End of the Year Trail Ride

This year has been a roller coaster in many ways so I suppose it is fitting that the Roller Coaster Hills should be my last ride of 2011. My friend Sharon and I headed out this afternoon and although it was windy, it was not cold! Not even cold enough to wear my gloves! WooHoo--I love it! The trails out in those hills are quite rocky. There are short, steep hills, one after the other for a couple of miles. We bushwhacked our way through the cedars and sagebrush and rocks in a few places. Flyboy was very good, not spooky at all, but not confident enough to take the lead willingly. Still, I was pleased as this was his first trail ride in about a month! He was feeling the rocks on the way back, so when we hit the gravel road leading to the trailer, I hopped off and walked the last quarter mile or so. It was mostly a walk ride because of all the rocks, but we did get in a few long trots.

I trailered both horses to Sharon's and left Keno in the pasture while we rode. I know I can't baby Flyboy forever, but I am hoping to help him relax in the trailer again by keeping another horse nearby. He has anxiety about trailering, for sure, but he was pretty good about it today. He loads well, but stresses when the slant is closed. Keno doesn't mind being a babysitter, so that works for now.

50 Degree Riding!

Unheard of warm weather for this time of year and I am loving it! But that was not the best part of the afternoon--my ride on Flyboy was! He was fabulous!

We started by trailering to the arena. Keno came along too, as I was planning on giving him a good workout also. However, he is definitely sore on his right hind. I have been hoping I was imagining the little things I was seeing this past week, but he is short-striding at the trot and he stumbled when stepping his hind end up into the trailer--very uncharacteristic of him. Needless to say, I did not ride him. I think I'll call the chiropractor to check him out. I hope it's nothing serious! Keno ended up standing at the rail watching Flyboy show off his stuff.

I worked Fly on the ground a little bit before saddling him. He had not been ridden in two weeks so I was a little unsure of what his mind-set would be, but the ground work seems to help him pay attention to me and think about what we are doing. He was a little high headed to start with, gawking at the people out jogging with their dog; the big yellow tractor going by was exciting, and not one, but two trains blew by. Nonetheless I kept him working and Fly responded well.

I saddled him with the new saddle (which I LOVE) and the new Grandeur saddle pad. Under saddle Fly was very forward, soft and bent, and relaxed. His ears were much more forward which I think indicates he is happy; when he keeps them back he is worried and unsure of himself or uncomfortable. He never pins his ears, but he is pretty expressive with them, and I am learning to read him better. His trot was energetic and his canter was wonderful. He was very happy to canter in both directions which I think means he must be comfortable with the new saddle pad; we were having so many saddle issues before, but they seem to be resolved. (Knocking on wood here, people!)

Circles, serpentines, trot poles, halts, rein backs, etc., and walk, trot, and canter. It was great. Fly kept offering to canter, even when I was asking for a trot, but he was not running away with me or rushing, he just liked cantering! I liked it, too! Tomorrow's trail ride should be a fun change for us both.

Play Time

I had less than an hour to play with the horses this evening so we did a little ground work and played around with a couple of obstacles. Flyboy is very clever. This was an easy one! This horse also has a very nice jump if I wanted to take him that direction. He jumps BIG but seems relaxed and he makes it look totally effortless.

Fly did have a little feisty attitude going today. I think he needs to get out on a good ride. I think when we get to start putting on some serious miles a lot of the little issues will just dissolve. I just have to make sure he is going to trailer calmly and nicely. Trailering well is rather critical in my opinion! Tomorrow we will trailer again and go for a trail ride or at least get to the arena, I hope. We are supposed to get a small storm and I am waiting for a guy to let me know when he can haul a load of pea gravel for me (hopefully before the storm!) But I will fit my horse time in around those things!

Blocker Tie Ring At Work

We have been enjoying such incredible weather this week! I spent three hours outside with the horses this afternoon in a light jacket. Crazy for this time of year, but I will never complain--I hope the whole winter is like this!

Flyboy got more practice with his "thinking cap" head bumper. He wore it for all his ground work: following a feel practice, leading, backing, squeeze game, lunging transition practice, etc. He is pretty comfortable with it at this point. I attached a small ring and clip to the poll strap to keep it from falling forward over his face again, so even if he shakes his head it stays securely in place. 

This morning I bought 24' of braided nylon rope so I have a longer lead/lunge rope. I tied it directly to his halter so there is no hardware to break. I have been using the Blocker ring for a couple of months now, but I never actually instigated a spook to teach him not to pull back. This video is one of many that shows the method of training recommended to teach a horse to yield to poll pressure and come forward to get the release. The fact that they can go backward helps to control the trapped/panicky feeling, but the poll pressure remains until they quit pulling. 

