Core to Core

Dawn and I had an outstanding ride this morning.  Even though Dawn is no longer as physically capable as my two boys, and even though she's got her limits - she hates riding around other horses and I don't choose to ride her on the trail (although at this point in our journey she might well be OK) - she's still one of my most important masters in the art and practice of horsemanship.  By this I mean that she's my teacher, and often shows me the way to a new understanding of how to more effectively work together with a horse, any horse.

Today she and I worked on using our core.  My position, the horse's position, our ability to move together and to communicate through thought and energy comes from our core.  I'm using "our core" in the singular because that's what we were working on today - connecting my core to her core so that they were one thing, together.  This is much more a matter of thought than it is of physical action, although to achieve it I have to be moving with the horse without any blocks or braces.

I'll describe what we did and see if it makes any sense to you.  As we were riding, I would mentally "lock in" to her core - it's a bit like me sinking into her and her rising up into me - so that we became one unit.  Then to achieve what I wanted us to do together, we used our core to feel what the hind legs were doing and change that if necessary.  Our objective for today was to activate the hind legs to get more engagement and lift at the trot, with our core engaged so the the trot would as a result be soft and round.  As we were working, we took breaks, still trotting, where the trot wasn't quite as engaged or elevated - this work was strenuous for her.  We also took a number of loose-rein walk breaks.

With our cores connected, all it took to change the engagement and elevation of the trot was to change the feel of our energy flowing to the hind legs.  Transitions to and from trot came from our energy. We also did some shortening and lengthening of trot just by changing the feel of our hind legs.

Dawn responded beautifully to my attempts - she's an exceptionally fine teacher, although I believe all horses can be if we're prepared to listen.  She and I did some of the most beautiful, engaged, round, soft trot work we've ever done together.  We only worked for about 20 minutes of trotting, which was enough considering how strenuously we were working.  The proof was in the freshly dragged arena dirt - there were entire series of hoofprints where we'd been using our core to activate the hind legs, with no toe dragging by the hind feet at all.

A big thanks to a wonderful mare for doing so much, so often, to improve my horsemanship!

Sometimes Stressful to be Red . . . and Staying Ahead of the Curve

Lisa from Laughing Orca Ranch made a perceptive comment on the last post - she said that it must sometimes be stressful to be Red.  I've been thinking about that, and about different horse personalities and the suitability of those personalities for different people.

Red is a very interesting little horse - I call him my little red horse (his nickname is Red Man), since he's the shortest of my horses at about 15 hands, although he probably outweighs Dawn (who's about 15.1 hands) by several hundred pounds and is very muscular and well-built - he's certainly littler than Pie has turned out to be - Pie's matured into quite the tank and now is about 16 hands (and I certainly hope he's stopped growing).

Red is actually a bit of a marshmallow - very sweet and interested in people, and loves to socialize and find out what's going on.  He's extremely curious about everything and everyone, and is particularly curious about other horses and what they're up to.  He's extremely intelligent - in fact all three of my current riding horses are. He's quite affectionate and is very protective (and possessive) of Pie and seems to be quite attached to me.

But he's also got a strong personality - he's very dominant in the gelding herd, although not nastily aggressive, and he can have strong opinions and also makes his views known - he's not reticent about expressing himself and he can decide he wants to do something without any input from me - to go see someone or something, for example.  He's capable of saying no - to going somewhere he doesn't want to - wash stall and trailer come to mind - but since I'm patient and also persistent, we get through those situations a lot faster than we used to and I expect they'll be non-issues in due course.

He's also by far the most vocal of my horses, in lots of different situations - Pie only nickers for food and rarely calls for other horses, and Dawn can affectionally nicker to me but she doesn't do it that often.  Red talks constantly - to other horses and to me.  And he really doesn't like being ignored - he likes attention.  He's the only horse I've ever had who will leave his food and demand to come out of his stall to do something with me - and he never gets any treats.  He stands at his door and nickers at me continuously or sometimes even paws.  When I take him out of his stall, if we haven't done enough (in his judgment) he resists going back in his stall.  Some days, "enough" is just a thorough grooming, other days it's a walk around the stable aisles, but most days "enough" requires that we go on a ride together, even just a short one.

I think Red feels very responsible for things - he feels like he has to be sure everything (and every horse) is all right.  He's learned that he can safely accept my direction - this was a huge step for him and took a long time - he's able to let go of some of the need to be responsible if I give him direction and guidance.  We're slowly expanding his envelope of situations where he feels comfortable with me, rather than him, in control. We're expanding where we ride, what we do together and the level of distractions.  Some circumstances are still too much - being in the arena when a lunge whip is snapping is one - and we're taking our time with those. When I got him, he didn't trust humans to be in charge at all and felt a very strong need to be in charge and make the decisions himself - probably because his humans proved themselves untrustworthy by forcing him into situations he couldn't deal with, or in the opposite way by failing to give him any direction at all - we believe he may have experienced both situations.  When he feels this way, the big brace, together with spookiness/reactivity, comes back - those are outward signs of his inward anxiety about whether he needs to take over to be sure he's OK.

