Be True to the Things You Know

It was lesson day.   I been too easy on my client about her horse because I didn't want to lose one of the few customers I had.  I wasn't doing her any favors.  She isn't going to be able to have a good relationship with her horse if she keeps spoiling it the way she has.  If she leaves me because I tell her the truth, so be it.  Everyone goes through a couple of trainers anyway.

We had a brief conversation about how she would need to "require" her horse's respect while they were together.  I would show her how to gain that respect by moving her horse's feet forward, backward, left, and right.

Her mare pinned her ears back when I asked her to lunge.  When she didn't go, I swung the stick and string and BOOM, off she went.  We did a lot of changes of direction.  Every time I gave her a cue, the ears would go back, but then she would do what I asked.

The client is using her friends for advice and that's simply something we'll deal with for now.  She needs information and knowledge and she only wants to use me an hour a week.  I'll get as much done as I can.

By the end of the hour (really about 90 minutes) the mare was much less reactive and was moving off my cues without too much of an attitude.  The ears would occasionally go back, but I could see she was improving.  We did a lot of desensitizing too.

Before our time was up, I asked the owner to come in to the round pen and work her horse.  It's one thing for me to work the horse, I want the owner to gain confidence from working her own horse on the ground.  While she was hesitant at first, she quickly took charge.  As I offered a few coaching tips, I could see her confidence start to grow.  We ended the session on a good note.  She is going to a friend's place to ride this weekend.  We'll see what happens next.

A New Trail

I changed the title of this post three times already.  Many people have asked me to train their horses. If I had a facility I would likely have two Oak Creek horses in training now.  But, I don't know that much about starting horses.  That's a recipe to get hurt.

What I've come up with is to train people what I know.  I'm confident I can make a horse safe.  Teaching desensitizing exercise and round pen exercises can get most horses paying attention.  It's not really the horses, it's the owners.  If I can teach them to be more effective leaders to their horses, I think their relationships will improve.

Two clients are on my roster so far.  We are going over the basics.  The stuff they need to learn are the things it took me awhile to figure out: how to tie the halter, where to stand, how to ask my horse the right question.

I'm setting up a Facebook page - that's how it's done these days.  The name of my company is Real Simple Horsemanship.  Real as in authentic.  Simple as in Basic.  Let's see where this trail takes me...

Working Scratch On the Trail

Scratch, is a horse I have in training.  He was a wild-roaming horse for 9 years and I've been working with him for a year.  The man who owns him wants me to continue riding him and I'm happy to do it.  These wild horse come from what some believe is Morgan stock and they are very even minded.  Scratch is very teachable.

Scratch

I had an early morning breakfast schedule with an old friend and, even though it's been in the 100's here in Bakersfield, I needed to ride Scratch.  I try to take him out twice a week and our rides are usually 2 hours long.

By the time I got home and the trailer hooked up it was noon.  We got out to the river around twelve thirty.  He was already saddled so, along with Buster Brown Dog, we headed down the trail.  Now, most of you probably noticed I didn't mention anything about groundwork.  The man who owns Scratch is a rancher.  While he appreciates groundwork he told me, "John, we gotta have this horse be a ranch horse.  By that I mean, we brush off the mud where the saddle pad goes, throw a saddle on him, and go."

For the last three months that's how I've been training him.  We've done groundwork a few times, but it's after a ride.  While Scratch is a little feisty at times when I first mount, he settles right down and gets to moving.

We would be riding the river trail lone today.  Temps were in the high 90's and we crossed the river at our first opportunity.  This helped Buster cool off and Scratch, who loves water, got to grab a drink early in the ride.

We rode along a single track at a trot.  I worked on collection and he was giving "ok".  Being a wild horse he still focuses on the environment around him.  He was listening though and that's what I was looking for.

The single track goes along the river and there is quite a bit of dead fall to negotiate.  Scratch does this very well.  Very few "natural" things on the trail bother him.

When we come out of the single track, the path widens and is soft, and I encouraged him up to a lope.  He has a smooth motion and was moving along nicely without speeding up.

We crossed a bridge.  He was understandably worrisome.  The ground was different (concrete), there was graffiti painted on the surface.  I encourage him to go and he snorted several times, then stepped slowly onto the bridge.  Carefully he negotiated the crossing and relaxed when he stepped off.

