lucy screamed and raced around. She soon worked up a foaming sweat. When it looked to me like she was going to climb the gate (oh great no hot tape anywhere!) and was not really responding to my efforts to drive her off it, I asked for advice back-up, rescue. Walk her around where she can see her buddy? I wasn't real confident that I could lead her about the yard safely at that point. I walked her in her pen, did some little 'send her around me' exercises and changing direction. She was not looking at me. She was trotting too fast, turning to fast, not stopping for more than a second when I asked her to.

I was getting nervous again. I am still not sure if it was fear of being physically hurt, or fear of knowing I was failing at helping her through this anxiety. Both somewhat I guess. Libby came and took over for me for a few minutes and then we let her go. Libby felt she would not climb the gate or attempt to jump out. Some other horses had been moved into pens on either side of Lucy by this time, but Lucy had not seemed to notice them at all. She had already picked out her "momma" for the day. I stood on the outside of the gate and shooed her off when she pushed on it during her quick stops to scream out over it as she made frantic loops around the pen. Now there was a group lesson going on in the arena. Lucy could see her buddy for long moments across a dirt roadway and over the arena fence. She stopped to watch and listen for longer moments.

Then an amazing thing happened! She began to settle and paid some attention to the other horses in pens to either side of her behind the shed-row. She soon discovered that she could find some comfort from them. The lathered sweat began to dry. Soon she was moving about almost quietly, grazing tufts of grass scattered about the pen. She stopped and pulled mouth fulls of hay from her hay net. I walked away to watch the clinic! This was big for Lucy. I decided then that if that was our total progress for the day I would go home happy.

At 1:50 Lucy stood quietly while I groomed the dried sweat from her coat. When she allowed me to snap the lead on her halter (after avoiding me for several turns around the pen) she reminded me again of the young colt who was "eaten" by the rope in Libby's hand moments before. I did not tack up for the "lesson". I brought Lucy out into the round pen in just her halter and told Libby that Lucy was not OK with being saddled and so I needed to start further back than that and find out why.  I told her that we both get overly nervous and cannot find confidence in each other. Libby told me she was going to have me observe Lucy's thought process as she worked through a puzzle that I would set up for her under Libby's direction. I would start to understand her and that would be the bigining of learning how to help her. She would be loose and I would not be driving her.

Driving is what I was taught to do. It had worked pretty well in the past--with horses much quieter and much less forward than Lucy perhaps. I was intrigued. Lord knows I was not progressing to where I wanted to be in our relationship using the driving method with this horse. I turned her Loose. She began trotting the parameter of the round pen. Stopping to push on and scream over the gate towards her newest friend.

This is the puzzle that Libby had me create:

I stood still facing the gate. Lucy whizzed around me clockwise. when she got just passed the narrowest opening between me and the fence of the round pen, I would whack the ground in front of me with the lead rope forcefully and in an extreme movement, then just stand there again still and facing the gate. I was going to do crazy things (what would seem crazy to Lucy--though done in a very methodical way) I would see if maybe Lucy would "notice" me. Maybe Lucy will think I need more comfort than she does. Maybe she would come to my rescue. The first time I whacked the ground she took off like a shot and kicked out like crazy. She soon decided that coming though that narrow opening on my side was not so comfortable due to my "outbursts" so she resigned her pacing to the larger open space,in one direction and then other or sometimes coming close to me across the open space. This was good we were told: she is not worried specifically to be in my presence. Lucy stopped at the gate to push and holler. I flailed my arms about a bit. She moved off the gate and went back counter clockwise to a spot behind me and turned before entering the narrow gap. This kept up for a while.

I whacked the ground with great gusto when she found another spot to stop push and yell to some other horses. (If she stopped with her head inside the pen I would tap my leg with the palm of my hand two times to see if she would look at me. She would briefly and then resume looking for the other horses.)

This was good sign (Lucy checking out another spot rather than the gate) because, Libby explained, Lucy was thinking about other alternatives for comfort. With no one driving her she had to think things out for herself.

Lucy got down and rolled in the sand. Another good sign that she was not too intimidated by my presence. Her reactions to my crazy whacking the ground episodes showed that she was becoming more courious than troubled. Appearantly just whatt we wanted.

