Summer weather... & a drought

It has been a terribly dry year here in Wyoming.  We haven't had hardly any rain, our snowpack is already gone and the grass has barely grown.  Hay prices are skyrocketing (for last year's hay), this year's hay is nowhere to be seen, and the growers down in Colorado stand to make a fortune.

When we arrived in Douglas last year at this time the grass was lush and calf-high already.  We're lucky if we have two inches of spindly, skinny, patchy grass this year.

I am really glad I only have 2 horses to feed.  About 3-4 flakes of grass/alfalfa hay, a pound of grain a day and the four acre pasture is keeping them in good weight.

I have been hearing rumors that ranchers are selling off their cows for fear of not being able to feed them through the summer and winter.  Lots of people around here have 30 head of horses or more, and while they look okay so far, it may be tough to keep them fed.

Anyway...for my PNW friends, we could sure use some of your rain out here!

Both the girls had their farrier appointment on Sunday.  Tiny horse was absolutely perfect for hers.  Got her front feet trimmed up.  I have been cleaning them a little with a rasp and evening them out.  My farrier isn't a barefoot trimmer and I think he's not as careful about balance as my old farrier was.  We didn't tackle the back feet yet, since I'm still getting her used to having those handled.  She's coming along great though.

Front feet post-trim, leaning away from the camera--still out of balance but much better!

Front right lateral view, lots of retained sole.

Front right solar view...there is some pinkish bruising near the toe, a lot of difference in thickness between the "inside" (right side) and "outside" (left side) hoof wall quality, probably because of the unevenness of the hooves--still, they are nice & round with a tight white line at the toe

 Front right, lateral view

 Front left, solar view.  The false/impacted sole is already starting to shed.

I am hopeful with time and frequent trimming her hooves will even up completely, and I think I have reason to be hopeful--they should wear much better now that she is out in a more natural environment with room to roam over sand, pebbles, rocks, and grass.  I don't think there's any sign of clubbing, which worried me before.  I think the distortion/concave outline in her hooves was mainly caused by trimming only the toe back very infrequently, while letting the heels grow way too long, combined with being in a soft paddock and her super hard hooves.  She has been a tiny bit tenderfooted as she gets used to her heels working again, but it's nothing I wasn't expecting.  She is moving better already.  And I was so proud of her perfect behavior.

Chev, on the other hand, was a raving lunatic for her trim, striking, rearing, and acting like a horse I didn't even recognize.  It was like someone replaced my sweet, docile 7 year old with a wild mustang.  The farrier wasn't able to do much with her.  We finally decided she had been stung by something, because she had a complete meltdown every time a bug buzzed over her way.

I also think that maybe...she doesn't care too much for my farrier.  He gave up, I dosed her with flyspray, turned her out, and she was completely back to normal by that night.  I filed her hooves down a little more evenly and called it a night.

I think I might have to learn how to do this trimming stuff myself.  I have great attention to detail, understand symmetry, and feel like I could be good at this.  I just need to get brave and start investing in a few tools, like a new rasp and a hoof knife.  I feel like I could do at least as good a job as my current farrier, with a little supervision every 8 weeks or so.

Do any of you trim your own horses?

In other news, I've got tiny horse up to 6 hours of pasture a day, and she is loving it.  She'll be out 8 hours today before she returns to her paddock for the night, and I've seen no adverse signs of grass overdose so far.

Ironically, Chev spends most of her time in the run-in stall in the shade.  She doesn't like this heat.  And I don't blame her!

Lady, I need a drink.

Too hot to do anything but stand around

I did get some pictures of the storm that rolled through the other night.  Five miles wide with a 30 mile leader cloud (the biggest I've ever seen on the radar) being sucked right into it.  Luckily it died down by the time it came our way.

 I took this right across from the house.

 Zap!

New barn update: My horse can't relax

Well, there are some good things and some bad things.

The good new is it's literally 4 miles from my house, the guy who owns the property is really nice and my horse has plenty of room.

The bad news is my horse is an idiot.  She spends almost all day, every day just pacing the fenceline.  She has worn a rut.  The grass will never grow back.  And all the nice grass, which I've spent all week acclimating her to, really isn't getting eaten because she just paces all day.

