Mary in the Snake Pit
Wednesday, 7/8/09
Nobody ever said horses were reasonable creatures. They spook. They booger. Sometimes it is inevitable, but it always pays to be prepared with a little practice and experience.
Going into Booger Night, I knew that JR’s bugaboo (boogerboo?) was moving objects. I can hang all over him. I can show him scary things. This is fine. But if a hawk flies behind him, it’s time to booger.
We set up the arena with a series of obstacles. When I’m working with horses and exciting obstacles, it is less about the obstacle itself and more about HOW we encounter it. So we set up:
– A Snake Pit (square border filled with garden hoses and other various harmless but thrilling snakey items)
The Snake Pit
– The Oasis (a tarp and an inflatable palm tree), as modeled by Mary the Morgan
Mary at the Oasis
– Two traffic cones, a jump pole, and a bunch of inflatable toys.
– A mattress.
– A car tire.
– A hula hoop.
– A wooden platform.
– Two white chairs with pool noodles draped over them.
– A white umbrella.
– A play ball.
Since I wanted to enter the arena working and not playing, I asked my friend Cathy to twirl the white umbrella as we walked through the gate. As expected, JR caught sight of the umbrella, telescoped his neck, stood on his toes, bugged out his eyes, tightened his body, flagged his tail, and snorted like a humpback whale. We sashayed our way over to Cathy and the umbrella. I stopped a few times to allow JR to collect his wits. As we walked toward Cathy, she stepped back a little bit, to encourage forward movement. I reinforced forward and curious posture with my clicker. I also asked him for his “head down” behavior a few times to focus him on a task. We also targeted the umbrella, which worked really well. Tap with nose, click, treat.
Once he was reliably targeting the umbrella, Cathy began to open and close the umbrella as we walked a pattern past her. Snort, snort, prance. It took a few minutes, but JR began to understand that he could listen to me while the Huge White Fanged Moth flapped its strange wings.
JR was a champ about the other obstacles. He boldly stomped through The Oasis, pawed and bit the mattress, conquered the Snake Pit, tiptoed over the jump pole, and even stood on the platform like a circus pony. Click, treat. Good boy!
The play ball was the other boogery object for JR. My friends tossed the ball back and forth and JR’s focus was totally on the ball. I turned him loose and worked on a little free longeing while they tossed the ball and waved noodles in his direction. The combination of positive reinforcement and desensitization worked, and JR’s jolly nature took over. He began to see our antics as a game. He had his own little circus of performing monkeys, tossing toys and performing for him :^)
During the session, we came back to the umbrella a few times, working around it and also working with it. A common mistake that people make with horses is when they look AT the scary object instead of looking at the task about to be performed. When you look at the object, you are indicating to your horse that you want him to walk on, through, over, or into the object, when in fact, you really just want him to walk past it without ogling at it.
The last step of the night was a little sacking out, clicker-style. I slowly worked the umbrella over JR’s sides, clicking when he stood his ground and relaxed. He was more concerned about it on his right side than his left. I also worked with the ball, rolling it down JR’s back and over his sides. It took a few attempts, but he caught on to the game rather readily.
Wizard is far less reactive to visual objects, but he needs a lot of work on becoming comfortable with objects on his body. He navigated all of the objects nicely, and showed quite a bit of improvement with the platform. I’d like to do more work with the platform, since I think it is good for hoof awareness/placement and for learning how to carefully negotiate an obstacle.
The longe whip is no biggie for either horse, and I run it over and under them frequently. But the noise, color, texture, and shape of the umbrella was a challenge. Wizard has already had one session visually navigating the umbrella, but we did not work on contact with the umbrella. Wizard is a little more of a tryer than JR, and the conflict was palpable as he gamely stood his ground while his body shrank away from the umbrella. After a little work with the clicker and a few kind words, he accepted the umbrella. His least favorite part was when I slid it up his neck and placed it on his poll- it took a few tries before he could stand his ground.
What’s next? Do it all over again tomorrow with a new boogery object or two. And revisit the umbrella with both horses.
First and foremost, check out Spice Route and his mad scientist blinkers.
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Thoroughbred Daily News is on Twitter. Tweet with me and the rest of the TDN staff.
Top Ten Aachen dressage musical freestyle rides are online. “The Safety Dance” = best canter song ever :^) “Sympathy for the Devil” is a pretty sweet passage song, too.
Some very smart ideas for do-it-yourself cross-country schooling jumps.
