Every month I get an e-zine from The Horse.com. Along with the generic e-zine, there are many variations that deal with feeding, specialized health, lameness, etc. I think there's at least 5 variations.
Last week, the December edition of the e-zine showed up in my e-mail, and I carefully scanned the articles to see what I wanted to read. There was an article about how horses handle fear. What I had hoped would be in interesting neurological/physical read, turned into a research essay from Germany about how horses behave when a fear stimulus is created and a human is involved. Specifically, 1) if a human was not there; 2) if a human was there; 3) if the human was leading the horse or on the ground; 4) if the human was on the back of the horse; and (ta-ta-ta-DA!) 5) the expertise of the human. The Result: (trumpets and drum roll please) the expertise of the human made the most difference in how the horse behaved to the fearful stimulus.
REALLY?!
Somebody needed a GRANT and published a Research Paper on this???!!!
I think most of US could figure that out in less than a week.
Anyway, I was so disappointed in this article that I really questioned whether a The Horse was really worth keeping around. I mean, I just felt like this was so elemental that it just was not up to the standards that I had seen glimpses of in other articles.
The biggest problem I have with the e-zine is that there are some articles I start reading on the content page, then when I hit the "read more" tab, I get a log-in box. I find that irritating, since I've started reading, I'm usually in the middle of the sentence (cuz that's always where they put the "read more" tab) and then I find the pop-up box in the middle of my screen.
While I was chewing on this "I can't believe they actually printed that garbage," and debating cancelling the e-zine, I went to my local tack shop to use a gift certificate. I had some spare bucks to play with, and....lo-and-behold! a hard copy of The Horse was in the magazine rack.
What I found out was that the e-zine and the hard copy do NOT mirror each other.
I checked both the November issue and the December issue, and did not find any reference to the above research paper (well, at least directly).
But I bought the December issue, with it's emphasis on Chronic Pain.
The ads in hard copy of The Horse is definitely geared toward veterinarians....there are ads for cutting edge drugs and equipment that your average, everyday horseperson is NOT going to be able to afford. But the articles are actually written with the average, everyday horseperson in mind. They are clear, concise and do not use the humongous terms medical people (both human and animal) tend to chatter to each other.
What I CAN say is: If you can find a copy of the December 2011 The Horse Magazine---GET IT! Very interesting if you really want to get a handle on your horse's pain!
While all the pain articles were very good (I know I gleaned at least ONE new thing from each of them), the best one, by far, was "Detecting Discomfort" by Sue McDonnell, PhD, Cert. AAB (Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist). She actually has a LIST of things to watch for that suggest your horse may have pain. And she explains why it's so difficult for us humans to spot. In other words, it's HORSE LISTENING to a "T", and she explains it well. She also suggests using a video camera to watch how the horse behaves when there is no human interaction. If you go back to my May 2009 blog (explaining why I hadn't been blogging) you can see WHY I can only agree with her. Fire behaved one way with us in the barn, and was completely different (almost a "dummy foal") when we weren't. And she almost died because of it.
So, while I was planning on deriding The Horse.com and it's hard copy The Horse; I found that I ended up with access to some very interesting, and very useful information. And I suggest you check it out, as well.
Showing posts with label horse listening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horse listening. Show all posts
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Rose
Rose is our newest addition. Even if she IS 14 years old.
The Irish Rose Jasmine. I wish they had called her Jazzy....Rose is so lame. And the Irish Rose is a Farm name. I did call her Jazzy when I first looked at her at the sale....and she did respond to it. But she's been called "Rose" for at least 10 years, and that is the name she responds to automatically.
The Irish Rose Jasmine could be an incarnation of another horse we had, The Irish Rose Liza Jane, except Liza died in 1999. Liza was 17.1-17.2hh; Rose is 18hh or a little better. No relation whatsoever (except Farm Name) but she has the same face, same expression and many of the same mannerisms. So much, that I've called her Liza a couple of times.
Hubby took her to a drive last week, and she was driven single. The previous owners said she was broke at one time, but that they had used her as a brood mare for the last 7 years.....never even hitched her. Until just before sale time, when they hooked her with another old lady and the 2 of them just walked off as if they had been hooked the day before. And, even in the cart, which is usually more difficult than team when working new horses, she worked just fine. And she's sweet, which is a definite change from the rest of our barn.
And she "talks". Both Rose and Bill are the barn "talkers". No, not with nickers or snorts or neighs.....but with their eyes. There is absolutely no doubt about what she is trying to convey to the stupid human who is too dense to understand things right away. But, she's patient, and waits until the human "gets it".
She wears her heart on her sleeve, so to speak. One look at her and she tells you how she feels about what is going on around her. For one, she doesn't understand why there is no grass in the pasture they are in (they ate it all, most of it before the frosts, and the frosts killed the rest), and why they can't go on the other side of the fence where there IS some. Me, too, Rose. But, the stupid humans don't have it fenced yet, and we'd prefer you remain on our property rather than be shot by our neighbors who don't know the difference between a horse and a deer (even if the horse is 2000 lbs compared to maybe 400 lbs on the deer). It IS hunting season, after all. And she doesn't understand why she is kind of ostracized. Although Princess will come up and groom her, she will, just as quickly, turn around and kick the $%!# out of her. And, unfortunately, Princess doesn't just kick and quit....no, she continues on until her anger over whatever is finally vented. (Princess and K go on kicking sprees against each other and needs human intervention. Fortunately, they aren't very often). Even as Rose moves away, Princess will follow. And you can look at Rose and see that she is totally confused about why this is happening.
Even Jill (who DOES seem to be mellowing) merely pins her ears and looks ugly at her. And Rose doesn't understand why. Then again, there ARE times when Jill will break up the altercations.
It doesn't help that Rose is so obvious, so "verbal" as it were, that she gets a lot of consoling. Which only makes the others more jealous. So we try to keep it even.
I can only wonder what's going to happen when we start working with Dee and Bo this year. We'll be watching for signs.
The Irish Rose Jasmine. I wish they had called her Jazzy....Rose is so lame. And the Irish Rose is a Farm name. I did call her Jazzy when I first looked at her at the sale....and she did respond to it. But she's been called "Rose" for at least 10 years, and that is the name she responds to automatically.
The Irish Rose Jasmine could be an incarnation of another horse we had, The Irish Rose Liza Jane, except Liza died in 1999. Liza was 17.1-17.2hh; Rose is 18hh or a little better. No relation whatsoever (except Farm Name) but she has the same face, same expression and many of the same mannerisms. So much, that I've called her Liza a couple of times.
Hubby took her to a drive last week, and she was driven single. The previous owners said she was broke at one time, but that they had used her as a brood mare for the last 7 years.....never even hitched her. Until just before sale time, when they hooked her with another old lady and the 2 of them just walked off as if they had been hooked the day before. And, even in the cart, which is usually more difficult than team when working new horses, she worked just fine. And she's sweet, which is a definite change from the rest of our barn.
And she "talks". Both Rose and Bill are the barn "talkers". No, not with nickers or snorts or neighs.....but with their eyes. There is absolutely no doubt about what she is trying to convey to the stupid human who is too dense to understand things right away. But, she's patient, and waits until the human "gets it".
She wears her heart on her sleeve, so to speak. One look at her and she tells you how she feels about what is going on around her. For one, she doesn't understand why there is no grass in the pasture they are in (they ate it all, most of it before the frosts, and the frosts killed the rest), and why they can't go on the other side of the fence where there IS some. Me, too, Rose. But, the stupid humans don't have it fenced yet, and we'd prefer you remain on our property rather than be shot by our neighbors who don't know the difference between a horse and a deer (even if the horse is 2000 lbs compared to maybe 400 lbs on the deer). It IS hunting season, after all. And she doesn't understand why she is kind of ostracized. Although Princess will come up and groom her, she will, just as quickly, turn around and kick the $%!# out of her. And, unfortunately, Princess doesn't just kick and quit....no, she continues on until her anger over whatever is finally vented. (Princess and K go on kicking sprees against each other and needs human intervention. Fortunately, they aren't very often). Even as Rose moves away, Princess will follow. And you can look at Rose and see that she is totally confused about why this is happening.
Even Jill (who DOES seem to be mellowing) merely pins her ears and looks ugly at her. And Rose doesn't understand why. Then again, there ARE times when Jill will break up the altercations.
It doesn't help that Rose is so obvious, so "verbal" as it were, that she gets a lot of consoling. Which only makes the others more jealous. So we try to keep it even.
I can only wonder what's going to happen when we start working with Dee and Bo this year. We'll be watching for signs.
Friday, November 26, 2010
2010 Shows, K's Futurity
The sting of losing Athena is still with me, but I want to get this down before I forget.
This year, fairs were not especially kind to us....from the judging standpoint.
We did not place in some classes as we should have. Some were legitimate reasons, others were, well, things that made you go "Whaaaaa?"
We had sent our 2 2yo's to the trainer. Unfortunately, Lilly, the best looking one turned out to be not so good. Oh, she was a beautiful mover, but hitching her made her literally crazy.....bucking, kicking, urine everywhere. We've had these kind before, and I think SOME of it is due to the fact that they get so nervous, they just can't focus long enough to get it together. In fact, several of our horses WERE exactly that, and once they were paired with a teammate they knew, or were worked with, they got the idea. However, at this stage of the game, we just don't have the wherewithal to work with it. Thus, disappointingly, she was relegated to halter only. Her partner, K, however, got it together in record time, and was added to the string.
This is about K's ordeal......and what LISTENING can do for a horse.
K is lazy. That's the blunt way of putting it. She just doesn't want to expend any more energy than she has to. She didn't do anything wrong, but it wasn't the nicest drive, either. She did not do all that well at the first fair, but that was not surprising....most 2 yo's are more like pinballs than bowling balls.....they bounce from side to side. But, then, she didn't do anything stupid, either. Her had was way low....almost painful to watch.