I'm at a little bit of a loss as to what to do.  Her focus is on the other horses, which makes it annoying to do anything with her.  Which means we spend most of the time rehashing the stuff that I thought she had down as a 3 year old (like manners, etc).  My ears are still ringing from all the screaming she did right in my ear tonight. 

She actually rides fairly well out there, since she has learned that screaming = more work, but it's frustrating to tie her, brush her, saddle her, or do anything else since she is so distracted by getting back to the fence to pace and stare at the other horses that could care less that she's a pasture over.

The only upside is her turnarounds are really coming along...

I admit, I did not expect her to have this reaction.  She has never really been a "horse oriented" kind of horse, so I was hopeful the transition to solitary living (within sight of other horses) wouldn't be a big problem for her. 

But here we are, a week later, and I thought she would have "settled in" better.  She has better days where she does less pacing, but yesterday she was pacing the fence when I left in the morning, and pacing when I got back that evening to put her away.  Sometimes she is sweaty, sometimes she isn't.  4 acres of grass, and my stupid horse spends the whole day just turning one way, then the other on 100 feet of fence.

Suggestions?

A new home!

Sorry for the complete lack of updates!  Chev made it to her new barn and is doing fine.

Jumped right in the trailer to leave the old place, traveled well and unloaded like a pro.  I had forgotten how nice it is to have a horse that loads & travels!  And this makes me think the awesome shipper who brought her out from Oregon for me wasn't just being nice when he said she was just fine.

I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

 4 acre pasture

 Oooooh, horses!

Wait..what the heck??! (She has buffalo for neighbors)

Barn's on the left

Cruising around the corners

 As close as she'd get to the buffs

Checking out the neighbors

Her night stall, a run-in by day

Tack/feed room!

We've been doing the standard slow intro to grass pasture, and she has been doing great.  Honestly I don't think she's eaten much grass, but spends a lot of time running back and forth and really seems to enjoy all the room to stretch her legs.  

Her hooves have been cool, and I think tomorrow she'll be able to be out most of the morning and mid-day--but we're keeping a close eye on things.

She has another neighbor--a tiny, softball sized bunny.  Isn't he cute?

All tucked in for the night!

I'm so busy, I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse

All the materials I ordered for the fence have arrived!

Yay!

Unfortunately the SO is in Nebraska for the week, so I probably won't get everything up and running until this coming weekend.

I also gave notice at my current barn, which despite my trepidations, went well.  They had already brought in 5 more boarders, so I don't think they'll be too sad to see me go.

But I'm sure Chevy will miss Speedy, and I'll miss him too.

Carrot please?  Carrot please?

Here's a picture of Chev from about a week ago, also hot on the carrot trail.

I know you always save the last one for me.  Fork it ovow.

I love that it is finally warm enough to rinse literally a whole winter's worth of sweat off of her.  Eww.  It was so bad that all the skin-drying salt coming off her coat cracked my hands all up when I rinsed her.  I bet she feels much better.

With the SO out of town, it's the perfect opportunity for me to make all the foods that he hates.

I know I haven't made this a foodie blog, because this is about horses (mostly) but man, do I love food.

Right now I'm having this:

Unfortunately I was a little short on feta.

My mom's Greek salad recipe--something the SO does not, sadly, appreciate.

I also have this in the oven:

Pavlova ingredients

Yessss!

The epic Pavlova, perfect for the low humidity Wyoming environment!  This uniquely Kiwi dessert is pretty incredible, with its combination of crunchy-on-the-outside, marshmallow-on-the-inside sweet pavlova, fresh whipped cream, and strawberries, which have started popping up in the grocery store in abundance, even in tiny Douglas.

I made it for the first time last week from an authentic New Zealand recipe, and my only comment is, Why the heck didn't I try this sooner?

Well, it may have had something to do with growing up in the perpetually damp Pacific Northwest.

[When I told him I couldn't make this dessert in high humidity, the SO said, "What, it's such a snobby dessert that it can't stand being a little damp?"  I tried to explain that meringue-like desserts don't like moisture, but I think he had gone back to his computer game by then]

Still.