Some fantastic photos by Mid-Atlantic racing photography wizard, Lydia Williams. Ashkal Way and Jeannine Edwards! Kentucky Derby-winning gutsy gelding Mine That Bird’s little half-brother. And a sweet shot of Fabulous Strike from last year.
And what would Potpourri Day be without a little LolCat humor? Thanks to pet columnist, author, and all-around awesome chick Gina Spadafori for finding this gem.
Breeders’ Cup goings-on by the green and game Dana Byerly.
Bring on the eye candy!
Check out this footage of the mighty Secretariat motoring around his paddock at the age of 12.
Here’s Angel Hearted, a handsome Thoroughbred who won at Monmouth Park over the weekend. He’s the Black Stallion of the Jersey Shore.
The Roundhouse, a favorite of mine.
Cash, a Monmouth Park superstar track pony.
Stars and stripes on this pony:
Lastly, some visually impressive horse racing eye candy: Presious Passion winning the United Nations on the lead!
JR Ride 49: A+
Monday, 7/6/09
A-plus for blondie! I worked him in the indoor arena and he was sterling. I did not longe him very long and I did not use the side reins. I mostly worked on transitions. There were people hustling and bustling around the farm and he only spooked once on the longe line.
We spent about 3 minutes doing out mounting block exercise. Stand next to the block, rotate so you’re standing next to the next side, rotate again, again. Turn around, same routine. I have all but extinguished the ears-back behavior at the mounting block… hooray!
I mounted up and rode for about 15 minutes. My ankle is improving but it gets very sore when I ride since I flex it. I could only stand a little bit of trotting so we spent more time working on walking exercises. We walked over ground poles, did changes of direction, and I asked for a leg yield in each direction. Everything was perfect. Good, good blondie. A+ for you.
I jogged Wizard up and down the barn aisle and my friend watched his movement. He is still off in the hind end, but he was an absolute GEM when I groomed him- no fussing or fretting. Even fly spray did not bother him. It made me realize that both Wizard and JR were unusually relaxed. They are docile horses, but they have their silly moments; today they were both alert and relaxed. I mentioned it to a friend and she pointed out that the horses had been outside 24/7 for the past few days. So maybe the turnout was why they were in such a good mood. Seems like the stretch of wonderful New Jersey weather has us all feeling pretty good :^)
The chiropractor is scheduled to work on Wizard next Wednesday. Fingers crossed that we figure out what is bugging him.
JR Ride 48: A-
Thursday, 7/2/09
Wizard’s got a brand new pair of roller skates…
JR’s got a brand new trim…
The farrier was happy with the horses’ feet. The only unfavorable change he noticed was that Wizard was flaring on the inside of his right hind hoof. This makes sense, since he sort of rolls it with whatever injury he sustained in his hind end. Tomorrow, I’m making a call to the chiropractor and hopefully we can get this resolved or at least diagnosed. In the meantime, I have been turning him out in the large arena so he can stretch his legs and I can see how he is moving. He also got a bath, which he hated. He’s better outside than inside, but he still needs more practice. I keep reminding him that he used to be a racehorse and they get baths all the time, but he must have blocked that part of his life out of his memory :^P
JR had a very good session. I’d give him an A-. We longed for about 15 minutes, working on transitions and doing a little work with contact and a bit of lateral commands. He was doing a little bit of the banana-shaped longeing instead of a perfect circle, but I think that really means we need to spice up the routine a little bit.
Check out how nice he’s looking. I hope I can keep this lovely balanced trot once we increase our under-saddle workload…
I rode for a short time, working on responding to leg and hand cues. I rode in the afternoon, so there were fewer distractions and JR was nice and responsive under saddle. I asked him to move off my leg as well as stand quietly. My ankle is feeling better so I hope to spend more time in the saddle and less time on the ground.
And for anybody who was wondering, I cannot use Alibar’s old fly bonnet anymore. I tried my best to be practical but for some reason, that particular piece of fabric is somehow the essence of so many nice rides. I like riding with the rest of his tack, but that fly hat is sacred. It has been officially retired. I’ll just have to get a new one for the hooligans.
I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, you’ve got a brand new key…
Who: The Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit’s Shoeing and Hoof Care Committee/Grayson-Jockey Club
What: The Hoof: Inside and Out, a full-length educational DVD/digital file.
Where: Download online or a DVD can be obtained free of charge (limit one per customer) by contacting Cathy McNeeley at (859) 224-2728 or cmcneeley@jockeyclub.com.
When: Available now.