The more experienced drivers around us convinced us that she needed to be in an over-check bit, to get her head up. If you read Black Beauty, this is what they used for the city draught teams to make them look prettier. So we tried it. It didn't work so good, but the "experts" insisted that when she "got used to it" things would change. She didn't "get used to it" and the fairs were over.
However, K still had her futurity show in mid-September. The week before the show, we took her to the local fairgrounds to basically just keep her going.
To say it was ugly......well, that 's just being polite. She fussed, she fumed, and finally she got plain old p.o'd and stopped. Just stopped and grew roots. She wouldn't go forward, backward or to the side. And the look in her eye.....oh, man, if looks could kill......this was a Mythbusters' Asian Arrow Machine Gun. She was having NONE of this. We tried to back her, and she just absolutely refused. She didn't go up (rear), she just planted her feet and stayed there. Jim, our friend and wonderful helper in this, actually PULLED the cart back, pulling her off her feet so she HAD to back up. We probably did this several times. Frustrated, we stopped, but after pulling off the cart, decided to ground drive her a bit.....and she went just like she was supposed to......even backing up!!!!
I thought long and hard for the next few days about this wreck waiting to happen. Then I figured we just needed to drive her a bit without the over-check. So we did.
And we had forward back, although backing still wasn't so good. And the head actually came up!!! Hmmmmmmmm. So, on a whim, the next night I put her in the "D" of the bit. And I had a whole different, far more willing horse.
A note to those who do not drive.....most draft horses are driven with a straight bit with a long curb on it. On this curb are holes for lines (reins) so you have more control over a 2000# animal. We usually have it "1 down", or in the middle, on young or very strong horses. I've only used it all the way down once, when Jill got so strong she nearly pulled my arms out of their sockets. Only had to do it once, though.....she got the message.
So, we figured that she would just go ahead and go into the Futurity show, and whatever she did, she did.
And, boy, did she!! I can't even begin to tell you how anxious I was when we got ready for the cart class. Because I simply didn't know what she would do. We got through her halter class, no problem, and I thought she did real well. Cart, well, here goes.......
SHE WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!
Well, I thought so, anyway. The judges, not so much, but some of these horses were really, really, really nice.
Anyway, K went into the cart class like she LOVED it. Her head was up, and she really moved out. She was actually FUN to drive. I had a feel in her like I used to with Bud.
Then the obstacle course. She did the back-up fine, crossed the bridge, no problem and went to the 90-degree turn. She started it, then turned her neck and looked at me......and I knew.....it was over. That look said, "Not today, lady" (once again I am taking the polite term) and she just absolutely would not do it. When we were asked to continue on, THEN she did it and finished the rest of the course....not so nicely, but it got done with no more balking.
So, we blew the futurity.
But I learned something.....something we will continue to use......
We fought the horse, using things others said would work. And they do work. Just not for her. And we pushed it.....doing exactly the opposite of horse LISTENING.
But, when we LISTENED, and did things differently....did things that most people would have said would be the WORST thing we could do, namely take off the over-check and make the bit LIGHTER rather than heavier, she became everything we wanted her to be.
Now, we'll have to do the same work with Queen.....she likes to tuck her head and drop it....but she has go, whoa and turn, down to a science.
This year, fairs were not especially kind to us....from the judging standpoint.
We did not place in some classes as we should have. Some were legitimate reasons, others were, well, things that made you go "Whaaaaa?"
We had sent our 2 2yo's to the trainer. Unfortunately, Lilly, the best looking one turned out to be not so good. Oh, she was a beautiful mover, but hitching her made her literally crazy.....bucking, kicking, urine everywhere. We've had these kind before, and I think SOME of it is due to the fact that they get so nervous, they just can't focus long enough to get it together. In fact, several of our horses WERE exactly that, and once they were paired with a teammate they knew, or were worked with, they got the idea. However, at this stage of the game, we just don't have the wherewithal to work with it. Thus, disappointingly, she was relegated to halter only. Her partner, K, however, got it together in record time, and was added to the string.
This is about K's ordeal......and what LISTENING can do for a horse.
K is lazy. That's the blunt way of putting it. She just doesn't want to expend any more energy than she has to. She didn't do anything wrong, but it wasn't the nicest drive, either. She did not do all that well at the first fair, but that was not surprising....most 2 yo's are more like pinballs than bowling balls.....they bounce from side to side. But, then, she didn't do anything stupid, either. Her had was way low....almost painful to watch.
The more experienced drivers around us convinced us that she needed to be in an over-check bit, to get her head up. If you read Black Beauty, this is what they used for the city draught teams to make them look prettier. So we tried it. It didn't work so good, but the "experts" insisted that when she "got used to it" things would change. She didn't "get used to it" and the fairs were over.
However, K still had her futurity show in mid-September. The week before the show, we took her to the local fairgrounds to basically just keep her going.
To say it was ugly......well, that 's just being polite. She fussed, she fumed, and finally she got plain old p.o'd and stopped. Just stopped and grew roots. She wouldn't go forward, backward or to the side. And the look in her eye.....oh, man, if looks could kill......this was a Mythbusters' Asian Arrow Machine Gun. She was having NONE of this. We tried to back her, and she just absolutely refused. She didn't go up (rear), she just planted her feet and stayed there. Jim, our friend and wonderful helper in this, actually PULLED the cart back, pulling her off her feet so she HAD to back up. We probably did this several times. Frustrated, we stopped, but after pulling off the cart, decided to ground drive her a bit.....and she went just like she was supposed to......even backing up!!!!
I thought long and hard for the next few days about this wreck waiting to happen. Then I figured we just needed to drive her a bit without the over-check. So we did.
And we had forward back, although backing still wasn't so good. And the head actually came up!!! Hmmmmmmmm. So, on a whim, the next night I put her in the "D" of the bit. And I had a whole different, far more willing horse.
A note to those who do not drive.....most draft horses are driven with a straight bit with a long curb on it. On this curb are holes for lines (reins) so you have more control over a 2000# animal. We usually have it "1 down", or in the middle, on young or very strong horses. I've only used it all the way down once, when Jill got so strong she nearly pulled my arms out of their sockets. Only had to do it once, though.....she got the message.
So, we figured that she would just go ahead and go into the Futurity show, and whatever she did, she did.
And, boy, did she!! I can't even begin to tell you how anxious I was when we got ready for the cart class. Because I simply didn't know what she would do. We got through her halter class, no problem, and I thought she did real well. Cart, well, here goes.......
SHE WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!
Well, I thought so, anyway. The judges, not so much, but some of these horses were really, really, really nice.
Anyway, K went into the cart class like she LOVED it. Her head was up, and she really moved out. She was actually FUN to drive. I had a feel in her like I used to with Bud.
Then the obstacle course. She did the back-up fine, crossed the bridge, no problem and went to the 90-degree turn. She started it, then turned her neck and looked at me......and I knew.....it was over. That look said, "Not today, lady" (once again I am taking the polite term) and she just absolutely would not do it. When we were asked to continue on, THEN she did it and finished the rest of the course....not so nicely, but it got done with no more balking.
So, we blew the futurity.
But I learned something.....something we will continue to use......
We fought the horse, using things others said would work. And they do work. Just not for her. And we pushed it.....doing exactly the opposite of horse LISTENING.
But, when we LISTENED, and did things differently....did things that most people would have said would be the WORST thing we could do, namely take off the over-check and make the bit LIGHTER rather than heavier, she became everything we wanted her to be.
Now, we'll have to do the same work with Queen.....she likes to tuck her head and drop it....but she has go, whoa and turn, down to a science.
Friday, November 19, 2010
What Happened?????
Tuesday was a baaaaaad day.
Athena died.
My beautiful, 4 year old, awesome-moving, blue roan twisted a gut.
And I don't know what I could have done differently.
It was a normal morning, although for the first time in months she had eaten her breakfast awfully fast. We kept a big rock in her feed tub to stop her from bolting her food. She has eaten so fast that she has become "icky", but she hadn't had a problem in over a year (since we added the rock).
She tore out of her stall and into the pasture as normal.
When she came in, she was slow; but everyone was slow that day.....it happens sometimes (not often, but sometimes). When I was finishing up the barn chores, I brought in the stallion and noticed her laying down. That was odd, but then, I had put them out a bit early and some of the horses are definitely not morning creatures. She got up right away, and I checked her out.....her ears were warm, her gums were pink and she seemed otherwise normal.....but I did notice that she did NOT drink any water when she came in, and she had pushed her hay snack around but hadn't eaten it. Red flags right there. I did see some pooh....false sense of security, there
I walked her a bit and she seemed to brighten, so I put her back in the stall for a bit. More pooh. I checked on her again about 30 min later and she looked uncomfortable. So, I gave her some Banamine and walked her for 30 minutes. She seemed to respond well and when I put her back in her stall, she seemed normal. More pooh.
I went in to eat lunch. I went back out....she was up but just standing there. She just didn't look right. Nothing specific.....her ears were still warm, her gums still pink.....but just not right. There was another pooh pile. Then she flummened....stuck out her upper lip and it was quivering. I knew something was wrong, then....her mother did the same thing when she was in bad shape. She looked a bit bloated, although her flanks were still sunken in. I started walking her again. Then she started kicking at her belly.
I called the vet.
While waiting for the vet (I have a great vet service and they come as fast as they can when I call) she just kept getting worse and worse. More and more uncomfortable. She looked more bloated.
