Tuesday, April 3, 2012
And a Drifter Update . . .
Just got a phone call from Heather - when she worked with Drifter today, his whole demeanor was different - more relaxed and "with" her. Canter work on the lunge also went very well - he seems more relaxed and the breathing was there almost immediately. I can't wait to see him tomorrow and to see how both the boys are doing!
Oppressed by Opossums (?!!)
Some of you may remember Pie's and Drifter's experiences with the infection that causes EPM in horses - take a look at the EPM page for all the details. Both boys were diagnosed with the disease through a new blood test, after developing gait abnormalities and, in Pie's case, recurrent colic, and both completed treatment (a new treatment that's in clinical trials) and have made complete recoveries. Since 4 horses at the old barn (out of 7) had symptoms and tested positive, the other horses were tested as a precaution. At that time Dawn did not show a clinically significant antibody response to any of the three strains of the organism that causes EPM, and her response on all the neurological tests was completely normal.
Now, what about opossums? They're a marsupial - one of the few in the Americas - that is very common in my part of the world - they eat a wide variety of foods and are also efficient scavengers. The problem with opossums is that they're an intermediate host for the organism that causes EPM in horses. If, as they move around the landscape, their urine or feces contaminates water, hay or grass, it's a source of infection for horses. Here's one of the critters - they're not the most attractive animals, but perhaps my judgment is colored by their role in causing EPM:
In the past, diagnosis of EPM in horses often only occurred when symptoms were dramatic - horses falling down or walking as if drunk. The tests for EPM that were used weren't that accurate, which also made diagnosis difficult - there are several other diseases/conditions that can produce symptoms like this. Treatment was also often ineffective. With the new test, it's now possible to diagnose EPM at very early stages of infection, where treatment can be started before more serious neurological damage occurs, or when EPM can be ruled out as a cause, and the new treatment that's in clinical trials seems to be very effective - at least that's my experience.
Dawn's been feeling a bit odd to me under saddle for a week or so. She's seemed heavy on the forehand and has been having trouble softening. Her gaits, which are normally fairly engaged and springy, have felt flat and dull - she's still plenty forward but the sense of power and lift is missing. Occasionally, she take a funny step - not tripping, but like when you put your foot down and the ground isn't as level as you thought and your foot shifts. And, the last time I put her on the lunge a few days ago, she showed me that cantering on the right lead wasn't something she was happy about, by kicking out - it wasn't a buck, it was a protest, which is very unusual for her - I suspected some sort of issue with the left hind leg. And she's been shaking her head a lot after our rides, and doing a lot of yawning. Her stance when standing on the cross ties has seemed a bit odd - front feet farther apart than normal - and she's been very slow to give me her feet for picking - normally she lifts them in turn as I walk around without my asking. It's like her legs are glued to the ground, and when I pick the left hind and let it go, it just falls to the ground.
Now some or all of that could be due to other things - I've had the chiropractor out, the dentist is coming Monday and the farrier is due. But a number of these things are similar to things that happened with the boys, which made me suspicious. So yesterday, I decided to do some simple neurological tests to see what I saw - I'm not a vet but did these the best I could. And today I took some pictures as well. Now, remember that when Dawn has done these tests in the past, her responses were completely normal.
If you take a horse's front leg, and pull it out to the side, a normal horse will resist and will pull it back to the normal position very quickly. Not Dawn - she just stood there with her front leg splayed to the side, and gradually shifted her weight so she was standing with her front legs well apart. Same thing with the other front leg. Here's a couple of pictures to show you what I mean:
With the hind legs, I did the test where you pick up the leg and place the foot behind the other hind leg - a normal horse will generally resist putting the foot in that position or at the least will lift the foot immediately and put it back where it goes. With the left hind (remember that problem with right lead canter), she was perfectly fine with leaving her hind legs crossed and made no effort to move the foot. The right hind was a bit better - she did allow me to place it in the odd position, but slowly moved it back to the normal position. Here's the left hind in the odd position:
This one is particularly interesting - you can see her off-center hind legs through through the front legs, with both hind legs offset to the left (sorry for the horizontal stripe - Blogger seems to be doing this lately) - also note the somewhat splayed front legs - this is not normal for her:
Then we did the turning test - I couldn't get photos of this since I was turning her. She had obvious difficultly turning in a small circle, in both directions, and did not normally cross the inside hind in front of the outside hind with each step - her steps and foot placement were irregular and she was slightly dragging the left hind. When I backed her in hand, she was lifting and placing the right hind toe first, which is normal, but dragged the left hind. I didn't bother with the tail pull to the side test.