Why: The 65-minute DVD includes seven segments:
Introduction and Overview
Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit
Physiology — The Equine Limb
Basic Hoof Care and Trimming
The Basics of Horse Shoeing
Types of Shoes
Farrier’s Role and Communication (with Trainers and Owners)
Features photography by yours truly :^)
Check out the related post on Fran Jurga’s Hoofblog for more details.
JR Ride 47 (and a quarter)
Tuesday, 6/30/09
I’ve learned that a key to working with a green horse is to try to keep at least a step ahead of him at all times. That way, you are able to guide the horse and engage his mind. One of my biggest flaws as a rider is my occasional lack of a ride plan. This journal has helped to encourage my creativity. I let the creativity slack a few times recently with JR and he decided to occupy himself whenever I did not entertain him :^) If I am not engaging his mind, he gets distracted- it does not help to be frustrated when this happens because a) he’s a HORSE and b) I am responsible for his schooling. There is a big difference between JR’s reaction to deer in the woods while his mind is engaged and JR’s reaction to deer in the woods when he is simply motoring along. As I increase my saddle time, I need to keep this in mind.
I turned JR loose in the arena for about ten minutes before our session. As indicated by the photos above, he was delighted with the opportunity to romp, kick, buck, leap, twist, contort, scamper, and play. He’s a young horse with a big sense of humor so I think a little playtime is good for him. He longed nicely in the outdoor dressage court. I did not do any work with spirals because I did not want to become too repetitive with the mental or physical demands of the exercise. Instead, we worked on transitions and responding to verbal cues. He did break into a canter a few times from the trot on his own, and even broke into a few playful cartwheels, but otherwise he was good on the longe. The biggest challenge was keeping the circle round when he got distracted.
After we longed, I did about 5 minutes of work at the mounting block. Almost every shred of his sour attitude at the mounting block is gone. He stood like a stone when I got into the saddle. He rode like a perfect gentleman. Because it was dusk and I knew there were likely a few deer crashing around in the woods, I engaged JR’s brain, circling, changing footing, walking up an incline and back down the incline.
My ankle is feeling pretty fantastic with just a few exceptions. I am beginning to wonder if the Mountain Horse paddock boots were to blame for the sprained ankle in the first place, since I never sprained my ankle before and I always wore Ariat before. The heel is a little taller in the Mountain Horse. They are great for riding, so I hope to hang onto them a little longer and maybe I can get acclimated to them.
The ride was short, low-impact, and sweet. I dismounted from the right, both for my ankle and to continue to do new things with JR.
I had hoped to longe or sit on Wizard’s back, but he was not-quite-right on the longe. More waiting…
Wednesday, 7/1/09
Sunny day all day long. Until I was 5 minutes from the barn. I hurriedly tacked JR up and brought him out to the arena. We longed for about 5 minutes before the rain was too steady for us to stay outside, not to mention the thunder and lightning. We headed for the indoor arena in hopes of continuing the session, but the arena was packed with all the other horses and riders who were avoiding the rain. If there were a few people in the arena, I would have gone in, but it was a full house.
I tried to wait the rain out to no avail. I untacked JR, gave him a good grooming, and put him to bed. More rain. I gave Wizard a good grooming.
More rain. OK- I can take a hint… I called it a night.
JR Ride 46: A Tale of Two Hats
Monday, 6/29/09
Wizard’s leg looks lovely. There is only a little knot where he hit himself but all the inflammation is gone and he walks, trots, canters, gallops, and plays soundly on it. I asked a barn friend when she thought he could back to work and she laughed, “Yesterday.”
When I left my house for the barn, I grabbed my riding helmet. It’s always a better day when I get to ride :^)
When I tacked JR up, I had a hat for him as well. It was Alibar’s old fly bonnet. I’ve had it for years and years. The only dainty thing on Alibar was his ears and the bonnet was too big so the ears sort of tipped over like a collie.
Usually, I am comforted when I use Alibar’s tack on other horses. I feel like I’m passing along a little piece of his legend and perhaps a little bit of his game nature will rub off on whoever is using his hand-me-downs. I use his old saddles, bridles, bits, and all of his saddle pads except for one special pad.
But the hunter green and burgundy knitted fly bonnet stung me a little when I pulled it out of the bridle bag. In my mind, I knew JR and Wizard needed the fly protection that the bonnet would provide. The bonnet is well-worn and several years old. I did not want to put it in a box somewhere so I knew I wanted to use it, but it still felt strange to use it.