The vet came out....sedated her and tried his best to do what he knew he needed to do, but she would not cooperate. Her rectal exam was abnormal.....he could not feel her colon or her cecum. Not good. He could not get her stomach to release its fluid retention. The heavy sedation just took the edge off, and it was not long before she was hurting again. He sedated her with even heavier stuff. She finally let him get a rectal, but it was still abnormal. As we watched, I noticed she looked even more bloated. Even under sedation I could see her muscles quiver with pain. The swelling went into her chest and came up between her legs; her flanks were now round.
Options: Surgery at the Equine Hospital (if she would make it there). Surgery on draft horses is a last resort, since they do not do well. Most don't make it off the table and of the ones that do, most of THEM end up not waking up or not surviving long enough to come home.
Option 2: Take her on a really really bumpy trailer ride and hope the twist would untwist.
As she came out of the deep sedation, it became obvious that even THAT wasn't a decent option. She was hurting too much; it was time.
This was the same horse I was hoping to begin riding; the one I wanted to turn into a Hunter/Jumper and/or Dressage horse.
I cancelled my riding lessons for the time.....I need to put some distance between this and riding again. It was too painful to think about it.
Athena died.
My beautiful, 4 year old, awesome-moving, blue roan twisted a gut.
And I don't know what I could have done differently.
It was a normal morning, although for the first time in months she had eaten her breakfast awfully fast. We kept a big rock in her feed tub to stop her from bolting her food. She has eaten so fast that she has become "icky", but she hadn't had a problem in over a year (since we added the rock).
She tore out of her stall and into the pasture as normal.
When she came in, she was slow; but everyone was slow that day.....it happens sometimes (not often, but sometimes). When I was finishing up the barn chores, I brought in the stallion and noticed her laying down. That was odd, but then, I had put them out a bit early and some of the horses are definitely not morning creatures. She got up right away, and I checked her out.....her ears were warm, her gums were pink and she seemed otherwise normal.....but I did notice that she did NOT drink any water when she came in, and she had pushed her hay snack around but hadn't eaten it. Red flags right there. I did see some pooh....false sense of security, there
I walked her a bit and she seemed to brighten, so I put her back in the stall for a bit. More pooh. I checked on her again about 30 min later and she looked uncomfortable. So, I gave her some Banamine and walked her for 30 minutes. She seemed to respond well and when I put her back in her stall, she seemed normal. More pooh.
I went in to eat lunch. I went back out....she was up but just standing there. She just didn't look right. Nothing specific.....her ears were still warm, her gums still pink.....but just not right. There was another pooh pile. Then she flummened....stuck out her upper lip and it was quivering. I knew something was wrong, then....her mother did the same thing when she was in bad shape. She looked a bit bloated, although her flanks were still sunken in. I started walking her again. Then she started kicking at her belly.
I called the vet.
While waiting for the vet (I have a great vet service and they come as fast as they can when I call) she just kept getting worse and worse. More and more uncomfortable. She looked more bloated.
The vet came out....sedated her and tried his best to do what he knew he needed to do, but she would not cooperate. Her rectal exam was abnormal.....he could not feel her colon or her cecum. Not good. He could not get her stomach to release its fluid retention. The heavy sedation just took the edge off, and it was not long before she was hurting again. He sedated her with even heavier stuff. She finally let him get a rectal, but it was still abnormal. As we watched, I noticed she looked even more bloated. Even under sedation I could see her muscles quiver with pain. The swelling went into her chest and came up between her legs; her flanks were now round.
Options: Surgery at the Equine Hospital (if she would make it there). Surgery on draft horses is a last resort, since they do not do well. Most don't make it off the table and of the ones that do, most of THEM end up not waking up or not surviving long enough to come home.
Option 2: Take her on a really really bumpy trailer ride and hope the twist would untwist.
As she came out of the deep sedation, it became obvious that even THAT wasn't a decent option. She was hurting too much; it was time.
This was the same horse I was hoping to begin riding; the one I wanted to turn into a Hunter/Jumper and/or Dressage horse.
I cancelled my riding lessons for the time.....I need to put some distance between this and riding again. It was too painful to think about it.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday's Doin's
It was COLD this weekend!!!!
Usually our horses know that cold equals day off.....but not today. Even though most of the people from last week were not available (it WAS Mother's Day after all), two couples did come out. And four horses got worked.
We hitched Queen and Star again, this time putting Star on the off side (right side), since she has this habit of "freezing" as she comes up to the wagon tongue. Star is the first horse I've ever seen Freeze when she gets overwhelmed. Most of the others just go bonkers or throw tantrums. While "freezing" is less dangerous to your body, it's almost as hard to get past as a bonkers horse; it's hard to get their attention back on you! She didn't freeze coming up to the right side and we thought this would work out great. Unfortunately, she has an injury to her fight hind leg. Although we don't know EXACTLY what happened (we've been told she got caught in a fence), the tongue just touching it sent her off. She'd buck, fling her tail and basically act like Jill. Only Star settles down much quicker when it's over. Queen doesn't care which side she's on, so we'll work with the comfort factor for Star.
We also hitched the two grays, Athena and Missy. Poor Missy is 2 months pregnant and not feeling up to par, but we needed to see what they can do together. But Athena was so wound up from waiting that I had to get the bugs out of her first, so we hooked her to the cart (which took 4 people, where normally just 2 of us can do it). She was so much like my TB Rusty.....she wanted to just run, but I don't want her to get that idea while she's in the cart (she's still young yet), so I kept her at a trot, although I let her go as fast as she wanted. At times she'd fall into the canter, but came back easily into the trot (at least she's broke enough to respond to me!). When she finally did a flat-footed walk (most of our show horses only walk out in the pasture; whenever they're hitched, they do a kind of jig where the foot pattern is a walk, but it sure looks like they're trotting), I knew it was "safe" to put her into a team. I just had to laugh.....Rusty used to need a 1-2 mile "blow", where I'd let her run as fast as she wanted to, before she was able to settle down and begin working over fences or on transitions or whatever; Athena felt exactly the same way. Apparently Athena is connecting with me on that same level.
I really thought that as a team they would not look quite right, but I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was their height close enough to not be distracting, but they moved somewhat the same. Once Missy gets over her PG ickyness (in a few months) we'll really be able to see what they can do.
I almost always learn something when I work with horses, no matter HOW many times I've worked with them. This time I became even more aware of the effect of "presence". We see it in humans all the time.....there are people who can walk into the room and no one even notices, and those who come in and everyone notices. Well, it was the same with these teams. When you stand next to Star and Athena, they seem larger than life. It is only when you put them next to another horse that you realize that they are NOT the huge horses that they appear to be on their own. Missy and Queen, although strong personalities in their own right, don't have that same presence, and seem smaller than their teammates. Yet when you put them in the teams, you realize how close they really are, at least in size, to each other.
Charlie, our first stallion, was like that. All of 16.1 hh, he looked like he was 18.0 hh+, and he carried himself like a big boy. As did Mac, who was 17.2, but looked so much bigger.
So, other than being exceptionally cold, and having snow or ice pellets hitting us while driving, it was a good day.
I may need to take up riding Athena. The "Rusty" feel was so strong, that I really do believe Athena would make the most awesome 3-day horse. She was doing her "floating trot" while I was drivng her, and the other three got to see the different between her "ordinaty floating trot" and her extended trot. Either trot is very impressive.
Usually our horses know that cold equals day off.....but not today. Even though most of the people from last week were not available (it WAS Mother's Day after all), two couples did come out. And four horses got worked.
We hitched Queen and Star again, this time putting Star on the off side (right side), since she has this habit of "freezing" as she comes up to the wagon tongue. Star is the first horse I've ever seen Freeze when she gets overwhelmed. Most of the others just go bonkers or throw tantrums. While "freezing" is less dangerous to your body, it's almost as hard to get past as a bonkers horse; it's hard to get their attention back on you! She didn't freeze coming up to the right side and we thought this would work out great. Unfortunately, she has an injury to her fight hind leg. Although we don't know EXACTLY what happened (we've been told she got caught in a fence), the tongue just touching it sent her off. She'd buck, fling her tail and basically act like Jill. Only Star settles down much quicker when it's over. Queen doesn't care which side she's on, so we'll work with the comfort factor for Star.
We also hitched the two grays, Athena and Missy. Poor Missy is 2 months pregnant and not feeling up to par, but we needed to see what they can do together. But Athena was so wound up from waiting that I had to get the bugs out of her first, so we hooked her to the cart (which took 4 people, where normally just 2 of us can do it). She was so much like my TB Rusty.....she wanted to just run, but I don't want her to get that idea while she's in the cart (she's still young yet), so I kept her at a trot, although I let her go as fast as she wanted. At times she'd fall into the canter, but came back easily into the trot (at least she's broke enough to respond to me!). When she finally did a flat-footed walk (most of our show horses only walk out in the pasture; whenever they're hitched, they do a kind of jig where the foot pattern is a walk, but it sure looks like they're trotting), I knew it was "safe" to put her into a team. I just had to laugh.....Rusty used to need a 1-2 mile "blow", where I'd let her run as fast as she wanted to, before she was able to settle down and begin working over fences or on transitions or whatever; Athena felt exactly the same way. Apparently Athena is connecting with me on that same level.
I really thought that as a team they would not look quite right, but I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was their height close enough to not be distracting, but they moved somewhat the same. Once Missy gets over her PG ickyness (in a few months) we'll really be able to see what they can do.
I almost always learn something when I work with horses, no matter HOW many times I've worked with them. This time I became even more aware of the effect of "presence". We see it in humans all the time.....there are people who can walk into the room and no one even notices, and those who come in and everyone notices. Well, it was the same with these teams. When you stand next to Star and Athena, they seem larger than life. It is only when you put them next to another horse that you realize that they are NOT the huge horses that they appear to be on their own. Missy and Queen, although strong personalities in their own right, don't have that same presence, and seem smaller than their teammates. Yet when you put them in the teams, you realize how close they really are, at least in size, to each other.