We went back into a trot and for the next 20 minutes we worked on one-rein stops.  Scratch doesn't like to give in the snaffle and this is an exercise I know I have been neglecting.  It was time to but some work in and we did.  Scratch is really good at stopping when I sit, but that's not going to help me if he decides he needs to bolt.  We made a modest improvement and continued to walk, trot and lope back to our starting point.  We crossed the river a couple more times and we considered this a good workout.

Back to Blogging?

Back to Blogging?  Well, Maybe.  Maybe Not.

I only say that because I often have very good intentions about writing these wonderful, insightful blog posts that rarely come to fruition.  But often I, when I'm struggling or unsure of something, I return here to write about it and that helps me work it through.

Jessie has had a trying year.  After the colic last August, she had a lameness issue in February.  I gave her March and April off and she was still lame in her front left.  I took her to a "lameness specialist" and ultrasounds and x-rays revealed nothing definitive.  We were instructed to give her another 60 days off then re-check.

Now, I'm not sure what the doctor was going to re-check.  He hadn't found anything on the first go.  I gave her stall rest and massage the tendon that was suspected.  I wrapped and applied liniment and gave her and anti-inflammatory.

After two months off, instead of going for the re-check, I took her to an Equine Spa that specializes in conditioning horses.  They have an underwater treadmill, an Equi-Vibe machine, and a hot walker. They also have a very caring staff and I knew Jessie would get excellent care.

She started out with just 3 minutes on the treadmill, a few on the hot walker, and then finished on the Equi-Vibe.  Each day they increased the treadmill by a minute.  I don't know the exact details of the progression, but by the end of the month she was doing some strenuous work in the treadmill.

And, when I picked her up she was looking quite buff.

Jessie Before

Getting her work in on the hot walker.

Going home day.  Love the braids.

She came home July 21st and we've had about half a dozen rides since.  The last four I've done groundwork after the ride (the early morning rides were essentially walking for 2 hours and I thought we needed to actually get some work in).  She hasn't shown any sign of lameness and she appears to be in really good shape.

Since she has come home, I've been trying to keep all the horses worked/ridden.  It's been a challenge, but a fun one.  Each of the horses have a different personality and it's neat trying to figure out how to ride them accordingly.  Jessie loves to move and is not afraid of anything.  Scratch loves to move and is ever on alert.  Dusty hates to move and can be brave one step and scared the next.

Technically, I Am

If one makes money from giving lessons about horse training and horsemanship, one can call himself a professional horse trainer, correct?  Well, I've given my first paid lesson.  Technically, or otherwise, I'll take it.

Rebecca and I met at the Obstacle Challenge mentioned in the last post.  She asked if I would help her and I gave her my standard consulting proposal:  "We'll meet up and work with your horse, if you like what you see and want more, we'll agree on a price.  If not, no harm done."

The first meeting was a couple of weeks ago.  She has a Mustang that she has had since it was 6 months old.  It was orphaned and she has raised Dixie who is now I think, seven.  Dixie is a good horse.  A little pushy like you might say many orphans are inclined to be.  She's had a number of different trainers.  Rebecca has gathered a lot of advice from many of them.  Her knowledge is not organized in any way.

Today we went through the first seven groundwork exercises.  It helped getting Dixie's attention.  Rebecca was taking her out on a group ride this afternoon.  Dixie didn't want to go through the gate to the trailer.  We fixed that.

We worked on flexing and hindquarter yielding.  We did some lunging for respect stage one and backing up.  All in all it was a good little lesson.  I think Rebecca got her money's worth.  I got to face the challenges of teaching someone a method that was a bit foreign to them.  More importantly, I was able to work with another horse and put that experience under my belt.  Not to mention that technically, I earned my professional's wings.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

    

How Many Times Does it Take?

There's something about horse training that's counter-intuitive. I hear the same things over and over again stated similarly from different trainers, but it still takes me forever to learn. Yes, I'm slow. Stop your snickering.

Clinton says, "Be black and white, no fifty shades of gray". Okay, I'm paraphrasing. Matt Sheridan says "Know where the holes in your horse are". I've heard Ian Francis say, "Have a picture in your mind of what you want and keep asking the horse for that until get that picture." Most recently Jonathan Field said to me, "When your horse gives you what you want, leave him alone."

