Horse training log II

Some of you may remember my posts from last summer about some horses I was training at a quarter horse ranch.  Last fall, after our car accident and subsequent time spent in the body shop, I had to quit going to the ranch.  Once I had the car back, we found ourselves into the holiday season, and then of course lost our sweet pup Nova and then our wonderful old guy, Manni.  Finances have been a little tight, and the ranch is NOT located close to us, so I haven't been in several months.  Much to my chagrin.

I promised myself though, I would not and could not give up on my underdog friend, Luna. I've finally made it back out to visit her, and I'm really pleased with the news I have to share.

The first time I saw her after a long hiatus, I don't think she placed me.  She saw Yvonne (the ranch owner) and was acting slightly nervous, pacing at the front of her stall with a stiff neck and body.  I let myself into the stall and she finally did notice me.  I began scratching and stroking her shoulders and withers.  The first thing I noticed (apart from her fuzzy winter coat!) was that she'd gained a good amount of weight back.  Her hindquarters weren't hollowed out, her ribs weren't showing, and she didn't look skeletal any more.  I was thrilled to see her looking so good.  Her tail had begun to grow back in, and the rubbed-out portion of her mane had new growth as well.  Of course, nobody had taken her from the stall since I'd last seen her, much less groomed her, and I set to work. The hair was flying!  Warmer temperatures and springtime caused her to begin shedding out that long winter hair.  It had to feel good to get groomed! Yvonne stood outside the stall and caught me up on the ranch horses. (Turns out they were able to sell Abe the Paint stud to a show home because of the great start I gave him!) She also mentioned that since I'd taken the nasty old halter off Luna, she wouldn't let anyone catch her.

Luna pushed her nose into her purple halter when I offered it to her and eagerly followed me to the gate after I clipped on her lead rope.  We walked out to the round pen.  She was a little nervous on the way, or maybe more like hyper-alert.  After all, she hadn't stepped foot outside her stall since autumn.  We walked around the round pen, and Luna spooked when two large Labs came bounding up to the fence barking their heads off.  They really took her by surprise!  It didn't take very long before Luna decided they weren't going to eat her, and we moved on.

I want to mention that last autumn, in the single session that I was able to have Luna in the round pen, she was very nervous and suspicious of my saddle sitting on the ground.  She was visibly anxious about it, and normally young horses aren't afraid but rather curious. Of course, I had that rough tough cowboy to thank for Luna's reticence about the saddle.  As if it isn't hard enough to start a young horse right, I knew I'd have to help Luna see that not everybody is out to get her and that the saddle and being ridden can have very positive results.  I knew last fall that Luna and I had a lot of work ahead of us.

So this time, I worked her around the round pen without pushing her - I hoped that walking for awhile beforehand would be enough to warm her body up so that she wouldn't injure herself being an idiot after all those months cooped up.  She was surprisingly reasonable at the end of my lunge line, particularly for a young, very green, very fresh horse. Once she'd stretched her legs, we began simple groundwork.  It's easy for me to fall into my habit of assuming that the horses I handle know what I'm asking of them - I constantly have to remind myself to keep expectations low for Luna and remember that she really doesn't know anything.  This helps immensely in keeping my frustration at bay. We worked on walking side by side, turning together, stopping together, and backing up when asked. I began asking her to move different parts of her body independently with very little pressure from me.  I was amazed at how quickly Luna picked things up - I legitimately don't think I've ever worked with a brighter horse.  She would move her shoulders or her hips aside for me with just a touch of my hand within minutes of learning what I was asking. Teaching a horse these things on the ground is helpful because they're all things that I want her to already know when I finally do manage to climb onto her back.  (An aside - I always refer to Luna as "little", but I think maybe that's just because of her affectionate, in-my-pocket kind of personality.  In truth, she's quite large!  She stands at least 16.1 hands high at her withers, and I wouldn't be surprised if she were still growing.  Someone forgot to tell her she's a quarter horse and NOT a Thoroughbred.)

