Left Brain, Right Brain

One thing I love about feeding the horses at the college, is that on Thursdays I have to put the horses away. My helper is pretty lazy, and loves to get out of whatever she can...and so, the job is always left to me. I won't let her know that I actually like it.
Twister likes this job too. She has figured it out that when I pull her out of her stall at this late hour...that it will be quick, and so she is very accommodating. I tell her..."OK Twister... you're a working girl today... lets put those horses away." "I halter her, tie the lead rope to serve as a macate reign and hop on her back...no saddle necessary for these quick jaunts. She does pretty good at moving so I can open & close gates, and doesn't get excited when the horses run out to their lots. A nice steady trot is my preferred speed... and she listens pretty well.
Last week, it was getting late, and cold and I was in a bit of a hurry to get done... There were 3 groups of horses to get out to their lots... and I was letting Twister trot pretty fast. I kind of marveled at the fact that I wasn't scared but lost balance when I thought about it too much... but quickly remembered to relax and let her move me... an we went quickly about our work.
During my tutoring with Marina she often quotes things from my Centered Riding by Sally Swift, which encouraged me to pull it off my shelf and I often will read a bit before falling to sleep. Last night I was reading Chapter 4 Learning and the Brain. Apparently I have been riding with my left brain! The left bain is practical, rational, analytical and among other things...verbal. It thinks too much!
The right side of the brain reacts naturally. It doesn't ask questions. It just goes with the flow and IS. The trick, it appears is to get all this rational stuff in order so that it is natural... and trust that it is there. Because the left side is verbal, it takes too long to go through a list of things to get right...You are halfway through an exercise before your mind can verbalize it all.
I am so fascinated by this new discovery...and see from a lot of my problems stem.
Plan Before, Relax, Trust Myself, Trust my Horse... There might be something more to this. I am going to ponder it for a bit.

Send by Success!

Today was good with Native, and I am hopeful that I have figured something out....and he wasn't just having a good day. The class is getting ready for their first ride on their colts. They're doing alot of ground work, and when they "pass" the groundwork test they get a bag.
Today was cold, about 30 degrees... but it felt really cold. The warmth was sucked out of my hands, through insulated leather gloves instantly so moving around felt pretty good.
I went through my list of groundwork exercises that Native & I are working on. Whenever I start something different he gets worried, then calms and gets comfortable until I change it again. So I am trying to keep things changing all the time so he can't get comfortable in anticipation...knowing whats next. I want him to look to me to know whats next. Even changing direction makes him uncomfortable, he stiffens up and shoots his head up, until he realizes i just want him to walk, shaped around me. I felt like it was getting as good as it gets with this horse and went to take the test.
When I have to preform I must get a bit nervous (like the horse) because it always goes much worse that it goes when I kno I'm alone. Native, of course, picks up on this and gets nervous too. I muddled through most of the exercises, but the sending around was bad. Natives head was up, he was stiff, and the hind wasn't going under. Chuck would say, "Get more Hindquarters." but I wasn't getting a change.
Chuck took Native and got more hind quarters, and a few good steps. And showed me (again) what enough hindquarters looked like.

I took Native and we worked on this some more. I had to keep asking for HQ, every time he quit yielding I'd ask again by lifting on the lead, and pointing at his hind. And then something clicked. His head came down, his legs were reaching under and I could change directions with only a little correction. I changed it up and did other things in between, but he moved correctly when I came back to the send-around exercise. The test... show Chuck, have an audience, preform in front of another.
And it went well. Native did exactly what I needed him to do. As if he was saying...I'd have done it like this all along if you had just asked properly.

Shoulders & More

First, let me say, things are getting better. Native is learning that I am not here to eat him alive, and isn't so spooky when I ask him to send around, and I have found that when I get his hind quarters disengaged enough, with his feet reaching under, his head tends to lower, and he becomes more relaxed, so I am working with this. I have found that he does have a really bad trot...so there are some weird movements there, and I just have to ride them out and relax. (working on it...getting better.) My legs? They're still screwy...Once I figure out how to relax and loosen them...a lot of other things are sure to fall in place. I am always conscious of how they are hindering me, so I modify and try to fix them.
During last week's tutoring session Native and I worked on trotting (which will be an ongoing thing thing, but is getting much better.) I have a little Marina in my head who is reminding me to set my shoulders back "Be proud of your pony" and Remember that "inner core". The little Marina in my head tells me when I try to lead with my supporting reign (There is a little Chuck in there yelling at me too.) All these little things that i need to be aware of, and am trying to train my body to take care of this stuff so I can move onto other things.
Another thing I wanted to work on was moving his shoulder over while keeping him soft. I no success in a previous class where Chuck asked us to walk forward with the shoulder over and the hip reaching to the eye (a lead departure exercise) I thought i could get Natives shoulder ok, but when i asked for his hip, I'd lose the head. I was told to move his hip more...I wasn't giving him enough pressure, but I couldn't get my body to hold the Rt. front shoulder and pressurize the left side of his hip enough to move it...and to hold this awkward position to wait for the right movement was impossible for me.
Marina and i worked on it, and had some little bits of success when I removed my feet from the stirrups to exaggerate the forward & back pressure...and waited for the right movement.... realizing all the time I needed spurs. We did get a couple of good steps and called it a day.

