FUN IN THE SUMMER SUN!

MORE FUN IN THE SUMMER SUN: We have had some REALLY hot days. Training has happened in those rare moments of somewhat tolerable temperatures. Lots of ground work review and some saddle time. We are getting together with some members of the Golden State Horsemanship Club this weekend on top of showing Annie to some potential families so it is going to be a BUSY weekend!

Friday: Friday started off with a groundwork review. We worked on a variety of the exercises that we will be doing over the weekend. Plus she has had about three days off so a little extra attention is a good thing. We started off in the round pen and worked on having quiet conversations, increasing and decreasing energy/intent without escalating mentally and working on reflection/responsibility. These communication exercises are really fun to do because the changes in horse and human are pretty clear, sometimes small but always powerful. Then we played outside on the trail course. It was a fun and freeform session. Over jumps, through obstacles, around trees and up/down hills. Just plain fun with lots of rubbing, praise, rest and the occasional cookie. A nice session. Later this afternoon it is bath time as we are meeting a potential new family for Annie today. We shall see how it goes.

It went very well! Annie was a trooper! We showed off some of her many groundwork skills and then taught them to a young 14 year old horsewoman. While the “accent” took a few moments to comprehend Annie did all that she was asked to do. We demonstrated lateral flexion, hindquarter and forequarter yields, backing, sending, side-pass along a fence and some ground-school circles. We also did work with the stick/string, plastic bag and rope to show basic desensitizing. Then we moved to work under saddle. Michael rode first and spoke about how best to cue Annie. The fact that she was listening well to leg, seat and hand cues was impressive to these folks (they have been shopping for a while and so far Annie was the best behaved horse they had seen). They demonstrated transitions up and down, went through all three gates, did some basic roll back and a few other nifty things. Then we switched saddles and put the young horsewoman on Annie. They did really well together. Had a “quiet conversation”, found some common ground and did some good work together. Then another lady got on who has been riding a long time. Annie rose to the occasion and did everything she was asked without fuss. Then the young lady got back on and rode some more. Towards the end of the session (well past Annie’s dinner time) she got fussy. Typical. So we showed the folks how to use the weighted end of the mecate and move Annie out. Eventually we wrapped up (after 8:00pm) and headed home. We told the family to take the weekend and think about it (they wanted her). We asked them to consider the needs of the horse and really think about what they wanted to do (horse activity wise), review this journal and to make sure that Annie was going to be the right horse for them. We will see. Nice folks and a great training day for Annie.

 Anne with a Novice Rider

 Annie with a Novice Rider

Saturday: We loaded up about 9:00am and headed back to Pioneer Park Arena. Meeting some members of the Golden State Horsemanship Club and in theory (grin) another potential new family. By 10:00am we had a great turnout out! There were EIGHT HORSES at today's Spur of the Moment at Pioneer Park Area in Somerset which is about 15 minutes from our place. Everyone did GREAT! We started off working some needed ground skills and got the horses really listening which was awesome. Body position, clarity, intent and focus were worked on as well. Good stuff! We did a bit of a "horseman's handshake" where the horses got to smell one another and their respective humans. Once everyone got feeling connected we rode. Laurie led some exercises and folks did really well. We had cones set up and even some ground poles so folks could work on a variety of things under saddle! It was awesome to see!

Annie met another potential family. Even with all the distractions at the park and the arena she did a really solid job! For some reason JD’s horse Tonka (a big boy) did not make the “I like you” list right off the bat and she sassed up a bit when we got near him but with some mild encouragement she move out. Since Annie was my “teaching assistant” we did not do as much groundwork as we normally do so she had some energy. Some rollbacks and serpentine work and she was Miss Mellow again. The footing was hard and loping was tough on all the horses. Still there were some nice transitions up and down. Nice respect of cues and overall a really nice performance, even when we switched the saddles around.

Upon reflection an observation it seems Annie responds well to a calm, quiet energy from her human partner. She has really taken to the “quiet conversation” approach and looks for the right answer without too much needed in the way of cues and aides. The first family we met seemed to get this and Annie did well for them, reflecting what was given as she has been taught. The second family had more “experience” in the saddle but their “experience” has been with hotter, less controlled horses and we felt that their energy and the harshness of her cues was less than ideal for Annie even though we know they give the animals in their care lots of TLC. Annie performed well for both families in our opinion even with the inconsistency and lack of clarity in communication on the part of the human. Both families really liked her and expressed interest which is nice.

So we’ll be at it again tomorrow. Same time! Same place! We’ll be having another Spur of the Moment session to work with some G.S.H.C folks and showing Annie to another family as well. The challenge for us is to find the RIGHT FIT for Annie. It is not about who has money first but who has the right feel and dedication to her growth that matters. Of course we have told several folks “no” from just email conversations so that weeds out quite a few of the less than ideal situations. Hope Sunday is a fun day!

 Annie w/ Advanced Rider (and Hubby)

 Annie w/ Advanced Rider

Annie w/ Advanced Rider

Sunday- We loaded up about 9:00am and headed back to Pioneer Park Arena. Meeting some members of the Golden State Horsemanship Club and in theory (grin) another potential new family. The morning focused on Problem Solving. One of our Members has a rescue horse that has no sense of “personal space” and crowds her human badly. Also the horse won’t back up. So we all worked on getting the feet moving, gaining respect and staying out of our personal space. This is an issue with many horse folks and their horses. We had to go through some ugly to get to the good but everyone got the job done. Annie was a rock star! She was the perfect example of what the goal should look like! She moved off of halter pressure with ease, backed up smoothly and stayed outside the “safety zone” quietly until she was asked to come into the “safety zone” with calmness. Could not be more proud of her.

Wow…showing horses to potential families is SO draining! The folks seem to hear about 50% of what you are telling them and actually watch less than that. When you ask them to come in and work with the horse after you instruct them how to do something the poor horse has to translate the “weird accent” they are receiving. Add to this a different saddle, harder or weird cues and other funkiness and you have a recipe for a crappy session. Don’t know how our professional friends do it!

Annie was AWESOME!

Yes, our gal ROCKED it. She performed well for us (as usual) and then took all the weirdness, the unusual energy, the less than optimal riding and the different tack all in stride and gave the human some of her best work! She was calm with everyone, was soft in the bridle, easy on the leg/seat cues and lateral work. She handled the cones/patterns really well. Transitioned up and down well and maintained a level internal/mental tempo even when asked for a variety of different things in different ways. Her sassy side came out of the person was too hard or too unclear. It came out in the form of her backing up (to get away from the heavy hands) or stopping/ seeking Laurie or I out (if we were in the arena, which we were.). So many people forget that seat/leg is the PRIMARY method of cueing and the reins are the SECONDARY. Even the most mellow horse is going to pissy if their face keeps getting pulled on. Annie is no exception. While everyone had “corrections” for this, they always seemed to be these involved things. Our training approach is “keep it simple”. We instructed folks to simply pick up the end of the mecate and show it to Annie. That fixes the sass very quickly.

Sigh.

We have told several families “no thanks” in email conversations. Those that we have shown Annie too all tell us the same positive things. This is cool as it validates all the hard work. We can also tell when Annie “likes” the human and when she “tolerates” the human.  She HAS to go to a family she (and we) like. That is the bottom line. Of course if these families would just commit to moving forward that would be nice too.

Sigh, again.

So we will keep on training and keep on showing Annie! With every performance she gets more solid and so does her asking price. Seems fair. Now a couple of days off and then back to work! We have at least two more families to meet this week!