Luna was progressing very well, so I felt inspired to try introducing the saddle and pad again.  I retrieved them from my car and brought them to the round pen.  Luna snorted anxiously at the sight of them and I saw her eyes widen.  I set both the pad and saddle over the fence rail so she could sniff them as I came through the gate.  She must have smelled every square inch of both saddle and pad by the time she was through.  Once she was satisfied that they were safe, she began gently taking different parts between her teeth and tugging.  At this point, I was reminded yet again that although Luna's body may be 5 years old, her mind is still very immature.  She hasn't been exposed to hardly anything; she has not had the opportunity to progress like a normal adolescent horse and so, she is very much like a two year old (or younger) in how she approaches life.  This fact alone explains to me much of her behavior.

I brought the saddle and pad into the center of the pen, and Luna followed me dutifully.  She had to re-inspect them, because now they were on the ground and they looked different. Satisfied, she was not bothered when I picked up the pad and held it to her nose.  She sniffed it, and bit it.  I rubbed the pad slowly against her.  I noticed she was not nervous about it, so I grew bolder.  I switched sides and rubbed her with the pad.  I opened the pad and began flopping it gently against her.  I placed it over her back, and she was fine.  I felt proud of her for being brave. I took the pad on and off several times, walking her around in between applications.

Then I held up the saddle.  After sniffing it some more, I stood beside her and just lifted the saddle slowly into the air without advancing towards her.  She eyed it suspiciously the first time, but quickly settled.  Then I would lift it and touch it to her back.  Slowly, back and forth, advance and retreat.  Luna was uneasy, but held still and kept blowing warm air into my face as I worked beside her.  Finally, I hooked the edge of the cinch ring over her spine and slowly slid the saddle onto her back.  She craned her neck around to look at it, but her feet remained steadily in place.  I pulled the saddle off and repeated the process several times before leaving it in place.  I asked her to walk forward and she was a touch nervous, walking sideways a few strides before settling down.  I stroked her neck and repeated my mantra, "You're safe.  As long as you're with me, you're safe." I pulled the cinch around her belly and pulled it just tight enough so she could feel it against her.  We walked a few more strides as I pet her and talked to her.  I tightened the cinch another notch.  Walk, repeat.  I never tightened it enough that it would actually support a rider's weight getting into the saddle, but she had issues with cinches and bucking with the cowboy and I didn't care to repeat them.  I just wanted her to learn the saddle isn't so bad.

I kept my lunge line short and asked her to move out.  She began trotting in a very small circle around me, unsure about the stirrups bumping into her sides but moving forward and trying.  I called out to her and praised her efforts.  Though she was obviously uncomfortable with the stirrups bouncing around, she never blew up and went on a bucking rampage, which is what you can typically expect of a young horse wearing his first saddle. Gradually I let the line out and her circle widened.  After a few full-size revolutions, I asked her to pick up a lope.  She did so, lengthening her stride and picking up the pace.  She loped along uncertainly, but the point was that she was trying.  For me.  She wanted so badly to do as I asked.  I called for a whoa, and turned her the other direction.  She trotted along until I asked for a lope, and when she transitioned into the faster gait she took a misstep and caused one of the stirrups to hit into her side harder than usual.  She tucked her hindquarters underneath her and kicked out with her near hind foot one time, but then picked her lope back up perfectly, if not a bit confused about what had happened.  She loped a few turns around the pen before I stopped her and let her come in to me.  She stopped in front of me and sniffed my cheek, my hair, before touching her nose to mine and blowing sweet hay breath in my face. I hugged around her neck and told her how proud of her I was.

Just then, Yvonne stepped out onto her porch.  She had been watching from inside.  She called out to me, "That is damned impressive.  The cowboy said when he saddled her, she broke down his railroad tie round pen with all her bucking.  TWICE."

I glowed a little with happiness just then, knowing that Luna was willing to try so hard for me.  I hoped Luna saw how hard I was trying for her.

I didn't want to push my good luck, so I unsaddled Luna and took her out of the round pen.  We stopped at the tack shed to brush out some of her sweaty long winter coat before heading back to her stall.  As always, saying goodbye to Luna is the worst part of my day.  Her bright chocolate eyes always follow me as far as she can see.

