A ROAD TRIP & COWS!

DAY 17 – ROAD TRIP and COWS!: Today our good friend, Method follower, member of The Downunder Brumbies and owner of California Natural Horsemanship has invited us to meet up at Ed Hughes Memorial Arena in Ione, CA. It is about an hour from our place but it is COVERED with really nice footing. Should be a fun morning! Ronan, Nike and I arrived about 11:00am and met with fellow Brumbies, Mike, Cynthia and Denise. Some Friends of Brumbies Kaylee and Mark were also on hand.

            Trailering. Nailed it. Loaded right up without a fuss.

            COWS! There were well over twenty head of cattle in the obstacle course area at the arena. Nike was NOT amused! Guess she had never seen cattle and this many not more than ten feet from one side of the arena was less than ideal in her mind. After much work she stood within feet of them but was not happy about it. Lots of moving her feet and getting her to focus on ME without hiding BEHIND me. That was a workout.

The arena is HUGE and one side is FILLED with large sponsor signs (the cows are behind that side of the arena). So, since she looked less than thrilled about them, THAT is where we did our groundwork! Lots of Sending and a review of the lessons so far. It was a work out for us both. In fact she got TWO ground work sessions and TWO riding sessions today thanks to the awesome Denise! We managed to really get Nike to move out with just a good squeeze, to follow her nose and to listen to leg cues. After the workouts were done Denise and I chatted about Nike. We both feel that sh was micro-managed under saddle. We came up with a plan to help get Nike to be responsible for her own pace, cadence and her own feet. Still, being a young minded four year old the sessions up to now have been pretty good and today was no exception. We saw clear improvement. Today definitely cemented in Nike’s mind that the days of being lazy and pushy are over. Not bad for our third ride!

PLAYING "OUTSIDE"

DAY 16 – PLAYING OUTSIDE: Our schedules were pretty tight today but I managed to review the previous day’s lesson with Nike (our other two horses got to watch –grin). Saw improvements in her round pen work, Lunging for Respect 1 and 2, Backing (all four types), Yielding the HQ (both methods) and Yielding the FQ. We worked on her following her nose and moving forward (Turn and Go) and of course flexing and desensitized (even to the plastic bag). This season one of our challenges is footing. At our pace we have mud, grass and soft soil in lots of places. With the recent snow and rain working at any real speed is tough. Still we do what we can. Nike has nice breaks but needs a better gas pedal and refinement on her steering. She does not brace up, which is awesome, but she needs to improve on her responsiveness. Again, this comes downs to experience and time. We will get there. We then played a bit on the obstacles we have set up! A long box, a low jump, a serpentine course (3 tree stumps in a line), a sunburst pattern with logs and then a pool noodle f obstacle. We also went through a narrow pass between the HUGE pine tree and rock outcropping and then the tree and the arena rail. She took it all in stride. A really good groundwork session! Earlier in the day we got her a new cinch. All of ours were too big and we simply could not get the saddle snug enough to be safe and communicate with our seat clearly enough. We attached it to Michael’s Martin Saddlery saddle and put it on Nike before we started to work on the ground.

(In case you are reading this and are thinking –it is too soon to play outside – remember that Nike has had some trail experience. Don’t freak out. We’re refining and building on what she already knows, teaching her new things and helping her find out who she is as a horse. Of course who could read the Prelude and Day 1 for a refresher in all things Nike too.)

            Then we saddled up and took her for a ride around a portion of the trail course we have set up. Besides the obstacles noted we also have a small trench about one foot wide and a foot deep cut into the arena area to help with drainage and a turn box near one of the rails. Our trail course is a tiered affair with three levels. She rode up and down some of the inclines, played on the obstacles and even played with our bulldog George. It was a good ride! NOTE TO SELF: Check Nike’s girth three times! When I went to dismount, just as my boots hit the dirt the saddle slipped about 90 degrees. Spooked Nike badly. She can buck if she needs too! She did calm down quickly though and looked for leadership after this legitimate spook. Still we could NOT end the session on that note so we took the saddle off, adjusted it and put it back on and THEN gave her LOTS of rubs, reward and praise. A little more groundwork followed and then Laurie mounted up and did the same ride for a slightly shorter time. It went well. Ended on a great note. Took the saddle off and gave Nike some TLC…and cookies because it is the Holidays! All in all a very positive session! Very happy with her progress so far.

