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| " Mr. Blue" |
I’m way behind on my 100-day challenge but I hope to be able to catch
up soon. This past weekend was the first chance I was actually able to
work with the horses. After their little adventure down the road I needed to
wait for the farrier to come and replace Blue’s lost shoe and make sure his
pastern was feeling better.
Donnie and I worked on some clicker training and he did really
well. He’s a very smart horse and loves to interact with people.
The reward treats didn’t hurt his enthusiasm either. We also started some
basic longeing. Nothing more than an easy walk, trot, and whoa on a
big circle. He hasn’t forgotten anything he’s learned over the
years. He’s got beautiful balanced movement and is impressive to watch.
I decided to ride Blue in the indoor because it was cold and windy and
threatening rain. When I positioned him at the mounting block and climbed
the step ready to get on I had a sort of “I can’t do this attack.”
I don’t know what it was – PTSD syndrome from all my trouble with Dusty
at the mounting block, or flashbacks to the anxiety she caused with her mounting
antics. Whatever it was, I couldn’t get more than my foot in the
stirrup. I finally gave up and hand walked Blue around the arena a few
times giving myself a good talking to until I was ready to try again.
When I was in the saddle the plan was to have an easy day for both of
us working at the walk to revisit basic rein aids, which are Blue’s
biggest issue to be addressed before advancing to other gaits. True
to form, whenever I asked him to yield to the rein in one direction he
would resist and counter bend in the other. After years of riding
many different horses, I know my aids can’t
only be misleading him. No, he's discovered an
evasion which requires the least work while getting him out of
the most work... At least in the short term. "Oh, you were going to ask me
to canter around this arena for a while? Um, that sounds hard. Hang on,
let me just pop my shoulder in here and walk very slowly
kinda sideways so you can deal with this for the next five minutes
instead. How would that be?" Frustrating, Blue, very frustrating...
He has a tendency to be lazy--always has been, and I expect he always
will be. He's also very clever. Together they make working with Blue a
challenge. Over the years I’ve tried to develop what I call “thinking in
the saddle,” meaning that when something isn’t working I need to come up with
an alternative plan. When Blue would counter bend, instead of fighting with him
(which is never productive) I would simply ride him into the new bend and
we continued working in that direction for a while. This went on and on
until Mr. Contrary finally gave up. After some very nice circles and
figure eights in both directions we called it a day and ended on a good note.
It’s hard to work with a lazy/stubborn horse and not get frustrated.
Having lots of patience with a healthy sense of humor doesn’t hurt
either.
Quote for Today
No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the
saddle. ~Winston Churchill
I've had those moments at the mounting block too. Glad I'm not the only one. (and as I get older, those moments seem to happen more and more)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear I'm not the only one either. It seems to happen only when mounting once I'm in the saddle nothing bothers me.
DeleteI fully expected your quote at the end to be the, I think from Buck Branamen, or maybe John Lyons, about the only two emotions being patience and a sense of humor ( or something like that)!
ReplyDeleteAfter my wreck with Maddie (5 years ago now!!) I still have panic attacks when she, especially, or even Kate gives me even the slightest of hard times. I've made up my mind to sell her, so I'm working with her lots, and overcoming it to a certain extent. Sometimes, I think she has more ability and potential than Kate, and I think about keeping her (and I will, until the very best person comes along). But the nagging queasiness in the pit of my stomach tells me I'll never totally trust her, and therefore it won't be a whole lot of fun. And isn't that why we ride the critters?
It's hard not to trust the horse you're riding. The funny thing is I always trusted Dusty, once I was on. She was the safest and the horse who was the most fun to ride. However, mounting was always a fifty-fifty proposition with her. She could be downright dangerous at the mounting block, even flipping over once. So that's where I think I sort of got my "fear of mounting" from. Before her I used to get on a 17-2 hand horse from a grooming box and never thought twice about it. Funny how the mind works and comes back to haunt you with memories once in a while. I hope it works out for you and Maddie.
DeleteIt makes sense- it's when mounting that we are most vulnerable. Blue sounds like fun horse (well mostly)
ReplyDeleteI agree we are the most vulnerable when mounting. As for Blue being a fun horse. He is to some extent, he always makes me laugh at his antics in the field. Riding him can be frustrating though.
DeleteOh boy, I've had those "I can't do this" moments too! And especially while at the mounting block because Eagle used to jet backwards very quickly and it was ridiculously easy for my foot to catch in the stirrup. After that, my imagination just ran away with me, heart rate escalated and I had that moment of panic that made me freeze up with self-doubting thoughts. Hate that! To get away from those fears, I go through all our maneuvers while on the ground, including lunging and getting him good and warmed up. Me too! Then, I step up, shorten the inside rein so his face is pointing towards my body, and I step aboard with confidence, smoothness and sit lightly in the saddle. It almost always works because I have no time to have doubts and Eagle has no time to think of any evasive maneuvers. Then I get his feet moving and get us both busy, busy, busy! If I'm still nervous, I sing to myself and that helps my body to relax. It's hard to not breathe when you're singing. So, so happy you worked through your little panic attack. Always love that quote too. Much truth there.
