ACTHA Ride

Last weekend my friend from work and I packed our horses up in her spiffy new LQ trailer and drove over to Payson (about 2 1/2 hrs with trailer) for a competitive trail ride with ACTHA. (Horse and Rider did an article on them recently, which got me interested.

We got there friday afternoon, and the ride was Saturday morning. So we went for a ride Friday... we were on this huge ranch and it was very pretty... unfortunately my camera is broken so I didn't get any pics... and Lic was being a fool anyway so I wouldn't have had use of a free hand anyway... LOL.

Lots of people were riding so Lic would stop and stare every time she saw more people on horseback. No matter how many times I explained it to her, she still thought they were gonna eat her. At one point, there was sort of a round area and my friend was trotting her mare, who was being lazy... Lic trotted circles around them, which was good to burn off some energy. Then my friend wanted to sidepass her mare, so I sidepassed Lic... she sidepassed to the right just fine, but apparently she had crossed some wires in her brain that made her believe my cue for "sidepass to the left" really meant "throw a hissy fit and rear." Mares. The left is her "bad" way to sidepass anyway, but usually at home she just shakes her head a bit. Finally got her to take a few steps over and left it there. We also managed to spook at a cattle guard, and when we got to the river, I got her to go in, whereupon she suddenly realized she was in water and blew up, spooking her way out of it... I made her go back in but the mud was kind of deep and sucky which also freaked her out, so I left it alone. But this time it was going on 6pm so we headed back to camp.

It was Lic's first time on a tie-line and I was worried a bit about her and my friend's mare, especially since she is a bay paint and Lic notoriously hates anything spotted... but they actually got along together quite well. By the end of the weekend they were inseparable friends.

The next morning, before the ride I took Lic over to a field and lunged her for like 20 mins, and then got on and loped her both ways for another 20 min or so. I was the only asshole with a sweaty horse when we started, but she was still acting a fool! She kept spooking at a tent, wouldn't hold still and kept goofing off and getting in other horses' space... I ended up having to circle her for like 15 minutes waiting our turn for the first obstacle. My friend then did the obstacle first and Lic was so upset that she had to wait her turn and not just follow her friend that she threw a full-blown mare hissy fit... trying to bolt after the other mare, spinning, stomping, rearing... it was literally all I could do to keep her under control, and barely, at that... by under control I mean we didn't just bolt into the obstacle.

The first two obstacles, BTW, involved sidepassing both ways... I was like "Oh, great. Because sidepassing went so well last night!" Amazingly enough, she aced the first obstacle... the second one was a bust. Her friend went first again... We had to sidepass through cones. We got halfway through, and Lic reared straight up... it was a pretty impressive rear. She was just so wired she couldn't listen or deal with the excitement.

We continued to ride for a while without any more obstacles... everything was okay until we came to the river again... this time it was a rocky river bed with just a stream of water running through it. Lic decided it would be so much easier to jump the stream several times, but finally there was no choice for her but to go through, as the river literally was the trail for a while. She finally put a foot in, and lowered her head to sniff... which I hate because I have to give her her head to figure it out, but it means I have to reel in my reins if she blows up... but that fear was for nothing, she started pawing at the water and realized that rather than eating her, water would be great to splash around and play in. It was our big accomplishment of the weekend.

The rest of the ride went about how I expected... Lic settled in, but she was still a bit hot- we had a few rodeo moments when she would spook at one thing or another, but no major disasters. She was definitely trying to play catch up, and would have trotted to the front if I had let her, so loose reins were out of the question. She wasn't the only one though, there were a lot of hot and excited horses. We completed the water crossing, the log step-over, and the log-jump... which was really a step-over because I am terrified to jump her... we have been working over teeny-tiny raised poles at my trainers, like 18"... trainer can get her to jump, I just trot them. I am too scared she will do something dumb while I'm off balance and throw me. We flunked the gate obstacle- we were able to open it and get through, but not close it, so we got zero's for not completing... I think we should have gotten partial points though, because some people couldn't even open it, but oh well, no big deal.

At the end of the day, we took 38th out of 45 riders. I was thrilled- we weren't last place!!! LMAO! And I finished, and didn't get dumped, which is an automatic DQ. We are doing one in Dewey in June, I am only hoping the wind will cooperate, it was very calm and pleasant in Payson.

And on a totally different note, I won 2 two-day passes for Clinton Anderson's tour, in Vegas June 12-13th...I cant use them, if anyone is interested, I'm trying to sell at half-price... the passes are $40 each, I will sell both for $40 OBO, or possible trade for ???

What's in a Name?

Thanks to Fyaahchild for the inspiration. :)

Licorice and her momma were saved from a kill pen when Lic was a yearling by a kind family in Michigan. A friend of mine bought Lic's dam from them- Melody is a registered solid paint. We don't know who Lic's sire is, except that he was supposedly some black and white paint "guaranteed" to throw color. Well, the color he threw was sorrel, but that's okay, I like my redhead. I really wish I could find out her sire's bloodlines, but oh well. Lic is definitely built shorter and stockier than her momma- Melody is 15.3hh, and Lic is only 15hh.

This family had children, and their children, of course, had friends. One of these friends was a little girl who had cancer, and had always wanted a horse named Licorice. So, they named the sorrel horse Licorice.

When Lic was 4, she was sent to be broke by my friend who had bought her mom. A year later, my friend bought her because the family was unable to keep her, and she didn't want to lose track of her horse's daughter. Around that time, I was taking lessons at the barn and helping my friend with a camp for kids, and I rode Lic a few times out on the trails and really liked her. She was (and still is) a phenomenal trail horse, once she settles in... she's usually kind of hot and spooky for about 20 minutes, but if we are out on the state land or trails, she is an absolute blast.

Since I was already planning on shipping Dutch, who I was leasing at the time, out to AZ with me, it was an easy decision to take Lic too. My friend sold her to me for a good price, and the rest is history.