The nice thing about horses is that they keep us flighty humans well-grounded. I put the holy bonnet on JR- he stood there and silently wore it like a horse does. There was no pomp and circumstance, no gasp of delight to wear such a relic. The maudlin moment was over and JR and I went out to work.
There was a herd of deer crashing around in the woods next to the arena. JR reacted to the interlopers with youthful exuberance, bucking, snorting, and flagging his tail as I longed him. As I anchored the silly yellow horse’s circles, I wondered if he will do the same if I’m in the saddle when the deer run past us. Hm.
After longeing, I spent a few moments on our mounting block work, circling him around me, fiddling with the saddle, stirrups, hanging over his back. He barely flinched. I kept it short and sweet. I mounted. He was awesome! I did not spend a lot of time in the saddle, but I was very pleased with his demeanor. He was willing and responsive. Maybe Alibar’s hat dropped a little sense into his brain.
Thursday, 6/25/09
Wizard banged up his OTHER leg. Right front. It has swelling and some heat. I worked on it for a few days. I cold hosed, poulticed, and bandaged it with standing wraps overnight. He walks sound on it but there is a definite hitch at the jog. This horse is working on a show name of Calamity Jane.
JR, on the other hand, is fit and fabulous. He’s longeing really nicely and after just three short mounting block desensitizing sessions, he’s standing much better.
I also introduced a new clicker training behavior to JR: head down. I taught it by guiding his head down with a carrot. Click, treat. About three attempts and he got it. Smart blonde he is :^)
My plan with JR is to work with some basic equine citizen behaviors, such as opening gates and walking over spooky surfaces. Time to de-green the greenbean.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Just when I thought I was figuring him out…
I tacked Wizard up for a longeing session. I put the saddle on instead of the surcingle. Since we’re getting closer to riding, I figured I should get the saddle back on him. The plan was to work on mounting block manners after we longed. But those plans vaporized within a few minutes of the longeing session.
We did a little work walking in hand before I longed, to get him warmed up and to work on responsiveness. Wizard was a little keyed-up, but nothing out of the ordinary, especially since he had some time off. Then, I asked him to walk on the longe to the left. He was good, but broke into a jog once or twice. I got a nice walk, then asked for a little trot. Thwn we changed directions. He trotted to the right immediately. I asked him to walk and he halted. Then I asked him to walk and he leapt into a speedy trot. I asked him again to walk and he faced me. He was getting sticky about going forward so I asked for a trot. He refused, first facing/crowding me, then spinning in the other direction. I ran my hands over him, checking for soreness, stones in his hooves, or poorly-adjusted tack. I could not find anything.
My requests became demands, but Wizard would not go to the right. I asked verbally and also cued with the longe whip (not touching him, but using the whip as a guide). Wizard continued to crowd me, getting closer and closer. My cues got stronger, popping the whip as an additional cue sound, moving his shoulders, and guiding the longe line with my hands. Wizard still faced me.
I got him going forward to the right about two times, each time only for half a rotation before he spun in the other direction. The second time he got to the spot where he was spinning, he became more insistent about his refusal, this time rearing before he spun around, pulling HARD on the longe line.
Because it was clear that Wizard’s evasion was to crowd me and not move, my goal was to keep his feet moving. I reverted to a tactic that I don’t really like, which is backing the horse up. I did this to keep him moving and as a way to correct his evasion. In my experience, horses do not like to back up so it is negative reinforcement to force them to do it.
It was a long and frustrating dance. Try to send him forward, get crowded, back him up, try to send him forward, etc. It was both physically and mentally taxing. Wizard never looked panicky- he was deliberate but a little unresponsive, which I assume was detatchment from the situation and possibly a form of mentally “checking out”.
It has been a very long time since I have had any sort of struggle with a horse, and I felt terrible. Any situations like this with Alibar had been resolved over a decade ago and we spent most of his 20s in harmony. I was still not yelling or hitting Wizard or anything nearly that harsh, but the idea of a conflict was foreign to me. I have not had to assert myself as the boss of a horse in a long, long time.
Eventually, I wore Wizard down and he went to the right, but when he did, he took off at a very fast canter and took about 10 laps around the longe line. I let him keep moving, since we worked so hard to go forward for such a long time. It felt like a small success, but I knew that I needed to get him to go forward another time or two.