Both Red and Pie had long groomings yesterday - they'd both had baths the day before - the first and likely only shampoo baths of the season (I rarely bath to preserve coat oils, although I rinse off sweat with plain water) - so their tails got brushed out for the first time since late last fall.  I only brush tails when I can use ShowSheen, to avoid breaking hairs, and in the spring only after their tails have been washed.  So each horse's tail took about 30 minutes to carefully brush out - I did break a bunch of tail hairs but a lot fewer than I would have over a whole winter.  Both boys have beautiful long tails - Pie's is very thick and Red's is so long it trails on the ground.

Red is always extremely alert to everything that's occurring around him.  Keeping him focussed and on task has been a challenge for both of us.  He's also very forward and energetic, and getting calmness and relaxation at the same time is also a challenge.  Dawn has been a good teacher for me on this - she has somewhat the same personality, although she's a bit more standoffish and doesn't usually have as much of an agenda of her own.  Yesterday with Red was a good example.  We went out for a ride in the big pasture with three other riders, and there was also a lesson going in in the adjacent outdoor arena.  All of us were moving around, doing different things.  Although it was quite warm, he was very up and pretty revved, although he looked calm and was very well behaved with no bracing - there was a lot to look at and a lot going on, and he was constantly having to shift his attention to something new that was happening as our point of view changed and the other horses were moving around - visual distractions were everywhere.  We worked in the pasture and also did some work in the outdoor - with horses trotting and cantering and passing each other going different directions.  The other riders said he looked cool as a cucumber, and he certainly didn't put a foot wrong, but I could feel his energy level - one sign was that he really didn't want to stop and stand still for more than a moment - he usually stands still easily for an indefinate time - he needed to keep his feet moving so that's what we did.

Red's a horse where staying ahead of the curve is essential.  Yesterday, with the level of distraction and excitement around him, if I hadn't been giving him active direction - guiding him to do certain tasks with focus and precision - his anxiety would likely have increased and we would have been back in the land of bracing and spookiness/reactivity, because he would have felt a need to take control.  Yesterday, since we kept working and focussing together, he got more and more engaged in the work and less anxious, and by the end of our session, we did some very nice trot work and our first canter work ever in the outdoor arena, and he was happy to stand on a loose rein and relax and take things in. There was quite a spring in his step as we went back to the barn, but he didn't try to break into trot and even wanted to explore a bit in the pasture after the rest of the horses went inside.

I think a lot of people might find a horse like Red too much work - I have to always remain focussed and provide him leadership, or otherwise things might well get out of hand - and he's very fast and very agile.  He hasn't got a mean bone in his body, but he's a powerful, intelligent and sensitive horse.  I love building a relationship with a horse like him - they make me a better rider - and I believe if you bond with a horse like this, they would be willing, if you asked, to take you to the moon and back.

In Heat, Chiropractor and Borrowed Herd Order

Dawn's been in heat for the past two days - not just a regular heat but a full, raging, spring heat.  She used to be difficult to handle when in heat but since she's been on raspberry leaves (I use MareBerry and Mare Magic is another brand) she's been much better.  But the first real spring heat is a whopper.  I knew things weren't promising when she was peeing in the barn aisle when there wasn't even another horse around.  She's also particularly taken with the big gelding who's in a pen next to the mare's pasture, but he seems confused by the whole thing and doesn't seem to have a clue what she wants - I expect Red's reaction would be quite different.  Anyhow, I haven't been riding her - she can be very distractable and also very touchy when she's in heat like this, so discretion is the better part of valor, at least this time.  She's just been coming in at my usual early morning riding time for a nice grooming, then I turn her back out.

Pie had a visit from the vet/chiropractor yesterday.  I'd been noticing that his back seemed a bit tight when I was grooming - he wasn't ouchy and hasn't been doing anything noticeably different under saddle - in fact he's been moving exceptionally well.  I was concerned about saddle fit since he's grown so much and really has filled out and muscled up recently.  But fortunately for my pocketbook, when the chiropractor looked at it, my About the Horse saddle still fits him well - we did it both with and without the pad.  Since he'd had a little neurological flare up a while ago from his vaccination for eastern and western encephalitis plus tetanus, she did neuro tests on him and the right hind was just very slightly different.  We drew blood to recheck his EPM titers, and will also run a C reactive protein test.

