Doin' stuff

 Good Sunday morning!

Woke up to 0C degrees; fortunately  a heavy dew kept the frost away and my tomatoes survived. 

Yesterday I joined Shayla and baby Arthur to audit a clinic on halter breaking an untouched weanling and trailer loading a hard to load horse. It was a good review for us. The clinician was Ryan Butterwick, he was in a colt starting  competition in Pennsylvania  a couple months ago and came in second.  He has been starting colts for a couple of decades. I liked the clear way he presented what he was doing and the results he got were testimony that the colt understood  what was going on.  

There was a free lunch and door prizes, and we each won a bag of Cool Care feed.

This will be great for Gussie; I have to keep her on pro/prebiotic as she has fecal water syndrome  if I don't,  something she has had off and on all her life.  Sensitive red head!

I have a chiro coming to adjust her later today. This lady is licensed for people and equines so I expect  she will do a good job. It will be interesting to  see where Gussie  needs work;  I think the major area will be her neck. 

We got rained out so I didn't  get the mailbox ride in. Today I  am going to set up an obstacle course in what was Beamer's  turnout pen; Ted mowed it so it will be perfect and so much bigger than using the round pen. It will give me a purpose for riding- I  always  like to have something to focus on. 

The CD clinic and some ground work

Saturday, I headed down to the Cowboy Dressage clinic. I could only go the one day, as I couldn't get someone to look after my dogs both days.
Jenni Grimmet was the teacher; she doesn't claim to be an expert but she is happy to share what she has learned from Eitan Beth- Halachmy . There were 10 riders in the clinic, just right so that everyone got plenty of individual attention.

The morning session was groundwork, getting your horse to be with you and using your energy to do transitions, not relying on your cues; cue, then use your energy- or focus, if that makes more sense. Her saying is: "Thou shalt not dwell on rein or leg" .  Ask with an aid if you need to, but don't keep applying the aid. Ask, then use your energy, if he doesn't get it then ask again. Also, punishing the horse is out of the question; if he doesn't get it, don't get after him, just find a way to make it easy for him to understand.
Since CD is all about soft feel and the connection with your horse, it makes sense that you have to start on the ground- just as you do with any discipline. So- no dragging your horse along with the leadline, or pulling him into a stop. So, for example, if you stop, and you prepare your horse for the stop with your body slowing and an exhaled breath, your horse should stop with you. If he doesn't, you don't move your feet; you stay stopped and use your lead line or stick to reposition his body to where he should have stopped- right beside you with your shoulder between his jaw and withers. It took some of the horses a few tries, but most of them had it figured fairly quickly once their handlers realized that they actually could reposition them without moving their feet!
Sounds like pretty simple stuff and pretty much in line with all the natural horsemanship gurus out there.

Jenni demonstration leading with a soft feel and using energy to speed up the horse

When it was riding time, that's when the holes in the ground work show up.  So if a particular horse was lagging behind during the ground work, sure enough he was pokey and disinterested under saddle. Or a horse that was too forward on the ground was too forward under saddle. It was interesting to see how Jenni worked with each person to get them through each issue and by the end of the day, there was lots of improvement.

This horse was really interesting- he is gaited, kind of a singlefoot gait when he speeds up, although he does trot too. Here you can see the rider with her energy up- but a tight rein.

And here, she has exhaled, and dropped her energy level - and loosened the rein- and the horse just relaxed down with her.

