Not with My Horse You Don't

A couple of weeks ago Ranae and I went for a fairly typical Saturday ride.  You might remember Jessie stuck her right foot in a gopher hole while loping and came up a little gimpy.  Yes, it had to be at least a year ago and, maybe she doesn't get enough rest, but it still bothers her from time to time.  I try not to make her stop hard because that seems to aggravate it.  Well, anyway, she was gimping at the trot.

Ranae quite often complains that Dusty is gimpy too.  It's either the farrier didn't trim the feet right, or he picked up a rock, or something else (hey, I'm just the husband - I don't listen to everything).

My point is on this day we were both a couple of whiners.  We got about a hundred yards down the canal bank and I knew I had to mix it up so, I stopped.  "Okay, let's switch horses," I said.  "Yours is lame, mine is lame, we are not going to have any fun worrying about them.  Let's switch."

It's not that we don't care about each other's horses.  Of course we do.  It just seemed we were too in tuned to how they were feeling.  And, if you know horses, you know they aren't particularly thrilled with leaving lunch to carry a couple of pokes around the farming fields no matter how nice the day.

We worked up to a trot and played around measuring each horses stride and response to our different cues.  Before long we were out at our big field loping around.  The horses had worked out any kinks they had and WE had a good time.  As we headed for home we switched back to our own horses with the knowledge that maybe our horses had us a little buffaloed (is that a word?)

Ranae had been doing groundwork with Dusty before our rides .  He usually kicks up once or twice, particularly while doing Lunging for Respect stage 2.  I give her words of encouragement and try to offer advice as far as her cues go, but I'm not the best teacher.  Like almost everyone (me included), she has a problem going from a light touch to high energy and back down again.

That particular problem was one of the topics on the NWC dvd this month.  I watched it over the holiday and on Friday the weather was nice and I wanted to ride.  I decided to take Dusty.  Ranae always encourages me to ride her horse.  I wanted to see if I learned anything from the dvd.  Following Ranae's routine I lunged him after saddling and before the last cinch check.  With the dvd instruction still in my head I tried the softest cue I could muster.  He took right off.  "Wow".  When I changed directions, I took a small step in front, raised my finger - BOOM - it was a bit of a hop, but a nice "yessir!" change of direction.

We did this for a bit and every cue was tiny and soft AND got the right response.  We went out and had a nice ride.  We worked on lead changes and scary objects.  Ranae got home shortly after our ride and I told her how light the cues could be.  She tried it the following day and got the same result.

It's a nice relationship to have one horse, but sometimes you need a new perspective.  It's good to work someone's horse and to have them work your horse.  It's kinda hard, for us anyway, to find someone willing to switch horses.  If nothing else it sends a little wake up call to your horse.  Maybe for them humans are just too easy to read once you get to know them, and they get bored with us.  Either way it proves one of my favorite Zig quotes, "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep gettin' what you're gettin'."

She Told Me She Needed Groundwork

It's been a tough ten days for Jessie. It rained more than an inch here and her pen refuses to dry out.  Or soil s clay like and the water puddles and does not drain. Her feed has been dry thanks to the Porta-Grazer, but she hasn't been able to lay down much. I walk in there with my muck boots on and slide all over the place. 

So, when we wanted to ride today it took quite some time to clean her up. I took a warm towel to her face and spent some extra time on her feet. It was necessary to curry the mud off of her flanks. While I got her saddled, Ranae was doing the same to Dusty. While I went in the house to change into my riding boots, Ranae did some groundwork with Dust. 

Jessie doesn't usually require any groundwork. It's one of the reasons I haven't posted here in so long. She has been doing great. Well, we're walking out the gate and she moves in front of me. I yield her hindquarters and she kinda hops around. Then, she does it again. I respond and she pops around. The third time I tell Ranae to take a minute I have to go do a bit of groundwork. 

I am glad I followed my instincts. We did lunging for respect 2 and she was bucking and rearing and tearing it up. Horses just have bad days sometimes and Jessie was having one. I am glad I wasn't on her. We worked for about 5 minutes and I could tell she was coming back to me. 

We rode out to our big field and I really got to work her. We did the lead change exercise followed by he flower power exercise. While I was a little concerned at the front end of the ride, I was glad I had a riding partner who let me do some work, and then have a good ride. I think we got some good steering work in as well. It's important to recognize the quirks in your horse and address them as soon as you can. 

Testing the Intermediate Levels

Downunder Horsemanship was holding a casting call for a "Test your Intermediate Skills".  Jessie and I, well mostly me, thought we would give it a go.  No, it didn't really matter that we don't own an Intermediate Kit.  We have the old series of Riding With Confidence and Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground series.  We were sure Clinton wouldn't mind.  Hey, pick us and I'll get a kit to brush up before the trip.

And speaking of brushing up, we didn't even let it bother us, well mostly me, that we hadn't practiced the exercises, especially the groundwork exercises for quite some time.  Heck, the biggest place we had to practice was our backyard!  That was't going to work.

Nope, that's what determination, aka idiocy, offers:  an unencumbered path down the road to another video.

The deadline was the last day of the year.  We, well mostly me, got a list of the exercises on the Intermediate Series and, lo and behold Clinton had changed the name and order of some of the exercises.

We filmed over a couple of weekends and did the best we could.  Like any good editor, the exercises we didn't do very well got the short shrift, and we muddled through the rest.  I posted it on the NWC forum to get some discussion going and then others started posting theirs as well.  By the looks of it, the competition is tough.  Those guys all looked like they owned the right kit.

Anyway, we got it done.  If it happens, we'll have to plan a trip to Texas.  We doubt that will happen.  We, well mostly me, feel there is little chance of getting there this year.  But we did get to make another video...and, oh I even put a blooper reel at the end!