When she did the chiro work, he told her that the inside of this right thigh was crampy - probably due to the earlier issue with the right hind - and that this had caused a corresponding tightness in his sacral area - this was the tightness I'd been feeling.  The way he "tells" her what needs most attention is by offering her those areas of his body to work on - he's got it figured out and knows she can help him out. His neck had a few crampy areas - this is pretty common for him. He also had very slight digital pulses in his front feet, although he's moving well on hard surfaces and even the rocky parking lot. The only time he's had any foot issues was two years ago when we think he had active Lyme disease.  We can't test him yet for that, since he isn't yet 6 months out from completing his treatment for Lyme.  There are a lot of ticks around right now, although I haven't found one yet on my horses, so we will be rechecking everyone for Lyme in July when Pie is due to be checked.  The slight back tightness may also be due to the harder work he's been doing in canter lately and also the slight changes in my position I've made recently.  The gelding pasture does have some grass sprouting, but not a whole lot - the big pastures with more grass are still closed off.  I'll be slowly introducing Pie to some grazing and keeping a very close eye (and hand) on his feet.  We're also upping his chromium/magnesium/selenium/vitamin E supplement to see if that makes a difference.

Pie very much enjoyed his chiro - there were many yawns and much stretching and chewing - I was too busy to get any pictures.

As usual, when I went to get Pie out of the pasture for his appointment, Red came trotting and cantering along to catch up with us - he always comes in when I get Pie.  I left Red behind in the pasture, and there was a lot of calling and pawing on his part for a while.  Finally Red wandered back out to the pasture.  A little while later, I was out in front of the barn waiting for the chiropractor when I saw a red streak galloping up from the far back of the pasture, screaming at the top of his lungs - it was Red, apparently responding to a call from Pie, who was out of sight in his stall.  Red was clearly on a mission to save him.  During the whole chiropractic appointment - we were in the front parking lot in view of the geldings' pasture - Red either was at the gate or just a bit up the hill, keeping an eye on us and calling to Pie from time to time.

Today when I walked out to the pasture to greet the boys (and several other horses who insisted on greeting me), I got to observe some herd dynamics relating to Pie and Red.  Red is very high in the herd order - I don't know if he's the alpha, but he's very high-ranking, despite his relatively small size.  Pie is more mid-pack, but he sometimes gets to "borrow" Red's status.  Pie and Red were at the bale, and Red wandered off a ways to nibble some grass.  A feisty little gelding came up to the bale, pinned his ears at Pie and Pie moved around to the other side.  Red came over, herded the little gelding away, nipping him on the butt to keep him moving.  I've often seen Red do this - he will either herd other geldings away from Pie or interpose his body between the other horse and Pie - I've even seen Red squeeze himself right up between Pie and another horse.  Red's clearly protecting/guarding Pie, and Pie benefits from his "borrowed" status in terms of access to things like hay and water troughs.  I expect Pie appreciates having a loyal friend like Red!

"Thinking" the Feet, Fun Outside, and Getting Sore

Dawn is getting older - she'll be 16 in a few months.  She's having her usual winter/spring difficulties maintaining her weight, despite getting adequate calories.  She just had a blood draw for an ACTH and insulin test, so we can determine if she's got anything metabolic going on.  She's shedding out a bit better than she did last year, and her eyes are bright.  But her gaits have gradually lost their "spring", even in the pasture, although she moves well and is sound - yesterday I saw her do a beautiful canter all the way across the pasture.  I expect her joints are getting a bit stiff, and I've got her on some aspirin (when I can persuade her to eat it) to help with that.

She's in very regular work - 5 days a week - and all day turnout, both of which I believe are good for horses with arthritis.  I no longer do strenuous work with her, like flying lead changes.  But we motor around, usually in forward trot, for at least 30 minutes each time we ride.  She seems to enjoy it.  I've noticed recently in the freshly dragged arena that she tends to drag her hind toes slightly at the trot, the right hind more than the left.  The fronts of her hind feet also show some wear from the toe dragging.  She doesn't trip or stumble, just doesn't push with the hinds like she used to - it's probably hock arthritis.

So to help her out I've started doing some "thinking" the feet when we trot.  This was something Mark had me do at the clinic last year with Pie.  As we were trotting along, he told me to "think" the feet lighter - to have the impact of each hoof not be as heavy.  He said he wouldn't tell me how to do it, that it was up to me to feel it and transmit that feel to the horse - it isn't really a mechanical/aids thing, it's more a matter of energy and "being" the feet.  It was a pretty interesting experience and very effective.