In the colt class, students who are actually starting colts are doing a lot of groundwork with their colts. They are moving hind quarters, forequarters, backing, and preparing the horses for pretty much anything they will encounter during their first few rides. Jaime is a teacher helper who is helping with one of the sale horses, Simply. He is a bit green, but has had a lot of Clinton Anderson Inspired groundwork. I was warming up Native...getting ready for a lesson when Jaime was reveling in the wonders of groundwork...saying how easily he moves his shoulders over, because he was so well prepared.
I spent my "groundwork" class time on Thursday "groundworking" Native's shoulders and everything else I could think of. Id send him by, ask for a yield of HQ, back him up 2 steps, then move his shoulder over. Then I'd switch to the other side. I found that on one side he was much more reluctant to move his shoulder easily (his off side) I also was reminded that he would prefer it if I didn't stand on that side either...always moving to get where I'd be standing where he wanted me... Of course, being the Horses behavior expert I am...I knew what he was pulling before he did. I did a majority of my work on that side...leading him off at a walk until he accepted the fact that I was just going to be there. I was still having trouble moving his shoulder though. I asked Jaime to watch & tell me what I was doing to make it go so badly....Because if we have learned nothing else... we know if things are going badly, Fix me = Fix the problem.
Stemming from ME trying to show Native that I was not going to eat him, I was being too cautious when moving to his off side. He thought I was pushing him. I needed to just walk to where i was going. Thats it... not be careful. Just do it. When I quit being so careful, he knew what to do. I walked to his shoulder, blocked his head and moved his shoulder. When I got a good step or 2, I rewarded him. I got to watch it get better.
I look forward to my next ride. I hope the groundwork shows up!

EEEK! I'm Cold and Alone... and Other Reasons to Freak Out!

As I mentioned before, I have been working with Marina on my problems. My legs, shoulders, feet, arms, hands, seat...and all the interesting things they do to screw up the horse. After a couple of uncomfortable rides on this "broke" horse, Native, I decided that there were some issues I needed to work out with my tutor to make it all better.
I went out to the muddy dry lot to collect Native who was happily munching alfalfa with his buddies. I led him away, groomed him the best I could in the rain, got him saddled & ready.... and made him wait. The arena was being groomed, so Native had to wait.
He was pretty antsy, moving around a lot, even pawing the moment we left his side. Marina kept telling him he was a broke horse and so, shouldn't act this way but he paid her no mind.
When the arena was groomed we entered. I could see right away that Native, who was generally pretty calm, was feeling the weight of his separation from the other horses. He was prancing around with his head up, hard eyes darting around. Right away I was instructed to get him moving so that he could work off some energy with a short lead rope so he really had to work with the hind quarters doing extra work to keep up. Lots of changing direction, keept him focused on me....not the horses he was missing. When he slowed down a bit it became really clear that he didn't want me standing on his off-side. Being a broke dude, he is always used the way he should be, saddling and everything done on his left side. He was really uncomfortable with me on is right, blocking me with his head, even jumping when the saddle made noise so we needed to work on that. We did alot of throwing the lead rope over the saddle, making noise as it hit. Also we did some "Little Kid Exercises" essentially acting like a little kid who runs awkwardly up to a horse with the noise and bumping, and petting, and hugging, to desensitize him to these actions. He was set in a self preservation mode where he seemed to think that every movement was a threat. He needed to see that he didn't need to jump at everything.
So, essentially I have a few more things added to my to-do list...but also a few more tools in my bag. The more I use them, the more naturally they will come.

Native & My Legs Part 1

One of my favorite things about having a near-by college with an equine Studies Department is that when I have a problem that can't be easily fixed in class, there is a staff of student tutors.
Marina is one of my favorite people...she has this sixth sense that tells her my legs are hanging 1 inch off from where they should. She can see when my shoulders drop, and when I am slouching. I wish this was all that is wrong with me... but the list goes on and on...and my bad everything affects my horse.
For now, one of the biggest things wrong with me is my legs. They are super jacked up. They hang wrong. My feet point in the wrong direction. When I am riding and get scared my legs get stiff....add this to my other problems and it looks pretty dismal.
As Marina patiently and with humor tells me again and again how my legs should be, her descriptions reminded me of a book I keep meaning to get out again and read. Centered Riding by Sally Swift. "Pretend your legs are so long that you can wiggle your toes in the mud" and " put your feet out so that if your horse disappeared from under you..you would still be standing.
We work on it...and she says I am improving... but blast these legs!


