Interludes: Rainy Day Ramblings

Interlude #1: The Weather & The Season

With a week of rain/snow in the forecast our training and workshop program is coming to a halt. We do have a GSHC practice scheduled for the 17^th of December in Ione at a covered arena. This will be the last practice of the year so it should be fun. We leave on a much needed vacation on the 21^st. Back on the 2^nd. Hard to be away from all the critters but we have a good friend keeping an eye on them while we are gone. For Cearra, this is the big test. With this much time off it will be interesting to see how much she retains and what her attitude is like when we get back. We have a pretty full schedule of workshops and practices the first quarter of 2017 so the focus for all the horses will be to knock the rust off and get them back into good mental shape. Should be a interesting time! Stay tuned!

Interlude #2: Trials and Tribulations

We stood out in the rain today because someone wanted to meet Cearra. IN…THE…RAIN. Sigh. This interlude was inspired by that meeting.

For us, working with a great minded, great hearted horse like Cearra is what it is all about. It makes us better in our horsemanship, it helps the horse become a valuable equine citizen and the partnership that is created is just good for the soul. When “life” gets ugly and demanding it is good to have horses and horsemanship to focus on and recharge the batteries.

For us, marketing and selling a horse just plan SUCKS! Let’s talk about “marketing” the horse. You want to be HONEST with everyone so you write an ad –or maybe you put together a blog – that covers the “good” and the “needs improvement” and you do your best to find a fair market price for the horse. You use some social media and horse focused sites and you wait. When the calls, emails or texts come in you see it all. From the clueless to the just plan rude, from the inexperienced to the “know-it-all” who obviously knows very little and every freaking thing in between. It just wears on the spirit.

We have heard it all. We have seen it all. It sucks. Period.

Here are some of the more recent highlights:  We met a person who was looking for a “spiritual connection” to the horse. Oooookkaaaay. We actually had some idiot tell us we gave them “too much information” in our ad! Seriously? WTF! Wow…so you don’t want to know about the horse and just want to waste your time and ours coming out to meet it? Nope. FIRED! We had a family INSIST to come out on a certain day at a certain time and when we accommodated them they acted like they were not interested in the horse much AND then they damaged our fence as they were leaving (still have not seen a penny for the damage either)! Nope, FIRED! We had a person come out on a Sunday –after insisting that was the only time they had (red flag #1) and we had a house FULL of guests- and tell us about all the experience they had with “show horses” (red flag #2) – and after seeing us do a variety of groundwork and under saddle exercises (the horse was a rock star and did great) they really didn’t seem interested in some real “hands on” time with the horse (get the F out –you test drive a car before you buy it)  stating that they were on a scouting mission and needed to bring their trainer (WTF-Over? Why not bring the trainer in the first place). Waste of time. FIRED! Having a “professional trainer” ask us about genetic testing (no, we were not going to breed her so we didn’t bother with said $200 test but if she wanted it done she could pay for it) and then gets PISSED when we asked questions about “who they were” and “what experience they have” because, as our ad stated, we are focused on what is BEST for the HORSE and we WERE GOING TO ASK SCREENING QUESTIONS. Needless to say we FIRED that whack-a-do too. We have received low ball offers, sight unseen. Again, WTF? That is just rude. We have had people make appointments and bring the whole freaking family out and never mentioned that we would be giving pony rides to the entire freaking family or that it was for a 10 year old NOVICE girl. Oh, and after the horse packed all the people (like six different people of all different skill levels) around and was a rock star, they tried to low ball offer us and give us a sob story. Nope, kick rocks! FIRED! We have had folks make an appointment and not show up or if they do it becomes clear they lied about their horsemanship knowledge (if you show up, expecting to actually work with the horse and are in cargo shorts and Birkenstock sandals you are going to get FIRED before you touch the lead rope). The scenarios can go on and on.

If we were “flipping horses” as some folks do then we would take the first decent offer. However we are not. We want THE BEST for the horse. We want the human to be a GOOD FIT because we do not want to see this horse back on the market anytime soon. We want to honest and clear. We want the horse to be treated well and the human to have some horse savvy and VERY CLEAR picture of the investment they are making.

Marketing and selling horses SUCKS! Don’t know how “professionals” do it on a regular basis. If we were independently wealthy we would take in project horses and then give them a forever home. Sadly we can’t. What we can do ALWAYS is train up the horse to the best of our ability and prepare the horse to be a valued and successful partner. Then we will wade through all the bat-shit crazy and find the RIGHT HUMAN for the horse. It is all about the horse. And maybe generating some good karma.

NOTE: Even in the pouring rain Cearra demonstrated some great ground skills and a “can do” attitude. Could not be more proud of this mare and her growth. Really hoping that certain “life” changes happen for us so we can keep her and be done with the crazy for a while.