Another 30 days

I have been working with Lic on cantering. Just as it was with the walk, jog, and trot, she has been throwing hissy fits about cantering... she'll be going just fine at a trot and when you ask for the canter, she will balk and snarl, and if you hit her with the crop, she will buck. She pulled this a week or so ago at my trainer's house, and finally I put on some blunt spurs and used that to get a canter out of her... I know people say not to use spurs for forward, but we were at the point where nothing else was working.

Since then, I have been working her in a canter, some days she is wonderful, some days she is a cow. Last Friday was one of those days. It's my own fault, really... she cantered several laps both ways, nicely... I brought her down and let her trot, and tried to canter her again... and she just shut down. She started rearing up on me (this is a new habit, my trainer thinks she is trying new evasive maneuvers since bucking no longer works) and reverted back to her nice habit of trying to turn and bite... I was not pleased. At one point, she actually, in one swift motion, reared and turned her head to bite my leg. I'm ashamed to say she got me, too, since I was so focused on not falling or throwing her off balance (I am really not liking the idea of being flipped over on).

So, I called my trainer, and she started again today with another 30 days. Lic was great for her today, willingly cantered both ways, although the left lead is a bit harder for her. She threw a bit of attitude but no bucking. One thing I noticed is that my trainer worked her at an extended trot for quite some time. She explained to me that she wanted a willing, forward trot out of her before the canter, and didn't want to her to always associate trotting with cantering. This makes sense- I need to be more patient and work her longer before I try to canter her. I also am going to take a few English lessons while Lic is in training again- I need to develop my leg strength. Whenever Lic tried to die out or balk on the trainer, she just put a lot of leg on her to drive her forward. When I try to do that, the mare just bucks or rears! (Not all the time, it's getting better, but obviously I still need to work on my riding).

I am very glad the trainer is putting another 30 days on her... I figure we can get her into some good habits at the canter, and then I can take over and work on my position and cues. The trainer thinks Lic can still sense I'm not quite as confident a rider as she is, and is taking advantage of that situation to pull some of her stunts. Hopefully we will get her out of that habit.

Saddle Fit and Picture Time!

Well, crap, my pictures got all out of order, and I'm having trouble fixing it.. oh well! I wanted to upload some pics of Lic's saddle and the padding I use for Cut&Jump over at http://thewellgroomedhorse.blogspot.com/ ... So here they are. Anyone's comments would be appreciated... I have her padded up so that there aren't any dry spots, but now the damn saddle slips.... I'm going to have to experiment with reversing the pads or something. I am always on the lookout for a new saddle, but I have found that regular QH bars are too narrow, and FQHB are too wide... and I can't really afford anything custom right now. The saddle is a Fabtron FQHB flex tree Ladies Trail saddle.

Apologies for some of the pics being bad- little miss Lic wanted nothing to do with holding still for grooming and saddling, let along picture time! And also sorry about the bad formatting... I'm not all that computer literate.

Just for fun... Dutch sez... "Oh, HAI!" I recently found his registration info... he turns 30 this June! He looks so much better since putting him on the Integrity feed and Rice Bran!

Poor Lic after her ride... life is tough! Not sweaty enough to really eval sweat patterns, but no obvious dry spots... this is after an hour and a half of lungeing/riding, she's just not that sweaty of a horse!


Saddle on, with double pads

Another pic of the saddle on, excuse the dust! Lic was trying to dig her way out, and it's too muddy to groom at our usual spot outside...



Just the double pads, with the built-up (in the front) Cavallo pad on the top.

And a wool blend felt pad on the bottom... excuse the Cranky Mare's pawing and head tossing.

Just the saddle... kind of hard to see here, but she has very little withers clearance due to the front of the saddle being too wide. (I think.) I don't know though, maybe I should put it on her with just a thin blanket and lunge, to see exactly where the pressure points are... thoughts on that? Oh, and yes, she is pooping... very photogenic and ladylike. :)

And after grooming, but before tacking up. She's standing funny... she's not usually tha high-headed, hollow-backs, or butt-high... she is a bit butt-high, but she's all backed up on a hill her, but refuses to put her back feet on the cement behind her... *rolls eyes.* But hopefully it is apparent how far she has come in terms of muscling, compared to other pics I have posted.

Anyway, C&J, feel free to use any or all of these for a padding discussion, I am okay with suggestions and critiques too!

The Not-So-Cranky Mare

It's been forever... let me start by saying that in the last Month, Lic's attitude has completely turned around. She has suddenly become much more happy to work and more tractable... we have actually been making progress on some things, most notably really getting collected at the walk-jog, and even cantering in the arena. My trainer thinks she has just finally gotten through to the mare... I attribute, at least partially, adding the supplement Source to her diet. It's cheap.... I would suggest anyone try it.

I just finished reading a post on Mugwump chronicles: http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/03/there-is-never-enough-time.html . I found it so interesting, I thought I'd post my thoughts here.

When I started this blog, Lic was a very desensitized horse... she ignored my leg, and eventually found that bucking, biting, and acting like a complete shit would get me off. This was my own fault... I looked for a trainer, and couldn't find one I liked. So I did groundwork, Clinton Anderson style. I did goofy things like walking her like a dog, and hopping up to ride back home. (Bareback, no helmet, and in a halter, on my shit of a horse. Smart, huh?)

Finally, I was able to ride on the trails, but dammit, I wanted to be able to do arena work too! She was a total nightmare in the arena... balking, bucking, biting, I just could not get her to go.

I finally found the perfect trainer... my trainer knows when to push, when to reassure, and when the horse just needs to get laced with a whip. When I first started with horses, i thought it as mean to hit a horse. Now I realize that it's mean NOT to hit a horse, if they need it. I saw my trainer back the mare up, flex her laterally, put a (short, english) spur in her side to get her to move, yell with the "pissed-off mom voice," and make her do endless circle... I also saw her lavishly praise even the tiniest improvements. She's a keeper.