Charlie, our first stallion, was like that. All of 16.1 hh, he looked like he was 18.0 hh+, and he carried himself like a big boy. As did Mac, who was 17.2, but looked so much bigger.
So, other than being exceptionally cold, and having snow or ice pellets hitting us while driving, it was a good day.
I may need to take up riding Athena. The "Rusty" feel was so strong, that I really do believe Athena would make the most awesome 3-day horse. She was doing her "floating trot" while I was drivng her, and the other three got to see the different between her "ordinaty floating trot" and her extended trot. Either trot is very impressive.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Catchin' Up--barn, sales, etc.
They say time flies when you're having fun.
Well, it's not been particularly fun.....but the time flew by anyway.
Stall floors are just about done. It takes a long time to get everything coordinated to finish them.....the stone/gravel needs to be added and leveled, the mats cut. We had to re-finish one of them.....there had been a big hole, and when the weight of a 2000-pound horse got put on it, the stone continued to settle until there was a hole again. Guess we just rushed it. The last one also had a huge hole in it, and it took a lot of chipping out of high spots to get to a point where I could start adding stone and leveling it. This time I took my time....layering the stone a bit more. I think that's what went wrong before.....I had chipped the high spots out and put it into the hole, but the new gravel did not mesh well with it, and allowed it to settle further. This time, the old gravel was well-mixed with the new, so hopefully we won't see the same problem.
We sold Odonata Miss Firecracker at the Dover Sale. Typically, she did not bring much. The good thing is she went to some people who were VERY interested in her and apparently wanted her. So we let her go, since we had seen several that might make a match for our awesome Star. She was early enough in the sale that we could do it.
There were 5 originally. The one I liked the best needed 5 people to hook her to the cart. Not a good start. And there was something.......she was an awesome mover, she was a beautiful mare, and she was young. But there was something.....odd. I watched her a lot, trying to figure it out. She kept trying to fall into a canter; and I wasn't sure if it was because she was being driven right to the "breaking point" or something else. Then I saw the slight hitch in her stifle. A tad of hesitation as the stifle joint moved to bring the leg forward, and the sudden "release" of the joint to allow it. Not a smooth move, but a catch. My favorite one had stringhalt....a stifle problem. DARN!
My next choice was way too big for Star, and would have been great for Jill: if Jill wasn't such a cranky-butt who hates everybody.....everybody but Bill.
My third choice looked good, but my gut was not totally convinced. There was a picture of her hitched.....and if you looked closely, you could see that it had been Photo-shopped. The leg had been moved to look snappier than it actually was. Why they did that, I don't know, cuz she moved very very nicely anyway.
Numbers 4 and 5 were pretty close. Both had better toplines than the other three, but just did not have the "presence" the others had. Both moved just as well. A thorough going-over found one of them to have a cloudy left eye. Probably due to an injury, since it was not just a single cloud, but a large one in the lower third and a smaller one about halfway up further back. Once again, my gut suggested that this was not going to get better; in fact it was probably going to get worse as time went on.
Fortunately, there were several who were early in the sale, so it would be one of those, "well, if we don't get this one, there's the next". And there were others who might do just as well (one had a particularly weird shoeing job), although we weren't going to push it just to have one. And coming home without any would have worked, too.
But we bought one. The first 2 we were interested in went rather high (which was nice to see, although it did not affect our baby). Well, at least higher than we wanted to go for the quality. But then Queen came in. She was 6, and not bred this year which was to her detriment (later we found that she had been bred before..twice...but they did not breed her last year or this because of prices....and who could blame them?). We bought her for half the price we would have paid for her. I had a few concerns yet, but we took the chance.
Bringing her home, we found out something about her......she is a go-with-the-flow kind of horse. Friends of ours also bought a very very nice horse, and some people we know who live close by also bought 2 youngsters. So, we had a loaded trailer. Because it is a stock-type trailer, there is no center divider; we usually put horses head to tail in them, since there is plenty of room for them to move with the movement of the trailer. But, I was driving behind, in the car, and it soon became apparent that head-to-tail was not going to work.
The big Belgian had slammed her body cross-wise and was standing sideways, plastered up against the front of the gooseneck. The 2 babies in the back were also having issues, with one pushing the other literally up the wall. I just kept seeing the sale numbers on the one's butt getting higher and higher as it stepped up on the wheel well because it was getting pushed by the other. Poor Queen had her head resting on the Trixy's (the Belgian) butt.
We pulled the 2 babies off and tried to change places with them, but the "problem child" immediately turned sideways and would not go head first. So we ties both of them sideways instead. We tried to get Trixy to move, but she just went right back, so we re-tied Queen so she could ride sideways, too. Problem child still kept smashing the other baby up against the back door, but the movement of the trailer was enough to pull it off at times. When we got to a rest area to check up on them, Trixy was STILL smashed up against the front of the trailer, the 2 babies were smashed up against the back door, and Queen was just standing there in a 3/4 position, taking up the space Trixy left her. She had about 3 feet on either side of her, between Trixy and the middle gate, and she was just as happy as a clam.
Once home, she paired up not with Star (who squealed and pinned her ears at the newcomer and chased her around for awhile) but with our 3-yo Sheena. Of course, Jill just went right after her, although Jill was actually the second horse to "warm" up to her. Jill actually ALLOWED her into her space (which is 5 feet around her body) without trying to kill her, after a few days. Bill....he just doesn't care. Although Star hasn't really warmed up to her, she's no longer chasing her around or away. However, Queen has a habit of squealing when she gets a bit nervous...which suggests a past that needs to be reckoned with. And the squeal is noteworthy.....a panicked, "I'm gonna die" squeal.
Sunday was the first time we were able to get everyone together at the Fairgrounds to see how things were going to go. 14 people, 9 horses, 3 carts, 1 wagon and 1 forecart all came. The objective was massive. Bill went to "help" a problem child. He's the rock, the one who doesn't do anything wrong. The problem child belonged to the Sparks, a family we have known for awhile. Rosie (the problem child) does not like being driven, although she was fine in the team. She just does not like being by herself. Sparks also have Lainie, who was the problem child last year (and really WAS a problem) that Bill "helped" get through her issues. I drove Star for the first time, single. She is definitely a man's horse. My arms are still tired! She's easy to drive, but if you relax for a second, she dives right into the lines and goes faster. She doesn't run away, but whatever you give her, she steps right up to take! Roy would definitely not be able to drive her with his hands.....mine hurt enough and his are way worse. While Star and Queen were hooked as a team, I drove Sheena around. Sheena is still a bratty 2/3yo. She needs a lot of time driving to get her consistent and compliant. She just likes to do what she wants to do. And of course Bud (my old gelding that Chris and Jim have now) was there so we were going around in carts, and teams....just all over the place.
One of the things we wanted to do was put Sheena and Bud together, since Chris has expressed in interest in getting her. And they actually did fairly well together.
Probably better than Star and Queen. Team is not Star's cup of tea, and she "freezes" when she's brought up to the tongue. They didn't start out so good, so John (the teamster that drives for us) ground drove them for a bit before hooking them. Queen knows how to do things (like step over a tongue) so it was a bit easier to get Star in the right place. Neither horse did anything stupid, but they did not work together very well. Again, just miles, while they get used to each other. Once they got going, they moved very nicely together, and match rather well. When looking at them separate, Queen looks so much smaller, yet pics show they are just about the same size. I think it's because Star has so much "presence" and Queen does not. But the pics show the truth, they are within and inch of each other. They move pretty much the same, but they don't move together....almost as if there is a competition as to who can be in front.
It was exciting and fun. Next time I will need to drive Star and Queen.
Well, it's not been particularly fun.....but the time flew by anyway.
Stall floors are just about done. It takes a long time to get everything coordinated to finish them.....the stone/gravel needs to be added and leveled, the mats cut. We had to re-finish one of them.....there had been a big hole, and when the weight of a 2000-pound horse got put on it, the stone continued to settle until there was a hole again. Guess we just rushed it. The last one also had a huge hole in it, and it took a lot of chipping out of high spots to get to a point where I could start adding stone and leveling it. This time I took my time....layering the stone a bit more. I think that's what went wrong before.....I had chipped the high spots out and put it into the hole, but the new gravel did not mesh well with it, and allowed it to settle further. This time, the old gravel was well-mixed with the new, so hopefully we won't see the same problem.
We sold Odonata Miss Firecracker at the Dover Sale. Typically, she did not bring much. The good thing is she went to some people who were VERY interested in her and apparently wanted her. So we let her go, since we had seen several that might make a match for our awesome Star. She was early enough in the sale that we could do it.
There were 5 originally. The one I liked the best needed 5 people to hook her to the cart. Not a good start. And there was something.......she was an awesome mover, she was a beautiful mare, and she was young. But there was something.....odd. I watched her a lot, trying to figure it out. She kept trying to fall into a canter; and I wasn't sure if it was because she was being driven right to the "breaking point" or something else. Then I saw the slight hitch in her stifle. A tad of hesitation as the stifle joint moved to bring the leg forward, and the sudden "release" of the joint to allow it. Not a smooth move, but a catch. My favorite one had stringhalt....a stifle problem. DARN!
My next choice was way too big for Star, and would have been great for Jill: if Jill wasn't such a cranky-butt who hates everybody.....everybody but Bill.
My third choice looked good, but my gut was not totally convinced. There was a picture of her hitched.....and if you looked closely, you could see that it had been Photo-shopped. The leg had been moved to look snappier than it actually was. Why they did that, I don't know, cuz she moved very very nicely anyway.