Speaking of damp, we've actually had some rain in Wyoming lately.  We literally hadn't had any precipitation (save a few super dry snowstorms) since last October.  I'm amazed the grass was coming up at all.  But we've actually had a fair amount of rain (comparatively speaking, PNW friends) in the last few days, so I'm hopeful it will grow.

That also means I haven't been riding--since this whole place turns to super slick mud when it rains--I may not get much in before the move.

It's going to be so nice having Chevy close by!

Sunday: the day where nothing goes as planned

Well, high wind warning + cramps = I didn't get out to the barn today.  Bummer.

On the upside, I finally have a plan.

Whenever the weather permits, here is what I am going to do.

1.  Drive to barn.  Or, get gas first.  Whatever.  Drive to barn.

2.  Take brush out of front seat, tie Chev in her pen, brush her out.  Put boots on.

3.  Straight to roundpen for some much need groundwork (see last post).

4. Straight to tack shed.  Saddle.

5.  Ride the ever loving bajesus out of her.  It's time to stop treating her like a 3 year old.

6.  Nice long cool out, maybe hit the trail.

7.  Put horse up.

8.  Drive home.

For now I'm just going to completely avoid the wash rack.  I'm not going to make a big bloody deal of it, and just move forward.  I think if I can fix some of the other little things it will cease to be an issue.  What I don't want is a big fight every time I come out, so I'm just going to ignore it for now.

Plus, when something like this crops up I tend to forget all about the many awesome things she does.  Like for example:  She has had 2 rides in the last three weeks, due to my vacation and other things.  When I rode her the other day she was wonderful, despite a loud and very near tractor dragging a pen right on the other side of the low arena fence, a squealing, crazy Arabian flipping out on the lunge in the arena next door, wind, and all kinds of other distractions.  She was calm, focused, and didn't flick an ear as we loped by just a couple of feet from the tractor.  She picked up both leads without a hitch, and she was so balanced I even forgot we were on her "bad" lead several times.  So I have a lot to be thankful for.  I think I'm just a lot better at fixing problems in the saddle than on the ground.

So, here's hoping.

Big bad life woes!

I think there may be some big changes on the horizon.

I am struggling with a desire to move back to my homeland.  I deeply miss my family and my close friends, my art connections, my equine connections and the availability of good jobs.

I know this is going to come as a shock to many of you--but I am really, truly, a very poor artist.  While it's great to not have a day job (haven't had much luck in finding one, actually, in this bustling metropolis of 6,000), it's not great having no money.

Plus, I miss my farrier.

I know that last thing is something only horse owners will understand.

Anyway.

All this has combined to make me feel sort of down in the dumps lately.  As I mentioned last time, I just returned from a lovely visit back home, where I remembered all the reasons I love Oregon.  I can deal with the rain.  Seriously.

But there are bills bills bills, student loans to be paid, etc, etc, etc.  Sometimes I feel like there isn't any way out of it all.  And then I think I'm being ridiculous.  Because of course there is.  I just need to find a job.

My work experience so far has been eclectic.  I am highly skilled in high pressure and customer service type positions.  I worked for 3 years in a high profile, high stress medical testing laboratory, where I climbed quickly through the ranks of temp-hire to workflow coordinator.  Did I like it?  Heck no.  I was exhausted every day.  But I had a lot of money in the bank.  And there were a few things I did enjoy.  I loved helping people.  I loved working hard.  And I loved making sure everything was done RIGHT.

I decided in the end that the stress was getting to be too much though, and transitioned into a veterinary receptionist position at (probably) the most expensive clinic in town.  I learned that people pretty much trample you when you're a receptionist.  Most of our clients were great, but there were some who thought anyone who was wearing a receptionist tag was a doormat.  I learned the finer points of client services finesse while at that job.

Plus, you have to have a little finesse when you're delivering a $6000 bill.

And darn it, I was great at my job.  If you'd been in the hospital in the last few weeks, I knew who you and your pet were, what you wanted and how I could help you before you even opened the door to come in.  I was that good.  And we had hundreds of clients.