Uh oh - all of this is abnormal . . . Our vet/chiro is coming with the dentist on Monday to do the sedation for the dental work, so she's going to draw blood so we can have another peptide antigen test for the EPM organism done by Dr. Ellison. I'll be interested to see what the results are, but the good news is that, if it is early-stage EPM, the treatment that's in clinical trials seems to work very well for most horses. It's quite likely that Dawn did have the EPM organism in her system at the time of our move to the new barn, since she used the same water sources and hay and grass as the other horses, but did not have an active infection - some horses never get infected even when exposed - and that the stress of the move, and the effect of stress on her immune system due to that and also possibly due to her recent vaccinations, allowed an active infection to develop.
I'll keep riding Dawn so long as she doesn't feel unsteady, but will only ask her for long and low or relaxed contact, will avoid sharp turns and won't do much if any cantering, particularly to the right.
Darn those opossums!
Now, what about opossums? They're a marsupial - one of the few in the Americas - that is very common in my part of the world - they eat a wide variety of foods and are also efficient scavengers. The problem with opossums is that they're an intermediate host for the organism that causes EPM in horses. If, as they move around the landscape, their urine or feces contaminates water, hay or grass, it's a source of infection for horses. Here's one of the critters - they're not the most attractive animals, but perhaps my judgment is colored by their role in causing EPM:
In the past, diagnosis of EPM in horses often only occurred when symptoms were dramatic - horses falling down or walking as if drunk. The tests for EPM that were used weren't that accurate, which also made diagnosis difficult - there are several other diseases/conditions that can produce symptoms like this. Treatment was also often ineffective. With the new test, it's now possible to diagnose EPM at very early stages of infection, where treatment can be started before more serious neurological damage occurs, or when EPM can be ruled out as a cause, and the new treatment that's in clinical trials seems to be very effective - at least that's my experience.
Dawn's been feeling a bit odd to me under saddle for a week or so. She's seemed heavy on the forehand and has been having trouble softening. Her gaits, which are normally fairly engaged and springy, have felt flat and dull - she's still plenty forward but the sense of power and lift is missing. Occasionally, she take a funny step - not tripping, but like when you put your foot down and the ground isn't as level as you thought and your foot shifts. And, the last time I put her on the lunge a few days ago, she showed me that cantering on the right lead wasn't something she was happy about, by kicking out - it wasn't a buck, it was a protest, which is very unusual for her - I suspected some sort of issue with the left hind leg. And she's been shaking her head a lot after our rides, and doing a lot of yawning. Her stance when standing on the cross ties has seemed a bit odd - front feet farther apart than normal - and she's been very slow to give me her feet for picking - normally she lifts them in turn as I walk around without my asking. It's like her legs are glued to the ground, and when I pick the left hind and let it go, it just falls to the ground.
Now some or all of that could be due to other things - I've had the chiropractor out, the dentist is coming Monday and the farrier is due. But a number of these things are similar to things that happened with the boys, which made me suspicious. So yesterday, I decided to do some simple neurological tests to see what I saw - I'm not a vet but did these the best I could. And today I took some pictures as well. Now, remember that when Dawn has done these tests in the past, her responses were completely normal.
If you take a horse's front leg, and pull it out to the side, a normal horse will resist and will pull it back to the normal position very quickly. Not Dawn - she just stood there with her front leg splayed to the side, and gradually shifted her weight so she was standing with her front legs well apart. Same thing with the other front leg. Here's a couple of pictures to show you what I mean:
With the hind legs, I did the test where you pick up the leg and place the foot behind the other hind leg - a normal horse will generally resist putting the foot in that position or at the least will lift the foot immediately and put it back where it goes. With the left hind (remember that problem with right lead canter), she was perfectly fine with leaving her hind legs crossed and made no effort to move the foot. The right hind was a bit better - she did allow me to place it in the odd position, but slowly moved it back to the normal position. Here's the left hind in the odd position:
This one is particularly interesting - you can see her off-center hind legs through through the front legs, with both hind legs offset to the left (sorry for the horizontal stripe - Blogger seems to be doing this lately) - also note the somewhat splayed front legs - this is not normal for her:
Then we did the turning test - I couldn't get photos of this since I was turning her. She had obvious difficultly turning in a small circle, in both directions, and did not normally cross the inside hind in front of the outside hind with each step - her steps and foot placement were irregular and she was slightly dragging the left hind. When I backed her in hand, she was lifting and placing the right hind toe first, which is normal, but dragged the left hind. I didn't bother with the tail pull to the side test.