Numbers 4 and 5 were pretty close. Both had better toplines than the other three, but just did not have the "presence" the others had. Both moved just as well. A thorough going-over found one of them to have a cloudy left eye. Probably due to an injury, since it was not just a single cloud, but a large one in the lower third and a smaller one about halfway up further back. Once again, my gut suggested that this was not going to get better; in fact it was probably going to get worse as time went on.
Fortunately, there were several who were early in the sale, so it would be one of those, "well, if we don't get this one, there's the next". And there were others who might do just as well (one had a particularly weird shoeing job), although we weren't going to push it just to have one. And coming home without any would have worked, too.
But we bought one. The first 2 we were interested in went rather high (which was nice to see, although it did not affect our baby). Well, at least higher than we wanted to go for the quality. But then Queen came in. She was 6, and not bred this year which was to her detriment (later we found that she had been bred before..twice...but they did not breed her last year or this because of prices....and who could blame them?). We bought her for half the price we would have paid for her. I had a few concerns yet, but we took the chance.
Bringing her home, we found out something about her......she is a go-with-the-flow kind of horse. Friends of ours also bought a very very nice horse, and some people we know who live close by also bought 2 youngsters. So, we had a loaded trailer. Because it is a stock-type trailer, there is no center divider; we usually put horses head to tail in them, since there is plenty of room for them to move with the movement of the trailer. But, I was driving behind, in the car, and it soon became apparent that head-to-tail was not going to work.
The big Belgian had slammed her body cross-wise and was standing sideways, plastered up against the front of the gooseneck. The 2 babies in the back were also having issues, with one pushing the other literally up the wall. I just kept seeing the sale numbers on the one's butt getting higher and higher as it stepped up on the wheel well because it was getting pushed by the other. Poor Queen had her head resting on the Trixy's (the Belgian) butt.
We pulled the 2 babies off and tried to change places with them, but the "problem child" immediately turned sideways and would not go head first. So we ties both of them sideways instead. We tried to get Trixy to move, but she just went right back, so we re-tied Queen so she could ride sideways, too. Problem child still kept smashing the other baby up against the back door, but the movement of the trailer was enough to pull it off at times. When we got to a rest area to check up on them, Trixy was STILL smashed up against the front of the trailer, the 2 babies were smashed up against the back door, and Queen was just standing there in a 3/4 position, taking up the space Trixy left her. She had about 3 feet on either side of her, between Trixy and the middle gate, and she was just as happy as a clam.
Once home, she paired up not with Star (who squealed and pinned her ears at the newcomer and chased her around for awhile) but with our 3-yo Sheena. Of course, Jill just went right after her, although Jill was actually the second horse to "warm" up to her. Jill actually ALLOWED her into her space (which is 5 feet around her body) without trying to kill her, after a few days. Bill....he just doesn't care. Although Star hasn't really warmed up to her, she's no longer chasing her around or away. However, Queen has a habit of squealing when she gets a bit nervous...which suggests a past that needs to be reckoned with. And the squeal is noteworthy.....a panicked, "I'm gonna die" squeal.
Sunday was the first time we were able to get everyone together at the Fairgrounds to see how things were going to go. 14 people, 9 horses, 3 carts, 1 wagon and 1 forecart all came. The objective was massive. Bill went to "help" a problem child. He's the rock, the one who doesn't do anything wrong. The problem child belonged to the Sparks, a family we have known for awhile. Rosie (the problem child) does not like being driven, although she was fine in the team. She just does not like being by herself. Sparks also have Lainie, who was the problem child last year (and really WAS a problem) that Bill "helped" get through her issues. I drove Star for the first time, single. She is definitely a man's horse. My arms are still tired! She's easy to drive, but if you relax for a second, she dives right into the lines and goes faster. She doesn't run away, but whatever you give her, she steps right up to take! Roy would definitely not be able to drive her with his hands.....mine hurt enough and his are way worse. While Star and Queen were hooked as a team, I drove Sheena around. Sheena is still a bratty 2/3yo. She needs a lot of time driving to get her consistent and compliant. She just likes to do what she wants to do. And of course Bud (my old gelding that Chris and Jim have now) was there so we were going around in carts, and teams....just all over the place.
One of the things we wanted to do was put Sheena and Bud together, since Chris has expressed in interest in getting her. And they actually did fairly well together.
Probably better than Star and Queen. Team is not Star's cup of tea, and she "freezes" when she's brought up to the tongue. They didn't start out so good, so John (the teamster that drives for us) ground drove them for a bit before hooking them. Queen knows how to do things (like step over a tongue) so it was a bit easier to get Star in the right place. Neither horse did anything stupid, but they did not work together very well. Again, just miles, while they get used to each other. Once they got going, they moved very nicely together, and match rather well. When looking at them separate, Queen looks so much smaller, yet pics show they are just about the same size. I think it's because Star has so much "presence" and Queen does not. But the pics show the truth, they are within and inch of each other. They move pretty much the same, but they don't move together....almost as if there is a competition as to who can be in front.
It was exciting and fun. Next time I will need to drive Star and Queen.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Is it Spring yet?
HoooBoy! It has been one crazy winter!!!
Like most of you, I've been spending most of my time attempting to keep the snow to a manageable level on my drive......but I've not been winning. The long drive to the barn is STILL under 15-18" of snow. The tractor simply gave up trying to push the heavy snow.....and there's no place to put it anymore. So we wait for the melt. And even though we've had several really nice days of sun (which we've had VERY little of here in NE Ohio), the temperature has not been warm enough to really get the melt going. I can't wait until I can get back to the barn via the drive, but I am NOT looking forward to the mud on the other end. Already, my "rollers" have found mud puddles......at least enough to get mud on themselves.
This has been the first year when the horses have not been interested in really running and playing in the snow. Mostly, they've wanted to stay close to the gate......and have not wanted to stay out very long. True, it has been rather raw.....the wind has been cutting through everything ....but they haven't really stretched their legs like normal. Whether the snow has been too heavy along with the drifting......not sure. I have to admit.....trudging out to the barn has been tough enough....I haven't really gone out into the pasture.
My youngsters have been growing. The yearling, Fire, is already close to 16hh and the 2yo's K and Lilly are 17hh already. And their butts are still 4-6" higher than their withers. Athena, the now 4yo I took to the sale and came back home with.....matches my older grey mare, Missy. They should make a very nice team this year. The 3yo Sheena looks small compared to the 2yo's and 4yo.....but she really is over 17hh, when you "stick" her.....she just doesn't carry herself like a hitchy hitch horse. She can move like one.....but she really doesn't wanna. She is kinda our "fifth wheel".....she doesn't really match anyone. Again.....she CAN match our wonder-horse, Star, but she doesn't really wanna. As a horse listener......I have to respect that (even though I would rather see her at her full potential)....because she is not going to be happy, and I don't want her to get balky. She would do well with someone who wants to show her lightly at local shows and have fun with her. She loves the attention, and has done well for us at shows, she's just not quite what we need to finish our 4-up hitch.
Here's hoping you all have a nice Spring.
Like most of you, I've been spending most of my time attempting to keep the snow to a manageable level on my drive......but I've not been winning. The long drive to the barn is STILL under 15-18" of snow. The tractor simply gave up trying to push the heavy snow.....and there's no place to put it anymore. So we wait for the melt. And even though we've had several really nice days of sun (which we've had VERY little of here in NE Ohio), the temperature has not been warm enough to really get the melt going. I can't wait until I can get back to the barn via the drive, but I am NOT looking forward to the mud on the other end. Already, my "rollers" have found mud puddles......at least enough to get mud on themselves.
This has been the first year when the horses have not been interested in really running and playing in the snow. Mostly, they've wanted to stay close to the gate......and have not wanted to stay out very long. True, it has been rather raw.....the wind has been cutting through everything ....but they haven't really stretched their legs like normal. Whether the snow has been too heavy along with the drifting......not sure. I have to admit.....trudging out to the barn has been tough enough....I haven't really gone out into the pasture.
My youngsters have been growing. The yearling, Fire, is already close to 16hh and the 2yo's K and Lilly are 17hh already. And their butts are still 4-6" higher than their withers. Athena, the now 4yo I took to the sale and came back home with.....matches my older grey mare, Missy. They should make a very nice team this year. The 3yo Sheena looks small compared to the 2yo's and 4yo.....but she really is over 17hh, when you "stick" her.....she just doesn't carry herself like a hitchy hitch horse. She can move like one.....but she really doesn't wanna. She is kinda our "fifth wheel".....she doesn't really match anyone. Again.....she CAN match our wonder-horse, Star, but she doesn't really wanna. As a horse listener......I have to respect that (even though I would rather see her at her full potential)....because she is not going to be happy, and I don't want her to get balky. She would do well with someone who wants to show her lightly at local shows and have fun with her. She loves the attention, and has done well for us at shows, she's just not quite what we need to finish our 4-up hitch.
Here's hoping you all have a nice Spring.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
"You're not listening!"
It's fair time. And that means that I have minimal time between fairs to do a blog. But I did want to put this on......since it shows that even when we humans know better, we still push our critters too far.
Jill is a mare with a past......a bad one. She has PTSD and is either bi-polar or has a severe case of Jeckel/Hyde. I "pet psychic" once said she prefers to be called "Jillian" because it is more elegant than just "Jill". While I laugh about it, I also have to admit that when I first saw her I saw an elegant, classic Percheron filly......not the terror that lives beneath. And the funny thing is, when she is being stupid, I'll say, "You're being a Jill" and she actually does calm down and get better. So who knows.