But after about 3 years of some great times, some terrible times, and a whole lot of heartbreak, since it turns out I'm just not able to deal with euths on a daily basis, I moved to Wyoming.

Well, to clarify, I'm able to deal with the heartbreak as it's happening, but not when I'd come home to my kitties and stare at the wall for hours.  That stuff just isn't healthy.  Plus, I kinda had to stop at 3 cats, and it's pretty impossible to not accumulate animals when you work at a clinic.

I wanted to simplify my life.  And boy howdy, I got simple.

So now that I've had simple, I kind of want a little more complicated.  Like maybe a town that has more than 5 restaurants. 

But MOVING is complicated.

I have 2 kitties who are mine--err, I'm theirs--err whatever--Chat and Muffin--and one big, expensive horse.  Naturally there's no question about them coming with me.  I will drag them all over this darn nation if I have to.

 Here's Chaton

Here's the Fluff Man

Of course you already know the Queen Bee

It will be about $800 to ship Chevy back to Oregon.

Somewhere around $700 to rent a moving truck that will fit my stuff and is capable of pulling my little car.

Another $600 in fuel for said moving truck.

So what're we at now?  'Bout $2100 to start?

I need to sell some paintings.  Seriously people, I'm kind of desperate here.

Take a gander over at my webby:  www.mandrewsgallery.com

 Bolt, an APHA--an example of a $150 drawing.

I do custom work as well, and I'm very flexible on prices.  I have clients all over the US, but times are tough and it's hard to make connections in my little town.  If you've ever thought about having a drawing of your pony, now's a great time!  I'm just finishing up a logo project this weekend and then I'm wide open.

 Plains Storm #2

Wyoming Painting

Help me feel like my advanced degree in art was worth it :)

Speaking of money drains, here are a couple pics of Chev from today.

At least I'm not the only one who's getting a little tubby this winter.

Not much to report

It's day 2 of high wind warnings in my region, which means steady winds of 30-40 mph with gusts to 65.  Which also means I haven't gotten any riding in.

I did drag myself out to the barn today despite the high winds, and rode for about five minutes.  It was just too miserable to stay out there.

In other news, horse seems happy.  She is shedding a bit, and I can't wait to get back to her sleek, dark summer coat.  She is doing a good job destroying her nice Rambo blanket.  She and her paddock mate got tons of carrots and apples.  I'm hoping I can make it out there tomorrow.

I've just been feeling kind of bummed lately in general about things, so I apologize for the lack of posts. 

A bit of a break

I last rode Chev on 2/4.  We had some good moments, I was brave and went right to the hackamore for the whole ride (no snaffle bit warm up this time!).  But she felt pretty stiff and a little sore and I know we've been working really hard lately, so I'm giving her a few days off.

Chevy has one of those brains that sort of short circuits if you ride too much.  She's not a horse you could do arena work with every day.  She needs a couple days here and there to work things out, and I think the indoor arena rides left her a little frazzled (and more than a little muscle sore, since she needs to be so much more collected to work in a 45' wide space).

So we are both getting a little bit of a break.  I'll go out and visit her tomorrow, turn her out in the arena so she can have some time away from Speedy to roll and charge around on her own terms.  I'm sure she won't mind the break.

Plus she's due for some new shoes in about a week.  So maybe we'll pick up there.

Here's what it looks like around my neck of the woods (errr, prairie):

Platte River path, Douglas, WY

I took this the other day when we went for a walk along the river.  This is in town...so that gives you an idea of the kind of booming metropolis I live in.

On the upside, without horse riding weighing heavily on my mind, I did get some work done in my studio over the weekend, and got back to painting a little bit.  I've been mostly working on drawings and trying to come up with some extra money.

If YOU are one of those rare horse people with extra funds laying around, consider a commission!  I am great at horse portraits, and I really enjoy doing them (after many years of art school and not being "allowed" to draw horses, it's a treat!).  And yes, this is a shameless plug for work.  I only have one small project I'm working on right now--a logo for a horse trainer I know up in Washington state--and heck, even if you don't have any money, looking is free!  I would love it if you went in & had a look around.