We still have a long ways to go, but I feel encouraged.  I know Luna is special, and I'm interested to see what we can make of each other.

(I brought a camera to take pictures of her, but the battery was dead!  I was so disappointed I didn't get a photo of her first time wearing my saddle.  Oh well.  Next time.)

Horse Training Log

Ahh, another horsey post!  Avert your eyes, if ye be disinterested, because this post contains no photos of our darling baby.

So, the horses.

First, there's an Arabian gelding I've been working with named Ben.  Ben is a special character, even for an Arabian.  (Traditionally, I do not like Arabians but this one is ... unique.)  Ben is eight years old and had never been saddled, much less ridden.  His owner is an older woman who bought Ben as a ripe three year old and then decided to put off starting him under saddle.  She kept putting it off and putting it off, likely because she was intimidated by him, and now it's been five years and he's just a chubby pet.

Ben has always enjoyed getting out and learning new things.  He seems to like having a new person to get to know, and enjoys certain challenges.  Other challenges however... he'd prefer I'd just not throw at him.  For instance, he did amazingly well with his first saddling!  Better than almost any other horse I've started.  No blowups, no being crazy, no bucking even.  He just walked off like he'd been wearing that saddle his whole life.

But you want to put a bridle on him?  Oh heck no.  Ben panics at the sheer thought of ANYTHING being above his scaredy Arabian ears.  You can barely get your hand up there.

So Ben needs some work.  But he also has a flair for the dramatic, and tends to overreact to everything.  We've learned that Ben just needs a little bit of bullying, and he'll huff and puff about it but then allow you to do what you want.  Oh, except the "things above his head" issue.  We're working on it.

The other location has several (and by several I mean a lot) horses who need some work.  The Paint stallion Abe is doing well, coming along nicely.  He had his long hooves trimmed last week and he's still a little tender on his toes, but that'll fade with some more time.  Today Abe was being more ornery than usual, but it's been a week since he's been worked so that isn't unexpected.  Abe enjoys seeing how much trouble he can get into without getting into REAL trouble, you know what I mean?  For instance, I've been working and riding this horse for awhile now and he is excellent under saddle.  No mean bone in this horse's body, and he's certainly not afraid of anything.  But today, I saddle him and send him around the round pen and he rears and plunges and hops around like a giant copper bunny rabbit.  All the while, looking at me like, "See?  I'm a big bad stallion.  I don't HAVE to wear this saddle.  I do what I want."

No, son.  You do what *I* want.  I picked up the lunge whip and encouraged him to move out, which typically stops bucking and rearing because it's harder to do those things while you're running around.  He sees that whip in my hand and immediately took off around the pen, all the bravado and buck was gone.  What a turkey.  It wasn't long before he was feeling pretty sorry for himself, as it was hot out and he'd been working for awhile and was sweating up a lather.  I bridled him and stepped up into the saddle and he plodded around the round pen like a kid whose toy had been taken away.  You might have thought he was eighty years old, the way he moped around after I'd beaten him at his own game.

Abe cracks me up.  He is very much like a young child, and I cannot help but be charmed by his ornery, naughty ways.  He's going to be a very good riding horse, indeed.  I'm hopeful he'll find a good home where he'll get a partner and good, regular exercise and a job to do.

The chestnut mare Jane that I mentioned last time has been coming along, too.  My friend Kate has been coming with me to help with the horses, and Kate has taken over working Jane.  Kate has been teaching her to lead nicely without running you over or stepping on your feet, as well as to lunge correctly.  Jane's feet are in pretty ugly shape and badly need some attention from a farrier, so we're hoping that'll happen soon.  She'll be a much happier horse when her feet are taken care of.