 Cearra and I teaching a workshop.

Mud Is Icky, Drag-A-Bag & New Friends

"Daddy, Mud Is Icky!"

Well, that is what Cearra thinks anyway, Such a GIRL (grin). After our really nice groundwork session Laurie and Cearra took on the under saddle part of the session. Laurie has not done much riding with Cearra and as such is a good gage of her progress. Cearra had good lateral and vertical flexion happening. Nice, supple turns. Decent stop and backing. Her forequarter yields were a bit off but that is totally our fault as we have not been doing enough of them. All in all she did really well. Her work on the obstacles was really nice. She was calm over and through every obstacle. Very proud of here.

Mud. Ugh!

Our riding area has a LOT of soft mud in the most unfortunate places. One spot as really a big puddle that the more mud and moss than water. Cearra basically tip-toed through the mud like a little kid. It was funny. Areas that were squelchy got the same level of distain and tip-toe steps. Ah well. She is a princess after all. More exposure to muddy environments is in her future.

Drag-A-Bag under saddle happened today! Cearra was a rock star and dragged the noisy milk jug filled feed bag around as she and Laurie cruised about. It was pretty awesome! They did very well together.

It was a good session!

VIDEO (Drag A Bag): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmlGIiUR07U

Mud Is Icky Pt. 2

Had a nice potential family come out to meet Cearra. Not sure what was on the lady’s hands but Cearra HAD to sniff her a lot. Our gal was all personality and curiosity. Too funny. We really appreciated that these folks reviewed the journal and video. They had great questions and seemed to be knowledgeable and kind people. This is the type of family we would be comfortable with Cearra being with to be sure.

Cearra showed off on the ground at first. She did well even though she was in a more “cuddly” mood (meaning it was chilly and she really didn’t want to work but doesn’t really protest too hard because is getting attention and love). We went through some of the exercises she knows. Then we saddled up, rode the terrain, the obstacles and demonstrated some basic maneuvers. The ground…sigh….the ground was crunchy (the top layer was frozen) and squelchy. This made for slippery conditions. Not ideal to demonstrate all her gaits but we were able to help the folks see where she was at. Cearra performed admirably. No complaints. What was cool (in our opinion) was the conversation we had while riding. A few spots on the terrain “looked sketchy” to her. She checked in and looked for leadership. 90% of the time she was right to be concerned so we backed up a little and went around the soggy area. The other 10% we moved through with some firm cues and focus. 

It was a good session.

Joyful Chaos and the Holidays with Horses!

HOLIDAYS and HORSES and Living The Dream....

The days are getting shorter, the rain and snow are here in the Sierra Foothills (as well for many of us) which can really crimp our training schedule as our pasture and riding area gets pretty muddy. The joyful chaos of the Holiday Season is also here filled with house guests, socials and other demands on the schedule. Making time to work on our horsemanship and maintaining our horses is tough this time of year! Still, if we as students and custodians of the horse want to continue our journey with minimal setbacks we need to find time. For us, it is all about making EVERY moment with our horses a training moment. Making every interaction from feeding to turn-out a training moment will help us all to maintain the connection between ourselves and our horses.

We are big fans of groundwork during this time of year. 15-20 minutes in the round pen or working on the lead line can do wonders to help keep communication clear and the partnership strong. A “leadership walk” around the property or facility where you ask the horse to perform maneuvers like passing between you and an object, stepping over something or even walking through a water puddle….get creative! A proactive investment of a small amount of time is all that is needed to maintain your partnership. Even grooming can be a training moment if you get creative!

This has been Cearra’s training regiment of late. When it is not raining, snowing or generally unpleasant outside there as been round pen and lead line work. When the footing is good or we can get to someplace that has good footing we ride. We make time as consistently has possible. It is not always easy for us to do but we are committed to Cearra and her development. She is really fun to work with and gets into the program really quickly. New blankets happened as a n early Christmas gift so every horse is sporting a nice cozy winter jacket over their fuzzy bodies. They seem to like it. Weight is looking good on everyone, even though the horses are eating more. It is the price for living up here during the winter. Ah well.

We have a Horsemanship Workshop scheduled for 12/10/2016 and a G.S.H.C. Practice on 12/17/2016 so we are gearing up for these great learning opportunities. There will be a two week break for everyone (horses and humans) between Christmas and New Year. We will dive right back into training after the first of the year and are really looking forward to seeing how much Cearra will grow and progress in her skill set.We will post more PICTURES when we get them!

We have had some folks come out to meet her (see previous Journal entries) but we have not felt that these folks were the best fit. We know our screening questions put off some potential families and the fact that we want them to actually READ this Journal seems “too much to ask” for others…and we are really okay with that. Our goal is to find the BEST FIT for the horse and if answering a few simple questions or reading a Journal is “too much to ask” then THEY (the humans) are not the right fit. We “fire” them. The right family IS out there…or it may be that she stays with us a while. That is just fine too. We really do like this mare so it is not a hardship (grin).