After a while when we started to fall into a pattern, I did have to do a bit of leg work. Still not driving, but cutting her off on opposite sides of the round pen to narrow her pacing distance. This got her attention and she turned to face me briefly. Still whenever she would stop with head inside the fence I would tap my leg to invite her to "look me up" as Libby put it. She said one doesn't want to draw the horse in. That "draw" can be too compelling. The horse will often wonder how they got there, it is that compelling. Libby said we want the horse to "Look us Up" because she made a choice to do so. She is not being devoured in that situation.

I knew that was exactly what I wanted! Nothing less.

The first time Lucy "looked me up" I was over come with emotion. Her expression and demeanor were so completely transformed from what I had come to know as normal in our 'drive and be drawn and devoured sessions'. Tears flowed down my face and neck in a torrent as the folks gather around the pen sighed aahhh in unison. It was huge! Just amazingly huge. For Lucy and I, it was huge! Our big breakthrough. It was momentary. But soon she was choosing to come to me, and stay while I petted on her, and just be with me. She was not devoured. She was relax and happy and present.

Libby believes she can show us how to support each other in all things. I believe her. We are signed up for 3 days with Libby when she returns to Piper Ridge in July.

Improving & Bitless Bridle

Lucy enjoyed a good roll in the sand after our workout today. I led Lucy through the woods today. She was very good. Rather excitable but under control and not pushy on the lead. She wore her new Bitless Bridle for the second time and did not do any head shaking this time. I led her today because it has been several months since we went out in the woods and the last time she refused to go with me on her and I came off when she did a spin and leap move. She is much more relaxed when I lead her. So that's what I did today.

I did free lunge work in the arena when we got back. It was not as smooth as it has been. She was very focused on Dove and not on me. She had quite a workout before she was ready to change her focus. When she finally did it was a very big change and I had to end the session there without doing mounting work or mounted work. That is disappointing but I did manage to work her 3 days this past week rather than the once as in the previous weeks since the snow in the arena melted enough.

Tuesday I will get back on her and see if she will go out with me up rather leading.

Monday(tomorrow yippee) I have my second Yoga class. I think it is going to save my life. At the beginning of my first class, I thought I was going to have to leave. after 4 minutes of sitting on the floor I was in so much pain! My legs were seizing up and I had all I could do to just move them to try and find a position I could tolerate while the instructor went through her introduction speech. Just as I was about to try and scape myself off the floor and excuse myself, we got started. After an hour and a half of stretching and "posing" I was completely comfortable sitting on the floor. and for the rest of the evening my legs felt so lite! They felt so strange. My body moved with little effort and responded so much faster to my whims than normal. I can't tell you how exciting that was. I can't wait to get back there! I believe this new found flexibility and the added strength I will gain will make all the difference as to how confident and secure I feel riding!

I'm tired tonight. I worked Saturday at the real job until 8:30. It was a frustrating day. Many of them are this month. There are going to be more and more late nights too.

Inertia and Momentum

Tamara over at The Barb Wire: Applied Physics Post wrote a great piece yesterday on Inertia and Momentum applied to training schedules and human behavior.

I have been a lot like an object at rest. I have lost my momentum towards the training goals I had set by being snow bound for so many weeks. I made a change last night by working with Lucy on a week night. 1st time in 2008. It went well.

Sunday AD argued against my theory that if I started teaching again I would not spend any time on Lucy. She believes that if I am focused on training/ teaching I will end up spending more time with Lucy. She is right! It is the the whole Inertia Momentum theory at work on a mental / emotional level! She helped me make a schedule for this week.

Lucy and I worked on the mounting block issue very quietly last night after more free lunge work where she was much more relaxed and only kicked out at a stirrup that got loose and bounced against her side during a canter. Oh boy is she unbalanced at the canter in the arena--probably everywhere. She stood beside the mounting block (which she doesn't like) and then was lead away from it. She was lead round and round it while I stood on top of it. She stood beside it while I got on it and got back off it. She would shake her head releasing tension when I climbed off it without mounting. I lead her away from it again. Then she stood while I put weight in the stirrup from it and climbed back down to lead her around the arena again--more head shaking and a deep breath. Next time she stood perfectly still while I mounted! I rode a tiny bit. She still did not want to get near the block with me already mounted. So we did that a bunch too. It was a simple yet productive and successful session. It greatly helped the fear I have been fighting all winter. And there is still the pain--there is that. But it doesn't have to stop me, it's just there. I need momentum towards yoga!