Now, finally, Lic is at that place Mugs mentioned... sensitive enough to respond to light cues, but desensitized enough that she won't wig out if I make a mistake. Case in point:

The other day, I was working Lic in a large round-pen sized area in the lot next door. She had given me a good day- a flawless walk/jog warmup, and I actually got about 3 laps at the canter, each way... there was some bucking involved, but nothing outrageous. She is also starting to understand that bucking=getting popped in the mouth with the bit. So, as a reward, I allowed her to canter up a little path in the 2 acre lot. At first, she got excited and threw a bucking fit when I wouldn't let her all-out run. So, after another 5 minutes of cantering circles, we tried again... and she was fine, almost hitting that rocking-chair cadence. This is a huge stride for he, she has a lot of balance issues at the canter, and I take these improvements as a sign that all of our hard work is paying off. So, we go up one side of the property, and double back to go the other way. We were cantering again, and all of a sudden we're OMGI'MGONNA DIE! running, with her head in the air.

I breathe, and sit back, and slowly pull back on the reins. (It was really hard for me to learn to relax when my horse is wigging out!) We stop, turn and face the threat.... a boston terrier. *Sigh* Okay, so we go up, Lic puts her head down and snuffles at the thing, and I turn her, and we continue cantering the way we were going before. We round a corner (I live in a hilly area) and we suddenly see a car pulling away from the school that is adjacent to the yard.

This time, I didn't sit the spook so pretty. As we were already cantering, Lic very nimbly changed her direction... from forwards to SIDEWAYS. Nice. Well, I lost my seat, meaning my ass was about 1 foot to the left of the saddle... but my feet were still in the stirrups, and my hands were still on the reins. I ended up literally sitting on the mare's side, hanging on her mouth with the reins. (I know, I should have let go, but it was a bad moment).

The point of all this is that Lic would have had a legitimate reason to launch me... instead, she stopped after about 4 strides, allowing me to unceremoniously drop to the ground. Of course, the lady in the car witnessed the whole fiasco.... she felt bad, but I assured her it was no big deal and I was fine. I got back on, rode for 10 more minutes, cantered the damn straightaway one more time without incident, and called it a day.

The point of this story? My mare, who can be very laid back one moment and spooking like a bat out of hell the next, responded to my screwed up stop cue, without responding to the whole "rider hanging off of her side" thing. I'd rather she had either not spooked, or I had ridden it better, but with practice, I know that better riding on my part will translate to more confidence, and less spooking, on her part. And compared to six months ago, when asking her to canter in an arena would have been a complete disaster? Her improvement so far is amazing, and I expect more amazing things to come.

A Good Day!!!

Lic and I had a lesson today... our trainer's arena is too wet for cantering, so we worked on collection and headset. The way she had me do it was to set my hands low and wide and keep them there, giving Lic enough rein to release the pressure if she would break at the poll but not enough to have her head.

And by golly, it worked! After an initial attempt to kill me (she spooked at the dogs) she jogged around the arena, tossing her head against the bit and generally being pissy and fighting the bit. But after a while, she settled down and realized she was only bugging herself, and I wasn't going to give. We actually had a few laps each way of what my trainer called a perfect western pleasure jog... and it felt great! Completely floaty and even harmonious, with Lic moving off the leg nicely. Of course, we had attitude intermittently, but it barely even registered to me... I felt like we made such great progress!

So, does anyone else want to share how they get their horse to break at the poll? Our trainer said we were basically simulating sidereins, but that now I know how to get her head under control... which, as an added bonus, will help prevent bucking! Anyone else have any ideas or methods they want to share?

Collection, cantering, and sidepassing

Well, we officially know now that Lic CAN canter in an arena... the problem is, she doesn't want to. I took her to my trainers arena... our first day of cantering, she was great... no resistance or anything. We cantered one whole lap, and I praised her, and she got to be done. Good day, right?

The next two days, she seemed to realize that she was being tricked into being a good girl, and wanted none of it. She had to be worked into the ground... she was awful, bucking, balking, etc. She got lunged, she got smacked with a crop, she got spurred... these are not new aids to her, and were not used indiscriminately or carelessly. She really and truly wanted to fight.

We had a bit of an "ah-ha!" moment the next day. She bucked, and I pushed her through it, and was able to put her right back into the canter. Woohoo! My trainer noticed right after that though that she was acting still on her right hind, so we ended it there.

A few days later, we were trail riding, and she cantered nice as could be on the trail. *sigh*

We have also been working on collection and lateral work... Lic can now sidepass both ways under saddle- yay! It's harder for her to the left, but every time, we get a bit more out of her. Her head is coming down and nose is tucking in better at the jog, and she will jog around endlessly without complaint. We still have to work on consistent speed... or I should say, I have to work on it... my trainre can get a consistent trot all day long.

But overall, we are making progress with every ride. It is very encouraging. :)

"Horsenality"

Oh no... A Parelli term! Per the Parelli model, Lic is very much a Left Brain Introvert. She has more whoa than go, and if you pick a fight with her, she has more fight than flight. She does much better when convinced to do something, rather than being forced into it. Oh, and food. She loves food.

She can, however, go "right brain" in 0.2 seconds. Dogs? OMG, must run. Garbage bags? Trembling like a leaf. Cold and windy? Have fun!

Our trainer has taught me that sometimes, you have to fight the fight. Mare turns and snarls at you instead of moving off the leg? Not cool, and she HAS to learn to move off the leg. So she gets MORE leg pressure and gets to circle until she listens.

Other times, it's best to avoid the fight. The trainer has me lunging before trail riding to take the edge off... I forgot the other day, and that was... Interesting. We had several turn on bolt moments due to scary doggies. The next day I lunged the crap out of her (pony not listening means pony can work her ass off, LOL) and amazingly enough, she was good and listened to me.