Happy Holidays!

"Tis The Season...of Rain, Mud and the Flu!

‘Tis the Season!

Yes, it is the season…of catching the flu, heavy rains and increased workloads on the job and at school! Add to this the “cheerful chaos” that the holidays bring to everyone! Both Laurie and I got the flu. Miserable. It has been COLD and RAINY in the Sierra Foothills. Making the time when the rain stopped and the footing was somewhat safe to do some basic groundwork review with Cerra has been tough. We have sneaked in a few short session between the showers and being sick (sneezing, coughing and sporting a fever makes being in sync with the horse just plain hard) and the demands of home, work and school. Sometimes they just get to be horses.

Sadly the weekend looks to be VERY wet so we have had to reschedule both the G.S.H.C practice and the Horsemanship Workshop.

The last two families that met Cearra are BOTH interested. Now they want to schedule time for their “trainers” to come out. Sigh. This is always a challenge because 8 times out of 10 the “trainer” also has a horse that they want to sell their student so it makes it very hard for any horse but theirs to be “good enough.” Add to this most “trainers” train for the show…not for the overall well-being of the horse or the advancement of horsemanship skills in their students. We will see what happens but we are not holding our breath.We actually had someone low ball offer us before they even met Cearra. To say we fired them with extreme prejudice is an understatement! It was more like fired with BOTH barrels! Some people. Sigh.

Today was a sunny and mild day. Tomorrow and Sunday we get more RAIN so we decided to medicate the heck out of ourselves, bundle up and get out there and work ALL the horses. Cearra got a “skills review” which is basically a review of EVERYTHING we have been working on both on the ground and under saddle. Took about 90 minutes or so. She was a little frisky at first but after a few athletic direction changes in the round pen she was focused and thinking. We have added new suppling/ feel exercises and new desensitizing exercises to her skill set. Very happy with how she is doing. Her confidence, fitness and carriage is really improving and she is enjoying having a family and herd that is active. While our original plan was to sell her, we REALLY like her so…well…we are in NO RUSH nor will we be accepting anything less than fair market value for her AND the family has to be just right. We might be shooting ourselves in the foot taking this attitude but that is how we feel. 

After her session she got to pal around with Argent and Ronan as we did our sessions with them. Nothing like having a 1000 pound dog follow you around as you ride the obstacle course. Never a dull moment!

 Cearra following her "boyfriend" Ronan.

...and we're cruising..

...and more crusing...

 STOP! Time to look AWESOME!

More Weekend Fun!

We had TWO WEEKENDS IN A ROW of house guests (like 10+ people each weekend) at our place. Both weekend folks played with the horses! This was GREAT exposure for Cearra. She got worked with, loved on and her picture taken quite a bit. Her social side got a work out as she loved on children, new dogs and adults alike! She acted like a champ!

We actually showed her to two potential families as well. Really, we were just testing out her marketability. She performed really well on the ground and under saddle. Whenever we meet potential families it is always…interesting. Some are fun and some are funky and some we just can’t say “no thanks” to fast enough. Highlights of these showings were having a cross beam on our fence destroyed because the humans backed their SUV into it –sigh (don’t think they will be contacting us again). Cearra worked well for the young lady on the ground and under saddle and we could not have been more proud of her. The other folks were on a “scouting mission”, didn’t really engage with the horse (no ground or riding –we did all that and she just watched) at all and wants their “trainer” to come out next time. Seems they want to create a show horse. Cearra has the breeding and the movement for it. Not sure if it would make her “happy” and since we didn’t see real connection/interaction between the human and the horse it is hard to feel good about it. Cearra did well for us again, even though she was cranky about getting taken away from her breakfast.

Needless to say we felt good about Cearra’s program progress up to this point and we know we can get fair market value for her. As she grows and develops we will be raising that price! The families were the fun/funky type to be sure. Thing is we REALLY LIKE this mare so it is going to be hard to want to part with her.

The last two weekends have been fun! Next weekend we have a practice and a workshop to participate in. Going to be VERY horse focused!

Catching Up On The Journey

We have had a lot of things going on in our corner of the world and have gotten a bit behind in our Journey Journal. Here are some "highlight entries."

Working Between The Raindrops.

We have had quite a bit of rain this last two weeks. Our “in house” training area is a muddy mess. The one local covered area has been booked heavily so getting in training time is tough. The last thing we need is a horse slipping and hurting themselves.

Still we have worked in training as best we can, Leadership walks, some round pen/ quiet conversation groundwork, TLC time and rides at the walk have occurred. This time of year we work more in maintaining /improving known skills more than “teach new stuff.”