As Wizard cantered around on the longe, he had a hump in his back and he was a little bronc-y. The saddle had shifted forward a little bit, so I wondered if that was the issue. I asked him to halt and I fixed the saddle. Sent him off again (this time it took about 3 requests) and he was less bronc-y but still bronc-y. And he was trotting instead of cantering (I don’t like to canter horses on the longe very much). I took the saddle off and sent him around one last time. He pulled HARD and was resistant but did not have the same hump in his back. All the while, Wizard looked sound. No tail-swishing, no unevenness, no head tossing.
The last thing I did was put him in a round pen. I’ve never used a round pen before. I have some serious issues with the idea of the round pen since I feel like it takes away all of a horse’s defenses. BUT… I wanted to nip any bad habits in the bud. So I put the saddle back on and sent him to the right. He spun, but it was very easy to catch him and get him going back in the right direction. No funny business with the saddle, he looked fine. I quickly ended the session. I was not trying to tax him physically, but I needed to make sure that the spinning and rearing behavior was extinguished.
I carefully cooled him off. The time spent actually longeing was far less than the time spent getting him to go forward. It was a true struggle, one like I have not had in a very, very long time. I felt like the meanest horsewoman in the world. After he was cooled out, I grazed him for a while. He seemed fine, physically and mentally.
I was stumped and pretty amazed by the whole chain of events. Wizard has longed with a saddle on his back DOZENS of times. Nothing new was added to the equation. The most logical reason would be that something was physically bothering him. I always do my best to respond to any discomfort, but I decided that rearing is too dangerous to allow. I never like to push a horse too hard, but Wizard might hurt himself or another person if he learns dangerous behaviors.
I hope I did the right thing.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
So I thought and thought and thought about what to do with Wizard for the next session. Make it easier? Use the surcingle instead of the saddle? Since longeing in a saddle was in no way a new behavior for him, I went with the saddle. I used the best saddle pad I have. Interestingly, he was not reactive at all during the saddling process.
Then we longed. And he was FINE! No resisting, no rearing, nothing. Nice as you please. But then he got gimpy in the hind end. I longed him to the left and did some spiral work- something about the smaller circle torqued something and he was suddenly uneven. His hip was hitching when weight was loading on the right hind leg.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
I also did a little ground work at the mounting block with Wizard. He was great.
I longed JR indoors. He was energetic but fabulous. He is muscling up really nicely. His work by the mounting block is getting better. Maybe I’ll actually be able to get on one of these buggers one of these days…
JR Session 43: Tales of a Worrywart Thoroughbred
On Sunday night, I visited the boys, turned them out in the arena for a few minutes, and put Wizard on the longe line for a few minutes. Although Wizard was sound for our last session (82), the softer, deeper footing of the large arena seemed to bring out the kick injury we’ve been nursing. I could still see the hint of unevenness on a circle on the longe, but not in a straight line. The leg feels good, no heat, etc.
Monday night, I let him exercise himself again.
He played a little harder than I would have expected!
Wizard is getting better about his goosiness with grooming, and I think the next chiropractic adjustment will help even more. His hind end feels tight, like it did when I first started working with him last year.
Now we’re working with his worrywart tendencies with the fly spray. Spray his tail, no problem. Spray his legs, he gets a little touchy. Spray his neck, the head pops up. Spray his belly and barrel, he flinches. Spray his hind end, he dances. I mentioned this to a horsey friend, who said she has a 30 year old horse who still does the Fly Spray Shimmy. Some things just don’t go away, I guess.
Monday, 6/15/09
JR also got worked in the big arena with the softer, deeper footing. The footing is not dangerously deep, just deeper than the dressage arena. JR’s longeing circles were back to being banana-shaped and he could not pick up the correct lead at the canter until I put him on the rail of the fence on the longeing circle. He also was sweating more than usual. I worked him less than I do in the other arena since it was apparent that a different group of muscles was being worked.
He was longed in a saddle, since I hope to get back on him sometime soon. My ankle is feeling good. I’m itching to ride, but I need to wait a little longer so I don’t reinjure it.
After our longeing session was over, we did a little work by the mounting block. On Sunday night, I stood JR at the block in a halter and lead line. When I climbed up a step, he PINNED his ears. I asked him to stand on each of the 4 sides on the block and I climbed up and down the steps several times. Monday night, I did the same, and he was much better. Still getting irritated when I climbed up to steps 2 and 3, but by the time I was done, his head was low and he was quietly standing and moving when asked.
Both horses got some good grazing while I thought of new exercises for them. Time to change up the routines a little, methinks.
Rock and Racehorses: The Blog 