It all boils down to having the patience to work with a young and willful horse. I have decided to embrace her sometimes witchy mare attitude, and laugh at her grump faces as long as she complies. She also has her sweet and endearing moments.. she's very respectful of space, but can be quite entertaining when she comes up to explore... the other day, I was late going out to feed, so Lic needed to see if my Blackberry was, in fact, a treat. She is also extremely tolerant of me playing with her ears and lips, and making her make kissy faces... I know, it's so not ladylike! If I stroke her ears slowly, she goes almost into a trance, and I've been playing "friendly game" and massaging sensitive spots, like her cinch area and udders, so that she won't be so pissy about grooming there. And her back seems much better, but I've continued doing some massage. I'm hoping my fancy orthopedic pad comes today or tomorrow, can't wait to see if it helps!

Some pics of lazybones:

Midmorning snooze

With Dutch

Whatcha doin?

Leave me alone! I'm sleepy.

Dutch is a total Right Brain horse. He's so active, full of energy... wish I would have known him when he was young. :) He's also the lead horse in his herd of 2, he has some very "studly" behaviors and is always nipping Lic and bossing her around... however, they do get separated to eat because Dutch will wander away from his food and let Lic have it. To ride, Dutch is still a little spitfire. Holding him back when he wants to trot or run home (he's a bit barn sour, and buddy sour for Lic) can be a total chore, and he's been known to practically canter in place because he's to antsy to hold still. He is a little lazier at home, but has always been a great arena horse. If he acts a fool, you just kick him up a bit and he's like "Oh.. Okay! Sorry! I'll quit jigging now!"

Working on pics of my old sweety as well, he is in much better shape than he was when I got him.

Cookies?

Hmm, what's going on over there?

In his blanky.

What little quirks do you love about your horses?

Updates and Plans

It's been a while since I've posted. In that time, I had an equine chiro out to look at Lic re: her bucking, and general pissiness at times. Well, I have to say... really, it didn't help much. According to the chiro, the was out in her withers, lumbar, and pelvis, and really tense in her shoulders from compensating. Adjustments were made, and it was fine for a couple days.. I lightly lunged her, owing to me being busy at work. Then, she came up with lumbar back pain- her lumbar spine had slipped back out, and now her muscles were really tense.

The chiro was unable to came back out in a reasonable time frame, so I took Lic to the vet. (Lucky her, she got to have her teeth floated too!) The vet said he's not a big fan of chiro's, because in his opinion, they muck about with things that aren't necessarily meant to be changed. So, basically, he told me that Lic is what she is, and to get a batter saddle pad to keep the pressure off of that area. So.. huh. I'd be interested to hear thoughts on your guy's horses, back issues, experiences with chiro's, etc. She still has the little bump on her lumbar spine, but the soft tissue swelling and tension has diminished, and she doesn't seem ouchy there other than being sensitive to grooming... but then again, she is kind of sensitive all over to grooming. Anyway, long story short, trainer and vet said just leave it alone since she's not showing any obvious lameness, and not sore after riding. I did order a Cavallo pad, one of the built-up ones, because my saddle is slightly too wide in front and tips a little bit. I'm hoping the better pad material and fit might improve her performance a bit.

So, between bad weather and Lic being sore, we made only intermittent progress this month. We worked on de-spooking, manners while lungeing, and ground poles. Just yesterday, the trainer had her sidepassing over poles under saddle! I was so flippin' proud of my little mare, I don't think she's ever sidepassed with a rider. I saw her working it out in her head... I love my trainer, because if Lic is just being a shit, she gets after her (in fact, she had a come-to-Jesus meeting the other day for bucking) but if there's genuinely a problem, she just eases through it. She just talked soothingly- it's okay, you and do it, move your hind, now move your front- until we got the sidepass. Lic was a little confused, and she gets mad when she gets confused, but the trainer pushed just enough to get her to think and not blow up.

We are hoping to finally get her cantering this month, the weather didn't allow for a whole lot of consistency last month. My trainer says she still has some balance and confidence issues to work on, hence lots of pole work and lateral work. Plus, doing things that make her think but aren't necessarily physically beyond her reach is so good for her... if she's thinking, she can't be a bitch!

Last year with Lic, I had a horse that was hard for me to handle... I was green and not used to a horse that would BUCK to get out of work. I went through trainers, I bought books, I made some progress one my own. I went from being practically unable to ride the horse to able to ride her on trails... but since I've been working with my trainer, I realize a lot of that was still on her terms, and I needed to step up and really learn how to ride a young horse.

Since working with my wonderful trainer, my horse will now settle in and do arena work just fine. She moves off the leg. She learned that "MOVE OUT" really means move out, and while she still has hissy fits at times, she doesn't win. I have learned a more effective leg and seat position, so I can deliver consistent cues.

This year, I plan to keep up with the trainer. We'll see how this month goes. Regardless, even after I take her out of full-time training, I plan to keep up with lessons. I want to take Lic to a local show this year, even if it is a lame walk-jog class. Yes, even if I get my ass kicked by a bunch of ten-year-olds. I've never been to a horse show, and Lic's jog is SO comfy. I don't care if she's not a peanut roller, her jog is truly a pleasure to ride. Hopefully her lope will be comfy as well. I enjoy cantering, but since I can't get her to lope in an arena, all I've experienced is a fast, fun, "Whee!" canter. And I can't get that all the time... I'd say 60% of the time she lugs around on her front end at the canter... so we have work to do.

I plan to really enjoy our wonderful trails around here. I plan to go horse camping, and go out on more "real" trail rides- she does great on the long trail rides, 5-6 hours doesn't faze her. She might be a chunk but she's in good shape.

And I plan to improve my own riding, so I can be more effective, and more confident. I don't want to get bucked off anymore! It sucks! I would love to get to the point where I'm more comfortable riding Lic bareback... I rode her around the yard in nothing but a halter the other day, and she was great... I want to expand on that.