Our truck decided to start acting wrong during this time. It is not going anywhere fast. Just need to limp it to the shop and pray the damages are not too high. Sigh. When it rains it pours.

We have a G.S.H.C. Practice set for 11/19/2016 and a Horsemanship Workshop set for 11/20/2016. Should be fun!

Working on the “Quiet Conversation.”

Today’s goal was to work on the “Quiet Conversation” with Cearra. What this means is that we want to riase the bar on her awareness of the human, even when there are distractions around (our farrier Steve Elliot was working with Ronan and Argent today). The goal was to have her focus on the human, not anticipate a command, move off with control when asked and basically respond to smaller cues/looking for the answer.

Have to say she did really nice. The round pen and riding area is still REALLY muddy and slippery in places so “low impact/low speed” was the rule of the day. Cearra focused on  us quickly, would draw in when asked, moved well and was a cuddle bug at times (when we deemed it okay that is.) She went through a series of exercises that tested her focus and retention of previous lessons. Very pleased with her work ethic and performance. All the ground work is translating nicely to under saddle work. We see an increase in confidence and body control which is…well…just fun. We have gone through some ugly to get to this point. Glad we made it.

Those Little Magic Moments.

            Some days are really special in the development of a partnership between a human and a horse. Today was one of those days. The goal was to introduce some new concepts into the program with Cearra and see if we could maintain the confidence and “quiet conversation.” From the groundwork to the work under saddle things went pretty well. Cearra had a couple of insecure moments and thought about reacting but quickly came back to using the thinking side of her brain. We have uncovered a tiny bit of “baggage” that has not been fully overwrote yet but hey…we have not even hit 10 weeks yet…and she really did look to us for leadership. No complaints and a great learning opportunities for everyone.

            Cearra is also very social and very curious by nature. Today as I sat near the round pen while Laurie was working with her horse, Cearra came over to watch. I was holding our “pom-pom on a stick” which is made of a piece of bamboo and a pom-pom. Well she wanted to see it as has she sniffed it she made the handle “whistle.” A new game was born. Walk up to her human, say hello, make a whistle and walk a circle. Big fun!

You can’t beat those little magic moments.

WHAT A WEEKEND!

Wow! What a weekend for Cearra! Two full days of horsemanship, working with lots of different people on the ground and under saddle! Just awesome. She exceeded our expectation. Rad all about it here....

WORKSHOP REVIEW: We hosted our first Horsemanship for the Hoof Up! Workshop today at Lucky Star Horsemanship. Cearra got to show off her skills (and kept people honest) in the Round Pen. Being new to this style of horsemanship and training she is a good example of what can be accomplished with consistency, love and positive energy in a relatively short time! She worked with several different folks before she had to be “swapped out” for a more experienced horse (Ronan) who also kept people honest and on track with their performance of the exercises. Both Cearra and Ronan were fine examples of good training and willing hearts.

We covered LOTS of material today! Here is a partial list:

•           Horse Phycology (Lecture)

•           Catching the Horse

•           Safety, Handling, Grooming, Leading

•           Introduction to Desensitizing

•           Body Language, Body Position

•           Round Pen – Direction, Impulsion, Corrections, Two Eyes

•           Lateral Flexion (Lead Line)

•           Yield Hindquarters (Lead Line)

•           First Rider Evaluation – Round Pen (Under Saddle)

•           Hand, Seat, Body & Leg Cue Introduction (Under Saddle)

We had a really nice mix of individuals who had a wide range of experiences. The participants had some solid wins and some “learning moments” where they learned about themselves and the things they need to improve on. Just having that second pair of eyes to coach you through the process can teach you SO much!

For the under saddle portion of the workshop we split into two groups. The “novice” group continued to work on body, seat, leg and rein cues and getting forward motion with their horses. Personal breathing and relaxation was also a focus. We even helped a person who had some real fear issues to chip away at them and regain some confidence! The “experienced” group worked on the “quiet conversation” while riding over terrain and obstacles along with improving their understanding of body control. Cearra worked with the “experienced” group and did very well.

It was a little over four hours long (well, closer to five) because folks were having such a good time. There really is a time distortion that happens when humans get around horses! Tomorrow is a Golden State Horsemanship Practice. Should be another fun day! (NOTE: We failed to get pictures of Cearra under saddle at this workshop. She and her new friend Tammy did great together!)

 Hanging ou before the Workshop

Getting ready to be saddled up.

 Round Pen

 Getting the Loving!

More round pen

Teaching lateral flexion and softness.