Here's the link:  www.mandrewsgallery.com

 Sparkafide print close-up

Happy riding!

Videos + hackamore ride #3

Yesterday was the kind of day that made me happy I moved to Wyoming.  I even saw a bald eagle on my drive to the barn.

It was warm and sunny with no wind--almost t-shirt weather!

I feel like Chev is regressing somewhat with her indoor arena rides, and I was really happy to see how lovely the weather was.  It meant we could ride outside.

So I don't know if it was my good mood or hers, but we had a pretty good time.

I did notice one strange thing when I was grooming her.  She was really touchy about her right ear.  She usually loves her ears rubbed.  I couldn't see anything, but likely one of her neighbors caught it with their teeth, or it got banged on something because it was obvious she preferred I left it alone.

Can you tell which way is her bad canter lead?




The violent head shaking that happens around 1:30 is definitely because of her ear.  Poor girl.  After the ride it seemed to bother her much less.

After a brief ride in the snaffle, which I felt was kind of mediocre, my riding especially, she did alright--we moved on to ride #3 in the traditional hackamore.  This video is complete with her first lope in the bosal!





I was really happy with how responsive she was to it today.  It becomes pretty apparent how much more stiff she is going to the right, which is also her difficult canter direction--that's the only way I needed to correct her, I think you can see me do that pretty clearly in the video. Still, even though it's just her 3rd time in the bosal, she's already starting to understand the mechanics.  She seems to just sort of naturally "get it". 

I apologize for the amount of time I spend trying to get the lead end of the mecate reins secured.  I first tried my jeans loop, but it kept working loose, so I finally settle on the horn...I'm not asking Chev to flex her neck around, she's doing that on her own trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing up there.  She does stand nicely for it all though.

We cut the ride a little short because a friend of mine appeared with her sweet gelding, Speedy.

As I said in a previous post, I am a believer in bits.  But Chev seemed very happy to not have anything in her mouth.  She even looks a little confused on the first pass by the camera at the lope, like she doesn't know quite what to do with her head without a bit in her mouth.  It's long occurred to me that she might be the sort of horse that was made for the hackamore.

She is definitely the kind of horse that you can't muscle down.  That's why I had to install the kind of stop on her that I did.  You can't yank her down, she just pulls harder.  She resents strong bit correction, and with good reason, I think.

The traditional hackamore intrigues me.  It is not a tool of force or leverage--a horse can "pull through the hackamore in a flat second" (to quote mugwump).  It easily exposes deficiency.  It doesn't allow nitpicking.  And it doesn't let you to hold up your horse.

There shouldn't be any contact on the bosal like you would take with a snaffle bit.  Stops are all about you, because you can't pull a horse down in the bosal like you can a bit.

I hope we'll have more sunny, warm, and most importantly, wind-free days here in Wyoming--I'd like to have more rides in the hackamore!

After what was by no accounts a stressful arena ride (pretty much the whole ride is encompassed in these two videos), I swallowed my fear, put her back in the snaffle bit, and hit the trail.

"The trail" is really just about 70 acres of wide open space, with cliffs, bluffs, rocks, prairie dog holes, scrub, cacti, etc--what you'd expect from open plains land.

Chev is not a trail horse.  She hates the trail.  She is absolutely, 100% an arena baby, and she likes it that way.  But for the last couple months (or years, or whatever), I've had this growing fear that one day she would get so bored of arena life that she would have a total meltdown.

So far, so good.  But...

I feel like getting her out there will strengthen our relationship and give her some confidence in herself. Or something.  That sounded a little too "my horsey is my best friend"/anthropomorphic--but really, if she could trust me to put her places that are safe--well, I feel like that could help things a little.

She is a bloody mess out on the trail.  Stiff, upright, spooky--she almost came unglued when we saw four white-tailed deer, white flags in the air as they sprung away, but we did manage to hold it together.  I got her moving, she jigged, I sidepassed, she jigged some more.  She blasted up hills.  I pretty much fought her most of the way.