Jill was trained in an unusual way. She would not cooperate with being teamed up with another horse.....was not quiet in a cart......so she was ridden first. After several days, she was put in the cart and tolerated it. But she never would stand to be hitched to another horse. For several years she was just a cart horse, and she did ok. Then we lost our awesome mare in foaling and she began to pal around with our big gelding Bill. One day last year we hooked them together and, although she was not happy with him cuz he was sandbagging that day (usually Bill is our Rock and rarely sandbags) she put up with it. So the now 18+hh mare became his partner.
This year an extremely capable man wanted to use Jill and Bill as the wheel team (closest to the wagon) and put our newer awesome mare out front in the Unicorn position. We also have a 2yo we were using in a 4-horse hitch. The first time they hitched, Jill was perfect, while the two in the front tried to figure out just what it was they were supposed to be doing. The second time, (two weeks later) Jill Hyde reared her ugly head.
Jill had been switching her tail the entire time (even when just teamed with Bill), and we KNEW that she was absolutely agitated.....and that usually meant a blow-out. But we pushed her on with the 4 and then the unicorn. We had just taken Star out of the unicorn position when Jill's eyes started "spinning" (a term I use when they lose focus and begin to panic) and sudden off she went.....bucking, rearing, kicking. I got Star out of the way, so the guys could handle the team, but she was not listening. When Jill gets this way, someone needs to get right in her face and let her know that the human is in control and it will be okay. Until she can make eye contact, she goes right into panic mode and there's no stopping it. She kicked, she jumped, she sat on the wagon pole, got her feet over it, panicked more. Eventually she broke the 4x4 pole (it was between her legs) and managed to get all twisted up in the harness, facing the wagon, while Bill was still facing away from the wagon. What a mess.
Poor Bill. He is SOOOOOO good. As Jill is doing her thing, he just steps aside.....oh, you're coming here? ok, I'll just take another step.....ok, another step......just getting out of the way, but not participating in all the ruckus.
We knew she was pissy and we pushed her too far. Had I been able to get in her face right away, it may not have happened.....but it did.
However, since she is as big as she is, this is not the way to end a session......so she was hooked to the cart to be worked a bit more before being finished. Of course, she LOVES the cart....so it was not a punishment......even the guy driving her was laughing, saying "she obviously doesn't think THIS is punishment!" Her other bug is standing still for any length of time, so he made her stand, instead.
The long and short of it is.....she did fine at the fairs we've been to so far. Our biggest fair is to come, and we shall see how it turns out.
But the important part is......we didn't listen.....we pushed. And while pushing is often necessary, there is a fine line......and we crossed it. We humans have a time schedule, which causes us to push issues; the horse has only one issue.....how do I feel? We ignore that at our own peril.
Jill is a mare with a past......a bad one. She has PTSD and is either bi-polar or has a severe case of Jeckel/Hyde. I "pet psychic" once said she prefers to be called "Jillian" because it is more elegant than just "Jill". While I laugh about it, I also have to admit that when I first saw her I saw an elegant, classic Percheron filly......not the terror that lives beneath. And the funny thing is, when she is being stupid, I'll say, "You're being a Jill" and she actually does calm down and get better. So who knows.
Jill was trained in an unusual way. She would not cooperate with being teamed up with another horse.....was not quiet in a cart......so she was ridden first. After several days, she was put in the cart and tolerated it. But she never would stand to be hitched to another horse. For several years she was just a cart horse, and she did ok. Then we lost our awesome mare in foaling and she began to pal around with our big gelding Bill. One day last year we hooked them together and, although she was not happy with him cuz he was sandbagging that day (usually Bill is our Rock and rarely sandbags) she put up with it. So the now 18+hh mare became his partner.
This year an extremely capable man wanted to use Jill and Bill as the wheel team (closest to the wagon) and put our newer awesome mare out front in the Unicorn position. We also have a 2yo we were using in a 4-horse hitch. The first time they hitched, Jill was perfect, while the two in the front tried to figure out just what it was they were supposed to be doing. The second time, (two weeks later) Jill Hyde reared her ugly head.
Jill had been switching her tail the entire time (even when just teamed with Bill), and we KNEW that she was absolutely agitated.....and that usually meant a blow-out. But we pushed her on with the 4 and then the unicorn. We had just taken Star out of the unicorn position when Jill's eyes started "spinning" (a term I use when they lose focus and begin to panic) and sudden off she went.....bucking, rearing, kicking. I got Star out of the way, so the guys could handle the team, but she was not listening. When Jill gets this way, someone needs to get right in her face and let her know that the human is in control and it will be okay. Until she can make eye contact, she goes right into panic mode and there's no stopping it. She kicked, she jumped, she sat on the wagon pole, got her feet over it, panicked more. Eventually she broke the 4x4 pole (it was between her legs) and managed to get all twisted up in the harness, facing the wagon, while Bill was still facing away from the wagon. What a mess.
Poor Bill. He is SOOOOOO good. As Jill is doing her thing, he just steps aside.....oh, you're coming here? ok, I'll just take another step.....ok, another step......just getting out of the way, but not participating in all the ruckus.
We knew she was pissy and we pushed her too far. Had I been able to get in her face right away, it may not have happened.....but it did.
However, since she is as big as she is, this is not the way to end a session......so she was hooked to the cart to be worked a bit more before being finished. Of course, she LOVES the cart....so it was not a punishment......even the guy driving her was laughing, saying "she obviously doesn't think THIS is punishment!" Her other bug is standing still for any length of time, so he made her stand, instead.
The long and short of it is.....she did fine at the fairs we've been to so far. Our biggest fair is to come, and we shall see how it turns out.
But the important part is......we didn't listen.....we pushed. And while pushing is often necessary, there is a fine line......and we crossed it. We humans have a time schedule, which causes us to push issues; the horse has only one issue.....how do I feel? We ignore that at our own peril.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Bud--the Master Teacher
If Archimedes was expressive, and Rusty verbose, then Bud was positively loquacious. Bud never shut up! He could hold whole conversations....with himself!!!! If he had been a human child, he would have been one of those who hang around the adults going, "Watch me!" "Look what I can do!" "Are we there yet?" "What are we going to do now?" He would have been a pest if he hadn't been so funny.
Bud came into my life as an auction horse. This small 2yo came into the auction ring stomping as if he was the most magnificent horse to touch the earth. His breeding was impressive, and the then owner had hoped that he would grow to become the US version of his brother, a premier sire in Canada. He didn't. So he came to the auction. At that time, slaughter houses were still in the US, and he definitely caught the eye of the "meat men". He was what the draft people call a "chunk".....a short, squat, fat/muscular horse who could pull a lot of weight and "dress-out" pretty good too. But, boy, could he move!!! And a horse that could move like that did not deserve the kill pen.....as far as I was concerned. I decided how much I felt he was worth and started bidding against them. I guess I felt he was worth a lot more than they did, cuz I ended up with a small stallion I didn't need. Ultimately he was gelded and trained......and he became the best horse for teaching me how to drive. I also rode him.....which he "allowed" since I also drove him. He loved being driven......and showed off......prancing around in a cart as if he was really something. He was so talented that even a mediocre rider like me could make him passage and piaffe like a Lippanzaner.
He was my first experience with trying Monty Roberts' "Join-Up". It worked. For the next 10 years he was joined at the hip with me. Right after the "Join-Up" session, he would run out into the pasture then turn around and look at me, very clearly saying, "Well, are you coming or what?" He was the only horse I've had that actually looked forward to working. When he saw me coming with a collar, or he heard the clink of the harness as we got it ready for him......he would just about turn himself inside out. He was like Donkey in Shrek....Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!. If he had been a dog, his tail would have been wagging so hard it would have wagged his whole body.
He has a huge heart, and uncompromising spirit. We had a huge willow fall in the pasture, and we were using the horses to haul the pieces out. Bud, of course, made a game of it, and turned it into a "is that the best you can do?" contest. Prancing, trotting and pulling the branches and smaller logs, he got stronger the more we pulled. In fact he almost ran away with me, then turned around as if to say, "that was fun.....that the best you can do?" So, we hooked him to a 12' long, 2-1/2" diameter log that we pretty much figured would stop him in his tracks....especially since it was in the mud. So I asked him to pull, and he thought he was just going to fly off with it and took off.........but the collar stopped him cold. I really wish I had a video of this, because the look on his face was priceless. 'What the h.....?' I was laughing so hard, I almost missed him getting ready for his next attempt. He turned his head and looked at that log like he was thinking how to move it. Then he, with no prompting from me, took 2 steps back, threw himself into the harness and collar like a real, for-sure pulling horse, dropped down almost to his knees.....and hit the end of the tresses........and that huge log moved a few inches!!!!. And he knew it!......His head shot up, his ears went forward and he got that gleam in his eye....."I got you now!!!" He did it again and, sure enough, the log moved out of the mud and he tromped off with it as if it was nothing......until he hit another wet spot and it bogged a bit in the deeper mud. Once he got on dry ground, he was off and running.....well not literally for him, but I was running to keep up.....and stay out of the way of the log.
People constantly said that he was always watching for me. We went to a lot of fairs, and people I did not know would comment on how he would look for me and when he saw me his whole expression and attitude would change. They would say things like, "That must be Mom". However, it did have its down-side......I was just about the only one who could drive him. Even when I started driving him, as soon as I turned the lines over to someone else, he knew.....and his whole demeanor would change. And, people noticed.
Because of our closeness, it was easy for him to "teach" me even more about Equus. The small nuances were easy to pick up with him. Because he was always so happy-go-lucky, it was easy to tell when he wasn't up to snuff. His eye response was all I needed, to know exactly what he felt and what he needed. The crinkle in his lip told me just how hard he was thinking, how crabby he might be (all 50 nuances of crabby to outright nasty!), the worry wrinkles around his eyes also told me how hard he was thinking, and sometimes even what his concern was! From "what is that?" to "I need to look at that" to "That's just dangerous!".