I started "refreshing" a horse for the son of the owners of this property.  She's a gorgeous buckskin mare named Shakti (I didn't pick her name.) and she was started under saddle by some cowboy horse trainer, but it was at least eight or nine months ago.  She's been sitting in her stall, doing nothing, since she was started.  Shakti is an extremely nervous, jumpy, scared horse.  She also doesn't like new people and takes awhile to trust them.  Needless to say, she's been a challenge.  The second time I worked with her, she seemed to possess much more of her brain than the first time, so I figured it'd be okay to get on her back.  She was skeptical but allowed it.  She walked around and stopped and turned for me, and was fine with it, so I asked her to trot.  She was trotting along confidently, when for no reason that I could discern, skidded to a stop.  Since she'd stopped so suddenly, I was thrust forward in the saddle and instinctively my calves gripped her sides.  This was a motion that Shakti was NOT expecting, and she blew up like a firecracker.  I got left in the dirt as she flew around the round pen.  I got back up on her, but she was noticeably more nervous about everything.  Today she did well with being saddled and bridled and exercised, but I did not ride her as my back isn't quite 100% yet and I'm just not THAT stupid.

I think Shakti just needs plenty of time and reassurance.  She's so nervous and requires constant encouragement.  Honestly, I don't think this is the right horse for the owner's son, because I doubt he is able and willing to come out and work with her every single day.  She needs a confident person who can devote a good amount of time to her.  She's not a horse that you ride a couple times a month and call it good.  I hope that I can develop a good enough relationship with her that she'll trust me, but time will tell.

And finally, sweet Luna.  I noticed today that she looks to be gaining a bit of weight, and I felt a good amount of relief seeing that she wasn't as skinny as when I first laid eyes on her.  Her hooves were supposed to be trimmed last weekend, but they weren't done for whatever reason.  I'm starting to see a crack develop in one hoof and I hope that her extra long toes get trimmed soon.  I myself tried to trim some of the length off her toes, but her hoof wall has grown so thick and strong that I couldn't nip any of the extra hoof off.  I'm hopeful that the farrier's well-practiced and stronger arms can do the job.

I have not worked Luna yet, and I'm not even eager to do so until her feet have been worked on.  I fear that working her in the round pen would further encourage the crack in her hoof and I certainly don't want her going lame.  Though I am really interested to see what this little mare is made of.

Today, as we walked up to Luna's stall, she turned around to see who was coming and upon noticing who it was, she called out a greeting.  That was the first time I've heard her utter a sound, and it was a sweet throaty little nicker.  I stood in her stall with her and we chatted for awhile with Kate and Yvonne, the owner.  Luna was her charming, affectionate self at first, loving all the scratches I was giving her.  She also thought Kate's phone was terribly interesting and wanted to bite it.  After a few minutes, Luna pulled out all the stops and was even cuter than she'd been before.

She stood behind me, chest pressed into my back, and arched her neck high over my shoulder so she could nuzzle at the screenprinted heart on my tshirt.  The sound that the printed part of the shirt made against her lips must have amused her, because she did it several times.  She craned her neck around to sniff my ears and my face and then she turned her long head sideways and stuck it through the fence panels to thoroughly sniff Kate, as well.  She just wanted to be there with us, and kept wiggling her lip against my face and whuffing warm air into my ears and nose.  Finally, she decided that she was very interested in my visor.  She lifted her head up and carefully took the brim of my visor between her teeth and just tugged a little bit before letting go.  Luna did seem terribly pleased that we were letting her explore us, and that we were loving on her.  I combed through her uneven and tangled blonde mane with my fingers while Kate tickled her soft muzzle and she just seemed so relaxed.

I can't wait to see what Luna has in store for us.  She's a sweet girl.  Yvonne even commented on how much she seemed to like us.  Amazing, what caring a little and giving a creature a chance will do for their affection towards humans.

Bella Luna

Recently, I've been blessed with a combination of good fortunes.  My lovely wife saw that, after all our horse photography lately, I've been struggling with not having horses in my life.  She sagely suggested that I try and find a way to ride someone else's horse for free, since we can't afford to lease one.  I posted an ad on good ol' craigslist, offering to train a young horse how to carry a saddle and rider.  I wasn't sure if I'd even get any interest, since often people are suspicious of allowing perfect strangers to come handle their horses.

Boy, I did not realize how many people WOULD be interested.  I had to take the ad down after just one day because I had several emails and more horses than I could have hoped to ride in a year.