PRACTICE REVIEW: What a FUN day! We had some new folks join in the fun at the Golden State Horsemanship practice. The focus was on “Improving Body Control.” Participants started in the Round Pen to work on Position, Timing and Communication. This aspect of horsemanship gets skipped WAY TOO MUCH in our opinion. Humans really struggle with their round pen skills and confuse their horses more often than not. The upside is that the solution for improvement is simple: Slow Down. Breath. Check Your Position/Intent/Focus. Keep Practicing. If the human just practices their round pen skills 2-3 times a week for 15 minutes or so they can improve MANY aspects of their horsemanship.

Once the participants achieved some wins in the Round Pen we moved to Groundwork. We got control of the head/ neck, the ribs, the forequarters and the hindquarters. We worked on C.P.R. (Clarity, Patience, Release), We got softness in the backing exercises and we crafted “sentences” by stringing five exercises together in the Ground School Circle. Not easy for folks to pull off! Still we had some wins achieved and moved on to the Under Saddle part of the day.

After a short break we saddled up. We worked on getting a soft back up, control of the hind end, control of the front end, rein management, seat/leg/body cues and balance. We worked on transitions, bending and communication. Then we headed off on the trail! The terrain is challenging and fun as it allows the horseperson to work on body control (the horse’s and the human’s) and balance in the saddle and NOT on the horse’s mouth. The obstacles had a variety of difficulty and challenge as well. Folks were pretty tired and pretty full of knowledge 

at the end of the practice. The smiles said it all.

 Round pen

 Ground work

 Ground work

 Backing. She flexes like that.

 Trail work

 Trail work

Trail work

Impressions of Cearra’s Weekend: Cearra worked with FIVE (5) different humans during the weekend. She really did give it her best and really kept folks honest. The human could not be “incorrect” in their communication or she just quietly ignored them. She also learned to stand still and relax with someone on her back (in her “before world” everything was go-go-GO!) which was a major win for her development. Under saddle she partnered with two very different riders: A intermediate rider who is just getting back into horsemanship and dealing with some minor confidence issues and a a young lady who had some experience but also some confidence issues. They did GREAT together and looks good too! Once the Human’s truly listened to Cearra in how she needs to be communicated with (soft hands, more seat/body/leg and less rein, C.P.R) she gave then Human 100% and enjoyed the interaction. Through it all she acted as expected and acted like a Young Lady. We could not be more proud of her.

(Since this is Cearra’s training journal we are posting picture of just her. To see ALL the pictures from this fantastic weekend head on over to Lucky Star Horsemanship’s Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Lucky-Star-Horsemanshp-1857426887814701/)

Getting Our Medieval On & New Shoes!

GETTING MEDIEVAL:

Cearra was exposed to and participated in (as a Teacher’s Aid) our first “Schola of Chivalric Arts” which was hosted at our place over the Columbus Day weekend. Our gal was handled and ridden by a variety of folks, helped teach the attendees about the use of  round pen to establish communication and a wide variety of aspects of the Art of Horsemanship. She kept people honest to be sure. If they were not “clear and confident” in their communication she just looked at them and waited for them to figure it out. Under saddle she did well with folks who had soft hands and a decent seat. Nervous folks or those with poor hand/seat skills confused her a bit –VERY UNDERSTANDABLE – and big brother Ronan took over and helped those folks. Cearra was charming and social. Every new person was a discovery and a perfect reason to get loved on. To say she enjoyed the attention is an understatement.

She saw, heard and smelled armor for the first time. She saw humans in funny clothes that totally changed their silhouette. It was a very unique situation for our gal and she did VERY well with everything! On the last day of the Schola she lost a shoe so she got to be the “learn out to clean and groom a horse” model and enjoyed all the attention.

Her training is on hold until the farrier can come out.

Again, very proud of her and how she handled the weekend!

NEW SHOES:

Over the “medieval” weekend Cearra threw a show and developed a bit of a sprain. Not horrible and it has not impacted her goofing around in the pasture or wanting to “play” with us but we have been keeping an eye on it. Her low impact round pen sessions have gone well this week. No complaints about “try” or attitude at all.

Our farrier came out today. This was the first time we have seen shoes put on Cearra and it was the first time our farrier had seen her. After giving him the history he got to work. Overall she did well, even with the hot shoe process. The soreness in the leg that lost the hoof was noticeable when she had to stand for an extended period of time. So it was a two nails in – rest – repeat process. Her experience with farriers is a bit limited but our person is REALLY good with horses as was his buddy (a long time cowboy and farrier). Both had nice things to say about her and had some solid advice on how to handle her sprain. She will be on “light duty” for the next week or so. Her weight is coming in nicely! We are expecting some heavy rain up here this weekend too so that will be interesting.

All in all Cearra did well. Could not be more pleased.

