Ear Pinning and riding a plan

Thursday night I caught up on some Julie Goodnight episodes and, as usual, found a few things I could bring to my horse work.

I also watched a rather disturbing episode - did anyone catch the one with the paint that would take off on it's owner? What was distrubing was not the action of the horse taking off but the attitude after the fix.

The formula with Julie Goodnight, for those of you who somehow fill your television hours with something other than horses, is this:

1. Person and Horse presented, problem described.
2. Problem demonstrated with Julie commenting.
3. Julie steps in either with guidance or by doing some hands on schooling with horse, then rider. Generally this involves a bit change (Myler bits is the sponsor, but you do see many horses fussing with the bit).
4. Person practices with horse with Julie's tutelage.
5. Person sent off to practice on their own for a day.
6. Person comes back with problem largely resolved.

In the episode the paint had learned to pull the lunge line away from the owner and take off. Julie showed how to keep the horse's nose into the center to not allow the horse to get any weight in the direction of leaving. While Julie corrected the horse it was alert, ears up and responding. When the owner did this under Julie's lead, it did the same.

But for the first time when the horse came back the second day I didn't like what I saw at all. I swear it looked like the horse was pinning its ears toward the owner. It definitely wasn't running off, but I looked at that paint's head and thought - that horse is going to lunge AT that woman.

But maybe I was reading it wrong. I was just glad it wasn't my horse. I was struck that Julie didn't comment on it, so maybe they weren't really pinned.

(but it darn well looked like it).



Anyway, in another episode Julie talked about the importance of having a plan. Mark talks about the same thing - you have to have a direction, speed, and destination in mind when you're working with a horse.

I had very little time this morning, so I decided I'd work with Lily only, and on three specific things - figure 8, arena cantering, and giving me her hind feet, something we are getting unstuck. Given that I was rushed, I had to stop myself from going into monkey brain (thinking a million things at once) and clear my mind of the clock anxiety. I set an alarm on my phone (on a song, no barking dogs this time) so I wouldn't keep checking the time and set to work.

Since I've ridden Lily in just the halter and just in the round pen and simple trails, it's been enough. But in the arena the steering needed more precision. But I wasn't going to bit her up - I didn't have the time to make sure it went well. Instead I decided to ride more with my legs. Lily is pretty responsive to leg cues, but I'm not as consistent as I need to be. Today I'd practice doing better.

At first I wasn't sure it would work. Moving into the arena brings out a little of what Julie called "barrel attitude" in Lily. She's raced barrels and she definitely gets a little hot in an arena setting, even one as low key as ours. But we know what to expect from one another. I can feel her trust in me growing. She seems to understand that I'm not going to ask her anything she can't do, although I think some of my cue - in particular the one for side passing - must be different from her previous life. Or she never really learned it well.

It's on our list.

More tomorrow, it got late on me. Hope you've ridden all over tar-nation this week.

Off Topic - Crib Notes - Movie Night in Peril!

This is next in our Netflix rotation. A true sign of desperate times.

Friday movie night is in big trouble.

With an eight year old, a twelve year old, and a pair of late 40 somethings, it’s getting pretty challenging to find a movie we can all endure… er, enjoy.

As far as Hollywood is concerned, we are somewhere between Stuart Little and the Lovely Bones. It’s vast movie wasteland, populated by Home Alone and a few classics, like the Sound of Music. And after a while, the hills are not so alive with the sound of music.

It’s not just the age difference either. It’s tough to find a movie with some action for Dad, nothing too scary for third grader Mireya, some innocent romance for tweenager Sierra, and some caliber of production quality for me. As in dialogue that has multi-syllable words.

We are the ultimate tough room.

Movie night is a tradition we started some years ago and our resident traditionalist, Mireya, insists it take place so matter what the circumstances. There were many times we had “Rerun Movie night” since not every week delivers something worth watching.

Now that we are in the Bermuda triangle of family movie watching, I’m considering a replacement for movie night. Among the options are:

Family Game Night – We have tried this before, but due to wildly different interpretations of the concept of “rules” I hesitate to try again. Marriage is fragile enough without having to google the rules for collecting $200 in bookopoly. And here too the age and interest differences don’t help. There is no middle ground between Pretty Pretty Princess and Black Jack.

Craft Night - Once a craft queen, I considered reviving our crafty ways. But given that I have a house filled with flower pens, dioramas, and dried out clay sculptures of... something, I don’t think I can find the shelving for the results. Of course, if we focused our efforts on paper mache we might open up a miniature pinata shop this summer.

Cooking Night - We’ve entered a stage with Mireya that I recognize from years with her older sister - she is unwilling to eat anything outside three favorite items. But there’s no such thing as a skinny chef! Maybe we could explore new worlds of food! We could watch the food network and cook just one thing that wasn’t chicken!