Uh oh - all of this is abnormal . . . Our vet/chiro is coming with the dentist on Monday to do the sedation for the dental work, so she's going to draw blood so we can have another peptide antigen test for the EPM organism done by Dr. Ellison. I'll be interested to see what the results are, but the good news is that, if it is early-stage EPM, the treatment that's in clinical trials seems to work very well for most horses. It's quite likely that Dawn did have the EPM organism in her system at the time of our move to the new barn, since she used the same water sources and hay and grass as the other horses, but did not have an active infection - some horses never get infected even when exposed - and that the stress of the move, and the effect of stress on her immune system due to that and also possibly due to her recent vaccinations, allowed an active infection to develop.
I'll keep riding Dawn so long as she doesn't feel unsteady, but will only ask her for long and low or relaxed contact, will avoid sharp turns and won't do much if any cantering, particularly to the right.
Darn those opossums!
Monday, April 2, 2012
The Beginnings of the Breakthrough with Drifter?
Some of you may remember the post I did a while ago about how Pie had a major breakthrough when Heather got his breathing going again at the canter - here's the post. Last time I was up, Heather and I were discussing Drifter's reluctance to "let go" - he's having difficulty connecting his body from the front to the back and mentally he's not really softening even when he's compliant. I wondered if he were really breathing - failure to breathe correctly - it's easiest to detect and fix at the canter - as that is often a sign of a horse that's tight and "closed". I got a very interesting message from Heather this evening - she worked with him on the line today - she usually does just ground work with each horse once a week - I'm quoting from her e-mail and don't think she'll mind:
I think this may be the beginning of the breakthrough we've been looking for with him . . . I'm very fortunate to have a trainer as skilled as Heather to work with him and get him past this to a much better place. I can't wait to get up there on Wednesday to see how he's doing!
Checked in on Drifters breathing today. I had done this with him shortly after he got here, and he was breathing really well. But since we are "pealing the onion" with him, I wanted to check again now that we have gotten down a few layers. Interestingly enough, he was holding his breath today. I could hear it at the trot even before I asked him to canter. When I first asked him to canter on the line, he was so uptight he couldn't canter right. He was crossfiring and counter cantering, breaking down into the trot...I just kept asking him for canter again every time he lost it. Whether he was crossfiring, counter cantering, or cantering correctly, I only wanted canter, and didn't put any pressure on him as long as he did so. After about 10 minutes of this, his breathing started to come through, and by 15 minutes he was breathing with the normal, quick and steady rythm. Once he was breathing, he automatically corrected and softened his canter. Correct leads, and nice even stride. Once he was breathing well one direction, we went the other way...it only took about 5 minutes in the second direction, but we went through almost the identical process. He was pretty stuck...he looked different afterwards...almost more "open", and much softer. I am so glad that I checked in on this with him again...my hope is that this will help us break down some of those internal/mental walls he has up. I will check in on this again before I ride him tomorrow.I think when we weren't initially asking him for much, he was able to (perhaps) conceal how he was doing and feeling, but as we've asked more, the inability to "let go" and be soft in mind and body has been holding him back - hence the issue with canter on the line today.
I think this may be the beginning of the breakthrough we've been looking for with him . . . I'm very fortunate to have a trainer as skilled as Heather to work with him and get him past this to a much better place. I can't wait to get up there on Wednesday to see how he's doing!
Pie and Drifter Go on an Outing
Heather took Pie and Drifter on an outing yesterday, and I got a full report last evening. She had planned to do this with them as part of their exposure to new things and circumstances. Drifter will be doing more of this after Pie comes home this week.
The report was very good - they both did very well. Both boys loaded well into her two-horse straight-load trailer (she's done no loading work with them, but Drifter's trailer-loading issues seem to be falling away just as we suspected they might) and rode well next to one another. Her friend's place was about 10 minutes away. Each horse was able to stand quietly in the trailer while the other was loaded/unloaded. Each boy hung out in the round pen while she worked with the other one. She rode them in the outdoor, and there was a lot of stuff going on while she was working with them - multiple horses being ridden and a new horse that was running and bucking in his paddock. And at one point at the end of her ride on Pie and beginning of her ride on Drifter, a small pony was being ridden - neither boy was quite sure what to think of the pony at first - I've seen this in horses that haven't seen ponies, or sometimes loud-colored horses like pintos or Appaloosas, before - but both ignored the pony pretty quickly.
Pie was groomed and tacked tied to the trailer, and although he was a little nervous, he stood pretty well. She hand walked him around the arena for a few minutes and did some simple ground work. He was attentive to her within a few minutes and she had a very good ride on him. He noticed everything, including the running, bucking horse, but kept his main focus on her.