I'm helping AD work her ponies tonight, then with CG and Smidge on Wednesday. I will have a session with Lucy Wednesday also. And Thursday Lucy and I will hit the trails! I'm excited again. Thanks to AD and Tamara.

Bonded Sisters

We took little sister out for a few little 90 second trips into the woods with Dove and left Niki in the pasture out of sight briefly. As we headed out Nordri wasn't paying particular attention to leaving Niki behind. She seemed a little curious of the woods ahead. Then Niki screamed and it was as if the cord that binds these two was suddenly snapped taut. Nodri stopped and answered. She did continue but became more concerned with each one of her sisters increasingly desperate calls. She answered with the most pitiful whinnying that turned into a combination of grunts, squeaks, and hiccups. AD wished she had recorded it. It was very unusual. We went a very short distance into the woods and returned. We repeated this three times and there was definite improvement the third time. There wasn't a Fourth because we discovered that Lucy had escaped her pasture and had to catch her up. But it was a great place to stop really. These sisters have been together always and are now in their late teens. They may never get comfortable leaving each other. As soon as they were back together they began grooming each other. 

Lucy Spring Training 2008

 

Here is a picture of AD working Niki from the 20th in the arena.

Lucy had her 1st free lunge Sunday the 12th. She went wild running and kicking and flitting around as if on springs. Once turned loose she would have nothing to do with me. I didn't have to put any pressure on her at all for her to fly off in the opposite direction. From one corner to the next following the fence line or dashing across the diagonal, Trying to get far enough ahead of me to stop and call for Dove. Round and round she went, flinging up a heel at me as she past more than once--sassy girl. She got very sweaty and after 30 minutes or so she was winding done her circles and was trotting rather peaceful around me in a roughly 20 meter circle. She started to watch me. Never a lick or a chew, but an occasional reaching her nose out toward the ground. After a dozen laps in this smaller circle in each direction I attempted to draw her in by stopping and turning away from her and moving one step ahead. She was drawn and when I turned back to advance her way she did not turn away. I approached and rubbed her vigorously. I let her catch her breath. I praised her enthusiastically. She snorted and shook her head releasing the tension. I rubbed her more. We stood quietly. I sent her around again. She stayed on the smaller circle. I changed her direction. I drew her in. She was drawn and she did not turn away when I approached. I rubbed her. I praised her. I snapped the lead rope on and then removed it. I rubbed her. I moved away and let her roll and roll in the soft cool sand. I left her to her liberty while I got the camera to snap a picture of her all sweaty and sand covered. I approached her when I returned. She did not turn away. What a perfect session!

Saturday the 19th  I went out to fetch Lucy out of her pasture. She did not turn away. Having wear her halter every time I feed her grain has really paid off. I saddled her after grooming and she remained quiet. I turned her loose in the arena with the saddle on. She rolled. The saddle slipped sideways a bit. She was horrified. She came to her feet bucking and leaping. She is not good at bucking THANK GOD! Compared to Smidge's performance it was a pitiful attempt really. I asked her if she needed rescuing. She did. I straightened the saddle and tightened the girth. The stirrups on my wintec all purpose saddle I had run up the leathers and attached by running a length of twine between them over the seat. They  bumped against the saddle when she hopped over a cavelletti. She reacted by bucking and kicking out and then went straight up in the air. She is very good at rearing. I had not seen that trick and wished I hadn't. She reacted badly a couple more times to the bumping stirrups on the saddle seat. I sent her on a bit forcefully when she did. She soon stopped reacting. She rolled again with the saddle on and did not freak out. Perhaps she has never been free lunged. Perhaps she has never had a saddle roll. I did not get on. I was afraid and I was in a lot of pain this weekend. It really gets to me some days. 

On sunday Lucy got out of her pasture under the fence where I had picked up a section and attached it to the top strand to bring it clear of snow and not put it back when the snow melted. I was able to walk right up to her to halter her. Cool! Very Cool.