I pulled my truck and trailer into my arena so we had good footing to work on. I then spent about an hour doing this with Fly. I used my stick with the flag, then added a plastic bag. I then used an empty dog food sack and a blanket. I am sure the neighbors were entertained by my jumping around and waving things in the air! But by the end of the hour Fly was standing steady through all of it. The first few spooks were big pull-backs. I'm sure he thought I was bonkers, but funny enough, he kept coming to me for support and security. You would think he would be afraid of me, but he was not. Every time he pulled back I just brought him forward again and repeated the whole thing. Eventually he quit pulling back at all, and I then secured the rope on a tighter setting on the ring. Now it took more effort to pull the rope through, but he knew to come forward off the rope very quickly.

I gave Fly lots of reassurances and breaks for "licking and chewing time". He seemed to be getting it. I finally left him tied with a hay net while I went in to grab some lunch. When I came back out 30 minutes later he was standing quietly just as I left him. I loaded both horses and took them down to the arena to run and play, and when they had had their fun, I tied Flyboy to a secure post (with the ring on the tighter setting) and left him in the arena while I took Keno back to the trailer and trimmed his feet while Fly stood quietly on his own.

I will try to give him a buddy to trailer with as much as possible for a while to help bring his comfort level back to where it was before his freak-out incidents. I know it will help him, but eventually he has to trailer alone, too. We will take it slowly for now.  

Got My Thinking Cap On

My blog silence has been due to a dark cloud of horse-related depression. Last Saturday I headed out to trim four horses at my friend's ranch. A good opportunity (or so it seemed at the time) to trailer Flyboy somewhere new and let him practice standing tied to the trailer. He needs this kind of practice, but it kind of backfired on me. Fly loaded into the trailer just fine. I closed the slant panel (newly repaired, remember?) and went around to the outside and tied him. I already learned my lesson about not tying him when he tried to turn around and panicked and ended up with stitches, right? So I tied him to prevent him from trying to turn around. When he tried to swing his head around and realized he was tied, he pulled back creating a panic situation for himself. Since he had nowhere to go, he went up. Once he settled somewhat from his wicked scramble, I drove the ten miles to the ranch. I unloaded him and noticed a couple of drops of blood on his face. He had a 2" gash high on his forehead just under his fetlock. It was not bleeding badly, but was wide open. Ouch. This time it looked like it would heal without stitches. I trimmed sixteen hooves and trailered him home loose--no closed slant panel. Which is damaged again, too. Sigh. I doctored Fly as best I could and left it to heal.

So no riding or trailering for him this week. I was too frustrated to even write about it for a while. I rode Keno, taught two lessons on him, and played a bit with Fly at home. Today I introduced Flyboy to a head bumper. I told him it was his thinking cap. He wasn't thrilled at first, but I rubbed his head, neck, ears, eyes, and face with it until he let me stick his ears in it and snap it in place.

Once it was on he seemed to forget about it. We played some ground games with an old tire, a couple of barrels, ground poles, etc. He likes this kind of work and was doing great until he shook his head really hard and the bumper fell forward over his face. He spooked big, then wheeled around to face me, stood stock still looking at me like, "Help! Get this thing off me!" I unsnapped it, rubbed him with it again, and reattached it. I'll have to get a clip to snap it to the top of his halter behind his ears so that doesn't happen again!

I also gave Fly a full body massage which he seemed to enjoy. He started yawning after ten minutes and must have yawned six or eight times in a row. Good releases! Or maybe he was just sleepy since we were relaxing in the warm sun. Yes, warm! It was 4 degrees when I went out to do chores this morning, but the sun felt great this afternoon!

This horse has got to learn to yield to pressure when he panics. He does well on a lead rope with games, etc, but it's different when he is tied. The Blocker ring works somewhat, but he has learned that if he just leans into it and walks away he can pull the rope through. I use it of course when I have to tie him, but it's not truly teaching him to yield. I do have some other ideas, though, and Marleen (trainer) is coming down next week with some ideas of her own. I like so many things about this horse; I really want to help him get over this so he will be safe and useful and fun!

Good things about Flyboy:
1.    His canter. Wow.
2.    His flexibility.
3.    His forward stride.
4.    His curiosity.
5.    His willingness.
6.    He is super smart.
7.    He is kind.

Things that need work:
1.    His confidence.
2.    Tying.
3.    Trailering (related to the things above).

I'm Back!

I received a phone call last Thursday afternoon from my daughter. She said, "Mom, it's time." So into the truck I jumped and headed down the road. Five hours later and no broken speed limits to speak of (at least not very broken), I arrived, and three hours after that, their son was born! I have been there all week, helping out and enjoying the tiny new addition to the family. I was glad I had a reliable chore girl to take care of my horses and dogs. I use her regularly; she does a good job, so I don't stress too much about being away for a week!