This is how I try to imagine myself when concentrating on fixing my legs.

My assigned horse in the Colt Starting Class in Native. (remember, I am not actually starting a colt, I'm just watching everyone else do it) Native is a really cute sorrel bugger with a big white patch on his nose adding to his slightly dorky appeal. I am a little nervous about Native since everyone I have seen ride him, never had the look of calm control. Native kinda just runs with his nose out...clearly not worried about the wishes of his rider.
We started with groundwork for the first 2 days of working with the horses. Right away while sending him around his nose shot out, weary of me & the end of my lead rope I guessed. I want a horse to walk around me in a relaxed manner. His nose should be down, with a bend in his poll, eyes on me, and hind legs crossing over as he walks. I asked the instructor, Chuck about it and he pointed out how stiff Native was and suggested I do alot of getting him to move his hind quarters over and reward him liberally. I found that when I lifted on the lead rope to cue him to move his hind quarters, and let off really quick, encouraging him to keep moving around, I could see some relaxation in his head & neck. This and a whole lot of rewards of petting should let him know I am not here to beat him with my rope and get things a bit more relaxed.
The 2nd day of groundwork was nicer and he did all the groundwork exercises like a champ. He is nice & bendy in his neck. He backs well with slack in the lead, and even backed in a circle, when I asked him properly.
Tomorrow we ride.

Getting Ready

I love the look of a young horse exploring! His youth and trainability show in the way his eyes look curiously around, his ears move to and fro gathering more information, when he sticks his nose up and takes in the air, and when something catches him off guard and he is reduced to spooking, he quickly finds that whatever it was, wasn't really worth all that fuss and he works his mouth thinking that "next time I see a butterfly, I can stand for it."

Older horses mostly have things figured out. They have been going through the motions for many years and know what to expect, and if they see a way, they even know how to get out of doing things they don't feel like doing. There is always the possibility for improvement, but a horse who has things figured out is really hard to change.

This describes my mare Twister. Without a strong leader, she feels the need to take over. I do see the curiosity in spurts, and I relish every moment of it. But she has learned in her many years of experience that spooking also scares her rider...and she can get out of a lot of work by using this very special tool. I have been working with her for 4 years and she is teaching me much about horses. But, Since she is my 1st horse, I lack much of the experience that would help me through most of our issues. I say "our" because as we go along, I find that the better I get, the better she also gets! Who'da thunk it??

My hopes are that by taking this class, I can better get down to what is natural in older horses, and thereby better preserve these qualities, rather than helping to further diminish them. And maybe someday when I know I can be useful, I will want to start a colt.
Enough about my history..on to the class.

Ariana Strozzi 2004 ; Intuitive Horsemanship
I just loved this video. I had never seen it before, but Arianna describes these things we have been studying in these FRC horsemanship classes in a new light. She really puts much emphasis on how intuitive horses are. Since they naturally would live on open planes and be subject to an end as a dinner for some prey animal they are REALLY aware of your presence (energy). This is nice to know when you can figure out how to use this as a tool.

Buck Brannaman 1990 ; Groundwork & The First Ride
I love Buck Brannaman. Early on I read his book "Faraway Horses" and learned to appreciate his wit and how he got where he is. Watching him train a horse is amazing. He makes it look so effortless, but this is because of his incredible timing and the fact that his awareness of the nature of the horse is so advanced.

Colt Starting Class

It is fun to say Yeah, I'm in a "Colt Starting Class"...
They kind of look at you strange.
So I say "Oh I'm not brave enough to start a colt... I'm just taking the class to learn what I can and go along with what everyone else is doing.
The strange look remains.
Then I realize they think I said "cult".... Yeah I'm taking a class on starting CULTS... but I'm just going to go along with everyone else.
~sigh

Purpose of this blog:
A requirement of this Colt Class is to keep a journal. I thought it would be much more interesting to keep my journal electronically....and even add some pictures every now and then.
With the possibility of an audience...I may be able to keep this up. I am not good at keeping up a journal. I usually fizzle out after the 3rd entry.
So in short, this blog will help me to fufill a requirement of the class, train me to be more reilable as a journal keeper, and help to instill the wealth of knowledge I absorb while attending these colt, not cult, starting classes.