Drifter was pretty quiet while waiting in the round pen, but was playful for a few minutes while the other horse was running and bucking. She groomed and saddled Drifter ground-tied outside the arena and he stood pretty well, needing only a few reminders. She also hand-walked him around the arena and did a few minutes of lungeing before getting on. He came around really well, and her ride was also very good. He would occasionally get distracted by horses coming and going, but could come back to her quickly. His transitions were mostly smooth with only one or two "hops" into trot.
Both boys loaded well into the trailer for their ride back to Heather's. I'd call that a pretty good report!
The report was very good - they both did very well. Both boys loaded well into her two-horse straight-load trailer (she's done no loading work with them, but Drifter's trailer-loading issues seem to be falling away just as we suspected they might) and rode well next to one another. Her friend's place was about 10 minutes away. Each horse was able to stand quietly in the trailer while the other was loaded/unloaded. Each boy hung out in the round pen while she worked with the other one. She rode them in the outdoor, and there was a lot of stuff going on while she was working with them - multiple horses being ridden and a new horse that was running and bucking in his paddock. And at one point at the end of her ride on Pie and beginning of her ride on Drifter, a small pony was being ridden - neither boy was quite sure what to think of the pony at first - I've seen this in horses that haven't seen ponies, or sometimes loud-colored horses like pintos or Appaloosas, before - but both ignored the pony pretty quickly.
Pie was groomed and tacked tied to the trailer, and although he was a little nervous, he stood pretty well. She hand walked him around the arena for a few minutes and did some simple ground work. He was attentive to her within a few minutes and she had a very good ride on him. He noticed everything, including the running, bucking horse, but kept his main focus on her.
Drifter was pretty quiet while waiting in the round pen, but was playful for a few minutes while the other horse was running and bucking. She groomed and saddled Drifter ground-tied outside the arena and he stood pretty well, needing only a few reminders. She also hand-walked him around the arena and did a few minutes of lungeing before getting on. He came around really well, and her ride was also very good. He would occasionally get distracted by horses coming and going, but could come back to her quickly. His transitions were mostly smooth with only one or two "hops" into trot.
Both boys loaded well into the trailer for their ride back to Heather's. I'd call that a pretty good report!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Update - Pie Graduates and Peeling the Onion with Drifter
I went up to Heather's today to work with both boys. The weather was pretty stinky - a high of about 40F, rainy and windy - we worked in the indoor, which is very small, but got some very good work done.
Pie is ready to "graduate". He's far from finished, but he's made enormous progress. He softens readily and consistently at the walk and trot, and is now using his whole body - where he used to have a short-strided walk and a stiff jog, he now has the ability to do a beautiful, fluid, swinging walk, and a lovely, forward trot with a fair amount of elevation at both the longer and shorter trot. The transformation in the quality of his gaits is wonderful. Heather had me work him today as if I were at home, and only made a few comments, since we'll be on our own soon. I always need to watch my posture and head position, to be sure I'm focussing high to keep my weight and energy off his forehand. While warming up, while he's on a looser rein, I still have to "define the box" to be sure he doesn't brace at the poll and invert his neck. (It's amazing to look down at his neck now and see how the muscling has changed as he's developed a top line.) I need to always be very clear with him about direction and quality of gaits and not accept anything less than what I want. The ride went extremely well - his walk/halt/walk and walk/trot/walk transitions are consistently soft, and his trot is now immediately forward and starting to be engaged. We didn't canter today, as the indoor is too small for a horse at his stage of development to canter comfortably. Heather will be taking Pie and Drifter out to another arena and possibly to some other trails next week, and then Pie will be coming home with me next Friday.
Drifter and Pie both spent the session while I was riding the other tied. There was some fidgeting and digging holes to China, but both boys did well.
Drifter is like peeling an onion. He's doing very, very well, but Heather agrees that there is that 10% that he's mentally/emotionally holding back and doubting/not trusting - the resistance I talked about in my post from a day ago. He's often compliant with his body, but the inner softness is missing - he may have never had a person he could reliably trust to provide effective leadership. Part of this is physical - he is a horse who tends to overflex and overbend through the head and neck, while the rest of the body is disconnected. Due to his athleticism, he gives the visual appearance of softness - he's capable of elevation and extension, and he's not inverted, but he's not soft through his body and most of the action is below his hocks and knees, and he's not mentally soft. We expect he was ridden in a tight tie-down - the white hairs on the bridge of his nose and his tendency to go up with his head and brace is consistent with that, and he may also have been ridden in draw-reins and in general ridden too much from the front - his tendency to go behind the bit and over flex in his neck is indicative of this. So he's never really learned to let go through his body, and use his head, neck and body together - he's disconnected.