So I've been trying that with Dawn, to help her lift those hind legs and drag her toes less.  I was thinking "lift" for the hind feet to push and lift more - I was trying to "be" the hind feet. I was pleased yesterday that after the arena was dragged and we were trotting, I could see a visible improvement in the toe dragging in the sand - there was a difference between our trot work before I was "thinking" - I let her warm up without asking for anything extra in trot - and after - the drag marks were absent or much shorter.  I could feel the difference when riding, too - her trot was more animated.  Getting those hocks moving is probably the best thing for her, so long as she doesn't get sore.

Pie and Red both have had lovely rides in our beautiful weather.  Someone was going to the outdoor arena for a lesson, so Red and I, after a good bit of nice work in the indoor - the brace is now completely gone - took advantage and went with them.  Red's only been in the outdoor - which is several hundred yards from the barn or from any other horses - a couple of times last year.  He was outstanding - we did some lovely trot work and he remained relaxed and happy - I think he really enjoys being outside.

Then Pie and I also had a wonderful session in the outdoor - by ourselves all alone up on the hill.  The outdoor isn't level - the short sides have some slope - and Pie now easily goes up and down in balance at both trot and canter.  We did some really nice trot and canter work - his gaits have improved enormously as he's learned to balance and use himself from behind.  He was forward, and round, and the drive and lift were impressive - this was really nice considering the short-strided, hollow, shuffly gaits he came to me with.

I almost never get sore from riding, but all of a sudden my knees and the tops of my shoulders are hurting like the dickens, and I wondered why.  And then I remembered - I changed my position slightly when I'm riding Red and Pie in my About the Horse Western saddle - Dawn goes in my Kieffer dressage saddle.  The About the Horse saddle, unlike many Western saddles, is designed to put you in a balanced seat position.  The change I made was to move my seat slightly forward, away from the cantle - this makes a subtle change in my leg position and allows me to drape my legs with less bracing in the stirrups, and it also makes my upper body posture more open and "up".  It's a better position, and puts me more "in" the horse where I interfere less with the horse's movement.  But my muscles and joints aren't used to the new position yet . . . and I'm getting older, just like Dawn!  I'm expecting that pain to lessen a bit as my body adjusts . . .  It's a good reminder that, whenever we ask our horses to use themselves differently, they may experience soreness as their bodies adapt and build different muscles  - such changes have to be made slowly.  Pie in fact is having a chiropractor visit this week for precisely this reason.

More riding today . . .

Walk/Trot, Walk/Trot . . . Helping Red Through the Anxiety Brace

Red came to me two years ago as a very anxious, worried horse, and he had some pretty dramatic ways of expressing how he was feeling, although it was clear that he really wanted to be a good boy and do what we were asking.  One of the reasons he spent 90 days at Heather's last spring was that his pattern was to get anxious and worried each time a new task or situation was introduced - we'd work through that and the behavior would disappear, then as soon as we moved on to the next thing the behavior would pop up again.  Heather described it as having to work down through the many layers of the onion - and she said he had more layers than almost any other horse she'd seen, which spoke to how engrained the worry/behavior was.

One of the behaviors, which apparently was really baked in by his prior handling/"training", was a big brace - he would brace his head and neck up and to the right, putting pressure on the left rein, and his left shoulder would tend to pop out, the back to front connection would disappear and his steering (either with leg or hand) and forward would become non-existent - he would become very wiggly, to the point of running himself (and your leg) into the wall or objects.  One of the characteristic situations where the brace showed up was on upward transitions, or if a new task was introduced - basically any time he felt under pressure.  It was partly a mental resistance thing - "I'm anxious, no I can't do that" and partly, we think, a specific "trained"-in behavior - we believe he was trained initially when he was very young as a barrel-racing horse, put under a lot of pressure mentally and ridden in a very tight tie down (he has a scar on his nose) and big bit.  The bracing upwards is a typical behavior for a horse that has learned to look for and lean on a tie-down or tight martingale, and the bracing on the hand is often a sign of being overbitted or ridden with heavy hands.

Last Thursday, Red and I started doing more canter work than we've done in the past.  We've been doing most of our work in trot as he builds his fitness back, with an occasional bit of cantering thrown in on each lead.  Although he's pretty consistently sound at the trot now after we warm up, the hock arthritis is still lurking and canter work, particularly in our small arena with tight turns, is physically challenging for him.  That day we did a number of trot/canter/trot/canter transitions, and he was a bit fussy and doing some bracing through the upwards transitions and was getting revved up.  Trot work continued to be good, with consistent softness, but he was pretty up, started anticipating and felt like he was on springs.  After getting some good trot/canter transitions, we called it a day.  What he was doing was either due to his hocks being a bit sore, or because he was anxious about doing the work at a faster speed.