Anyway, sorry to ramble! Feel free to share your plans for the new year!

Groundwork Issues

So, before doing our riding out in the neighborhood, my trainer has had me lungeing Licorice. She's typically pretty responsive on the ground, but for some reason has been giving me guff the past few days. I really wonder if she's sore, or just being a snot. She walks, jogs, and trots both ways nicely. The extended trot is kind of heavy on the fore, but for now, I'm just trying to work on responsiveness. Trouble comes when I ask for a canter... she spins toward me and gives me a snarly mare face, even going so far as to bite the lungeline! She goes to the right easier than to the left... she wasn't doing this before, so I wonder if it's a soreness issue. But.. yesterday I worked her through it... basically, I kept bringing her back in to me and sending her out every time she balked, and after about 10 repetitions of this nonsense, she cantered on the left lead. She was also trying to canter to the left in a right lead... then finally switched to the left.

Trainer thinks she is just testing me, and says she has seen horses go out on the wrong lead before because "they know they aren't supposed to," and it can be another way of testing the owner or trainer, and that they anticipate being stopped and asked again for the correct lead... basically, another way to get out of the work. Licorice is well known for trying multiple ways to get out of doing something before finally giving up and doing it. And the thing is, she looks fine, not lame or gimpy, once she finally complies, and in fact, can collect nicely on a loose rein.

Anybody have any ideas for how to really tell if it's pain versus just attitude? I live in a small area and I'm not sure how readily available and equine chiro would be just for a consultation.

Trail Ridin' Fools

The last few weeks, Lic and I have spent a ton of time on the trails. I mean, from 4-6 hour rides, alone or in a group. It has been a blast! We have tackled steep, rocky mountain trails, seen Javelina (scary!) and Coyotes (not so scary), and covered miles of flat high desert. This Sunday we are going on a group canyon ride- I can't wait!

We are back in training, and this week, we are working on de-spooking to residential hazards... that is, residential hazards in my rural town. Last weekend, I feared for my life while riding down the street. Lic kept spooking, and these were not little spooks. These were OMG-bolt-then-buck spooks. The high point of our ride was me not falling off *rolls eyes.*

So, we are taking it one step at a time. Instead of just doing it and trying to make Lic deal with the dogs, and cars, we are starting on some easier routes with, say, plenty of dogs but fewer cars. Whenever Lic shuts down in nervousness or fear, my trainer has hopped off and gotten her attention on the ground, either lunging on one rein or, if need be, smacking her to get her eyes back where they need to be. Well, duh. Guess if I had thought about it for a second, I could have done that.

Part of her spooking issue is my own amateur riding, too. I have the involuntary *GASP* my horse is spooking CLAMP ON WITH YOUR LEGS AND DON'T FALL!!! reaction. Not helpful. I am going to ride with my trainer the next couple days, and hopefully we'll work on my issues as well.

It's funny, because out on some really challenging terrain, Lic is fine. It's the man-made stuff that terrifies her... garbage cans, dogs barking against fences, kids on bikes, um, about a 10hh pony... no, I am NOT joking about that... sheep, other horses, cows... but put her out on a wide stretch pf state land, and she's good. I think she gets claustrophobic, or it's just one scary thing after another while going down the street.

It's okay, I know with my wonderful trainer's help, we can get past it. :)

I will add some new pics soon, it's amazing to me how much she has bulked up (muscle, not fat) with all this daily work. Dutch is looking good too, and has been a champ about going out and being ridden after just sitting around for so long.

I need a better seat!

Yesterday was a bit frustrating for me. My 30 days of training is up, and it will be a few more weeks before I can pony up for another 30. I was working Lic in the arena area I have available (basically it is shaped like a large round pen, but no rail). She was good at the walk, we did a lot of practice being responsive to the leg and stopping with my seat only. I like to practice my own posture at these times as well. It took a couple times, but eventually she got to where she was stopping on a dime when I settled back. I try to make a point of driving my seat bones down, as my trainer instructed, but somehow it has lost some of the finesse it had when she was here coaching me! I'm not sure if it's a me thing, or a Lic thing (she was very distractible yesterday).

Finally, when we got it down, I moved on to some jogging work. She would be good for a while, but she tends to hollow out and rush at a couple of corners, but not the others... I'm not sure why. I made her jog small circles into the corners every time she did this, and then she would be good for a lap or two and do it again. In fact, she was trying to run out on me (like I said, this arena has no rail) and run up the hill that borders the arena area. Once again, I would put her back and make her do circles where she had run out until she was clam and soft. The problem was, I have seen my trainer do this until she is soft and jogging well, and she makes her jog nicely for quite some time before quitting time. I couldn't get more than one or two nice laps at a time out of Lic... she kept getting strung out and falling into a high-headed, rough trot. Sometimes I could settle her with my seat, sometimes not. I tried circles, I tried halting, backing, and pivoting (she can pivot on the hind now, it's not pretty, it needs practice, but she does it), I even tried making her circle at an extended trot for a while and then go back to the jog (I definitely need to take some English lessons- my posting trot position is awful! I was flopping like a fish and Lic let me know it with her pinned ears, too). I finally settles for a good 2-3 laps each way and quit before it could fall apart again.

Then, like a fool, I pushed my luck. I was actually attempting to end on a positive note. On this property are a couple of straightaway areas that Lic likes to canter. She cantered up one, nice as you please. Then, after looping around to the other straightaway, I asked for a canter and got the death-trot. After she continued to ignore my cue, I reached for the over-under and slapped lightly behind my asking leg (this usually works for her). Well, on this particular day, she decided to throw a good hard buck. I normally could have sat it, but apparently, luck was on Lic's side. She bucked, half-reared, bucked again, and I was on the ground.

