Update on a Few Points...

             
              We have definitely reached a turning point of some kind.  We have developed a different connection, a new connection. 

Max seems more likely to expect me to give him direction rather than just move around on his own when I’m nearby.   He seems to be paying more attention to me when I’m around.  When he sees me coming with a chore to do and he’s right there up close to the barn door, he begins to back up when I’m walking toward him.  I do like that.  Thanks, CA.

I introduced the “touch and rub” exercise from the Riding With Confidence – Series I dvd.  I’m reeeeeeeeally clumsy doing this one.  I really had to take it super slowly and concentrate on which hand was doing what.  He’s big.  I’m short.  I was afraid his big rear end would move into me and his hind feet would step on me.  But once I got it, it worked. 

I’m not totally comfortable yet with the timing and the moves, but with practice I think it’ll come. 

When first introducing the “touch and rub” exercise Max kept thinking I wanted him to move his forequarters, (probably because we’ve had to work on it so much) so he kept side-stepping. 

(Okay, I know this so girly, but he was really cute.  He was dipping his head and looking at me like, “See?  See?  Look what I remembered?  Is this right?  Is this it?  I’m doing that thing you wanted, right?”  I know, I know, he’s not supposed to be “cute”.  But it did show me again he has that “try”!) 

Only I have to tell him, “Uh, no, that’s not it this time.”

Actually, until today, I’ve really been working pretty exclusively on the Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground – Series I exercises.  I felt like I needed to feel super comfortable on the ground first considering my confidence issues.

Now, Max and I are coming along verrrrrrrrrrry slowly, but we’re coming along nonetheless.  (I don’t have to do it as fast as Clinton Anderson does it, do I?)  And I don’t know about Max, but I have enjoyed every bit.  So far, I think Anderson has mapped out his methods in an excellent step-by-step sequence.  There hasn’t been anything yet that has been impossible for me, as a beginner, to do.

I think whenever we start something new, there’s an adjustment in thinking.  For example, being a former Reading and Language Arts teacher, I keep wanting there to be some instructions I can give Max or some way to use words. 

 I’ll start to say something, then look at Max and close my mouth.  (I know some trainers do use verbal cues.  I have done this also.  But right now I’m following Clinton Anderson’s method and there are no verbal cues.  And this way makes sense, too.  I rather like it.  And anyway, we all need to shut the heck up sometimes.)

I am also having to get used to the new moves I’m supposed to make while training Max to make his moves.  I enjoy that it’s body language that’s essential in communicating with horses. 

It’s kind of like learning short new dances for each skill I want to teach him.  In other words, what’s my body supposed to be doing so that Max will know what to do?  And like dancing together, one leads and the other follows.   

Lastly, there’s the equipment to work with.  In any new sport one has to get used to the equipment.  Whether its’ mitts, balls and bats, or sticks and strings and lead ropes and halters, it takes some practice and everyday “using” to get natural with it.

The next thing I need to do is re-make a list of the exercises on GRCG-I and RWC-I.  I made one a few weeks ago on an index card and put it in my pocket when I went to the barn each morning, but it became unreadable after being slipped in and out of my pocket for several days.  Before it completely faded away it was very helpful in keeping me focused on goals for the day. 

So, to move forward, I’ll remake my list of “exercises to practice” and make sure that I include the “touch and rub”…

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

Now We're Talkin'...

I watched, no studied, all four dvds in the Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-1 set.  I was pumped each morning and couldn't wait to get to the barn.

We yielded hindquarters and practiced giving two eyes.  Max is one of those big ole fat, lazy geldings that Clinton Anderson talks about, and I decided he should yield those hindquarters and give me two eyes a bit more quickly and crisply, so I watched that segment again and trooped out to teach Max how to snap it up. 

He did.  As soon as I signaled with some energy, he responded with energy. 

There’s no sense getting frustrated or mad when things don’t happen quickly.  I’m finding that if I keep working, with consistency in my cues, it comes together one day.     

Okay!  I love this backing up stuff!  This is just what a timid handler needs – how to get him out of her face and space! 

We learned to back up the 4 different methods Clinton Anderson teaches, and we still work on backing up everyday.  I really like him to back out of my space! 

So far, these lessons have been clear and easy to follow and I’m impressed. 

I was just beginning to dream about training wild mustangs when we hit our first snag.  Max just  really didn't want to yield his forequarters.  Flat didn't want to. 