Still, half-way through the ride, which was a pretty big loop--I kept wanting to turn around, but then she would do something silly and I didn't want to reward her for it by heading back--I realized all the spooks, etc I've been riding in the indoor arena have really helped my seat for out on the trail.

She also started to become light in my hands.

 Looking towards Casper Mountain

And it's not like you want it out there, but I could feel how powerful she was behind.  I suddenly had a light as air powerhouse on my hands.  I'm sure a canter out there would have been spectacular.  But, I also had this feeling in the back of my mind that if she got going I wouldn't be able to get her to stop.

How do I get around that fear?  Probably by just blasting her around one day when I decide to stop being such a wimp, and treat the trail like I treat the arena--nerves just earn you more work.  I'm sure after about a half mile of cantering she would quiet down, and we could both enjoy the ride.

I think it comes down to me not trusting her to be a horse and be able to travel over the ground without stumbling.

At some point I need to give her my trust to carry us safely along on the trail as I do in the arena.

I was able to ride her on a loose rein when she was in sight of the barn property, and she didn't try to rush back when it came back into sight, so that's something, right?

The open prairie

Indoor arena ride #4

I did make it out to the barn yesterday.

I was biding my time, watching wunderground for the best moment to go.  It said:

winds 10-15 mph

I thought, "Great.  I can deal with that."  And I got in my car.  By the time I was outside of town it became apparent the winds were a heck of a lot stronger than 15.  My car blew all over the road.


I arrived at the barn outside of Glenrock in the middle of a windstorm so fierce Chev was sure we were going to die in the blowing sand while she tried her best to go around me on the line.

But--whatever.  I was already there.  I tacked her up and we had this kind of ride.





When I got up there the barn owner was just finishing up a lesson with a few little kids.  I had one of those moments when I mounted my horse where I felt like I was on top of the Sears Tower.  Or, Rockefeller Center.  Since I've never actually been on top of the Sears Tower.  But, anyway--

I forget how freaking tall my horse is until I'm around other horses...and we are just towering over them.  Yikes.

I started the video camera after we had done some warmup.  The other horses left, and Chev was sure she'd be stuck in the indoor arena with the howling wind for all eternity.  It was very stressful.  Poor girl.

I like the foam between her buttcheeks.  At least she was working with her hiney a bit!

I swear that my horse does stand when I get on.  It's really hard to tell how nervous she was in the video--as long as I kept her working she didn't lose her mind too much.  The sound of the wind was really agitating her.  A lot more than the last time we rode in there.  Of course, the wind was a lot stronger, too.

I was thinking a lot about forward, and how a forward horse is much less likely to come up off the ground (either in front or behind you).  I feel like it's just as much a mental thing for them.  It never occurs to the forward horse to rear.  So I tried to be happy with all the exuberant forward motion I was getting most of the time.  Again I'm surprised at how quiet she appears in the video, and how train-wrecky she felt in my hands.

On the downside I'm having to almost stand in my offside stirrup to keep her balanced in such a small space.

I can also see how crooked I'm riding.

And you can see how heavy she is on the forehand at the canter.  But four canter strides along the short side of the arena does not an adequately sized arena make!

We did manage to get outside for a brief ride afterwards, when the winds died down to about 40 mph.

I'll show you that video if I can ever get it to upload.  I think it's a good comparison video--she's being ridden with no contact and behaving herself pretty well despite all the wind in her face.  I'm not really putting her together at all, just letting her motor around.

Please check back by soon to view the outside arena video!

ETA:  Here's the outdoor video--at times I did feel like I was going to be blown right out of the saddle.  I'll try to get an angle next time that shows more of the arena.

Not all days are good days

We have been experiencing some pretty strong wind in Wyoming lately.

Like, 50 mph gusts.

This kind of weather is pretty miserable to ride in.  The sand blows in your face, you can't hear anything with the wind in your ears, and your horse can't hear anything either.  Also, it's cold.

So I was pretty excited to try out the brand new indoor arena.

It's not like I didn't anticipate a little bit of a fight.

Chev and I relocated here in June of 2011.  She hasn't seen the inside of an indoor arena since before the move.