On Friday, the brace was back big time - he couldn't even do a walk/trot transition without the brace showing up in full force.  He was anticipating more canter work - even tried to canter several times while bracing - he was anxious about it, I believe more about the speed than about his hocks hurting, and that caused the brace to come back again.  So I did what I usually do in this sort of case.  There's a principle I believe in - if something isn't working at a slower gait, it sure isn't going to work at a higher gait.  We needed to work through the bracing issue again at walk and trot before we even attempted any more canter work.

So we did lots and lots and lots of walk/trot transitions - but only if they were right.  This meant that I had to help him find a way to stay soft and not brace through the transition.  At the beginning of our work session, if I even thought about trot, he braced.  We didn't do very many transitions for a while, we did a lot of my thinking about the transition, him bracing, and my redirecting him - initially with a small circle or series of serpentines - until he was soft at the walk again, etc. etc., then we worked on getting a nice forward, connected soft walk until the next thought of a transition threw the brace back in.  I didn't let him transition to trot if he was braced.  Finally we got one good transition - much praise and I let him trot out for a moment, encouraging him to stretch down.  Each time it took a little less time to get at least one good transition.  Then I started asking him for transitions at different points in the ring, long sides, short sides, quarter lines, on circles - circling right was the hardest since he was already bent in the way he braces.  It took almost 45 minutes before we were reliably maintaining softness around the ring in walk or trot and through transitions without any more bracing, regardless of where we were in the arena or what distractions were occurring - and there were plenty.  For him the reward was praise and trotting out while stretching down.  He was relaxed and happy again by the end of our session.

I got about what I thought I would on our next work session two days later on Sunday - he'd had a day off in between.  The brace was still there, but in less extreme form, and it took less than 10 minutes to get to reliable, soft, forward, "through" walk/trot transitions, with some nice soft trotting out afterwards.  There were even more distractions during that session and he coped well with them.  Interestingly enough, in the first minutes of our work, he did one very big sideways spook near one of the doors - there was nothing there, we just kept on working and he didn't spook again.  This reactive spookiness is another form of his worry, and I was pleased that he let go of it and relaxed pretty much immediately.  One reason I think we progressed so nicely was that I started adding a few steps of shoulder in to the left before asking for trot - this bend counter to his brace direction interrupted the tendency to brace before it got to showing up, and made things easier for him. After a bit, I didn't even need to do that to get a nice transition. I expect the next work session it'll take even less time to get there, and after that the issue is likely to disappear again.  There might be a next time, and there might not, it's hard to tell.  We'll approach canter work a bit more slowly, making sure to keep his anxiety level down.

Then, after our very successful work session, we took a ride into the front pasture in the lovely weather - he really enjoys this and stepped out happily and with good relaxation.  We even tried some trot work up on the hill - this is the first time he's trotted out there - and his transitions were excellent and he maintained his softness and relaxation.  I was delighted with him and told him so, many times.

In situations where the horse is telling me that he is anxious or worried by his behavior or how he is using his body, whether the anxiety occurs because of the circumstance we're in, or because of a past trained-in reaction, I see it as my job to provide the horse with a calm, non-anxious presence, telling the horse that they are not alone - this requires that I be calm, and that I communicate to the horse that I am calm by continuing to give them direction, as softly as I am able.  My job is not to block, or restrain, or stop the behavior the horse is using to express its anxiety - that sort of repression of the behavior might work with some horses to get the behavior you want in the short term, but you'll just be building in trouble for later.  My job is to help the horse through and past the anxiety or worry to a place where they feel better about things, which will improve the behavior since the behavior is arising from how the horse feels.

I'll be interested to see how Red does on our next ride . . .

Update: We rode again today - Monday - and I got what I thought I would get - virtually no bracing at all.  We did our first few walk/trot transitions out of left shoulder in, just to be sure there wouldn't be any bracing.  After that we did some shoulder in, then straightened for a stride, then trotted - that worked fine so we just went about our business and did lots of normal walk/trot transitions with very good softness.  I told Red how proud I was of him, and then we went on a nice walk around in the front pasture, with a bit of lovely soft trot thrown in.

Building Connection: Direction, Softness and "Going With"

If you haven't read it already, you might want to read my earlier post on building connection before you read this one.  I'm going to try in this post to describe some of the things I'm trying to do with my horses to build our connection, so connection can become a part of everything we do.  I've "known" about some of these things for a while, but I'm only just now starting to "get" them, and I expect there will be more about them to learn and experience than I realize even now.

