Always learning

Yesterday I went to the barn with the intention of playing with both Willow and Pixie and liberty. Willow is really just starting this journey with me and right now we are focused on confidence building exercises. I had no plans really for Pixie, other than just playing.

Willow and I started out in the morning. I brought her into the big arena and brought the stick and stick with us because I wanted to use it as a target. The stick is long enough she can target it a good distance away from me. It gives her a visual of where I want her when leading. She started getting nervous as we approached the arena...odd for her at this point in our training. And when I let her go she took off running and proceeded to run the fence at the far end. It took me a minute and then I realized the only thing different was the stick and string...so I dropped in and walked over to her. She calmed down and took some treats. After a minute I went back to the stick and started walking over to her. She immediately tensed up and wanted to leave. So I just waited. I started to click her for looking at it and within a few minutes I was able to have her touching it. It took her some time to figure out I wasn't going to drive her off with it. After that we did some great targeting work.

I learned a big lesson today. I never thought Willow was scared of the stick, but thinking about it she has always been online while we played with it. Just goes to show how good they are at hiding their feelings while haltered because they have learned they have no other choice.

After targeting we worked on the fun noodle tree, with only two noodles to make it easier. We had worked on this the other day with a bunch of other boarders. Both Willow and Pixie went through it on the ground and under saddle, so this should have been easy right. Wrong, again I was shown that just because they do it while on line doesn't mean they are happy about it. We didn't feel like we had forced them to go through before, but they must have felt some pressure because when I took off the halter it took them a while to go through at liberty. They did it in the end. And it really didn't take that long, but it was the point that they were very clear with me they were not comfortable with it in the beginning.  Pixie definitely went through it faster, but we have played so much more at liberty, and plain and simple she has more trust in me than Willow does.

 I have always said once you take away all the equipment you are only left with the truth and once again Willow didn't prove me wrong. Another lesson learned for me!

My horses are always teaching me lessons, more than I ever teach them.

Obstacle day at the Barn

A couple friends and I decided to put together an obstacle course at the barn. We decided it is always good to mix things up and work on desensitizing our horses. We met at 9 to set up and were ready to go by 10. We had everything from someone drumming to balloons. We had so many things we had to cut out a few and figured we could plan another day with the obstacles we had to leave out. It was great fun! And what a learning experience for both horse and owner. Lots of other boarders came to join us. We originally just planned on our small group, but as the day went more and more people wanted to come try the obstacles! It was great! We got lots of thank yous for setting it up. I am glad it was such a hit. Can't wait till the next one :)

Jess and my partner pulling the tire

Pixie at the balloons

Pixie at the cowboy curtain

Willow at the flag

Willow at the curtain

Navi's cut

Last Saturday the 25th of April Navi decided to try and test the fence. Well it didn't end up so well and she cut her hock really bad. We were lucky in that we caught it right away (the barn manager was calling us when we were pulling in the drive)

I would be lying if I said I didn't almost freak out when I saw this. I was really didn't know what to think. The vet was great and got there within 10 minutes. It was 6pm on Saturday! He poked around, cleaned it and couldn't detect any joint fluid meaning we had lucked out and she missed the joint! So we stitched it up and put her on stall rest for 8 days with a standing wrap.

Now here we are 8 days later and she has had one follow up and rewrap with the vet (last Wed). Yesterday we pulled the wrap and rewrapped a smaller bandage. She also was allowed to have some more freedom so she got the whole run.

Day 8 Stitches still in and looking good. 

A bit more freedom

The stitches are schedule to come out next Friday. Hopefully she keeps them in until then. As far as follow up her fence that she tried to push through is getting hot wire before she goes back to pasture. She is weight baring and has good range of motion so I think we lucked out.  And in case anyone is wondering... we have $565.00 in vet bills from this cut not counting any future appts. Now were is the bubble wrap...

Bear Hunting

Bear hunting in a good way that is... I had one goal for yesterdays trail ride and that was to see a bear :)

The bears have been spotted in a certain area now 3 or 4 times so I asked my friend if she would be willing to head that direction. And sure enough she said yes. Awesome, I was off to see a bear!

I was smart and remembered my helmet! I am trying to get better about wearing my helmet, I know that it is the smart thing to do. After getting ready, my friends and I headed out. Off to see bears. Okay so maybe I was the only one really hoping to see the bears, lol.

We headed out quite a ways and on the way back in my friend said " I am sorry you didn't get to see your bears" I responded with "that's okay, it was still a great ride"! Well not 5 minutes later we jumped a little red bear! It was pretty close and of course took off running. But we got to stand and watch it for a minute or so as it ran away. My ride was complete! I saw my bear :) I was super excited and of course Pixie was not phased one bit.

Here are a few pics from the ride. Unfortunately no pics of the bear as it was running too fast.

Pixie and I riding back down the road. Photo taken by my riding buddy

Pixie and I almost home...across the street is my barn

Looking back towards home

What a view!

Can We Make Up For It???

Does all the nice talk, giving grain, brushing, blanketing,  putting boots/shoes on, etc...Does doing all these things make up for all the pain we cause our horses?

I find it funny that as a society we go out of our way to make our horses more comfortable within their everyday life, but then we are quick to cause pain when we train.