The Cowboy Dressage Court is perfect for helping a rider focus on where and when to do a transition- much like a traditional dressage court but with a few more elements like the octagon in the middle, and ground poles at certain points. It is 20 meters wide and 60 meters long. Here is a link to their Rules and Guidelines.
This clinic only scratched the surface of what I have yet to learn about this discipline. Wish I could have gone back for the second day as they covered working over the ground poles and riding a test. But- she only lives an hour and a half away, so I could get my paperwork in order and haul down there a few times this summer for instruction.
I did come home with some things to work on with Coulee. I did the basic leading, and there are plenty of holes in that! She tends to walk with her shoulder at my shoulder- kind of taking charge. Then she also tends to lag behind if she isn't sure of where I am going, so we worked on her position today. Also worked on her stopping square with me; I only had to fix that twice. Coulee hasn't been out of her pen for a few days, so I figured she would be a little wound up. I did some in hand bending work, (stuff from the clinic) and she is starting to loosen up much better in the neck, flexing both ways. I took her halter off and sent her out; we were in the round pen, moving her out at the trot and lope. as I figured, there was a little bit of bucking as she broke into a lope- nothing serious, more like she was flipping me the bird for not having taken her out of her dry pen for 3 days. She settled in after a round or two.
After that, I did some flag work with her. I had previously seen that she was nervous about the flag;sure would like to know more about her past training. I think they did a lot of free longeing because she is good at that but not much in hand work.
Anyway, she was giving it the hairy eyeball when I picked up the flag, so I just led her around as per our earlier lesson only this time I was taking the flag out in front of me, swishing it back and forth on the ground. Horses will be more curious than afraid if it's something they are following rather than something that is coming at them. Then I picked it up and walked with it in the air- and it was interesting to see where her comfort level was with that. At or above eye level was better than below eye level.  I did several other things to get her  to look with curiosity rather than fear, and my goal was to be able to rub it on her neck while she stood still. As you watch this video, notice how she is more comfortable with the flag at eye level. See how much she backs up as I hold it just below eye level, and how she stops and accept it when she can see all of it? Just as I was shutting the camera off, she was licking and chewing. I think she will be better with it tomorrow.

It's also interesting that she is more reluctant on her right side, that is also the side she is the stiffest on. Teeth being done on Tuesday- should make a difference and I am finally going to get on her this week!

Mo' better

Yesterday, I figured I would turn Clancy out in the round pen, if she wanted to roll or run around, she could do it on her own time. So.... guess what.... she just stood there. Sigh.

Ok Miss Clancy. I guess if you don't want to play, we'll see what you want to do.
I thought I'd send her around, but all she wanted to do was be with me. **Grin.**

That's not to say she wouldn't still leave me stranded if she got loose, but it's a step in the right direction.
Speaking of direction- there is a Cowboy Dressage instructor just about an hour and a half south of us, in Idaho, and she is holding a couple of clinics this spring. I definitely want to audit the first one and really wish I could afford to ride in the Jon Ensign one- but not with the way our dollar  is at right now.

This should give me a good understanding of the concept and the way the court is set up. THen there is this one:

This is more along the lines of the Buck Brannaman clinics and I would love to ride Clancy in this one.

Some thoughts on the Buck Brannaman clinic

Buck's clinics are large, and with that many participants he doesn't focus on individual attention unless it helps to get his point across, or if the horse is really stuck and the handler isn't getting anywhere.
Note I said that the horse is really stuck. Not the person. It is the participant's job to listen to Buck, and to try their best to apply what he is teaching.

 Now, of course, we don't just automatically "get it"- it takes trial and error before improvement comes. A case in point is a young man who was having difficulty with his big black roan horse in the High River clinic.(In the photo above, the horse in the center).  Buck did his usual demonstration and talk, and then he asks "Any questions?" before turning everybody loose to work on the exercise.
The horse I'm talking about was pretty wary of his person- and for good reason. The young man had really poor timing, no soft feel, and was way too aggressive with his flag.
The horse had pretty big reactions, and the more he reacted the worse things got. That horse was in a nervous sweat within minutes.
Now, Buck involves the audience- after all, they are all paying to audit the clinic and are there to learn too. So he invites the audience to watch what is going on, and see if they can see what is working, what isn't working, and learn from it.
Well, one ole gal hollers out "Buck! This guy needs help! This guy right down here with the black horse!"
I must say, Buck's reaction was classic.
He looks up and says, "Mind your own business!" ( I was giggling inside when he said that). He went on to say; this is my sandbox, and I know what I'm doing. If you think you can do any better you just get down here and try.
The lady started sputtering and making excuses.....
Well, I think Buck handled it well. The young man had just been centered out in front of over 250 people by this lady, and he was out there trying his heart out to learn- sure he was having trouble but he was there to learn- and Buck knew full well he was struggling. Now, Buck was once like that young fella, and I'm pretty sure he let him alone to figure things out on purpose. He didn't just take charge and show him what to do- he had just done that in the demo and talk. Like horses, we have to try things to find what works and what doesn't. That horse wasn't dangerous, just fearful, and over the next few days the horse still wasn't trusting his handler much, although the young man did make some improvement in his approach. So on the third day, Buck had his helper Dave Gamble give them some individual attention. Dave worked the horse with proper feel, timing and release, and the difference was huge.