ReplyDeleteI'm so surprised that it happens to others too. It feels good to know I'm not alone :)
DeleteYou are something! Kudos and lots of credit for continuing the challenge. I find that riding with someone can be confidence building. Riding alone can sometimes create more anxiety and the horses sure know it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori, good thought about having company along.
DeleteI have the mounting thing off and on after having the saddle slip once when I forgot to tighten the girth before getting on. It got really bad for awhile but I found that if I visualize the mount going smoothly as I walk into the arena and then force myself not to hesitate and fidget it goes well. My current thing is I cannot fathom dismounting from Keil Bay straight to the ground. Never mind that I did it without problem for more years than not. I felt something wonky in my hip one time when dismounting from him and now I dismount onto the raised mounting block. I had to teach him to do this - he found it very odd initially but now he lines up perfectly and it is so much easier on me AND on him I think. But the donkeys often come into the arena while I'm riding and knock the mounting block off it's cinder blocks and then tip it over! Today I had to race with them to get there and dismount before they did it. I dismounted from Cody to the ground in February with no issues - he is 15.2 - so my next thing is going to be practicing again from Keil Bay. The only way I managed to dismount from Cody in February was to visualize it and then just did it without thinking any more about it. You have been busy and I'm inspired again by your doing this challenge! Keil and I had a nice ride today after a month off.
ReplyDeleteHi Billie,
ReplyDeleteVisualization is a great tool I actually use it when thinking about what I'm trying to accomplish during a ride. I'll try it for mounting. I guess we all have our little glitches once in a while.
Sounds like a successful ride to me, even with the mounting moment. Reoccurrence is normal, and I dislike (putting it mildly) when those thoughts reappear. Koda has similar characteristics as Blue. I feel your frustration, definitely requires patience and "thinking in the saddle"!! Koda rarely gives me a break, he makes me earn everything we do. It is making me a better rider/horse(wo)men. When we work in unison (the frequency increases, you'll see) it is very very rewarding. Much more then a horse that just gives it to you, altho that would be nice once in a while :)
ReplyDeleteBlue does make me work for everything but you're right it does make us better riders. Then again, an easy ride once in a while would be nice, just to break things up ;)
DeleteI often can't help but be impressed and tickled when an animal shows clever ways to get out of doing work during training sessions. Since I don't have horses anymore, I experience this now with my dogs, particularly my chow-GSD mix who is always finding ways to outsmart me and manipulate me. Like you said, gotta stick to being patient (or in my case, I like to think of who can outstubborn the other) and being a little amused.
ReplyDeleteBlue is very clever and knows how to put the least amount of effort into everything he does. I may not be able to out smart him sometimes but I can definitely out stubborn him ;)
DeleteGood for you getting out and riding on a crappy day!
ReplyDeleteI've had so many days like that--hard work. In fact, I had one today and Friday. Leah has started moving away from me when I mount. Yay! So, we spend 5 minutes just backing up, walking forward, repeat, try to mount. It's all fun though. Blue might start to like work if you keep letting him know he's not getting out of it. That's all any of us can do.
I'm glad you talked yourself past your mounting anxiety. It's hard not to project our fears onto our horses, but you did a good thing for Blue by trusting him and recognizing he's a different horse. It's not easy.
I guess the difference in our day to day dealing with horses is what keeps it interesting and keeps us coming back for more!
DeleteVery true, and it's a great feeling to make progress with a horse and see them trying to be there for us. I didn't know if Leah and I could ever feel like Cowboy and me, but the day to day partnership is slowly growing us together.
DeleteI think you and Leah are working on a partnership that will be very rewarding. Blue and I need to become closer and more in tune with each other. So I definitely have to work with him on that by spending more quality time together.
DeleteJust reading about your mounting 'block' gave me the wobbles; that's always been the thing I hate most. Good to hear you got over it. Donnie sounds like he's coming along so well, I'd love to see him move :)
ReplyDeleteAh, Blue. He should have his own entry under 'lazy' in the dictionary; talk about making it an art-form!! Glad you managed to out-stubborn him :)
I agree he should have his own entry in the dictionary! Lazy/stubborn- Blue!
DeleteHehehehe smart thinking!! That's the nice thing about having an arena. You can just go in whatever direction is easiest for you and he hasn't managed to escape the work. Good job! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! I try.
DeleteEnjoyed your post. I had a mounting problem and had a new horse that would move around. Then I had a fear issue after he gave me buck a time or two. But have been working with him and I found out giving him a treat after mounting has made him stand so still. Doing the ground work before mounting has helped. He seems to respect me more. I like what Buck Brannaman said about "Replace fear with knowledge" so I have been reading and watching training videos. I believe it helped.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've found a way to have success with your horse.
ReplyDelete