OUR FIRST RIDE!

DAY 14-15 – FIRST RIDE: With the Christmas Holiday, snow on the ground, guests in the house and the joyful chaos that happens this time of year training for ALL the horses as slowed down! Still we squeezed in some groundwork with Nike in the round pen and around our little home arena/ trail course. She continues to improve he her work ethic and her ability to retain the lessons covered. She is, in my opinion, learning quicker now. As the expectations increase little fits of sass happen but quickly pass because of the speed of the correction and the quickness of release/reward. In short she is figuring it out. She then got loved on by a seven year old girl. Great way to end the day.

            We braved the cold the next day (there was still some snow on the ground) and headed over to Pioneer Park Arena about 15 minutes from our place. We took over some temporary fence posts and marking ropes to divide the small arena in about half. We did about 30-40 minutes of ground work reviewing the previous day’s lesson and making sure she was focused and thinking. There was LOTS happening around her at the park. Disc golf folks, kids on bicycles and Big Wheels, folks walking their dogs and so on. Of course they all came by the small arena to watch. Sigh. Once we were SURE she was focused I mounted up. I have to be the heaviest thing she has had on her back. We did a little bit of lateral flexing and then moved out at the walk. Her gas pedal was sticky at first. Being our first ride together and having less than optimal footing in the arena I took things slow. We simply walked out for a time doing a few large direction changes just to let her know that I would be as gentle as possible but as firm as necessary. Laurie served double duty as photographer and pressure giver when needed. When Nike felt secure and began to loosen up we had some fun. She is VERY bendy and MUCH more slender than Ronan my Foundation Quarter Horse Gelding. Mix these two things together and you have a different sort of ride. We walked, we trotted we did some direction changes, some backing and even some hindquarter yields. Had some nice wins and ended and a great note.

            More snow in the forecast and all local covered arenas are closed so we may have to wait a day or two to work again. Looking forward to continuing her journey! You can see more pictures at: https://www.facebook.com/michael.canfield.96

Nike DAY 6: The Plastic Bag and Other Adventures!

DAY 6 – PIONEER PARK: Since the day appeared to be clear we took advantage of it and head to a local arena not far from home. They have a nice warm up arena and a LARGE regular arena. The footing will be sloppy at best but you gotta do what you gotta do. Today we hit the expected “Sass Wall.”  This has been a FULL week for Nike. Probably the most concentrated training she has had in a while. She may have been mentally full and physically a little tired. Today she needed some motivation to get to work so we broke out the horse eating plastic bag on a stick. Motivation to move her feet was achieved! We reviewed the skills we have been working on and added two new Backing exercises. Then we worked on desensitizing to the horse eating plastic bag. It went better than expected. She worked up a good sweat today and really had to engage her mind and body. She got to rest for a bit as we worked Ronan and Argent. Then she got to experience being ponied around the arena. Rona is an awesome horse and Nike likes him so we channeled our inner cowboy and tooled around together. We would rest a bit and she got desensitized to the rope coming at her from a different point of view. It was a good session…a longer than expected one due to the Sass Wall but a good one. She is going to get a couple of days off. Just food and TLC. Whew!

NIKE: Day 5 at Orangevale Park Arena

DAY 5 – ORANGEVALE PARK ARENA: We knew that Orangevale Park and a REALLY nice round pen and we figured we could take advantage of the clear weather. So we loaded up the horses and headed down the hill. Nike loaded up without a fuss. Sadly, the round pen was a pool so we changed up our plan a bit.  Did some work on the lead line on the grass and then in the arena. We got some great consistent gaits and direction changes where she really used her hind end. We did some suppling and flexing and worked on yielding the forequarters. She did pretty well and we were pleasantly surprised! All three horses got worked and then got to race around the big arena. It was cool to see. Nike was able to find her stride and had a great time running with the boys! It was good for her mind, body and spirit! Nike is NOT scared of water. She splashed around in a very big puddle at the end of the arena, took a drink (crazy horse) and then rolled in it. Sigh. Glad we carry towels in the trailer. We loaded up (again, no fuss) and headed home. Tossed blankets on the horses and then they got dinner. It was a good session.