We are willing to spend thousands of dollars on a saddle that fits so we don't cause them pain, but then we are quick to put on spurs so they respond to our leg. What do spurs do, well they cause pain. But somehow it is okay for us to spur the horse to cause pain, but lets make sure the saddle fits. Not only do we use spurs, but we use bits and sometimes they are really severe bits. So once again we have gone out of our way to ensure the comfort of the horse, only to cause discomfort in another way. I guess one could argue that an ill fitted saddle can cause more harm, and yes, they are right. But I also know that I have seen some horrible wounds from bits and spurs. You don't even have to be heavy handed to cause pain with bits though since they sit in the mouth. Why is one type of pain more justifiable than another? I personally prefer the riding experience be painless for my horses. I want a good fitting saddle, no bit and no spurs. I don't want to trade one kind of pain for another.

Another thing we do as a society is spend thousands of dollars on hoof care to make sure the horse is sound. We buy shoes and boots of every style to make sure they can carry us without soreness. But then we turn around and yank on their mouths with bits when they take a wrong step. Again why do we find this okay?

Apparently pain is okay and justifiable as long as it is the name of training or the horse doing something we want. We don't want them to be uncomfortable while they hang out in their pasture, but it sure is okay when we are making them do something we want. Why is that? Does the pound of grain we give them at the end of each ride make up for yanking on their mouth? Does it make up for mentally stressing them out and proving to them that you will hurt them unless they comply with you?  

And if you think you don't fall into this norm. Really think about it and I bet you will find that you are wrong. I know because I was you. It has taken me a really long time to come to terms with this. Take Navi for example...I make sure she is fitted in a fly sheet to protect her from sun burning, but just last year I was quick to put metal in her mouth to make her softer. There ya go...I was guilty of it. I didn't want her in pain due to sunburn, but to cause her pain to make her do what I wanted was sure okay. Not now, no more for me, there is another way.

I could give you a long list of past examples from my time with my horses. But currently I can say this I have given up my bits, spurs, and whips. Okay so I still use my stick and string, but it is for targeting only. I do no apply pressure with it. I just bought a new halter made of mule tape. It is super soft and doesn't have knots like my rope halter. I am trying everything to get away from pain caused by me.

This applies to both physical and mental pain. Watching a horse run frantically around the round pen scared to death is horrible to see too. While we are not physically touching them at that point we are scaring them. If we weren't scaring them we would use this technique out in the open where they were free to leave. But we don't do this in a big open area because it is all based on making the horse fearful and teaching them there isn't a way out so they may as well listen to you. Correct me if I am wrong, and prove it to me by using this technique in a 100 acre pasture. Even if you think your horse is calm while round penning, go out and do the same thing outside of the round and then see how calm your horse is.

Pain and fear are considered okay as long as we are doing it in the name of "training", but you wouldn't put your beloved horse in with another horse that beat it up all day would you? So why is it okay for you to cause the same fear and stress?

Willow's progress

I have been on vacation this week which has meant lots of riding time for me :) Gotta love vacations that center around horses!

Willow and I have been riding pretty consistently and yesterday we took a ride with my partner and a another lady from our barn. We went into a new area we haven't ever been. This was going to be a test on how far Willow and I had come on her confidence building. I was soooo happy with her. She only got tense a few times, but we worked through it. She never came close to spooking at anything either. What a good girl! We then went and did  water crossing, as usual she was great at that! I am glad we are getting her confidence back, for her sake as much as ours. It is never good to go through life nervous.

Willow and I working on the flag. First time seeing it, and she was awesome! 

Pixie all ready for my partner to ride. 

I am figuring another 15 rides or so on Willow before I turn her back over to my partner. I don't want to push either of them too fast. There is really no rush since basically we just switched horses.

Taking a Walk

Yesterday was the perfect spring day, 60 degrees, sunny and no wind! I decided to take Navi for a walk. I have to get her out to new places more since I do want her to become my trail horse. So we headed out to explore the river and bridges. She was a tiny bit nervous when we first headed out, but there where no spooks, and she quickly calmed down. She has been to the area before, but it was well over 6 months ago. As we approached the first bridge she looked at it and I clicked her for it and off we went across. We stopped along the walk to graze, which she loved of course. We crossed the next bridge without any hesitation. She was as cool as a cucumber :) We grazed  more before doing some mounting block work at a rock. She lined right up! What a good girl!

Navi doesn't seem to have any issues going out alone since that is the only thing we have done. All the walks around have just been her and I, which seems to be paying off. She should be a great little trail horse that can ride out alone without issue :)

 Besides going for a walk we did some saddle work. She hasn't worn the saddle in a long long time...maybe close to a year?? So we went into the round pen in case she didn't like it. I tacked her up while clicking and treating and then sent her away to move around. She moved out like it was old news. We did walk, trot, canter, and went over a small pole. Never once was bothered by the saddle! Although true to Navi fashion she tried to taste my stirrups. Everything still has to go in her mouth.

Oh and I almost forgot Navi turns 4 this month! How time has flown since she came home in 2012 and was just a little yearling.

Willow and I had another ride yesterday. She did really well. We are still working on her confidence, but every ride gets better and better :)

Navi taking a break and trying to eat my lead rope