Today we worked on a number of things. First, we did some groundwork - he came into the arena pretty excited due to the cold weather. I watched Heather work with him, and then I worked with him. She helped me with my body position - keeping it parallel with his body and being very clear and directive with him - no wishy-washiness, but keeping my demeanor quiet and soft to keep the energy low. We also worked on keeping me moving - no standing still - and moving him around the whole arena. Since it was a small arena, I worked him in his web halter rather than the rope halter - when we're in a larger space such as the arena at the new barn or outdoors, I'll use the rope halter to make sure he stays within bounds. She also helped me practice inside turns - shortening up the rope slightly and taking a step to the inside to open a space for him to move in, but then changing my body position to direct him in the new direction. The groundwork went very well, and as we get closer to him coming home at the end of April, we'll do more in larger spaces to be sure I have that available in my bag of tricks.
In our ridden work, we worked on him stretching down and out at the walk and trot, and quality of gaits, to encourage him to connect the rest of his body to his head and neck. We also worked on my position and his transitions. We've got a pretty good handle on the "hop" he tends to want to make when transitioning from walk to trot - he's throwing himself into the trot for a couple of reasons - first, because I was tending to overweight his forehand with my posture and focus - Heather says he's very sensitive to where the energy is flowing and my driving the energy down with my eyes and posture isn't helpful; second, because his head and neck have been disconnected from his body, his movement isn't truly engaged which makes stepping into trot a big effort; and lastly, because of my earlier insistance that he trot "now!" (regardless of how poor the quality of the transition) - he isn't ready for this yet since the quality of the transition needs to be established. So, we focussed on my interrupting any walk/trot transitions that weren't right before they even got started, and waiting until the walk quality, stretching down and softness were just right to ask for the upwards transitions. We got some lovely transitions by the end - he seems to be figuring out that he can flow into trot without hopping.
Heather thinks that Drifter, when things start to break loose mentally and physically, will make a dramatic change - we're close to this but will continue to peel the onion until we get there. Sending the boys to her for training was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It was a very, very good day with the boys.
And for more about my ordering a new saddle, and some photos related to that - as well as a gratuitous cute kitten photo - see the previous post.
Pie is ready to "graduate". He's far from finished, but he's made enormous progress. He softens readily and consistently at the walk and trot, and is now using his whole body - where he used to have a short-strided walk and a stiff jog, he now has the ability to do a beautiful, fluid, swinging walk, and a lovely, forward trot with a fair amount of elevation at both the longer and shorter trot. The transformation in the quality of his gaits is wonderful. Heather had me work him today as if I were at home, and only made a few comments, since we'll be on our own soon. I always need to watch my posture and head position, to be sure I'm focussing high to keep my weight and energy off his forehand. While warming up, while he's on a looser rein, I still have to "define the box" to be sure he doesn't brace at the poll and invert his neck. (It's amazing to look down at his neck now and see how the muscling has changed as he's developed a top line.) I need to always be very clear with him about direction and quality of gaits and not accept anything less than what I want. The ride went extremely well - his walk/halt/walk and walk/trot/walk transitions are consistently soft, and his trot is now immediately forward and starting to be engaged. We didn't canter today, as the indoor is too small for a horse at his stage of development to canter comfortably. Heather will be taking Pie and Drifter out to another arena and possibly to some other trails next week, and then Pie will be coming home with me next Friday.
Drifter and Pie both spent the session while I was riding the other tied. There was some fidgeting and digging holes to China, but both boys did well.
Drifter is like peeling an onion. He's doing very, very well, but Heather agrees that there is that 10% that he's mentally/emotionally holding back and doubting/not trusting - the resistance I talked about in my post from a day ago. He's often compliant with his body, but the inner softness is missing - he may have never had a person he could reliably trust to provide effective leadership. Part of this is physical - he is a horse who tends to overflex and overbend through the head and neck, while the rest of the body is disconnected. Due to his athleticism, he gives the visual appearance of softness - he's capable of elevation and extension, and he's not inverted, but he's not soft through his body and most of the action is below his hocks and knees, and he's not mentally soft. We expect he was ridden in a tight tie-down - the white hairs on the bridge of his nose and his tendency to go up with his head and brace is consistent with that, and he may also have been ridden in draw-reins and in general ridden too much from the front - his tendency to go behind the bit and over flex in his neck is indicative of this. So he's never really learned to let go through his body, and use his head, neck and body together - he's disconnected.