Weekday Sessions & Goals

The “During The Week” Sessions…

Fall has come to the Sierra Foothills. The mornings are crisp and the temperatures are mellowing from the very warm summer. Cearra came to us underweight and recovering from neglect. So we have to be very vigilant on her caloric intake and fitness level. In our minds she could gain another 100 pounds and be just right. This is going to take time and it will be more of a challenge (on several levels) to maintain and increase her weight and fitness levels during the late Fall and Winter season. Still, real progress is happening and we are seeing the results in her ability to train and her overall attitude.

During the week we usually do more ground work than riding at this point in the program. She may do 45 minutes of ground work and 30+ of riding. We work on new skills and new challenges. The weekends are for refinement focuses and new places/ new adventures. By the end of October it is our goal to see her under saddle longer. One of the cool things about working with Cearra during the week is improving her “connection time” by which we mean seeing how quickly she focuses on us and the tasks presented. It is VASTLY improved from the first week we had her home. A few laps or circles and she locks on to us and is ready to go to work. Her reactions are getting more precise and refined and the explosive reactions of Week One are all but gone. We are speaking the same language and the relationship is defined much clearer in her brain. The real personality is also coming out. She is willing to trust and try new things, quick to learn and very social. With the increase in fitness she is comfortable. With the regular exercise she in mentally challenged and seems to enjoy “doing stuff.”

Building up her strength, her fitness and her confidence is really our focus this season. Whatever was done before left some big holes in her foundational skills so fixing those things is critical before we move on to the “cool stuff”. It is a process. We also think she has actually grown some since coming home with us! She is shaping up to be a good partner and a very pretty girl!

INTERLUDE: Communication Is CRITICAL

After several practices and the recent workshops we had these thouts and wated to share them with you Gentle Reader...

COMMUNICATION IS CRITICAL: Observations & Applications

As a group we have been gathering and practicing horsemanship together since 2011. In that time we have seen a variety of horses, horse owners and we heard a truck load of reasons why “my horse won’t….” in a variety of ways. When we take a step back and really look at the “reasons” why someone’s horse won’t do “X” thing it seems to come down to two basic things that the Human (not the horse) has failed to do.

1    Prepare the horse for success.

         Clearly communicate.

We can use all sorts of fancy words and even fancy gadgets in our horsemanship but at the end of the day it is the RESULTS, IMPROVEMENTS and SKILL RETENTION we create with our horses that tells us if we are successful or not.

Think about that for a moment. Go ahead. We’ll wait.

At practices we see all sorts of unclear communication between horse and human. We hear the “my horse won’t…” but when the horse is shown, with clear communication, what the goal is and is given time without being nagged at to figure it out, the horse normally gets the memo and tries its best. Our job as custodians of the horse is to prepare them for success by giving them a solid foundation of skills and the best deal we can to allow a partnership to grow. If we rush the process, skip steps or take shortcuts then our foundation is weak and it will fail us a critical moment. We fail the horse, we fail ourselves and we fail the relationship when we are not clear in our communication.

To quote the great trainer/clinician Susan Wirgler “we need to give our horses C.P.R! Clarity, Patience and Release!”  We need to work hard on CLARITY. Slow down, stay quietly confident and be clear in WHAT and HOW we are asking by being in the right position with the right level of energy. We need PATIENCE and wait for the horse to figure out what we are asking. We have to give the horse a “great deal” and let it find the answer. We have to have faith in its mind, our skill and that it CAN happen. We need to be quick to RELEASE pressure when we get a good effort (remember “good” is relative to the horse’s level of experience and training) and REWARD the horse for a positive action. Being good with C.P.R. is the RESPONSIBILITY of the HUMAN. How do we get good at it? Simple. Practice with real focus and intent. When you work with your horse keep C.P.R. in mind!

Now, let’s be honest. Doing round pen work, lead line work and the “basic skills” of communication on the ground and under saddle is a bit boring. Getting a good hindquarter yield is not has much fun as trotting down the trail. Yet, without good communication and body control that trail ride can become a train wreck pretty quickly! No one wants to “fight” for their entire ride to get the horse engaged and focused yet we see it all the time. Wisdom would indicate that before you can read a book you have to know the alphabet. By developing really solid communication and control with your horse – yes, by doing the foundation building exercises and refining of those skills – you set the horse (and you) up for success. So instead of making excuses and to why “your horse won’t do X” take the RESPONIBILITY to ensure your horse has the skills and confidence to succeed by ensuring that the two of you have good communication and control. The result is a good relationship based on clear communication, quiet conversations (soft cues) and confidence/trust. Isn’t having a horse you can trust and who is a pleasure to work with worth progressing through the “boring stuff” so you can get to the “cool stuff?”

Think about that for a moment. Go ahead. We’ll wait.