I got her saddled somehow, with the wind blowing in my face and the saddle blanket everywhere, and dragged her and all associated tack up to the new arena.  I brought my lunge line and whip, because I knew she was going to be a dufus and that lunging her would help get the willies out.

She walked right into the new arena (which was a plus), and promptly forgot me completely (which was a big minus).

She was all freaked out by the arena, the poles, and the ferocious creaking noise from the wind blowing full force against the opposite wall.

Since I had her saddled, I kept her on the line so she wouldn't get too stupid and hang herself on something.  She made circles that were more like rectangles with one goose egg shaped side.  She feinted, she dodged, she tried to switch directions which she hasn't done since she was 3.  She completely forgot how to lunge.

She was so preoccupied with everything but me that she was acting like an unhandled youngster.  It was like my calm, broke horse reverted back into something I hadn't seen since I got her almost four years ago.

I lunged her for quite a while hoping for enough exhaustion to finally get her mind back on me.  Even with sweat matting her coat, she wasn't willing to come back.

Eventually I decided I should just get on, since generally I have more faith in my ability in the saddle than in groundwork.

She wasn't willing to go to the far end of the arena with all the wind blowing against the metal walls without a fight.  I had three simple rules which I hoped would get through to her.


Rule #1:  If the feet are still when I ask for a stop, all is well.

Rule #2:  If the feet are walking when I ask for a walk, all is well.

Rule #3:  If the feet are moving when I didn't ask, we're going to trot around in the far end of the arena.

Normally, she would have caught on very rapidly.  It takes her about three times to "get" a plan like this.

Today, she was pretty much completely outside of her ability to listen to me.

I kept the feet moving anyway.

We had several episodes in the beginning of vehement head shaking, whirling, skittering, shooting backwards, explosive departs, spins, and leaps.

I admit I thought to myself, "Wow...it was really stupid of me to write that blog yesterday about how long it's been since I've fallen off."

But I had to admit, even in the middle of all this craziness, I didn't feel nervous.

I kept her feet moving all the time except when I asked for the halt.  I assumed that if her feet were moving, on some level I had some sort of control of her body.

I booted her forward whenever I encountered potentially dangerous resistance like balking, getting too light in the forehand, curling up, sucking back, or shooting backwards.  I tried not to worry about the times she shot forward, because she was doing what I asked--moving forward.  At the time it seemed kind of hopeless.  But she did start to come around.

Each time I asked for a stop, I made my cues very clear, and then went completely neutral.  At the beginning, she would stop, and immediately move off again.  I would push her into a trot and circle her back for a few laps around the far side of the arena until I felt like she was ready to try again.

If she stood still, which I always hoped for but rarely got, then she got a rest and a pat while I remained neutral.

I assumed that if she trotted off on her own, she didn't need a break.

If she walked calmly without speeding up, she got to go back to the near side of the arena.  If she started trotting to get away from the far side of the arena, I immediately turned her nose around and sent her back to the far side.

We did this for probably 30 minutes straight.

We did make some progress, but I felt like she was getting overwhelmed by all of the sensory information.

Also, despite sweat running down her legs, she just wasn't tired enough to switch off the nervousness in her brain.

I chose my moment to dismount after a good, solid stop and when she relaxed into it a little bit.  Then I brought her out of the arena, unsaddled her, and brushed her out a bit.

I have to admit, at this point I was feeling pretty frustrated.

I have long believed that work was the key to getting Chev's brain going.

But work just didn't seem to be working.

I felt like it was a puzzle I needed to figure out.  I led her back up to the indoor in her halter.

I decided to let her hang in there for a little bit to see what she'd do.

She was a distracted, calling for her buddies (which she never does), pawing, pacing, circling wreck.

I got out my lunge whip and drove her to the far side of the arena.

She fought to get back.

I chased her back and forth and drove her to the back corner until she stopped.  Then I immediately dropped all the pressure and backed off.

I relaxed my body and put the whip in a neutral position.

As soon as she started moving her feet, I drove her back again.