So we struggled with yielding forequarters.  I mean reeeeeeeeeeally struggled.  Then, I realized it was me.  I admit it.  I did exactly what CA said not to do. 
I was just trying to help Max understand what I wanted him to do so I pushed on his shoulder to get him to move that foot across.  Max didn't want to do that either.  I got into a big pushing match with him. 
I knew I wasn't supposed to do this, but maybe CA just didn't know that it worked on some horses.  Uh, no.  It doesn't.  And it didn't work on Max. 

Of course, Max would win and all I was, was worn out.  I watched the lesson again.  Yep, he was doing all those things CA says the big, fat, lazy geldings will do. 

I went back out re-armed with the knowledge I learned during the first viewing of the Yielding Forequarters segment, but this time I was prepared to actually use that knowledge and do it right.

We worked.  I moved the stick with increased rhythm while I counted 1,2,3,4, increasing my volume and Max's shoulder met the stick.   I still thought Max would never get it, but we persisted.  Sometimes he yawned and sometimes he stepped forward and always he looked at me like I was a pain in the neck.  And then it happened. 

That first step across was sweeeet! 

We are still working on getting three steps in a row.  He can do one like a champ and two pretty darn good, but he needs to get around on that third step and we’re just not there yet.  So, yep, we work on that everyday.

It’s amazing how getting some knowledge and using it, so you can get some control, can lead to increased confidence in a short amount of time…

Now, we're talkin'!

Have a good ride,

Greenhorn

Confidence Found - Confidence Lost

Wow!  Getting my balance back is taking longer than I thought it would.  I’ve always had pretty good balance and thought of myself as “reasonably” physically fit.  Pretty soon I began cantering Max for short distances at home and was excited to show my instructor what I could do.  I couldn't canter for long without feeling too off balance, but hey, it was a start. 

It was November, 2010, and a little chilly at my next lesson.  I had on a gray sweat jacket with pockets in the front.  Usually I put my keys in the barn when I get my helmet.  That day I had just shoved them into the front pocket of my sweat jacket. 

            I rode a different horse than I usually rode during my lessons, and my instructor was telling me the cues to bring him up to a canter as I trotted around the arena.  I cued the horse with my outside leg.  He kicked out and bolted!  It took me (and everyone else) by surprise, and I lost my grip on the reins.  (My instructor had taught me about the one-rein stop at my first lesson and I practiced it often, at lessons and at home.)  But I had lost my hold on the reins and I was leaning way far back on the horse.  I had been caught totally off-guard.  Lesson learned.  Don’t get caught totally off guard...or even a little bit off guard.

He stopped for just a split second at the end of the arena and I tried to get a hold up close on one rein so I could pull him to a stop.  Since the reins had slipped out of my hands right from the first jolt, I couldn’t get far enough down on the rein to bring his head around. 

He took off again.  I almost had him at the next turn.  But he took off. 

I was leaning way back, having been thrown off balance from the beginning.  There was a square, low platform in the middle of the arena and we were heading right for it.  I could see us either jumping it or us having a big wreck right in the middle of it if he stepped on it. 

Did I mention he does hunter/jumper shows?  He jumped.  I sailed off.  While airborne, I was actually thinking how I could land in order to be hurt the least and spend the least time in the hospital.  (I was wearing a helmet, by the way.)  I landed on my left glute.  Kind of on that left side of my back, too.  The breath was knocked out of me.  And I hurt.  I laid there for a minute to get my breath and make sure nothing was broken.  Then, I made my way up off the ground, with much assistance, and got back on the horse and my instructor led him around a little. 

I limped to my car and drove home.  By the time I got home my body was stiff and my husband had to literally pull me out of the car.  I could barely move and I was in PAIN!  Whirlpool baths in Epsom salts and left-over pain medication from a previous, now forgotten pain-filled experience were my body-savers for the next five days.  I couldn’t even get out of bed the next day…  Or the next…

You know, it was just one of those things-nobody’s fault. 

Upon recovery, oddly enough, I was still okay about riding Max.  I wasn’t afraid, just a lot more cautious.  I just didn’t want to get on that other horse again! 

Okay, here’s what I think ACTUALLY happened to cause the incident.  I remember hearing my keys jingle as I trotted around the arena anticipating the canter.  Just when I cued the horse with my leg, I think my keys bounced out of my pocket and somehow, in the way that things can just all come together in a weird way in the universe, the keys lodged between the horse’s ribcage and my now squeezing leg.  The keys jabbed him in the ribs and he, super surprised by the stab, bolted. 

I told everybody they’d find my keys at the point where I had cued the horse.  Yep - there they were.  I made sure I put my keys in the barn after that! 

I finished out my lessons early in December… 


Have a good ride,
Greenhorn