Today we worked on a number of things. First, we did some groundwork - he came into the arena pretty excited due to the cold weather. I watched Heather work with him, and then I worked with him. She helped me with my body position - keeping it parallel with his body and being very clear and directive with him - no wishy-washiness, but keeping my demeanor quiet and soft to keep the energy low. We also worked on keeping me moving - no standing still - and moving him around the whole arena. Since it was a small arena, I worked him in his web halter rather than the rope halter - when we're in a larger space such as the arena at the new barn or outdoors, I'll use the rope halter to make sure he stays within bounds. She also helped me practice inside turns - shortening up the rope slightly and taking a step to the inside to open a space for him to move in, but then changing my body position to direct him in the new direction. The groundwork went very well, and as we get closer to him coming home at the end of April, we'll do more in larger spaces to be sure I have that available in my bag of tricks.
In our ridden work, we worked on him stretching down and out at the walk and trot, and quality of gaits, to encourage him to connect the rest of his body to his head and neck. We also worked on my position and his transitions. We've got a pretty good handle on the "hop" he tends to want to make when transitioning from walk to trot - he's throwing himself into the trot for a couple of reasons - first, because I was tending to overweight his forehand with my posture and focus - Heather says he's very sensitive to where the energy is flowing and my driving the energy down with my eyes and posture isn't helpful; second, because his head and neck have been disconnected from his body, his movement isn't truly engaged which makes stepping into trot a big effort; and lastly, because of my earlier insistance that he trot "now!" (regardless of how poor the quality of the transition) - he isn't ready for this yet since the quality of the transition needs to be established. So, we focussed on my interrupting any walk/trot transitions that weren't right before they even got started, and waiting until the walk quality, stretching down and softness were just right to ask for the upwards transitions. We got some lovely transitions by the end - he seems to be figuring out that he can flow into trot without hopping.
Heather thinks that Drifter, when things start to break loose mentally and physically, will make a dramatic change - we're close to this but will continue to peel the onion until we get there. Sending the boys to her for training was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It was a very, very good day with the boys.
And for more about my ordering a new saddle, and some photos related to that - as well as a gratuitous cute kitten photo - see the previous post.
Ordering a Saddle, with Some Photos
I'm ordering a light-weight (relatively speaking - under 25 lbs.) About the Horse trail saddle - it's lighter weight because of the elimination of excess material and because it's part cordura. Dave at About the Horse also makes classic ranch, barrel and reining saddles. These saddles are not cheap, and are very hard to find used - people tend to hang on to them once they have them. I've admired these saddles for years and think their design makes a lot of sense. Here's a link to a summary of the features, which are based on the anatomy of the horse. Dave now makes all his own trees, and it's the combination of the tree design and rigging design that makes the difference, I think. Dave's saddles are designed to be used with a properly fitted back cinch (e.g. not loose), or else a Y cinch attachment using a single cinch but with extra-long latigos using both cinch attachment points. The most distinctive part of these saddles, in addition to their beauty and excellent workmanship, is the flare of the tree at the shoulders, and at the back. Due to the rigging and tree design, the tree sits firmly on the fascia of the back, while allowing ample room for the horse's shoulders and hindquarters to move without interference from the saddle. I've seen horses who were having trouble moving switched into one of these saddles with almost instant transformation of their way of going, since their shoulder movement is no longer constricted.
I've talked at some length with Dave by phone, and have e-mailed him pictures of the boys from different angles, have mailed him the updated back tracings - it's interesting to see the changes in the boys' shape from 9 months ago as their top lines have developed - and I took a few more photos of the boys with the About the Horse saddle my trainer uses sitting on them without a pad and uncinched so Dave can see the clearances with the #2 tree that saddle has.
Here is a set of pictures of Pie - the flare at the front of the saddle is easy to see on him:
And here is Drifter - the saddle fits him more closely in the shoulders but there's still adequate clearance:
So, the process is getting underway, and I'm pretty excited (but then I'm saying that a lot these days)!
Now for a completely gratuitous picture of the two youngest barn kitties at Heather's place, nestled on my Diamond Wool pad:
Visit the next post for an update on how the boys are doing . . .
I've talked at some length with Dave by phone, and have e-mailed him pictures of the boys from different angles, have mailed him the updated back tracings - it's interesting to see the changes in the boys' shape from 9 months ago as their top lines have developed - and I took a few more photos of the boys with the About the Horse saddle my trainer uses sitting on them without a pad and uncinched so Dave can see the clearances with the #2 tree that saddle has.