Dave also spent some time talking to the handler and I think by the end of the clinic, that young man went home with lots of tools to help him on his journey.
Buck has been doing clinics for a long time- he said he was in his third decade of doing this. I want to point something out- a lot of people think his clinics are too big, that you don't get enough individual attention. Well, that may be- but if you think of it as a classroom instead of a private lesson it makes sense. You are there to absorb as much as you can from one of the masters of horsemanship, and his time and days on earth are numbered, and he wants to reach out to as many people and horses as possible. He can't give everyone individual attention, but if you listen and absorb, you will learn. Take notes too! The people he takes under his wing, like Dave, and the 3 young men he had with him at the Ellensburg clinic, are going to carry on the tradition and are available for more one on one help.

Yes, that's Nitro second from the left

It's all about the try. Buck didn't work individually with a lot of horses, the one he spent the most time on was one that had trouble backing up. This horse had learned that his owner would back up out of his way.... Buck noted that his feet weren't working properly and the horse was getting stuck backing up so he spent time with the horse until it understood how to move its feet in diagonal pairs as it backed. There were other times when he spent time working with horse/rider pairs, and most of these were people who approached him for help. He did pick out people going around the ring to help too, mostly to help make the point he was trying to teach. 

I think if you want a lot of individual help, a clinic is not the right setting unless it is a small clinic, just as a classroom setting isn't the place to get private tutoring. But if you pay attention and do your homework, you will learn. 

On that note...... I still have a lot of homework to do, the weather isn't cooperating as it got pretty icy here. Hoping for some snow so I can get out and ride the fields, and maybe haul once a week to the indoor. 

Lesson weekend

Shayla and I hauled up to Janice's with Josie, Clancy and a gelding called Tonka that Shayla is working with. We had a 2 hour lesson from Bruce Koch with the mares, working on basic ground work moves with the goal of improving our horsemanship and timing. I find that I really need to improve my timing and improve how I use my energy. Clancy got quite bored, you know how when you have to repeat something you give a heavy sigh and roll your eyes- well if she could have rolled her eyes, she would have. But I got the help I needed. Shayla had an interesting work with the gelding, but that's her story to tell.
Janice's mare Jazz is half sister to Josie, both of them are Beamer daughters  and they sure show it!

Jazz is 6 years old now, and Josie is a long 2 year old.

This next photo is my favourite:

Josie did well at the clinic, her quality shines through, and the good work that Shayla has put into her really showed. We came away from it with some things to work on, and some ideas for what to do next.

Trouble, and trust

Over the last few days. Clancy has been lame on her right front. There were no apparent causes; I thought she might be a bit foot sore from our ride to the river, but she was good for 2 days after that. So I think it is an abscess working it's way out. It seems to happen, when you are transitioning a horse to barefoot and you clean up the overlaid bar that once things start working internally the way they should, that they can abscess. After about 4 days of lameness,  (no heat anywhere and no tender spots on sole, heels or coronet band) a slight swelling developed just above the fetlock. So I really think an abscess is brewing, and have been treating her accordingly. It will pass, eventually...... but. But! The Buck Brannaman clinic is this week. I spent all that money on getting her international papers and now this. Sigh. So what I have done, is decided to leave her at home, and borrow a horse from Tracey Westbury (Mustang Diaries blog)- and that horse is Doxie, the little bay mare  that I was thinking of buying before I found Clancy. I am happy that Tracey will trust me with this lovely mare for the 4 days of the clinic.