I landed fine, but the problem is, this is Arizona. I don't have a nice, groomed arena. I have flat areas I make do on. If you've never been to the southwest, you don't know what it's like to fly off a horse and land in tumbleweed. In my particular area of AZ, tumbleweed is more common than dandelions were in Ohio. So, falling off your horse in AZ sucks way more than falling off your horse in OH. Just thought that would add some context, LOL.

Unhurt but pissed, I hopped back up and walloped her ass around, not hard, but enough to make her work to keep moving her hind away from me. And then I climbed back up and cowboyed her ass around and MADE her canter until I decided we were done. In retrospect, I'm not sure this was exactly the right thing to do, but I had already been working her for over an hour and a half at this point, and I guess maybe making my point and getting it done with was the best thing to do? I'm not sure. On the way back home, I flapped the over-under nonchalantly and made her just keep walking... I want her to respond to ME, not the rope, so I thought maybe swinging it around without cueing would help in that regard.

Oh well, got to take the bad with the good. I think I might lunge before riding today, LOL.

Match made in heaven

Today I asked my trainer, "Who is this horse and what have you done with Licorice???" Today was my first lesson since training started- the trainer wanted to work her through some of her attitude before I got on. She was amazing! She tested me a bit- balked a little, and gave a little buck when I popped her with the over-under for flat-out refusing to move. After that, she was actually really good! A few times I had to back her hard and fast (we decided that is a pretty good consequence for balking/snotty behavior) but otherwise, she listened so well. We were moving almost entirely off the leg, although a few times I had to follow up with the rein. She responded to neck reining nicely though. At her problem spots, we circled and worked off the leg... overall, I couldn't be more pleased and if anyone in Northern AZ (Prescott area) needs a trainer please leave me a comment, I'll be happy to recommend her.

I also got plenty of direction as far as my riding goes... I know I need work, but it would seem that mostly trail riding has gotten me lazy as far as equitation... and somethings I just never got down to begin with. Like any good riding instructor, I was reminded any number of times about legs position- heels down, lean back, sit on your pockets... my main thing was my leg position was such that I was always putting pressure on Lic's side... I am going to have to rethink and relearn how to sit in order to keep the pressure off so she listens better when I do cue.

So our 1st month of training is done. The plan from here is, I'm going to work her for a couple weeks at the walk/jog. I go on vacation this weekend, but I am going to work her before and after. Then, starting sometime in the next couple weeks, we will start with some lessons, and once I recoup my money losses from vacation, we will do another month of training to get her going on some canter work. My goals until then are:

1. Body position- keep my butt where it belongs. I am singing to myself... Head, shoulders knees and toes- knees and toes!
2. Consistency- I must make my lazy ass get up and work her every day, or work her every morning before bed (I work nights). The trainer said she needs that 5 days of saddle work per week, or she will start to slide back.
3. Timing- she gets two chances to respond to my ask, then tell, and after that, if she still doesn't listen, she's going to either back as fast as she can or get popped with the over-under, depending on if she's just being lazy or actually being defiant and nasty about it. I need to get over the little hesitation and get automatic on my cues and follow-through.
4. Goals- pick something to work on, get it done, and move on. This might mean either being done for the day, or working on another task.

Yesterday I was feeling frustrated after a tough trail ride (it was cool and windy, so Lic was fresh and spooky, meaning, of course, it was hell to get her to pay attention to me). Today, I am thrilled... we might make a successful little local show horse out of her yet!

Training update

Well, today marked the start of week 2 of training... Lic was a champ! Which I didn't expect, seeing's how she was a PMSing mare all weekend... presenting for Dutch one second and the next, pinning her ears and trying to bite anything that came within 5 feet... including me, if I dared to groom her. She got a few swats with the dandy brush for that shit and quickly learned to be quietly grumpy about it.

Last week, Lic had a sharp learning curve. She gave the trainer shit for a few days, but the trainer was consistent and persistent, not stopping until Lic was a good girl and doing whatever was asked with a happy face. There were a few impressive tempter tantrums though, and a come-to-jesus meeting on the first day of trot work. After balking and ignoring cues for about 20 minutes, the trainer hopped off and made her walk, whoa, back up, and repeat several times on the ground. Finally, Licorice decided it was easier to trot.

On Saturday, she had the day off from training, so I rode out to state land and let her run. It's really amazing that she can be such a lazy, resistant cow at times because on Saturday, you would have sworn she thought she was a racehorse. We galloped about a mile until finally, I couldn't take it anymore, I was starting to lose my seat. So we finished out at a canter and walked 2 miles home so she could cool out. I could tell she had a blast with it though.

Then, today... she was wonderful. She walked/jogged wherever she was told. The trainer said she does a lot better to her right, the only balking she did was while going to the left. So she kept things positive today and worked more on her "good" side, and tomorrow she is going to work on going to the left without stopping at the same place every time. But overall, I couldn't be more happy with the job this trainer is doing or with the progress Lic is making.

New Pics

I took these pics on my cell phone, so if the quality isn't great, sorry.

Chubby Girl munching on hay after a bath.

Looking nice and shiny!

Dutchy boy after his bath- 25 years old and lookin' good!

Out on state land, looking at cows. I always leave her halter on for trail rides, so I can get off and lead her up to or through scary stuff.

And finally... just chillin' at the barn.

Bucked off, lessons learned.

Well, I ate some dirt last week. I was cantering Licorice around a field, and she was going nicely in the direction toward home... and balked at going away from home. So I simply insisted, yes, you will go away from home... not meanly or anything, just was firm with her. She complied, and cantered the way I wanted, for about 3 stride... and erupted into a bucking fit. Usually she bucks once or twice, not a huge broncy fit like this. So I had that "oh, I'm losing it moment;" the moment when riding it out is no longer an option and you start planning for the fall. Anyway, I was essentially unhurt, although I did get faceplanted into some tumbleweed... for those of you who've never been in the desert, let me assure you- not fun.