The last couple of weeks I've been working three horses in the morning. Frosty, our neighbor's 10 year old mare who is a very sensitive girl. Dusty, my wife's horse who is 18 and a bit out of condition from an easy winter, and my mare Jessie who is a bit in between the temperament of the first two horses. Working three horses back-to-back is a great learning tool. I've just recently re-acquired access to the paddock behind our house to work the horses. We do not have a round pen. Everything is done on a lead line.

Okay, you are probably wondering what all the bitching and moaning at the top of the page was all about. I've been trying to get Dusty to be more responsive when picking up the canter. Ranae tells me -and it's easy to see- that she really has to work to get and keep him moving. It gets to the point sometimes that her leg cramps up trying to keep him in the canter.

I'm working on the ground. The first week, I Take it easy on him. He's nearing twenty. I don't want to break him. The second week I think he can give a bit more. He has been so sluggish it takes a bunch to get him going. It's work. But it's just these kind of hurdles that move the learning process forward. Finally, after the second or third session Dusty gets it. When I point, and kiss he goes.

And that's another thing. I learned from Clinton it's Point, Cluck, then Spank. Somehow this order starts drifting all over the place. It becomes Cluck, Point, Spank then Spank, Cluck, Point maybe Spank. Spank for no apparent reason, Point for no apparent reason. I'm all over the board.

This is why it's good for a trainer to have a little OCD in him. Get the order, do the thing, and consistently do the thing. Really, that's what makes a good trainer. Someone who gives the cues to the horse, in a way he can understand, the same way...over and over again.

I remember one clinic I was covering for the Whoa Podcast. I asked the clinician how much information he thought the students could absorb in a three-day clinic. His answer was 15% the first time around, 50% the second time around, and if they took it a third time, 80%. That's a fairly bleak assessment. Those clinics are not cheap. But, that's the way we learn....I guess. Do you have similar struggles picking up these concepts? It's one of the reasons I love the DUH dvd's I can go back an refer to them from time-to-time. Do you have those A-HA! moments when something just clicks? I would love to hear about your challenges if you are a recreational horseman. (Well. even if you are not.)

Training Frosty

Frosty

This is Frosty.  I've been working Frosty through the Method in preparation for our visit to the Bar SZ Ranch with the Norcal Downunder Brumbies in May.  I'll be doing a presentation and I want to get my act together.  Working with one horse has its disadvantages.  Yes, you can become a little complacent.  Working Jessie doing the same exercises can get a little boring.  Not only for me but for for Jessie too.

We've had three sessions so far.  Frosty is a mare.  Sorry, don't know too much about her background - I should.  She is far more sensitive than Jessie.  We've been doing a lot more desensitizing.  She has some very quick moves and has dumped a few people over the years.  I'm quite interested to see how her training progresses compared to Jessie's training.  My goal is to see if I can get her as bombproof as Jessie.  I think this could be quite a challenge.  It will demonstrate to me the differences between horse personalities and training.  I'm excited by the thought of discover.

Frosty has had a good amount of training from some trainers in town.  The owner has taken her to a couple of clinics.  She doesn't get ridden very much and with any horse that can be a challenge.

Today we started with a little desensitizing, then went to lunging.  First, Stage One, then Stage Two.  She has a nice little roll back.  She is a smaller horse and I can see her quickness from the ground.

Last work out we tried the run-up-and-rub exercise, and while we were mildly successful, I went back to the head-shy exercise.  I must have worked on this as an exercise between impulsion exercises three times for a total of 30 minutes. By the end of the session, I think she was connecting with it.  

I also liked the reaction I got to the throw-the-rope-to-a-stop exercise.  Frosty's back end would kick out and she would step her shoulders toward me.  That just gave us something to work on.  I was able to see improvement going to the left.  The right, not so much.

I'm hoping to work with her tomorrow and Sunday.  I have no thoughts of riding her for the future.  I am trying to keep the thought of "I'll know when to ride her, when I know she can be ridden safely."

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'."

Fun with Groundwork

I had told Ranae about our 5:30 am workout and she thought it sounded like fun, but there was no way she was getting up early. When the weather turned unsettled and we weren't sure if we wanted to go for a ride (and risk getting wet), we decided to shoot this little video on creative groundwork. Enjoy!