We repeated this for several minutes, and each time she paid a little more attention to me, and a little less to the howling wind on the creaking metal.

After twenty minutes, I had her full attention.

If she stood well, didn't move her feet and kept an ear on me at all times, I rewarded her by turning my back and walking away--taking the pressure off completely.

Instead of blitzing to the other end of the arena, she would make a beeline for me at a quick walk.

When she got too close to my personal space, I drove her back and we would start again.

By the end of this she was entirely calm, respectful and tuned in.

We left the arena, I rubbed and brushed her down until she was dry, she rolled in the sand roundpen to her heart's content, and I turned her back out with her buddy.

Her eye was soft and kind.


I feel like I learned a few things today.

1) My horse is not as broke as I thought she was (darn it).

2) We have some serious personal space issues to work on (nothing like a scary environment to expose a horse that wants to jump into your arms for protection, which is SO NOT OKAY)

3) Work only works if you're doing it right.

I always try to end on a good note.  I felt like she was calm and looking to me for how and where to move at the end of our session today.  It'll be interesting to see how she does the next time we're in the indoor.

A little about me

I, like so many of you, have been in love with horses since I was a little girl.

I could outdraw my mom at age 4.

And just about all those doodles were horses.

My uncle was a showjumper who owned and leased some pretty nice Thoroughbreds.  My first ride was in front of him in the saddle, on his leased mare, dam of his jumper, Top Secret.  I was 3.

I was hooked.

For as long as I could remember, when in the backseat of my parent's car, I used to imagine I was outside, racing a fast horse along the car.  Jumping over any fence that got in our way.

Unfortunately for me, aside from my uncle I was the only one in my family bitten by the horse bug.  I saved all my birthday money and started in English lessons when I was 9.  At 10, I met my dear friend Mo, who was horse nutty like me.  She lived out of town and had several horses.

I remember so clearly packing up sandwiches in her old saddlebags, running down to the barn, and riding the horses all day.  We meandered through the creek, over slippery meadows and up logging roads.  We were gone for hours at a time.  It was heaven.  It was also my introduction to how sweet the quarter horse could be, and how unpredictable the mustang could be.

I took lessons weekly with several instructors and trainers for many years, and I learned the basics of huntseat, dressage, and jumping.  All my lesson horses were Arabians, and when I began riding, most were 6 or 7 years old.  Seems like I fell off weekly.  They would spook so rapidly, it was all I could do to stay in the saddle.  But I learned the art of velcro-butt, and the emergency dismount.  I learned a lot in those years.  Maybe the most valuable lesson I learned was to be light.

Arabians don't trouble with a heavy hand or a heavy leg.  They just dump you.  And I love them for that.

I showed in the IHSA circuit for two years in college, and that was a great experience.  Showing a horse you've never ridden taught me to be a quick study.  You had about 4 seconds to figure them out on the way into the ring.

There I rode warmbloods, quarter horses, paints, polo ponies, green horses, and broncos.  I even showed in a western class when we were short a person.

It was my first introduction to western riding.

When I was in my last year of college, I adopted my first horse, Baskovia.  I called him Ben.  He was 21 at the time, the same age as me.  He was a lost prince.  I had him for five wonderful years.  Part of my heart went with him the day I laid him to rest.

He was an ex-English Pleasure horse, and I doubt he'd ever seen a trail before he was mine.  He was fearless in the woods, and I rode him all over the place.  As long as we had each other, he would go anywhere.

In 2007, I brought home my filly, Chevelle.  Ben loved her and finally had a companion with him in the pasture.  She loved him and was always gentle and kind to him, though she was only 2, she was already nearly twice his size.

I began working with Chev when she turned 3 in 2008.

It was obvious her desire was to be a western pleasure horse.  I was able to get some excellent western instruction from a trainer who worked briefly with Chev in 2010.

I moved her with me halfway across the country in 2011, to Wyoming.  I'm continuing her physical training by myself, but I know enough to know I don't know much at all--and I rely heavily on books, other horsemen, and horsemanship theory that has been passed down through the years.

I look forward to every day of our journey together.  And she is turning in to a handy little horse, in spite of me.