            There is a quote (and we are just paraphrasing here) that says “Before you can change your horse, you must first change yourself.” Seems pretty straightforward. The flipside of this is “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” So many people fall between these two quotes. They want the horse to improve but do little to improve themselves. They do not allow the change to happen in themselves first. Taking the steps to improve and change takes COURAGE because it creates CHANGE (which is scary because it takes us out of our comfort zone) and CHALLENGES the participant to STEP UP their skills and STOP being ineffective. The process takes focus and dedication. If you really want a better connection with your horse, you have to be willing to CHANGE and face the CHALLENGES needed to take it all to the next level.

            

            As a group we will continue to focus on improving our horsemanship and our communication. There will be opportunities created to improve within a supportive environment. Yet, at the end of the day the responsibility falls to YOU the horse owning human to take advantage of the learning opportunities. You can choose to accept mediocrity and that is fine. Just own it without making excuses why your horse won’t perform as you would like. Or you can be the catalyst for positive change, growth and improvement in your horsemanship by taking responsibility for your progress. 

The choice is yours.

Think about it then decide your trail.

We’ll see you at practices and workshops.

COMMUNICATION & OBSTACLES WORKSHOP

TEACHER’S AIDE AT THE WORKSHOP

Today Cearra (aka: AQHA Toimpressivetonotice) was the “Teacher”s Aide” and demo horse at the Communication & Obstacles Workshop hosted by the Golden State Horsemanship Club. She worked with the instructor on the ground and under saddle. She is ALL the exercises in the review below and gave 100%. Very proud of how far this mare has come in such a short time. By the end of the day she was pretty tired but had a great attitude through it all.

Communication & Obstacles Workshop: A Review

A day like today takes COURAGE because it creates CHANGE and CHALLENGES the participant to STEP UP their skills and STOP being ineffective. The process takes focus and dedication. If you really want a better connection with your horse, you have to be willing to CHANGE and face the CHALLENGES needed to take it all to the next level.

Or you can simply accept mediocrity. Those that participated today chose not be mediocre and brought their focus and hard work. The reward? A MUCH better level of communication with their horses, GOOD FOOD and lots of FUN!

We had a GREAT workshop today! Really got to help folks improve their awareness, understanding and application of clear communication skills. From the round pen to the leadership walk to the trail and obstacle course the participants pushed themselves out their comfort zones and recognized how much they had “muddied the waters” prior to the workshop. Everything from being out of position to the use of pressure and release was covered. Lots of WINS in the round pen for everyone.

Then we moved to doing work on the line. We covered several critical exercises that would be used later in the workshop. Getting the horse moving well off halter pressure and having control of the major body parts was focused on. Not as easy as it sounds! Next was the Leadership Walk where participants worked on the trail course and obstacles helping their horse (and themselves) build a stronger bond, clearer communication and lots of well-earned confidence!

We had more than 10 obstacles laid out on a really fun and challenging trail course to play on. Horses and humans had their hard drives filled. So to digest the lessons of the morning session (and because everyone was hungry) we broke for lunch!

TACO BAR with all the fixings was on the menu. It was darn tasty!

After lunch we saddled up and got to work! A little ground work to make sure everyone was ready and then we did some riding exercises to ensure that we had good communication with our horses and control of the body parts. Then we hit the trail and obstacle course. The GOAL was to use leg and seat cues more than hands/reins in helping the horse navigate the variety of obstacles and terrain. Again, not as easy as it sounds! Everyone worked really hard and showed real improvement during the ride. Very proud of everyone!

There was even a handout!

If you missed it, being a little sad is okay.

We will be hosting another one in late February/ early March.

At Home & A New Adventure

Playing at Home, Playing Someplace New

AT HOME: This week most of the training has been happening at home. We have been working in the round pen, doing LOTS of ground work and leadership walks and lots of riding up and down hills, around trees and through obstacles. We have gotten into the habit of doing about 45 minutes of ground work and a solid 30-40 minute ride. This is helping Cearra’s fitness level and confidence. We like to introduce the “new” exercises at home when we can. Just makes the learning process easier. We see improvements or refinements almost every day and we catch glimpses of who this horse will be. At this point it is her fitness level that is holding us back. She simply can’t do the “long rides” part of the “long rides, wet saddle pads and concentrated training” formula. What this means is that Cearra is a more long-term project for us. It also means we’ll be able to achieve a bit more and that should make her even more marketable! Of course she is growing on us (this is both good and bad) so who know what the future will hold.

