Whatcha doin' out there? Huh?

We complicated things a bit by throwing some distractions into the training this morning. We usually train in the mornings, so the barn and environment are a bit on the quiet side, so today we shook it up a bit by opening the overhead door.

The sun was out for a little bit and no wind was howling, although it was -19. Lt didn’t give 2 hoots. Dolly was a bit concerned; there was a tractor and trailer picking up bales about a mile away and all she could see was something moving back and forth, so we kept her busy with circles and stepping over the ground poles and small jump we had set up.

Let’s just say there is no hunter/jumper career in her future! While she handled the ground poles ok, there was considerable thinking and effort to step over the elevated pole, you would think that big  quarter horse butt would be good for some propulsion, but no.

LT worked well , remembered all her lessons from yesterday–ie. don’t rub your riders’ knees on the wall. Nicely moving off the leg pressure, very good walk to stop to walk transitions.

Selene has gone away to the east coast for the holidays, Nadine is busy with family for the season, so that leaves Carole, Megan and Cec, who apparently have no lives.

The girls are continuing to make great progress in their training. In fact, LT loped today under saddle for the first time!

Like most of the training milestones with these horses, this was remarkably drama-free. We did some ground work first, asking the horses to move forward. When this was happening smoothly on the ground, we asked for the transition under saddle. And off she went!

Let me just take a moment to talk about what a great little horse LT is turning into. First of all, she is cute as a button. She’s a truly lovely shade of sorrel with an adorable face, and a mane and tail that look like they’ve had salon highlights. She is pony sized, sturdy without being stocky, and has a nice amount of energy and go. She does move like a pony, but her gaits are surprisingly smooth and her transitions are coming along beautifully.

Although ponies are often considered as mounts for kids, they are gaining popularity as casual trail horses for smaller adults, especially women who might find larger horses intimidating. And mounting a pony from the ground is a breeze! They fit in smaller trailers! They are easier to groom and tack up because you can reach everywhere, and don’t have to hoist your saddle over your head. Ponies are usually easy keepers, and this one promises to be all-around fun. I am so excited about what a nice little mount LT is going to make for some lucky purchaser!

Dolly has been showing a bit of hesitation in picking up her trot in the last few training sessions, so we have been encouraging her confidence at a walk and on the ground. Today, it paid off! She picked up her trot beautifully with a level head and smooth forward movement. She did very well, and it’s not going to be long before she’ll be loping as well.

One of the challenges of this project has definitely been getting good quality photos and video given the short daylight hours and c-c-cold conditions, hostile to unmittened hands holding battery-operated cameras.

However, here is some footage of Dolly’s first trots under saddle. She had a few days off due to a sore leg (one of those unexplained equine mystery injuries), but she’s back to full soundness and is doing great.

In this video you can see (sort of…) how Megan had us set up Dolly for success and safety. I am riding Tank, the princess of sturdy lesson horses, as a demonstration horse. Selene, on Dolly, is right behind me.

Bonus mule video! Megan on Happy the Mule.

Sunday’s training session consisted of bareback time with each of the two mares. Both are learning to move forward nicely and are very cool about having a rider aboard. Several of the photos below show that the horses are starting to drop their heads in a relaxed position when moving forward, and the trainers are starting to use leg pressure in addition to simply shifting their weight and steering with the rope halters.

I’m away enjoying some sun and recreation in Tucson, AZ. So, I don’t have much to say horse-wise, except that Arizona Feeds is very fun to shop at, and that hay is pretty expensive here. The price of an 80-100 pound bale of alfalfa/grass mix is $12. However, Megan and Cec sent me this video of Miss Dolly in action, so I thought I should post it ASAP. Enjoy!

dolly-riding

This was a dark day, and not because of any shopping-related shenanigans.

As we have mentioned, there has been little improvement in Sally Ann’s lameness, despite farrier care, lots of rest, good footing, and excellent nutrition. If this were just a question of an injury needing time to heal, we would have expected to see some improvement by now.

So, Sally Ann went to the vet today.

The good folks at Central Veterinary Services took their time with her exam. A number of x-rays were taken, and we were treated to a wide range of views of the bone structure of the equine foot. I was fascinated – it is truly amazing that such a relatively small array of bones and ligaments and tissue can support and propel such a large animal.

That structure, however, is not working for Sally Ann, who was diagnosed with Navicular Disease.