Now, I realize my last post was a vent. I admit I was frustrated, but it was just a vent. Flyboy is young in his education and I don't expect it to all be totally smooth sailing. I am not giving up on him; we just have work to do and training holes to fill. We have time. He is young. I have ideas. I have patience. And I have a good trainer/mentor.

I got home late last night, had to be at work early this morning, and had a 2:00 o'clock work party to attend. But since I get off work at noon, I figured I had time to get my two boys down to the arena to let them blow off a little steam. Did they ever! Flyboy flew! Around and around the arena he and Keno ran. Fly can really turn on the juice when he wants to!

I saddled him a few minutes later using the new Grandeur Suspension saddle pad that conveniently arrived yesterday afternoon. It looks to be a good fit with the Black Forest Shasta. It seems like a very high quality pad. I am hoping (desperately!) that it won't cause any rubs on Flyboy. I will be relieved if our saddle fit issues are over! I like the saddle very much so I hope this pad will help it work for Fly. I only rode him half an hour so a better test will be performed tomorrow. I'm hoping to get out on a trail ride since we are still enjoying a mild winter with none of that cold wet frozen stuff making mud everywhere!

Trailer loading today was a complete non-issue. Fly just got in the trailer like a normal horse. Keno went in behind him. Hmmmm. Maybe more about that later, but for today at least--calm seas and smooth sailing!

Trailer Drama (Again. Sigh.)

Well, I officially just don't get it. I'm frustrated with trying so hard not to get frustrated over the trailer drama I had today with Flyboy. We had a one o'clock vet appointment to get his stitches removed. The vet's office is forty minutes from here. At ten to twelve I haltered Fly and played a few ground games with him including the "following the feel" exercises we have been doing. I then asked him to step into the trailer. He did not want to. I sent him in, praised him when he did put two feet inside. Within very short order he became fractious and obstinate. He reared. He backed up. He crowded into me. I just don't get it.

I did not rush him. I don't think I was unfair. I tried sending him in as well as leading him in. Forty minutes later I gave up and opened up the slant panel. I was able to get him in and quickly close the door. He "paced" back and forth a bit, and I could feel him moving around as I drove. Needless to say, we were late for our appointment.

At the vet's we also had a little drama. I warned them that Fly panics if he feels trapped, but the vet wanted to try to remove the stitches without tranquilizing him, so he wrapped the lead around the bottom bar of the front stocks gate. Sure enough, Fly pulled against the pressure and reared up, getting one front leg over the top bar of the stocks and the other in between the two top bars on the side gate! Luckily once he figured out that he was stuck he quit panicking and they were able to open the gate enough to get him free. It took about thirty seconds to remove all the stitches once he had a shot of tranquilizer. And of course, drugged, he loaded like a champ for the drive home.

Today I am tired of the drama. I know most days have been far better, but the problem still exists. He does not give to pressure. That is the very root of the problem. I want to get it solved so we can get on with other aspects of training.

Cold

I'm f-f-freezing. My friends and I decided to wait a day or two till the weather warms a bit to start our soccer training. We were worried that the balls would crack since the high temperature is 23 degrees. Too cold to let the horses get very sweaty, for sure. My two guys are standing in the sun trying to soak one more degree out of it. I will let them have the day off!

Follow, Follow, Follow

I just spent a couple of hours at the indoor arena with the horses. Flyboy got an hour's worth of practice standing tied to the rail. He was perfectly relaxed and probably bored. Unfortunately no other horses were there. Again. Both my horses need the excitement of seeing other activities in progress! I love having the place to myself, but I do understand the value of working in a crowd! Ropers or barrel racers have the arena booked this evening, so if I can drag myself back out in the cold, maybe I'll take Fly down again. Or maybe we'll see if anyone is there tomorrow.....

I then spent some time in the round pen with Flyboy. And we practiced "following the feel," leading from a "feel" (I got tons of exercise jogging and turning all over the place!), and yielding in all directions. I am also working hard on getting him to lower his head when asked. He will drop his head a little (I am very quick on the release) but if he feels trapped at all he will jerk his head up again. I think working on getting him to give to pressure might help with the pulling back issues we have had. It's not like it's been a huge problem, but I have seen him do it a couple of times, so I don't trust him not to pull back. Flyboy has to tie reliably and safely if he wants to be a good endurance horse.

In any case, I feel like he is making good progress. He's an interesting horse, and while there are a few holes in his education, we are working on filling them. I am encouraged, and I still think he's going to Fly down the trail eventually!