Here is a set of pictures of Pie - the flare at the front of the saddle is easy to see on him:
And here is Drifter - the saddle fits him more closely in the shoulders but there's still adequate clearance:
So, the process is getting underway, and I'm pretty excited (but then I'm saying that a lot these days)!
Now for a completely gratuitous picture of the two youngest barn kitties at Heather's place, nestled on my Diamond Wool pad:
Visit the next post for an update on how the boys are doing . . .
Thursday, March 29, 2012
On Resistance
I've been thinking about resistance, as it relates to horses. When we say a horse is "resistant", it can mean a variety of things - that a horse is dull/insensitive and just ignores us, or is heavy on our hands, or won't do what we ask when we ask or offers unwanted behaviors, or is openly challenging or aggressive. There are many different reasons a horse can be resistant.
Some horses are resistant because they have physical problems - conformation or poor saddle fit, physical fitness, dental or other medical issues like ulcers, unsoundness or soreness - that make it difficult, unpleasant or downright painful for them to comply with our requests. Some horses have hormonal issues that can make them aggressive - mares with ovarian tumors can become aggressive. Physical problems can account for many of the most dramatic instances of resistance, and should always be ruled out first before resistance is assumed to be a training issue.
But I think that a lot of resistance in horses comes down to us - the people who have handled/ridden the horse in the past and the current people in the horse's life. Many instances of apparent resistance result from the horse's confusion and uncertainty about what we want - we may be unclear, inconsistent or ask for too many things at once while the horse is learning, leading to mental overload.
But a lot of resistance results from horses being put into situations, often repeatedly, where the human isn't providing the horse with adequate leadership and direction. Horses know that someone has to be the leader and make the decisions, otherwise very bad things (being eaten for dinner) are likely to happen to the horse. Horses with more dominant personalities or who are very smart and more inclined to worry are more likely to quickly take over the controls if the rider/handler is asleep at the switch or ineffective as a leader. But horses really don't want to dominate people, they just want to be safe, and actually don't need to be dominated in return but are mostly very willing to accept a human's help and leadership, but, and this is a very big but, they have to feel that the human is a reliable and safe leader. If they're in doubt about this, that's where resistance comes up. The horse is saying that he isn't really sure you should be making the decisions, and that maybe he'd feel safer/better if he made the decisions for the both of you. This can lead to lots of forms of resistance, from distractability (although much of this comes from a failure of the human to provide continuous direction), to outright refusal to do what has been (clearly) requested.
Pie and Drifter are good cases in point, with very different situations. Pie is a greenie - he's only 5 and has only had a certain number of experiences in life. Things still can scare him, although he's not prone to panic - he's got a good mind and a basically calm approach to life. And, most importantly, although he's still learning how to carry himself softly and effectively, he's had a good start in life and no one has messed him up. He basically trusts people, and although he was shaken up and very worried by my fall last June (and was mad at me because I wasn't there to help him afterwards), he's willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and follow their lead. Now that some of his physical issues have been cleared away - he was sluggish and slow and stiff-moving because he really couldn't move his body until it, and particularly his shoulders, got unlocked. If you ask Pie to do something, he tries to figure out what you want and tries to do it - and no one has ever whacked on him for failing to figure things out right or quickly enough, or put him in a position where he had to make the decisions.
Drifter's a very different case. He's older - 10 - and has had several owners, all of whom I expect contributed to his current mindset. He's a much more nervous and worried horse than Pie - part of this is temperamental - his mental "thermostat" is set hotter - but a lot of it was trained in. I suspect he has experienced both extremes in the human world - some rough, aggressive, insensitive handling where he was forced to do things without adequate time to try or think them through (Dawn has had some of the same issues due to some very poor/aggressive training she received earlier in her life) - this makes him somewhat nervous and reactive, and also subsequently some very weak/absent leadership where he felt he had to take charge to make the world safe for Drifter - Heather says about him that he doesn't always want our help in working through a situation since he's used to having to do it himself.
Hence Drifter's resistance. Heather and I have trying to work through this with him, and it's taking some time - this is why he's staying at her place through April - because even when the overt physical resistance is eliminated, and he tries and succeeds in doing what is asked (and he really appreciates praise and isn't aloof - he's a very people-friendly horse), there's always a feeling that he's still doubting you on the inside - he's holding some part of himself back. So he's the paradox of the horse that can be apparently soft on the outside, moving well and compliant, but isn't soft on the inside - he's not "with" you emotionally even if he's there mentally. This also leads to some inconsistency in his work - that underlying emotional resistance keeps resurfacing, and asking him to do something more or different can arouse his doubt and his learned resistance patterns. He's holding back because he just isn't sure that he should hand over his trust . . .