Tracey lives about 3 and a half hours from where the clinic will be held, so she is bringing her over - and I am excited to finally get to meet Tracey and her daughter, Katie, as I have been following them on blogs and Facebook for years. There are also going to be 3 other blog friends coming to visit for the clinic, so it should be a lot of fun. I will be taking photos, and making notes, but probably won't blog about it until I get back, as I won't have anything but my phone, and no data plan to blog with. We leave on Thursday, and come home Monday night.

Clinic weekend

I spent the last weekend attending a Bruce Koch clinic over at Janice's. Once again, I am impressed with this instructor, and how both horses and riders make improvements every day. From bossy dominant horses who push their owners around, to nervous horses, to horses who have little hissy fits when they are pushed to not be lazy, everyone made vast improvements. Without boring you with details, I'll just say I was impressed enough to book Josie in with him for next year. She will have 2 months of basic training with him, and some light riding from me once she comes back. Here are some of my fave photos from the clinic.

This is a Beamer daughter: she went from being petrified of the flag, especially above her.....

to standing quietly right next to it, even though she didn't actually touch it. This was a huge improvement.

This 17 hh draft/thoroughbred cross complained when pushed, but her girl worked her through the issues and got some nice work done.
 Look how precise she is in foot placement:

This next horse was dominant over his owner, basically flipped her off and did what he wanted.

At this point, he had just blown out and refused what he was being asked- I believe it was something simple like moving in a circle and then yielding his hip- a very resistant horse who was used to getting his way. We weren't sure his owner would even get on him- but it all came together with consistent handling and patience on Bruce's part.

By Sunday afternoon, he was relaxed and his owner was actually enjoying riding him for the first time in a year or more.
Then there was the big blue Percheron/quarterhorse cross. He was ok until he was pushed, kind of like the paint mare but more aggressive in his resistance.

He is a powerful horse, but he didn't intimidate his rider, a young gal from Australia. She just kept on working him and did really well.

Of course, at lunch time we had a little light entertainment from Dave's golden labs, older dog Tucker and pup Gus.

I hope Janice does a post on the clinic, her blog is Own A Morgan & QH

A birthday clinic for Rio

Yesterday, Rio turned 3, and I had entered him and Shayla in a Jim Anderson clinic- most of you know Jim from his big win at Road to the Horse last month, where he won the Wild Card challenge on Maverick, the horse he picked last year, the Fan Favourite vote, and the Road to the Horse Competition on Smoky.
Speaking of Smoky, Jim brought him along; we didn't get to see him being ridden, but he was hanging out in the sunshine enjoying some hay while the clinic was on.

Shayla decided the focus for this clinic would be working on Rio's evasive behaviour. Lately, he's been giving us that "I don't wanna and you can't make me" attitude. He is a big powerful horse, and combined with that juvenile attitude, it was making it tough to get through to him. We need a willing partner! Since Shayla is leaving for California today (!!!!! Lucky girl!!!!) I'll be riding Rio for the next 6 months, and I really didn't want to just baby him along, so this clinic gave us some very good tools to work with to teach this boy to keep his mind on work.
Jim started out with ground work- not longeing, because it's not productive to longe a horse that is mentally just leaving, he had to get Rio's mind by controlling his feet and body. So with a shorter line, and a stick, he asked Rio to move his hip, at the same time giving the cue of bending his (Jim's) upper body a bit. This also has the effect of the horse facing up. Step to the hip, bend, ask the horse to move the hip away. Any time Rio decided he was leaving, he had to move his hip over. Sometimes Jim had to get big in his ask, but before too long all he had to do was step and bend, and Rio was giving his hip. Once he got that, Jim asked for a shoulder yield- one step over with the shoulder, and then move the hip. Once Rio was consistent both ways, Jim asked for the sidepass, which is basically a hip and shoulder yield in unison. Down the fenceline they went. It wasn't until Rio understood all this that Jim longed him, and then any time Rio wanted to blow out and evade, he had to move his hip over and face up. This exercise allows the handler to control that big body and teaches the horse to keep his focus on the handler.
Here are a couple of videos that show Jim coaching Shayla on controlling the hip while longeing; you can see that Rio is wanting to get strong and blow out, and how this simple exercise helps to keep him going. When Jim says "move your feet" to Shayla he is telling her to go to the hip for control.