We are seeing more respect and responsiveness every session. The sass is less and the try is more so we call that a win. Lots of love, scratches and rest to let the lessons sink in. She is sensitive to where we are in relation to her, which is good. We also see that as a 4 year old we have to teach the concept of a thing and then move on. If we dril too long she tunes out so we keep her lesson on “X” exercise to 3 to 4 good tries per side and then move on. We wrap up with a short review of the focus of the day and usually see a better try than when we started. We end on “wins” and reward quickly. Let’s hope we continue to have more good days than bad days on this journey. (Sorry, no pictures from today.)

DAY 4 - MORE HOME WORK: The work we are doing in the round pen is like a crucible. It tempers and refines the relationship between the horse and the human. It helps to build that strong foundation upon which respect, communication and skill is built. That being said it is also tough work mentally for both the horse and the human. Since we do not use a lead line for the first stage of round pen work, the challenge is to keep the horse focused on “you” while you communicate what you want. Establishing leadership is not an easy thing. We want to “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult (thanks Clinton Anderson for that mantra)” as we ask for different gaits, direction changes, stops and giving us “two eyes”. 

            Since Nike is a young horse (4 years old) there will be those times where she will sass us and challenge our leadership. Our job is to be consistent, to correct poor behavior quickly and reward good behavior even quicker. Not always easy but always necessary. Nike gave us some sass today. Being “day two” in the round pen it was expected, especially when we raised the expectation bar. Today we wanted a more “yes, sir!” response when we asked her to move out. We wanted her direction changes to be a little crisper/tighter and not a screaming U-turn. We wanted her stops to be a little bit better and we wanted her to give us two eyes sooner. We had good and not so good responses at first. By the end of the session, after some heel kicking, ear pinning and pawing, we got some really nice responses and signs of relaxing. When she behaved well she got to rest, some scratches in itchy places (she has an Oak allergy for acorns) and baby carrots. We wrapped up the session on wins and took a stroll around the property again. You have to go through the ugly to get to the good sometimes. Still, we ended on wins and had real improvements. Tomorrow we hope to haul over to a local arena and do some work away from home. Should be fun!

NIKE: Working At Home

DAY 3 – WORKING AT HOME: The round pen is a great place to get familiar with the horse's response to pressure, release and body position. You can establish a goo starting point and determine the attitude and athletic ability of the horse. It is also a SAFE place to begin training and conditioning. Our process in the round pen is like many other folks, we want to establish a direction and maintain a particular gait. We want to get this consistent. Then we work on getting a consistent change of direction as the turn 180 degrees to the INSIDE of the circle. Then we work on "getting two eyes" hand have the horse face us. And then comes the "locking on" when we get two eyes and walks way, the horse follows us. It is all about establishing leadership and respect. It can be a work out but the first few round pen session can really set up the horse for success as we move forward.

6:30am (after breakfast): As long as the weather stays decent we’ll be doing more ground work at home. Sadly the footing is wet everywhere so we will see how much impulsion can be worked on.

10:30am: We headed out to the round pen. The footing EVERYWHERE was slippery but we gave it a go! Got the job done. All three gates, getting two eyes, getting her to lock on and some nice stops and direction changes. Then it was a stroll around the property to check things out. We wrapped up with lateral flexing, getting the hind end to yield and backing. In fact we back most of the way up the driveway. Blanket off = no worries, blanket on = slight worry but she quickly figured it out with a little advance and retreat. A good Day 3. Tomorrow may be more of the same if the ground is any better. Hoping to get over to the nice round pen at Orangevale Park Arena later this week.

We are off to a good start!