So, I brushed myself off, got my bearings, and caught my horse, who was purposely meandering away from me just barely faster than I was walking... LOL. She, of course, is calm as can be now, munching on some weeds. So, I hop back on and continue down the street. She was fussy about exactly where she wanted to go, but I worked her through it until she was listening. Something still felt off though, so I hopped back off. Lo and behold, I found a small cut on one of her heel bulbs. I'm not sure if it was an overreach or if she just stepped on some trash in the field, but suddenly, I wasn't crabby with her anymore. Once again, Licorice proves that she is not a pain in the ass (admittedly, this was my thought as I was pulling tumbleweed thorns from my face) but actually, a very good girl for doing as I asked even with a sore foot.

Moral of the story- check your horse from head to toe if you get bucked off. The cut is tiny, no lameness or even any obvious bleeding, and it's healing well. It was very hard to spot- because of the sand that covered it, it honestly just looked like a dirty horse booger got on her foot until I looked closer.

So, after this incident, I finally broke down and bought some easyboots- so far, so good. She has no problems at all with them and no more ouchies over rocks. I had been hoping to find used ones, but simply got sick of waiting and ponied up the cash. For anyone who is thinking about them, the Easyboot Epics are working really well for us.

First day with the new trainer was today, she is training at my place and a super nice lady. She is firm but very kind to Lic, constantly encouraging her and fixing any problem or misbehavior with no fuss, and then praising as soon as she is being good again. She worked her in long lines today and said that although Lic seemed unfamiliar with long lines, she picked it up quickly.

I will update with pics again soon, both horses are looking shiny and healthy. I rode Dutch the other day as well... riding the old guy was great! I love his push button gaits and rocking chair canter, and he is very forward as well... as opposed to Lic's slow, plodding walk and resistant upward transitions at times. I'm hoping with persistence and training, Lic will eventually get to the point where she is as easy and fun as Dutch to ride.

I know, it's been forever...

But summer is busy and between having houseguests, being out of town, and just generally doing stuff this blog fell on the backburner. So hopefully I'll get back on track here.

Mostly I've just been trail riding, and trying to convince Licorice that certain things are just not going to kill her. The two main things we're working on right now are water and cows.

We were making some progress on water. I had gotten her to where she would cross puddles and such. Well, back in July, I ran into a couple of people trail riding out on state land. Being that we had had monsoon rains for about a week straight, there were some large puddle (read: ponds) that had formed. Well, my new riding buddies had horses that just loved water, and plowed right in to one. Licorice offered to follow, and even though I had a saddle on trial that I was using (a $900 saddle no less) I figured that since the water wasn't quite up to the other horses' bellies, it would be fine. After all, I figured, what an opportunity to get her in the water.

Except that when we got in the pond, she veered right of the path that the other horses had taken... and we were suddenly halfway up my thighs in water... oops. My initial reaction was to panic about the expensive-ass saddle I had on trial... that worry was quickly subsumed in the blossoming crisis of Licorice's panic... the pond, after all, was trying to eat her. So, we buck out of the pond in a glory of flying mud, rodeo style, me with on hand on the horn and the other hand making a feeble attempt at a one-rein stop... finally, I managed to stop her, and I have no idea how I stayed on, lol.. I was totally off-balance for this bucking fit, and I'm sure my entire body looked like a big pathetic noodle... And as I'm sitting there, both me and Lic getting our bearings (poor girl was shaking from head-to-toe) one of the guys I was riding with goes, "That's what you're supposed to hold onto the reins for. Heh." I'm sure I gave him a very pleasant look as I thanked him for the advice.

So, this little incident soured Lic to water a bit, and then the rains stopped for a few weeks, and only started back up a couple weeks ago. I went riding one day after it rained with my friend down the street, and we were going to take our normal little route through the wash, except when we got there (duh) the wash was flooded... not badly, probably less than a foot deep, but the water was rushing by pretty quick. Well, I was going to take Lic through it. In fact, I was going to dismount and lead her back and forth through it a few times, but before I got the chance, she panicked. She started backing up (which is a habit I need to break her of, as evidenced by this story) and ended up backing up into a ditch. I thought for a moment she was going to flip over on me, but good girl that she is, when it counted most, she took care of her rider. Instead of rearing backwards, she kind of reared and pivoted about a 180... which would have been fine except... the dirt in the ditch was so soft from the rain that her feet plunged in up to the elbows! Mind you, this all happened so fast all I know if that I'm on my horse, with my feet both in the stirrups and on the ground at the same time, my friend is going "holy shit!" and he 4 year old daughter is sobbing. My response- the only response I have to such a shit-flipping situation on a horse- calmly saying "whoa, take it easy girl" and assessing my next plan of action.

Well, poor Lic cannot get up with me on her... so I dived off to a side, terrified she had broken a leg. Lo and behold, as soon as my fat ass was off of her, she managed to clamber up the side of the ditch, uninjured except for a few scrapes. Once again proving that she is such a good girl, she turned and looked at me, rather than bucking off into the distance like I half expected her to. I got up and went to her, and other than being terrified, she was fine.

So, needless to say, after those two incidences, we have some work to do on water. In fact, I had to dismount and walk he back and forth on the trail where this whole ditch thing happened, even though the wash was dry, because she was scared just to go down the trail. But today, we made progress- she walked through a puddle, first I led her through, then we walked through it. Seems like when she sees it won't eat me, she's not so scared.

Her other big thing to get over, that we are working on, is cows. Just the sight of a cow is enough to send her spooking across the street. (No joke, people have cows in their yards here, and she will simply fly across the street to get away from one). Well, today, out on the state land, we saw a small herd- like 8 cows. Lic, of course, went batshit. Like absolutely flipped her grits, to the point where I could barely control her, because the fact that there was a human on her back didn't seem to register over the fact that there are cows, over there!!!!! OMG!!!! *Snort* *SNORT* Ahhh! They're looking AT ME!!!! It was pretty dramatic. I finally convinced her that we were just going to stand and LOOK at them, from a distance. They we all females with babies, and two were longhorns, so I didn't want to take any chances. Well, we were there watching the cows for like half and hour. They came up to the pond we were near (plan A had been working on crossing water, until the cows showed up), and Lic finally calmed down enough to approach within about 20 feet of them... until one of the (**cute!**) babies kind of ran around the pond... then it was *spin* *bolt* *snort* all over again. I think what I really need is to find someone with a cow in a corral and throw her ass in with it for a few days. But short of that (no friends with cows) I would appreciate any tips on desensitizing to cows.