The first email was from an older woman who, along with her husband, owns a Quarter Horse and Paint Horse breeding ranch.  Typically, they sell the foals after they wean from their mothers and are not accustomed to having multiple older horses around to train to take a saddle and rider.  In the past few years, with the economy breaking down, they ended up with several foals left over on the property long after they should've been sold.  The woman has a bad hip and a bad back, and her husband has a back injury.  They couldn't train the young horses any more because they were too concerned about getting thrown off and seriously injuring themselves.  This is where I come in.

Naturally, *I* think - this is a fantastic opportunity!  All these well-bred horses to start right and train and who knows, maybe she'll throw me some training business down the line!  Most people probably think I have some kind of mental disorder, volunteering to do so much work so this woman can get more money for her horses.

But truthfully, I enjoy being around and working with horses so much that it's like a second Christmas, an opportunity like this.

I spoke to the woman on the phone first, and asked a bit about the horses and her facility, etc.  She was telling me about the horses she wanted me to work with - seven, in all.  She said that six of the seven were wonderful, should be easy to work with, handled often.  I said, "And the seventh?"

She paused.  "That filly... I don't trust her.  She's always been different.  You'll have to see what you think."

I pressed her, asking why she didn't trust her.  She explained that she wasn't handled like the rest of them as a baby and that she's always been more standoffish and she just can't get a handle on what she's really like.  She asked, "Have you ever had a horse whose personality just rubbed you the wrong way?"  I replied that I had, and she commented that both their personalities seemed to rub the other one the wrong way.  I accepted that, but was already curious about this "different" horse.

The first time I visited the ranch, the woman took me on a slow and limping tour of the property, showing me each horse and telling me what work had been done on it thus far.  After the first horse (a gorgeous Paint stallion the color of a freshly minted penny), I asked what his name was, to try and attempt keeping all the horses separate in my mind.  She replied that she didn't know his registered name off the top of her head, and that she didn't give any of these young horses names, because as a breeder she couldn't get attached to the babies.  She told me she just called him, "The Paint stud".  Funny, since she has six breeding stallions on the property and several of them are Paints.  I knew better than to ask about the rest of the horses' names.

After she showed me the six, we ambled towards the very back of the property and she began telling me the story of "the rogue filly" at the back.  Reportedly, when this little chestnut filly was born, the farm had between 15 and 20 foals on the ground.  The owner's husband was on a long trip to New Mexico, and she was single-handedly gentling and working with all the babies.  She simply didn't have the time or resources to work with all of them in addition to feeding, cleaning, and exercising the older horses, so the young filly who wasn't interested in human contact didn't get handled.

Once the filly was weaned from her mother, she was placed in a turnout by herself - as all the weanlings are. Being isolated forces the young horses to come to the humans for companionship and comfort, rather than bonding with other weanlings and avoiding people.  However, since this filly wasn't handled as a nursling, she was disinterested in the little human contact she was offered.  She kept her own company, lived on her own for awhile.

When the time came to catch her and start teaching her the necessary skills she'd need to be sold, the filly wouldn't allow herself to be caught.  She evaded the breeders, running wild in her turnout.  The breeders couldn't see any way to catch her, so they hired a cowboy to come out and rope her.  They put her in a stall and worked with her, got her accustomed to being haltered and led and having her feet picked up.  But she never really bonded with them, not in the way the other babies all had.  She didn't trust them, and they wouldn't trust her, either.

The economy bottomed out, and even this breeding operation's fine young horses weren't selling.  Including the young, disenchanted filly.  The time passed, months at first, then years.  Before long, the horse was full-grown and ready to be taught to accept saddle and rider.  But the breeders didn't have a good relationship with the horse; didn't trust her to not hurt them.

They opted to send her to a cowboy who would saddle-break her and teach her to be ridden.  She was to be there for 30 days.