To start us out, here is a recent quote from Mark Rashid's Facebook page - the italics are mine:

Offering a horse productive guidance before or during times when a horse becomes distracted (or worried) can be a fairly easy way to not only get a troubled situation under control, but also build trust and confidence in both horse and rider. It is a matter of the rider staying focused on what they would like to achieve and helping the horse get there, instead of focusing on the horse's worried or distracted behavior and trying to stop it.

More about that in a moment . . .

For me, connection is both physical and not physical.  It's an attitude, an approach, that then comes through in the physical way I try to interact with the horse, and the way I want the horse to interact with me.

It starts with my presenting the horse with intentional softness in every interaction we have - grooming, picking feet, asking the horse to move over in the stall, leading, mounting, riding, you name it - the feel I offer to the horse should always be the same.  (This, by the way, does not preclude being "big" in the very rare cases where it's called for - it's possible to be big while still offering the horse a soft place to find and be.) Calm, quiet and effective - if I can offer this to the horse, the horse pretty reliably will offer it right back to me.  I've found that it's pretty important to practice this "feel" in every aspect of my life - even such mundane things as how you open and close a door, or move - otherwise that feel and way of being won't be automatic when I need it to be. I've found it takes a lot of practice, but that pays off when your horse needs your help and you can offer that.

Mark's quote above is a powerful description of focussing on what you do want and ignoring everything else.  If we can think of ourselves as helping the horse out in a way that makes it possible for them to do what we want, it puts us on their side, not in opposition, and short-circuits the frustration and even anger than can occur in us when the horse doesn't do what we want and (think we) have clearly communicated.  I'm learning to ignore anything that isn't what I want and just keep trying to help the horse do what I do want, and I've found that things I don't want just fall away over time.  It's not about making the horse do what you want - that can work in a way, since it's sometimes possible to force/intimidate some horses into doing things - it's not about wearing the horse down so they just give up - it's about assuring the horse that you really do care about the thing you want them to do and nothing else really matters.  It's about building mutual trust and connection, which then has spill-over effects in lots of other areas.

A couple of examples . . .

When I first got Red, he had a number of bad habits, including nipping, taking away his feet during hoof picking and even striking or trying to kick, pushing his body into you, bracing in lots of ways, including when leading, etc.  Not so great.  The nipping, pushing and leading issues started to resolve as he began to learn that I had personal space that wasn't to be intruded into.  He would still occasionally try to nip when nervous as I would be leading him into the ring or getting ready to mount - when my hand was near his face.  An "accidental" sharp finger getting in the way of his muzzle - he did it to himself, all I did was provide a boundary - and just asking him to keep his mouth elsewhere while keeping on doing whatever it was I was doing - and the occasions of nipping got rarer and rarer.  The behavior is now completely gone.

Similarly with hoof picking.  I actually used clicker at the beginning so he clearly understood what behavior I wanted, and did it very slowly and step by step - first, simply picking a foot off the ground briefly, then holding it up longer, then longer, then moving the foot and leg around, then tapping the foot, then partially picking it, etc., etc.   It took daily work for an extended period to get him to change over completely to the new desired behavior, but he's now absolutely perfect for hoof-picking and for the farrier, and very relaxed about the whole thing.  I think patience - no deadlines or time limits - and calm persistence make all the difference for these sorts of things.

Spooking is something many (probably all) horse people experience - horses are prey animals and naturally get concerned about anything that changes in their environment (even if we think it's silly or stupid, it isn't silly or stupid at all if you're a horse).  Not wanting to approach a certain area of the ring or moving suddenly sideways away from something startling, or even a leap and jump or a bolt or partial bolt at a noise or sudden scary thing appearing - I just keep on riding.

Now what does that mean - "just keep on riding"?  It means a bunch of things to me.  First, and I think this powerfully communicates to the horse, I tell the horse that I don't care about whatever it is - I'm not worried about it so they don't need to be.  This means I don't tense up, or clutch, or grab or pull - or at least I try not to - this is a work in process for me, particularly in the case of a big leap or a true bolt.  I don't look at or focus on the object, and I don't stop the horse and force them to face it or move closer.  We just keep on moving - I'm trying to communicate "yeah, that was scary for a second but we don't have to be concerned any more".  Tensing, grabbing, clutching and pulling, or focussing on the object, all tell the horse that they were darned right to be scared of whatever it was, since you clearly are too - these are forms of bracing, and when you're bracing, the horse will generally brace against you and all connection is gone.  So I try to "go with" the horse, keeping the feel soft while asking the horse to keep right on doing whatever it was we were doing together.  If there's extra energy in the horse, I try to allow the horse to move and just redirect the horse as softly as I'm capable - those of you who've seen the video of Red bolting at the clinic will remember that Mark just instructed me to direct him in a circle, which I did once I stopped pulling - my first automatic response was to pull but in a full bolt that generally isn't effective since the horse can pull harder than we can.  As soon as I softened and redirected the energy, we went right on cantering just fine.  A powerful lesson that I'm still trying to make automatic.