After this, Jim rode Rio, and worked on the next evasion: Rio's penchant for sticking his nose in the air and leaning on the bridle in the lope. Now, it's easy to pick up a nice soft feel on Rio in the walk and trot, as you've seen in some of my photos, but it isn't always there when you ask for it in the lope. It was interesting to see what Jim did for this. When Rio tried this Jim held his nose up there... and held it... and held it.... making it really uncomfortable for Rio, until he could feel Rio soften and want to give. Of course, being a baby, Rio had to try it several times, but he did eventually understand that it was a lot of very uncomfortable work to try that particular evasion!

Up goes the head....

Jim holds ......

and releases.

I'm really happy with what we learned in this clinic, and feel confidant that I can use what I learned to really improve this horse over the summer; and like Jim said, he needs lots of wet saddle blankets!

On other thing I'd like to touch on, is this moving the hip over is something I was taught many years ago in the Walt Vermadahl clinics I attended, only it wasn't taught from the ground; we were taught to do the one rein stop and kick his hip out of gear while riding if the horse got strong in the bridle or if there other issues like fearful ramping up. It's basically the same thing as this ground exercise, but it makes so much more sense to teach this on the ground first, and it makes that one rein stop so much more quickly effective once you are riding.

Riding with Jim

The clinic with Jim Anderson was just what we needed to get a good training plan going for Rio. We pinpointed what needs to be worked on, and have a training plan to work with. He needs to build his confidence with consistent training, especially at the lope. We have a training exercise to help with the crossfiring, and he is doing well with his spins and sidepass, considering that he hasn't been ridden all that much, especially consistently.

I'll start with some video from the first day.

In this video, when Jim is saying "to me" he is asking them to cut across the circle when Rio drops out of lead; then to go back to the big circle once he corrected. This exercise was quite effective in helping to build consistency and confidence.

They worked on the same thing the second day, and Rio showed improvement. I did video it but the focus was off so I didn't put it on You Tube.  Rio would push to the outside of the imaginary perfect circle, and every time he did he would change the lead behind, which in turn gets him worried, and it all falls apart. So the thing we need to do is keep him in the circle, and just before he gets to the spot where he falls out, to cut into the circle, keep him correct and send him out again. It's a lot of work, but it is working to keep him from falling out of lead. 

There was also some work on sidepassing and the turnaround. For the small amount of riding Rio has, he's doing well on these.

This is from the first day:

And another one from today:



I have also entered this duo in a one day clinic on Rio's third birthday, April 10th.

Lotsa work, huh Rio? 

A clinic and new digs

On Saturday morning I watched a Jim Anderson clinic that Shayla was riding in. For those of you not familiar with Jim, he's an Alberta man who is a world champion Cowboy Up Challenge, is a Wild Card in next year's Road to the Horse, and is a champion of many reining and NRHA shows. I competed against him in open shows when he was a little kid, my how far he has come!

I took photos of Shayla and another local young lady, here are two of my favorites.

I will be riding Rio in the same clinic in January. Shayla is coming over on Wednesday to do some body work on him, as I find him quite stiff and I want to get him adjusted before I start really making him work.

Now that the mares don't live here any more, I was able to move Beamer so that he is next to Rio and Josie, I think he is pretty happy that he can visit with them. I have a 4 ft. alley between them, but he can touch noses at the water troughs.

 Beamer's new digs are 20 ft wide by 70 ft. long, made out of my corral panels. He still gets turnout in his special paddock during the afternoon. I need to get some plywood for the west side (this is taken facing north) but I don't have shelter from the south wind for him yet, I'll have to rig something up. That's the problem with being a renter instead of a land owner, nothing is ever perfect. His old shelter had no protection from the north.
That overhang at the top left of this photo is where Beamer used to live, it will now house the truck that Ted is building from the ground up, a 1971 Chevy 4X4.