            ORANGEVALE PARK: We loaded up Sunday morning to meet some members of the Golden State Horsemanship Club at Orangevale Horse Park in (you guessed it) Orangevale, CA. for a “Spur of the Moment Ride.” This was Cearra’s fort time there. She surprised us by only being a slight spaz now and then even with all the “new to her” horses and surroundings. What made this session different is the facility has a HUGE round pen (we were able to have three horses worked on the ground and under saddle at a time in this pen, that is how big it is) which was awesome. The footing was soft and deep which made the effort for the horses both comfortable (impact wise) and a more intense workout (think running on the beach in deep sand). We also had a planned program for the day. We all worked on improving our round pen skills off the lead line. That was fun! Then we worked on Ground School Circles (readers of this blog should know what those are by now. In short it is an awesome 5 in 1 type exercise. Major thanks to Susan Wirgler for teaching us this one!), followed by lateral flexion, desensitizing and a few other cool things. Then we mounted up and worked on several riding exercises that helped us with handle, bend and teaching the horse to be responsible for her feet without being micromanaged. Walk/trot and walk/trot/lope transitions were also worked on.

At this point Cearra was done. She hit her fitness limit. So we tapped out. She got a nice long drink of water and then got to stand ties to the "tie post of knowledge" while we finished out the day.

I saddled up Ronan and we headed over to the big arena. There (after getting the horses comfortable with the new place and doing some Schooling Circles Under Saddle as a warm up) we began to work on lateral/diagonal motion, working the “bend” with our horses at the walk and trot and even side passing along the fence! Today Ronan was a loping machine. Probably the smoothest and fastest loping he has done since we got him. It was something to ride let me tell you. We wrapped up the day with some more lateral work, some forward/backward transitions and a nice cool down walk! The “Most Improved” award goes to Travis and her mustang mare Impala (such a cutie). They tries new things and took their skills to a new level! Everyone worked hard and had some great wins!

It was a good day! We met some new folks who were curious about what the group was doing and we got to network a little bit. We are going to try our best to get out to that facility at least once a month. It is about an hour drive for Laurie and I but facility offers some unique training and exposure opportunities that we want to continue to utilize! Thanks everyone who came out to make the day so much fun!

Of course we forgot to take pictures of the cool stuff. We just a couple of Cearra being the demo horse for the “Ground School Circles”.

Sigh.

 Ground School Circle - at the walk.

 Travis and her mare Impala

Ground School Circle - at the trot

 Ronan asking "How YOU doin'?"

Ground School Circle -at the lope

Daddy's Little Angel & Soccer Craziness!

Daddy’s Little Angel

After the rather long and trying day we had last weekend Cearra had a bit of a sore back. Understandable. So she got time off, massages to help with the stiffness and lots of TLC. Today we started training again.

She was awesome.

We worked on the line first. Ground School Circles to warm up and then we went through all of her current ground skills. She rocked it. Then we went into the round pen. She rocked those skills too. Really focused on the “quiet conversation” and performed well. Under saddle she was soft in her body, in the bridle and really gave me 100%. She was a true pleasure to work with.

Horses. They do keep you on your toes. We’re heading over to Pioneer Park Arena again. She’ll get more of the same. We are also gearing up with our other two horses for a Medieval Horsemanship Challenge happening next month so everyone gets lots of saddle time.

Should be fun! Stay tuned!

Soccer Games, Screaming Kids, Bouncing Sunshades….Oh My!

We loaded up about 9:15am and headed to Pioneer Park Arena. Today was going to be Cearra’s first ride in the BIG arena. Of course today was the day when no less than SIX (6) soccer teams happen to set up for games and there were several parties in the park happening too. This always makes for some unique training opportunities to say the least!

Groundwork happened first. Had to get her focused on me through moving her feet and THEN we got as close as we could to the “action”. We did some exercises near all the possible horse eating stuff and when she realized it could not hurt her she was fine. Sigh. Young horses. We went through a variety of exercises that went pretty well. Then we got crazy! We introduced the Flag and the Drag-A-Bag. She ROCKED it. Didn’t bother her at all. So then it was time to put on the bridle and get in some saddle time.

We have determined that short rides (being 25-30) minutes are where she is at right now. Physically if you do more than a walk in a session that is about all the gas she has before her muscles tire out and fatigue. So we did some circles, serpentines, backing, walk/trot/lope, forward/back/forward transitions and even some work on body control through the cones and the walk and trot. All in all she did really well give the TONS of external distractions! Glad she is coming around. By the 30 minute mark we could tell she was getting pooped so we just walked around the arena for her cool down and did some big circles. Really nice ride.

Then she got to hang out in the long run and pen attached to the arena. This allowed her to watch the soccer action and stroll the entire length of the arena. In fact Ronan and I warmed up along that side of the arena (w/t/l and rollbacks) with Cearra following us along. She also got LOTS of attention from the kids and parents.

It was a good learning session for everyone.

We even shot a short video: It can be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTRDbmzUfe8

Lead line

 Flag

 Flag

 Drag-A-Bag

 Drag-A-Bag

 Drag-A-Bag

 Cruising

 Backing

 Break time

 Cones