If, while I'm working, the horse is shying away from a particular place in the ring or a specific object, I just keep asking the horse to work, first within their comfort zone - which might start a long way from the object - then gradually expanding it closer and closer to the scary spot, but without forcing - just asking and staying soft.  I've found that this works like a charm - pretty soon the scary place is just ignored by both of us - I've brought the horse with me into a calmer place.  In a case where a horse is really terrified of something, I try to make use of the horse's natural curiosity and see if they'll approach, together with me, either leading or ridden - again, no forcing.  (Be aware that horses tend to approach and retreat repeatedly to get familiar with something - I allow the horse to select the distance and to move its feet if the horse needs to.) With Dawn, I used clicker to help build her confidence about certain classes of objects, like plastic garbage bags or tarps flapping in the wind.  The goal was not desensitization, it was trust and confidence building.

Mark's quote above is also very relevant to horses who get distracted, or who are anxious or nervous.  Calmness and softness have to start with us and if we can offer them to the horse, this can help enormously.  Also the phrase "productive guidance before or during" should be highlighted.  If the horse is already anxious or nervous, or you're about to encounter a situation where this might be the case, get in there and give the horse some direction before things get dicey - this isn't a matter of mechanically "moving the feet", it's a matter of having a live connection with the horse that is actively asking the horse to follow your thought and accomplish some task together with you.  (This is where I went wrong back in June 2011 with Pie, when I had my bad fall - I had him standing still on a loose rein waiting for him to notice a very scary thing - a bike with a tag-along cart and a big flag.  I wasn't actively riding, or asking him to do anything, I was just sitting there like a bump on a log, and I was focussed on the scary thing, to boot.  Good combination of circumstances for a big spook, which is what we got.  That's not to say he wouldn't have spooked if I'd been actively riding, but I would have been in a better position to help him not be so alarmed and I also would have been in a better physical position to stay on.)

When I started to work with them, I would have said that both Dawn and Red were nervous, easily distracted horses.  They are both on the higher strung end of things, so they notice things.  Red also feels responsible for everything, so he's always paying attention to everything in his environment, particularly other horses and what they're doing.  All horses get distracted - but here's the real truth - if someone tells you "my horse is easily distracted", the person saying this is easily distracted. Distraction by the horse occurs either because the rider is distracted and not really paying attention or connected to the horse, so the horse is left to make its own decisions and choices, or because a second of distraction by the horse isn't instantly redirected back into whatever task they're doing together.  If I can stay connected and soft, I've found that distraction is usually very momentary - don't allow yourself to be distracted by distraction - keep the focus on the task you're doing and softly redirect the horse.

Something I've been working on a lot lately has been not using an aid, or redirecting a horse that has spooked or become distracted by something, in a way that introduces a brace.  A push, or a pull, with leg, hand or seat, introduces a brace and interrupts connection.  Redirecting energy and regaining the horse's attention and the connection without bracing - staying soft and offering the horse a soft place to be - maintains and builds connection.  The ideal would be to maintain that softness and connection through a spook or distraction - it that case I expect the spook or distraction might become vanishingly short or disappear altogether.  I'm not there yet, and still have to use aids sometimes as a backstop to connection, although I'm finding that the spooks and distractions are less common and also much shorter now.  This is actually very much the same as developing a consistent, soft, allowing feel in hand and body as you're riding in general, so the horse can choose to put itself into the place of softness that you are consistently offering.  When a horse is going into and out of softness, the challenge is to stay soft yourself so the horse can find "home" with you - this builds trust and confidence.  (This is one of the main reasons I don't use gadgets - a horse can't build trust and confidence with a gadget and their operation is purely mechanical even when they're used correctly and not misused as they often are.)

A note on giving the horse choices.  Instead of making or constraining the horse to make the choice you want, if you can guide the horse into making the choice itself - not because there is no other option but because you are connected and it is what you're asking for - is incredibly powerful.  Allowing the horse to move its body and not holding/constraining/boxing in are very important.  I do a lot of leading and "just standing around" work (both on the ground and mounted) with my horses, at least initially.  When I'm standing around with the horse, I let the horse move around - while staying outside my personal space at all times - until the horse chooses to stand still since that's the easiest and softest option.  They figure it out pretty quickly and it then becomes something we enjoy doing together.  Same thing for standing still while mounted - I redirect the energy of wanting to move until the horse decides that standing still is pretty darn pleasant.  Allowing the horse to move, and not blocking or constraining, just guiding and shaping, is also important to me in my ridden work - those who've seen my video from Mark's clinic about "professional neglect" will remember how important letting the horse move is.