Fortunately the days are getting longer, the weather nice and warm, the canker worms have left the trees to become moths. Maybe we can just sit outside on Fridays and roast hot dogs (those are one of the three favorite foods), sing songs, and count stars.

Maybe the ultimate solution to a tough room is getting out of it.

Sharing Horse Time and the Horse Boy

Yesterday I had an opportunity to meet some women who are working with the Horse Boy Foundation. The Foundation is based close to here and I once spoke with them on the phone about helping out.

A friend who knows the people working with the foundation thought I could be helpful in some way. I have an extensive background working with not profits - serving on boards, connecting people with corporate partners, helping them get through a strategic planning process.

But when I called, it was clear I couldn't help much. They were headed in a direction that I couldn't be much help with - primarily raising money through events.

I'm not too keen on raising money that way, costs are high, return is limited. While every not for profit should have some events on its fund raising calendar, it's neither my bailiwick nor the core of most programs.

But not for profits built on celebrity often function so differently that I have difficulty knowing where my skills and experience can be of much help. There are very successful models - Lance Armstrong comes to mind - and others that flash and die. I hope this isn't the latter.

What was fascinating about the group I met was that they are all dressage riders (with one exception). In other words, they can RIDE. To be able to use the method they suggest, one has to be able to ride a collected canter while holding a child in front of you.

So I watched the movie (it's on Hulu now). It was a good reminder of how horses heal. I have some experience with the shamanic path, given the work my father does in this area. In my mind the combination is critical, but finding a reindeer riding shaman is perhaps beyond what can be done in Elgin, Texas.

They invited me to train to be a therapist, but I'm not nearly the rider I'd need to be, nor do I have the time. facilities, or the horse to truly give what is needed to provide therapy services. I think there's a way for me to help, and perhaps the how will become clear to me.

-----------------

My friend from work came out to ride today. I don't usually invite people out to ride, but if they ask, I follow through. I remember how desperate I was to ride, but how out of my life horses were. Still, I'm careful. Generally you can pick out the folks who just want to canter your horses to pieces, then go have a beer while you unsaddle them. My BIL is this kind of guy. M just loves animals and wants to be with horses.

We had a lovely ride, I rode both Smokey and Lily in turn while she was on Cody. Lily is still too demanding for a beginner. In fact, I jumped on Smokey without any round penning and just rode his willies out, but Lily was too full of herself for that. After 3 minutes in the round pen she was ready.

It's taking less and less time. But it still takes time. Horses like Lily don't do short cuts.

We talked, M and I, about life challenges she is facing. I remembered how difficult life has been for us and the rocky road we continue to navigate, and shared with her so she'd know that she's not alone. Yet I am more and more in a place of treasuring what I have. Of finding joy in very small things.

• Spraying water on my horse's jaw, gently so she closes her eyes.
• Putting fly repellent around the old horse's eyes and hearing him sigh as if he knows what it's for.
• Rubbing the side of my horse's muzzle under his fly mask and feeling him drop into my hands, relaxed.

I come home and the treasures are scattered all around me, and embarrassment of riches - laughing children, a dog with a new trick, a sauntering cat, DH piling up the kids for a few hours of pool time.

I'm glad to be still here, struggling as we are, finally having the good sense to see the treasure and not just the hole.

Welcome to the day after the cancellation of rapture. May they all be this lovely.

Lily update, lovely canter

I've been working with Lily regularly, bringing her back to a place of confidence. Today started out with Lily giving me a little bit of a stink eye. Not a lot, just enough that I opted to adjust my energy slightly. There's a sternness line I have to find with Lily in moments like that. She needs a level of seriousness, no nonsense energy. Proof that I'm serious.

It takes just a moment. And it's crazy subtle. I often over deliver and have to dial back.

I saddled both horses and headed to the round pen. Lily did well, although I admit I'm not trying to bit her at all. I rode her and the nerves shed been showing during the start of our last session were gone. Riding her without a bit is amazing. She's so sensitive to my legs and a tiny touch on the reins. In a moment we were cantering with just a kiss, collected and sweet around the round pen. Then off for a trail ride on our own. There a slight bit of her nerves were back. But not bad. Not bad at all.

Then Smokey and I set to work and had one of our best sessions yet. Last night I'd been thinking that maybe I should (if I had the money, which I don't) send him to a trainer for finishing. Riding Lily reminds me of how wonderful it is to have a horse that's so responsive.

Then Smokey was absolutely like butter today. Easy canter. Almost perfect circles. Great on the trail. Cantered up hill.

If it is the end of the world, then I can feel good about my last day before the big R. If tomorrow comes, then I'm on a good road.