Might there be some telepathy there? Who knows. I think in words.....pet psychics continually stress that they get pictures from their clients. But he taught me how to "read" Equus in a way that no human could have ever done.....in a way no other horse has been able to do. But what I learned from him, I can take to other horses. I can go to a horse show and "hear" the pain of the horse whose head is forced too low; whose saddle doesn't really fit quite right; whose rider over-uses their spurs; to barrel horses that scream, 'if you just wouldn't jab me/hit me I'd be able to stretch out more.....but since I'm waiting for that ouch, I shorten my stride.' to the horse just so overwhelmed by everything going on that it's in a panic.
That's the down side of learning Equus. Although you can understand and communicate with horses, you also "hear" a lot of things you'd rather not. It's hard to watch a show when so many horses are screaming their pain and/or complaints. But it's fun to watch a horse that is doing what it loves to do. You can tell the horse that loves to cut cows, and the one going through the motions; the one that loves to jump and the one that does it grudgingly. Actually, anyone can tell.....it's just that we don't listen.
Bud came into my life as an auction horse. This small 2yo came into the auction ring stomping as if he was the most magnificent horse to touch the earth. His breeding was impressive, and the then owner had hoped that he would grow to become the US version of his brother, a premier sire in Canada. He didn't. So he came to the auction. At that time, slaughter houses were still in the US, and he definitely caught the eye of the "meat men". He was what the draft people call a "chunk".....a short, squat, fat/muscular horse who could pull a lot of weight and "dress-out" pretty good too. But, boy, could he move!!! And a horse that could move like that did not deserve the kill pen.....as far as I was concerned. I decided how much I felt he was worth and started bidding against them. I guess I felt he was worth a lot more than they did, cuz I ended up with a small stallion I didn't need. Ultimately he was gelded and trained......and he became the best horse for teaching me how to drive. I also rode him.....which he "allowed" since I also drove him. He loved being driven......and showed off......prancing around in a cart as if he was really something. He was so talented that even a mediocre rider like me could make him passage and piaffe like a Lippanzaner.
He was my first experience with trying Monty Roberts' "Join-Up". It worked. For the next 10 years he was joined at the hip with me. Right after the "Join-Up" session, he would run out into the pasture then turn around and look at me, very clearly saying, "Well, are you coming or what?" He was the only horse I've had that actually looked forward to working. When he saw me coming with a collar, or he heard the clink of the harness as we got it ready for him......he would just about turn himself inside out. He was like Donkey in Shrek....Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!. If he had been a dog, his tail would have been wagging so hard it would have wagged his whole body.
He has a huge heart, and uncompromising spirit. We had a huge willow fall in the pasture, and we were using the horses to haul the pieces out. Bud, of course, made a game of it, and turned it into a "is that the best you can do?" contest. Prancing, trotting and pulling the branches and smaller logs, he got stronger the more we pulled. In fact he almost ran away with me, then turned around as if to say, "that was fun.....that the best you can do?" So, we hooked him to a 12' long, 2-1/2" diameter log that we pretty much figured would stop him in his tracks....especially since it was in the mud. So I asked him to pull, and he thought he was just going to fly off with it and took off.........but the collar stopped him cold. I really wish I had a video of this, because the look on his face was priceless. 'What the h.....?' I was laughing so hard, I almost missed him getting ready for his next attempt. He turned his head and looked at that log like he was thinking how to move it. Then he, with no prompting from me, took 2 steps back, threw himself into the harness and collar like a real, for-sure pulling horse, dropped down almost to his knees.....and hit the end of the tresses........and that huge log moved a few inches!!!!. And he knew it!......His head shot up, his ears went forward and he got that gleam in his eye....."I got you now!!!" He did it again and, sure enough, the log moved out of the mud and he tromped off with it as if it was nothing......until he hit another wet spot and it bogged a bit in the deeper mud. Once he got on dry ground, he was off and running.....well not literally for him, but I was running to keep up.....and stay out of the way of the log.
People constantly said that he was always watching for me. We went to a lot of fairs, and people I did not know would comment on how he would look for me and when he saw me his whole expression and attitude would change. They would say things like, "That must be Mom". However, it did have its down-side......I was just about the only one who could drive him. Even when I started driving him, as soon as I turned the lines over to someone else, he knew.....and his whole demeanor would change. And, people noticed.
Because of our closeness, it was easy for him to "teach" me even more about Equus. The small nuances were easy to pick up with him. Because he was always so happy-go-lucky, it was easy to tell when he wasn't up to snuff. His eye response was all I needed, to know exactly what he felt and what he needed. The crinkle in his lip told me just how hard he was thinking, how crabby he might be (all 50 nuances of crabby to outright nasty!), the worry wrinkles around his eyes also told me how hard he was thinking, and sometimes even what his concern was! From "what is that?" to "I need to look at that" to "That's just dangerous!".
Might there be some telepathy there? Who knows. I think in words.....pet psychics continually stress that they get pictures from their clients. But he taught me how to "read" Equus in a way that no human could have ever done.....in a way no other horse has been able to do. But what I learned from him, I can take to other horses. I can go to a horse show and "hear" the pain of the horse whose head is forced too low; whose saddle doesn't really fit quite right; whose rider over-uses their spurs; to barrel horses that scream, 'if you just wouldn't jab me/hit me I'd be able to stretch out more.....but since I'm waiting for that ouch, I shorten my stride.' to the horse just so overwhelmed by everything going on that it's in a panic.
That's the down side of learning Equus. Although you can understand and communicate with horses, you also "hear" a lot of things you'd rather not. It's hard to watch a show when so many horses are screaming their pain and/or complaints. But it's fun to watch a horse that is doing what it loves to do. You can tell the horse that loves to cut cows, and the one going through the motions; the one that loves to jump and the one that does it grudgingly. Actually, anyone can tell.....it's just that we don't listen.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Archimedes--my first horse language teacher
The first horse I owned was a non-descript, bay standardbred gelding...so naturally, he needed a fancy name. He wasn't my first choice (a huge [both high and wide] Palomino QH was), but he was a horse my husband (a non-rider, big time) felt comfortable on. The others we looked at were just way too much for him to handle.
The great thing about having him was what I learned, by having him. We at first boarded at a very nice private stables that raised Gaited Horses, and the owners were kind enough to let me ride and teach me about them. But for "knocking around" and trail riding, Archimedes was better. Later, a recession hit (hard) and we had to leave that place and go to another barn that was.....welll.......not the best clientele. There were wanna-be cowboys and tough guys (like the guy who owned to TWH stallions that he mistreated and underfed). But I learned about people, what they do......in his case, he was scared of his horses, so he tried to get them scared of him!!! Eventually one of the stallions nailed him pretty good and he got rid of them (although the young stallion was probably scarred for life). But there was the time when I was feeding Archimedes and the young stallion (who had been moved next to him for ??? reason) reached over to grab the hay I was tossing into his stall. I have to admit, I was stunned, seeing a gaping mouth and teeth coming at me. Well, Archimedes was having none of that and promptly nailed that stallion on the neck.....hard.....left a mark (but no bleeding). No problem after that!!! Don't mess with HIS food.
He was not the easiest ride.....you definitely had to "ride" him.....no goofing off. Yet, my husband could take him out on the trail with some of the "cowboys" and Archimedes would take care of him. He had an injury that I aggravated when I started working him for shows......he had a bad back left leg, which left him gimpy and unable to canter in the right lead. But, boy, could he gallop!!!! Only in a circle did he have a problem. Yep, you had to ride him, but you could NOT cowboy him. Anytime someone got on him to "prove a point" or "make him do" something......they usually ended up on the ground. That included me. He had this knack of "dropping a shoulder".....and no matter you do, when a horse drops a shoulder.....you're off. And he upped the ante by adding a fishtail or two just before. Several times the wannabes got on him to either catch loose horses or because they needed another horse to go out riding.....and each time he set them on the ground. See Archimedes was a sucker for food.....and even when loose, would head back to the barn where the hay was stored.....so he was an easy catch. But when they dug their heels into him......game on!!
He was also very expressive. He could look like a cartoon horse...and make all the faces you could imagine. He gave me my first lessons in Equus.....the language of the horse. Yeah, I knew about the sounds, the ears, etc. But he showed me the beginnings of the "conversation"....from "go ahead, make my day", to "I REALLY don't feel up to this (but I'm not mad about it)" to "Look what's over there" to "I wonder how that's going to turn out".
It started with his eyes. No matter what was going on, if you looked at his eyes, they told you exactly how he was feeling. Now, I know horses don't "think" like we do.....they pretty much act, react and feel (physically). But they can still carry on a conversation. I always knew when he was saying "that was fun", or "this really sucks" or even "I'm only doing this because you really seem to want me to."
Yes, his ears said things too.....but all the nuances came from his lips. From the little wrinkle to the full-blown snarl...they all meant something. It would take a few more years to begin to understand them.
Ultimately, we had made a purchase of a farm, and he moved with us to 6 acres. Naturally, we needed a companion.....and found someone desparately trying to sell a pony. Smokey was a beautiful pony, as wide as she was tall, and looked like a miniature Morgan. She was also a first class snot. As snotty as she was, she gave us all lots of laughs. She was ridable (my feet didn't even touch the ground she was so wide!) but knew how to get you off.....she'd just get going with that pony trot then suddenly stop and duck her head (or maybe it was the other way around...didn't matter....same effect) and you'd just keep bouncing over her head. She never ran away.....just stood there and looked at you....and you knew what she was thinking. She was almost as expressive as Archimedes.