Tragically, there’s no real positive outcome to this situation. She will always be lame, and, worse, in chronic debilitating pain. Her condition will continue to deteriorate over time. Even when sedated in order to help us get her into the range of positions needed for the x-rays, she was still clearly very sore when moving.

Long term, this is unacceptable for her. So, the difficult decision was made to euthanize her. I am very sad. She was a sweet girl, and I became very fond of her in the short time I knew her.

Given her gentle nature, I am sure she forgives the people who dumped her at the auction – even if I never will.

Sometimes, you have to step back to move forward. At least, that’s what I took away from Tuesday’s (November 23rd’s) training session. That, and a reminder that even if you’re a beginner, and would prefer to see things neatly aligned in straight lines, boldly coloured in black or white – well, most of the time you’re stuck with shades of grey. Or, as Megan put it, “The only thing I can tell you for sure is that nothing’s going to work all of the time.”

(On reflection, that’s a piece of wisdom that applies in lots of situations… maybe we should get that stitched on a pillow.)

Anyway, today was the day where we read the horses’ body language and responses, and made a decision that we wouldn’t throw a bunch of new stuff at them. Our session started with our usual routine of grooming, tacking up, a bit of ground handling, and mounting up. Then, we waited for them to settle – to relax fully, stand still, and wait for instructions. And just as we were planning our next steps, LT yawned hugely three times in a row. Which was enough to tell Megan, and therefore us by extension, that she’d had enough. Dolly soon followed.

Some days, it takes almost everything you have just to get out of bed and get moving. I guess horses have those days too! Better to be aware of that and end on a positive note, with happy horses, hot chocolate, and raisin-bran muffins. So we did.

(Thanks, Nadine, those muffins were great!)

Monday November 22, 2010

Just a quick update from this morning’s training session.

1. It was cold.
2. It’s still snowing.
3. The wind was nasty. It made me grateful for the beautiful St. Andrews arena.
4. The mares are continuing to do wonderfully well with their training under saddle.
5. I had the fun of riding LT today. She is starting to move forward with confidence, and her turns and whoas are coming right along as well. I felt quite comfortable and relaxed, and I was pretty sure she did too.
6. She didn’t even spook when Cec fell over a mounting block as she concentrated on videotaping instead of walking.
7. I felt bad that I didn’t warn her about the block, but I honestly didn’t realize it was there.
8. Considering how hard I was laughing, I don’t think she believed me.
9. LT was laughing too. I could tell.
10. Dolly did well also, and got what is possibly her first look at children, who were visiting the barn with their mom, a boarder.
11. She was fascinated, teetering on the edge of nervous, although she didn’t react at all badly. After a short while, we opted to allow her to get used to them without the additional stress of a rider.
12. Of course, it’s possible that she just didn’t recognize them as small people, what with the parkas and snow pants and hats and boots and scarves and mittens. They hardly looked human – more like mobile swishy upright piles of fabric with squeaky voices.
13. We drank more hot chocolate.
14. That is all.

Sunday November 21, 2010
Weather has been a factor in this week’s training schedule. Thursday, the horses got some lunge line training with Cec, Selene, and Megan; Friday we cancelled because of the weather.

Driving conditions today weren’t all that great, but we got together anyway for an excellent training session, helped before and after with cups of hot chocolate.

(Aside: I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something particularly delicious about the cocoa that Cec makes. It looks like the ordinary powdered Carnation’s instant stuff, but on a snowy day like today, a few hours after breakfast, with my toes icy cold… well, it tasted heavenly.)

Today we focused on working with the mares to get them moving forward under saddle. Selene rode LT and Nadine rode Dolly, with Cec on the very steady Black Betty acting as our pilot horse – a calm example for our girls to follow. The mares and riders did very well, working on moving forward when encouraged to do so, with turns executed when asked.

We also discussed the training methods a bit more. “Other training methodologies would have had the horses walking, trotting, and cantering already,” said Megan. She went on to explain that the rationale for this approach is to get the horses accustomed to all three gaits with a rider aboard as soon as possible.

The approach that we are taking is different.

Here, the horses are learning that stopping is the preferred default activity, unless asked to do otherwise. The St. Andrews team has found that this builds a horse that is far less likely to resort to flight when confronted with a new situation – a much safer mount for most people.

“We’re engaging their minds early on,” Megan went on to explain. “We get them thinking about what we’re asking, rather than just pushing them to do more too quickly.”

It’s an approach that is working extremely well so far, as the horses are taking everything in stride!

Sally Ann’s feet continue to be sore and we are not riding her. Another consultation with the vet is in the works.