Halfway through, the cowboy called to report that it wasn't going well - the filly refused to stop bucking once he saddled her, and he hadn't yet been on her back.  The cowboy was notorious for his use of a rear cinch, which is a wide strap of leather that circles a horse's lower abdomen and keeps the rear of the saddle from popping up on the horse's back (during competition or during a naughty bucking session).  It is not considered one of the mandatory pieces of a saddle, though many find it helpful.  The breeder asked if the cowboy had considered taking his rear cinch off, that perhaps the cinch was causing the filly's bucking.  He refused to try, insisting that she get used to it.  At the end of the 30 days, the cowboy asked for more time and the breeders told him no, they were coming to pick her up.  As they pulled onto his property, they found him riding the chestnut filly and looking pretty nervous about it.  They noticed that she'd lost weight while in his riding program.

I am unsure how long ago this happened to her, but it's safe to say that she has not been worked with since then.

So when the breeder walked me out to her pen, I was unsure of what to expect out of her.  The mare watched us approaching, ears forward and brown eyes bright.  I noted that she was in a pen at the back of the property, separated from any other horses and farthest away from the main house.  She was underweight.  She still had some of her winter coat along her back and withers and hindquarters.  Her tail had been chewed off while at the cowboy's place, according to the breeder.  It was in mats, tangled into dreadlocks.  Her mane had been rubbed or chewed off in places.  Her hair was a beautiful mixture of reds and golds, platinum blonde in places.

Between her eyes rests a small crescent moon of pale hairs - this is the only white marking on her whole body.  Her hooves have grown too long and begun to flare out and curl to one side.

The woman unhooked the chain around her pen gate and motioned for me to go inside.  As soon as I stepped foot into the pen, the mare turned away and walked to the back of the stall, putting her head low in the corner and refusing to acknowledge me.  I guess it shouldn't have been surprising, since most, if not all, the people in her life had let her down in some way.

I stood in the center of the pen and kept chatting with the breeder in a low, calm voice.  I turned my back to the mare and held a few grooming supplies I'd brought with me in my hand - a body brush, rubber curry, and a lead rope.

It wasn't even a minute before I sensed movement behind me.  I admit, I tensed a little, wondering if the horse was going to rush me or bite me, but before I could worry too much I felt her soft nose blowing warm air into my empty hand from behind.  I stood and just let her examine me.  She sniffed the grooming tools and lead rope, she smelled my pants and my ponytail and whuffed her breath into my ear.  I quietly stepped backwards, closer to her.  She didn't move away, but rather kept exploring me.  I scratched her chest and between her front legs.  I stroked her nose and rubbed her chin and jaw.  She let me step to her side and scratch along her mane and withers.  I switched to using the curry instead of my fingers and she stretched her head out and curled her upper lip when I hit a really good spot on her belly.  As I slowly worked all over her body, she would rest her chin on my shoulder or nose my back, sniff my arm, and rub her itchy face on my side.  She took the opportunity at one point to lift her head and breathe directly into my nose.  I took the opportunity to show her my trust in her, and breathed back into her nostrils.  This kind of exchange is vital in horse language - it's a way of gathering information, of learning to differentiate me from other humans; a greeting of sorts.  She gobbled up every kind word, every low croon I uttered.  She relished in every gentle touch.  As she relaxed and closed her eyes, standing comfortably with one hind foot cocked, I realized I had already decided that I loved her.

I barely know the horse, but I know enough to be certain that she's somebody special.

I'm feeling in awe of the way I came across this horse.  It just seems like I'm supposed to know her.

I drove home that day with visions of that mare's eyes watching me leave in my head.  Her crescent moon marking stuck out - I knew I had to come up with something to call this girl.  Later that night, I decided that Luna was the perfect name for her.

The following photos are of Luna, and because I was by myself, I could only take photos of her from outside her pen.  Because of this, these photos may be some of the worst quality pictures I've taken in a long time, and mostly just illustrate her coloring, markings, skinny body, and sad hooves.  Please forgive me.  I hope to take much, MUCH better photos of her soon.

She's thin, but some calories and muscling out will make her beautiful, I'm certain of it!

I love the color of her mane.

"Whatcha doin' with that thing?"

Pretty girl. 

 It's a little hard to see in this photo, but her hooves both flare and are beginning to curl to her right.  A trim will rectify this. 

Hi, sweet Luna. 

Silly horse wanted to examine the camera more than she cared if I got photos of her nice and straight legs. 

Bye, Luna!