A little like peeling an onion . . . we'll get there with time, and Heather is doing a fabulous job with him. He's slowly starting to thaw . . .
Some horses are resistant because they have physical problems - conformation or poor saddle fit, physical fitness, dental or other medical issues like ulcers, unsoundness or soreness - that make it difficult, unpleasant or downright painful for them to comply with our requests. Some horses have hormonal issues that can make them aggressive - mares with ovarian tumors can become aggressive. Physical problems can account for many of the most dramatic instances of resistance, and should always be ruled out first before resistance is assumed to be a training issue.
But I think that a lot of resistance in horses comes down to us - the people who have handled/ridden the horse in the past and the current people in the horse's life. Many instances of apparent resistance result from the horse's confusion and uncertainty about what we want - we may be unclear, inconsistent or ask for too many things at once while the horse is learning, leading to mental overload.
Some physical resistance - bracing on the bit when ridden, for example, or being "pushy" while leading - has just simply been trained in - the horse is doing precisely what the people in the horse's life have trained it to do by their actions or inactions.
But a lot of resistance results from horses being put into situations, often repeatedly, where the human isn't providing the horse with adequate leadership and direction. Horses know that someone has to be the leader and make the decisions, otherwise very bad things (being eaten for dinner) are likely to happen to the horse. Horses with more dominant personalities or who are very smart and more inclined to worry are more likely to quickly take over the controls if the rider/handler is asleep at the switch or ineffective as a leader. But horses really don't want to dominate people, they just want to be safe, and actually don't need to be dominated in return but are mostly very willing to accept a human's help and leadership, but, and this is a very big but, they have to feel that the human is a reliable and safe leader. If they're in doubt about this, that's where resistance comes up. The horse is saying that he isn't really sure you should be making the decisions, and that maybe he'd feel safer/better if he made the decisions for the both of you. This can lead to lots of forms of resistance, from distractability (although much of this comes from a failure of the human to provide continuous direction), to outright refusal to do what has been (clearly) requested.
Pie and Drifter are good cases in point, with very different situations. Pie is a greenie - he's only 5 and has only had a certain number of experiences in life. Things still can scare him, although he's not prone to panic - he's got a good mind and a basically calm approach to life. And, most importantly, although he's still learning how to carry himself softly and effectively, he's had a good start in life and no one has messed him up. He basically trusts people, and although he was shaken up and very worried by my fall last June (and was mad at me because I wasn't there to help him afterwards), he's willing to give people the benefit of the doubt and follow their lead. Now that some of his physical issues have been cleared away - he was sluggish and slow and stiff-moving because he really couldn't move his body until it, and particularly his shoulders, got unlocked. If you ask Pie to do something, he tries to figure out what you want and tries to do it - and no one has ever whacked on him for failing to figure things out right or quickly enough, or put him in a position where he had to make the decisions.
Drifter's a very different case. He's older - 10 - and has had several owners, all of whom I expect contributed to his current mindset. He's a much more nervous and worried horse than Pie - part of this is temperamental - his mental "thermostat" is set hotter - but a lot of it was trained in. I suspect he has experienced both extremes in the human world - some rough, aggressive, insensitive handling where he was forced to do things without adequate time to try or think them through (Dawn has had some of the same issues due to some very poor/aggressive training she received earlier in her life) - this makes him somewhat nervous and reactive, and also subsequently some very weak/absent leadership where he felt he had to take charge to make the world safe for Drifter - Heather says about him that he doesn't always want our help in working through a situation since he's used to having to do it himself.
Hence Drifter's resistance. Heather and I have trying to work through this with him, and it's taking some time - this is why he's staying at her place through April - because even when the overt physical resistance is eliminated, and he tries and succeeds in doing what is asked (and he really appreciates praise and isn't aloof - he's a very people-friendly horse), there's always a feeling that he's still doubting you on the inside - he's holding some part of himself back. So he's the paradox of the horse that can be apparently soft on the outside, moving well and compliant, but isn't soft on the inside - he's not "with" you emotionally even if he's there mentally. This also leads to some inconsistency in his work - that underlying emotional resistance keeps resurfacing, and asking him to do something more or different can arouse his doubt and his learned resistance patterns. He's holding back because he just isn't sure that he should hand over his trust . . .
A little like peeling an onion . . . we'll get there with time, and Heather is doing a fabulous job with him. He's slowly starting to thaw . . .
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