You could probably think of lots of other cases of offering a soft spot to the horse that they will want to find and stay it.  One of the most powerful things about this work is that it isn't about doing a particular task - although particular tasks can be very useful to developing it - it's about maintaining mutual softness, connection and feel - all the same thing really.  And work done this way on one thing or task bleeds over into everything else and other things become easier, since the foundation is the same.

I'm still just scratching the surface on this stuff, but it's pretty darn exciting.

Very Proud of Both Boys

We had some very nice weather yesteday, and I managed to ride all three horses.

There's a big (as in big jumps) lesson in the mid to late afternoon on Wednesdays, and I usually don't even try to ride at that time - our indoor is very small and all I end up being able to do is stand around in a place in the ring where the jumpers don't have to go.  Not very useful - except as a just standing around exercise - neither of my boys really need that now as they both stand well, regardless of what else is going on.  (And I don't take Dawn into a crowded ring - she's a middle-aged lady (like me!) and there's no need to try to change her behavior now, I just work around it.)

But since it was so nice yesterday, I was able to take Pie outside instead.  But as we were heading out of the indoor through the gate to the pasture - the outdoor arena is a couple of hundred yards away across one of the large turnouts (empty after bring-in time) - all of a sudden he got very nervous and spooky.  There was nothing obvious to spook at, and he usually marches right outside without a care in the world, so this was very odd.  It took a few minutes for me to figure out what he was worried about.  He wanted to head back inside, but we just kept doing circles and going in and out of gates and one of the small paddocks next to the gate - he was particularly nervous in there - he willingly did everything I asked although he was still worried.  It became clear that he was most nervous towards the gate to the geldings' turnout.  We stopped for a second, and then I got it - I heard a very quiet clicking - there was a short in the electric wire that runs along the top board - just past the gate to the geldings' pasture and along the board that runs between that pasture and the small paddock - where Pie was most worried.  The barn owner was nearby, and I had her check it out - sure enough that's what it was.  Pie's good at picking up these things, and it's a good reminder that when horses spook or are worried, they have a good reason (in horse terms) to do so.

After Pie was reassured a bit, we went through the gate - he was still worried but did it willingly since I asked - and we headed to the outdoor arena.  We'd only been out there once this year, and it was very windy with no horses anywhere nearby, but Pie couldn't have been better - we had a marvelous session with lots of trotting and cantering - he was wonderfully forward and soft.

While we were out there, the barn owner brought a truck into the pasture with a large plastic water tank - this was next to the barn and a couple hundred yards from us - and used it to cover a hole that the barn workers needed to deal with the next morning.  Pie kept an eye on it as we worked but wasn't concerned.  When we came back into the barn, we passed right by it - it was now topped with a huge orange cone - and Pie didn't bat an eyelash at it.  He also was less concerned as we passed through the gate back into the indoor.  Good Pie!

I came back in the early evening to ride Red.  I rarely ride him at this time of day, and he was in the arena with a horse he didn't know well - which with Red leads to lots of eyeballing and sniffing on his part - but we had a very nice session with lots of good trotting and a little canter.  He loves to go outside, so when we were done with our work, we headed out toward the pasture.  Unlike Pie, he didn't care about the ticking of the electric fence.  But then he saw the overturned water tank and the cone . . .

He was clearly alarmed and did a fade/skedaddle back the other way - I went with him and just softly asked him to turn back towards the alarming object.  He was able to do that, and was able to stand there for a moment on a loosish rein - I was prepared to go with him if he bolted - I loosely put a hand on the saddle horn - while I reassured him.  Head straight up, eyes huge, much snorting and blowing.  I dismounted to be able to lead him - to give him extra confidence by going first - and we led out towards the scary objects.  His curiousity overcame his fear, and he came willing - we did it step by step, with much praise and petting at each step, and only moving forward again as he indicated he was willing.  After the inital startle, he never once said that he wanted to turn away, and in fact as we got closer he really wanted to check it out. Within a minute or too, he was nudging and sniffing the objects with interest and no alarm.  The real test is always when you turn away and have the scary thing at your back - I turned him to walk him back inside and he was completely relaxed.

This is huge progress for Red.  In the old days, his skedaddle would have likely turned into a full, terrified bolt.  He never once got hard or braced, and he was able to cope and respond to everything I asked him to do.  He also calmed down immediately, rather than carrying tension forward.  Every time something like this happens, and he overcomes his fears and is successful, I think he is quite proud of himself (I certainly tell him he should be, and that he's a brave, good horse) and it builds his confidence.  Good Red!