There is a new training barn near here that supposedly has "introductory" rates, I emailed to inquire about them. Lic still hates arena work, and still needs work on rating her trot down to a jog and her heavy, on-the-forehand gallop into a lope... I'm hoping I can maybe even afford to put 30 days on her if the rates are low enough. I will update on that later, including a review of the barn if I do decide to do it.

Thanks for reading, the few of you who do!

The slightly less cranky mare

Things have been going well for Lic and I. We are cantering all over the place, and my consequence for her bucking seems to be very effective. She bucked twice this ride... for her, that's not bad at all! Once, I think she scraped her leg on some brush, and once, she was pissed because I was slowing her down out of a dead run. (I blame myself for that one in the first place for letting her get away from me.) But, here are some things we have accomplished in our past few rides:

-A pleasant canter and lope
-Rating the canter with my seat
-Half-halting out of a too-fast canter (almost a gallop, really) into a nice lope
-Backing using mainly alternating leg pressure with a supprotive rein
-Practicing/improving her jog

Best of all, she has learned that upward transitions without a command means work... I can actually feel her "thinking" about trotting, and changing her mind without my intervention. Also, we had a couple good spooks, but she is getting better at spooking in place, since my reaction to a bolt is an immediate one-rein stop and making her walk, calmly, past whatver spooked her several times. She still transitions downward without command, that will be the next thing I tackle, but for now, I'm happy working on one thing at a time. These are victories for me, too- I am still a relative newbie to riding and owning horses, so Licorice's improvements are reflections of improvement in my own riding and horsemanship.

Learning to be effective

The last two times I rode, I did something I felt bad for- I was caught off guard and yanked on her mouth because I was left behind. Oops. At least both times I got left behind it was for an undesirable action (a spook and a bolt). Meaning, at least I didn't pop her in the mouth for doing what I asked.

The first ride was the other day after it had finished raining. Somehow that day, I forgot to bring my common sense, because a storm had just passed, it was 20 degrees cooler out, and it was close to feeding time. In my mind, that meant it was a great time to throw on a bareback pad and hack down the street, without so much as lungeing first. Ah well, I remembered my helmet.

Shocking as it is, with all of those factors in combination, Licorice was a little on the fresh side. Yes, unbelievable, I know. It was go, stop, *snort,* spook the whole ride. We saw a coyote, which made her edgy but thankfully didn't make her explode. Finally, about 15 minutes in, she was wired and freaking out. I asked for a canter (have we lost count of the stupid decisions I made that day?) and she literally leapt into it, like she was jumping a fence. Recognizing that my poor little mare was out of her mind nervous, I decided that a *walk* would be more prudent. Unfortunately, she started trying to bolt at every little thing. A dog, another horse, the wind. So, my plan of action became clear, as I imagined my trainer in my head saying "Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult."

Okay, so every spook or attempt to bolt was met with a one-rein stop, bending each way, and backing three steps. One our way home, Lic kept trying to break from a walk to jog without being asked. Stop, bend, back. It only took about 5 reps before she got it. By the end of the ride, I could feel her "thinking" about jogging, and by lightly lifting one rein just shut her down. I cued for a jog for the last block as a reward, and she jogged slowly and smoothly on a loose rein like such a good girl.

The next day, I rode out into a field. The ground was still soft from the rain so she was more than happy to canter when I asked. (This is making me think even more that I need to buy some boots for her when riding on hard ground.) Everything was fine until we turned back toward home- she threw two big bucks and tried to bolt. So, i met this with the same technique as the day before, but with a little more oomph, since I want to teach her that bucking and bolting is a big no-no. We stopped, she got to spin three times each way (not like a reining spin, obviously, but a tight turn) and then back about ten feet. The she got to canter back to where we started (this, too, was initially met with resistance, and she was given the same stop, spin and back routine) and try again. This went out for about ten minutes, and finally, a light went off in her horsey head, and she realized it would be easier to just canter than all this spinning, backing, and repeating. So we cantered back through the field, good as gold, no bucks!

Long story short, I feel like something clicked in my head- to calmly but firmly redirect her to doing something hard and repetitive when she's bad. She's a smart cookie, if I'm consistent, I know this will work. And even though she wasn't perfect, we made progress, which is the most important thing to me.

Hmmm...

Had our lunge-line lesson yesterday, and everything was great until we asked for a canter. Lic fell into the strung-out death trot, pinned ears, tail swishing, some minimal bucking... She really hates cantering in a circle, and I don't get it. My trainer said sometimes it can be a balance thing, but I didn't look unbalanced to her... and then we switched places and got the same thing... attitude. Both times we eventually got a canter, but it was an on-the-forehand, really unwilling type of canter.

She canters just fine on a lunge-line if there's no person on her back, although she will sometimes throw some attitude about it, it's not nearly as bad.

Out on the trail, it kind of depends on the day, and on her mood. Sometimes she'll canter amazingly, right out of a walk, calm and collected. Other days, I get attitude, bucking, balking, anything to avoid it. I don't understand how it could be pain if literally she's good one day, bad the next, good again the next. I'm baffled, and so is my trainer. She has suggested getting some Easyboots, as there is some possibility of her being tenderfooted on the rocks... but still, some days we'll get a nice canter, and the next day, an attitude, on the exact same stretch of ground.

*Sigh* I guess I'm continuing on my search for cheap, used boots.