The NEW Adventures of NIKE (2011 BLM Bay Mustang Mare)

The NEW ADENTURES of NIKE (2011 BLM Mustang Mare)

Prelude: We decided it was time, once again, to take in a “recue horse”.  The goal was to find a suitable candidate which met our specific criteria, train him or her up, deal with any health issues and eventually find this horse a great family that matches the horse’s aptitude, attitude and personality. The ideal candidate would be a Quarter Horse or Mustang, between 3 and 15 years old with some experience under saddle with a good enough frame to handle a 200+ pound rider. We wanted to avoid major health issues because of the expense. Underweight and hoof issues we could deal with. We were prepared to deal with fear and/or abuse issues as well. We also wanted to find a horse less than 200 miles away from our home in Placerville, CA. So we put the word out on various social media forums and started our search. Surprisingly there are very few horse that met all of our criteria! We had a few leads come up but for whatever reason those leads didn’t pan out. Then we got the email that started us off on this new adventure.

DAY 0 – The First Date: We got a note from the owner of a 4 year old BLM Mustang mare, bay in color with two white socks and a crooked little blaze. She had the horse for two years, did the Mustang Makeover (ground work/in hand) in 2012 and then due to life had to lease the horse out. The mare was ridden on trails but here training really backslid during the lease time. Now the owner is heading out of state and can’t take the horse due to costs. It happens. Life sometimes gets in the way of our passion. So after exchanging some emails and seeing a wonderful video the owner created we went to Grass Valley, CA. to meet this horse.

            Enter NIKE (like the goddess of winged victory, not the shoe). She had great bone and solid feet, a soft eye and an easy going energy mixed with curiosity. After watching some ground work with the owner it was time to shake hands with the horse. We established some rapport and began to work. Simple stuff like working on the line, flexing laterally and yielding the hind end. Overall it went really well. We noted some habits Nike developed during her lease period that we knew would have to be addressed quickly but they were manageable for the moment. Then we decided to test her ability to learn. We taught her a method of backing called “Tap the Air” which is harder than it sounds. The goal is to have the horse back up with some energy to a soft rhythmic cue that happens in the air about 3 feet from their nose. Took about 10 minutes but she got it. Then her owner saddled her up. The walk and trot were nice. The lope was in need of work. She had gotten a little stiff in the bridle from the folks that leased her but she soon softened up and got into the work. This brief ride helped us to establish a starting point. We decided she would be a great fit and after some papers where signed we loaded her up, which took less than 10 minutes and headed home.

DAY ½: Once we got home we unloaded Nike. She was a bit revved up but calmed down after we did some work on the line. We also established that leaning into the circle and pushing us would NOT make the work stop. In fact it would increase! She figured out that it was best to just cruise and not be pushy. We then reviewed Tap the Air and then lead her to her pasture. She met our two geldings (Ronan and Argent) and then had a nice meal.

DAY 1: After breakfast we loaded up all three horses and headed to The Downunder Brumbies Nor-Cal December practice. Nike was introduced to our style of round pen work. She moved through all three gaits, changed directions and eventually locked on and followed Michael around. Lots of loves and baby carrots happened. Then she got to go into the arena and work with a group of other horses. While the other horses worked on more intermediate and advanced maneuvers Nike got to focus on her fundamental skills and just being social. We had one small attempt at a tantrum when she was asked to lope on the line but a quick correction let her know that tantrums are not acceptable. The rest of the session went really well. She got to relax tied near the arena while the under saddle portion of the practice happened.

            After the arena work was done the group moved out to the obstacle course for some fun. Nike got to see the course and other horses playing on all the cool things.  Then Michael led her to see the tractor tire mount. She sniffed all around it and then she got to move her feet around it. She was calm and curious. Then she was asked to step up on the tire. After a slight hesitation she did just that! She stepped up like an old pro! The rest of the afternoon was her getting to explore and play on the obstacles. It was clear that her previous owner had built up confidence and understanding for this type of thing with Nike. The session became about building a new bond and it was great! A very positive first day!

DAY 2 – ADVENTURES IN BLANKETING: It was a gloomy day with poor weather threatening on the horizon. So we went blanket shopping for Nike. It gets pretty cold up here in the Sierra Foothills and though she is a Mustang, being underweight makes it harder for her to deal with the cold. Note to self: ASK if the horse is used to blankets BEFORE attempting to put one on it. Nike was not all that familiar with the concept. As we began to use advance and retreat to introduce the blanket it began to rain…sigh…and then hail…great…and more rain. Eventually we got the blanket on her and she settled down to enjoy a nice meal and rubs from her humans.