The third critter was a little fancy shetland pony, bright sorrel with a flaxen mane and tail. I came home from work one day to find a truck and trailer in my driveway. They had just let her out in the field with Archimedes and Smokey. Bad idea. Jody had been raised in someone's garage since the age of 3 months and now she was 2 years old. She had never been in a pasture (or even in the back yard!!), had NO idea what a horse was, and , of course Smokey was not about to share "her" boyfriend. Obviously these people had no idea about horses, and I kept the pony anyway.....just to protect her. Eventually, they all got along....with Archimedes often "herding his mares" around the pasture protecting them from some unseen predator.
Eventually we had to leave Cincinnati for a new position......and all of them got new homes.
But what I learned from them, was the beginning of watching, learning and listening to them....of understanding Equus......the language of the horse.
The great thing about having him was what I learned, by having him. We at first boarded at a very nice private stables that raised Gaited Horses, and the owners were kind enough to let me ride and teach me about them. But for "knocking around" and trail riding, Archimedes was better. Later, a recession hit (hard) and we had to leave that place and go to another barn that was.....welll.......not the best clientele. There were wanna-be cowboys and tough guys (like the guy who owned to TWH stallions that he mistreated and underfed). But I learned about people, what they do......in his case, he was scared of his horses, so he tried to get them scared of him!!! Eventually one of the stallions nailed him pretty good and he got rid of them (although the young stallion was probably scarred for life). But there was the time when I was feeding Archimedes and the young stallion (who had been moved next to him for ??? reason) reached over to grab the hay I was tossing into his stall. I have to admit, I was stunned, seeing a gaping mouth and teeth coming at me. Well, Archimedes was having none of that and promptly nailed that stallion on the neck.....hard.....left a mark (but no bleeding). No problem after that!!! Don't mess with HIS food.
He was not the easiest ride.....you definitely had to "ride" him.....no goofing off. Yet, my husband could take him out on the trail with some of the "cowboys" and Archimedes would take care of him. He had an injury that I aggravated when I started working him for shows......he had a bad back left leg, which left him gimpy and unable to canter in the right lead. But, boy, could he gallop!!!! Only in a circle did he have a problem. Yep, you had to ride him, but you could NOT cowboy him. Anytime someone got on him to "prove a point" or "make him do" something......they usually ended up on the ground. That included me. He had this knack of "dropping a shoulder".....and no matter you do, when a horse drops a shoulder.....you're off. And he upped the ante by adding a fishtail or two just before. Several times the wannabes got on him to either catch loose horses or because they needed another horse to go out riding.....and each time he set them on the ground. See Archimedes was a sucker for food.....and even when loose, would head back to the barn where the hay was stored.....so he was an easy catch. But when they dug their heels into him......game on!!
He was also very expressive. He could look like a cartoon horse...and make all the faces you could imagine. He gave me my first lessons in Equus.....the language of the horse. Yeah, I knew about the sounds, the ears, etc. But he showed me the beginnings of the "conversation"....from "go ahead, make my day", to "I REALLY don't feel up to this (but I'm not mad about it)" to "Look what's over there" to "I wonder how that's going to turn out".
It started with his eyes. No matter what was going on, if you looked at his eyes, they told you exactly how he was feeling. Now, I know horses don't "think" like we do.....they pretty much act, react and feel (physically). But they can still carry on a conversation. I always knew when he was saying "that was fun", or "this really sucks" or even "I'm only doing this because you really seem to want me to."
Yes, his ears said things too.....but all the nuances came from his lips. From the little wrinkle to the full-blown snarl...they all meant something. It would take a few more years to begin to understand them.
Ultimately, we had made a purchase of a farm, and he moved with us to 6 acres. Naturally, we needed a companion.....and found someone desparately trying to sell a pony. Smokey was a beautiful pony, as wide as she was tall, and looked like a miniature Morgan. She was also a first class snot. As snotty as she was, she gave us all lots of laughs. She was ridable (my feet didn't even touch the ground she was so wide!) but knew how to get you off.....she'd just get going with that pony trot then suddenly stop and duck her head (or maybe it was the other way around...didn't matter....same effect) and you'd just keep bouncing over her head. She never ran away.....just stood there and looked at you....and you knew what she was thinking. She was almost as expressive as Archimedes.
The third critter was a little fancy shetland pony, bright sorrel with a flaxen mane and tail. I came home from work one day to find a truck and trailer in my driveway. They had just let her out in the field with Archimedes and Smokey. Bad idea. Jody had been raised in someone's garage since the age of 3 months and now she was 2 years old. She had never been in a pasture (or even in the back yard!!), had NO idea what a horse was, and , of course Smokey was not about to share "her" boyfriend. Obviously these people had no idea about horses, and I kept the pony anyway.....just to protect her. Eventually, they all got along....with Archimedes often "herding his mares" around the pasture protecting them from some unseen predator.
Eventually we had to leave Cincinnati for a new position......and all of them got new homes.
But what I learned from them, was the beginning of watching, learning and listening to them....of understanding Equus......the language of the horse.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
My Journey with Horses (short version)
I've been told that my horses are "crazy", "wild", "scary". When I first heard this (a number of years ago), I was really surprised. So I started thinking about it. And, I started comparing my horses with those of other people (especially the people who made the comments!) So I went 'way back.
As a child growing up in Chicago, I did not have a horse. In fact, I did not get a horse until after I graduated from college! My Grandmother lived on a farm, but she did not have horses either. My cousins remember me screaming in terror when we went on a trail ride when I was about 7 and we started trotting.....but then I was the biggest scaredy-cat in the world at the time. That changed the day a group of teenagers rode past Gram's farm and stopped (she had a Gas Station she ran with a general store) for some pop. I was immediately drawn to them. And the first "real" horse contact came when the biggest one put his head down to mine. If you believe in telepathy, he "spoke" to me; but, regardless, it became very clear to me that these big creatures would never hurt me. The girl was nice enough to get me up on him and walk him around, and it was clear to me that I did not need to worry ever again about horses. This experience let me "read" students who were more afraid than they let on, and allowed me to "guide" them more than teach/make them do things.
It proved itself over and over at places I went trail-riding. After a time, the stables I went to gave me a "problem child" horse....with apologies. The group that day needed my nice beginner horse and if I wanted to ride, I would be on this horse. Fortunately, my "usual" horse had taught me quite a bit (well, anything was quite a bit when you start at zero!) So as I started with this horse, I just kind of played around as to how hard to kick (these were stable horses remember and kicking was the norm to get started), how well he turned, and how hard I had to pull to stop (which was not much!). Even then, I was already "listening" although I didn't know it at the time. I had "listened" to my first horse and now was "listening" to him. He was tense (he was pretty much used to being manhandled), but, since I didn't know much, I didn't ask for much. Ultimately I got the feeling that he had been "using" horse......he was used as a ranch horse (and ultimately I found out that was true). Before long, I was able to do sliding stops on him, spin him and go in any direction I wanted. He even "rescued" several run aways (I don't take credit for them.....he put himself in the position to head them off). They sold him during the summer I was off from school; when I came back the next year, they said they had to, since he would not ride with most people. I got on a lot of horses that year and learned a lot more from them. Ultimately, the stables was arsoned by developers buying up all the other land in the area........18 horses, their feed and saddles were in the barn at the time.
Like I said, I didn't get my first horse til after graduating college. But the one thing I learned from each stable/over-used horse I rode is that even though they had the worst "job" a horse can have, and usually had the attitude to match, when you let them be who they are......they can become happy, enjoyable, and dependable friends.
And I think that's why some people think MY horses are "crazy". They are who they are. I ALLOW them their personalities; I don't expect them to be robots and perform perfectly all the time (although there's lots of times I WISH they would). My horses are excited to see me, they seem to LIKE my presence, and when we are getting ready to perform......they get excited about showing off. Oh, I've had my runaways (been put in the hospital by one). But those people who call my horses "crazy" don't see them at home. They know the difference between training, galvanting around for fun and the show ring. You won't see them hyped up at home.....but they know when there's a show and they do seem to want to show off (well, most of them......there are always a few "Eeyore's").
I've had a few horses that were labeled "crazy" before I got them. And we seem to buy a LOT of horses that have major issues......(most of them have gone on to other homes, not as wound up as they were when we got them....I won't sell a horse that has major issues to deal with, because most people don't "listen" or even want to understand!) But I guess I don't see them as "crazy". And the most surprising part is that once they are allowed to be who they are......the change can be dramatic!
As a child growing up in Chicago, I did not have a horse. In fact, I did not get a horse until after I graduated from college! My Grandmother lived on a farm, but she did not have horses either. My cousins remember me screaming in terror when we went on a trail ride when I was about 7 and we started trotting.....but then I was the biggest scaredy-cat in the world at the time. That changed the day a group of teenagers rode past Gram's farm and stopped (she had a Gas Station she ran with a general store) for some pop. I was immediately drawn to them. And the first "real" horse contact came when the biggest one put his head down to mine. If you believe in telepathy, he "spoke" to me; but, regardless, it became very clear to me that these big creatures would never hurt me. The girl was nice enough to get me up on him and walk him around, and it was clear to me that I did not need to worry ever again about horses. This experience let me "read" students who were more afraid than they let on, and allowed me to "guide" them more than teach/make them do things.
It proved itself over and over at places I went trail-riding. After a time, the stables I went to gave me a "problem child" horse....with apologies. The group that day needed my nice beginner horse and if I wanted to ride, I would be on this horse. Fortunately, my "usual" horse had taught me quite a bit (well, anything was quite a bit when you start at zero!) So as I started with this horse, I just kind of played around as to how hard to kick (these were stable horses remember and kicking was the norm to get started), how well he turned, and how hard I had to pull to stop (which was not much!). Even then, I was already "listening" although I didn't know it at the time. I had "listened" to my first horse and now was "listening" to him. He was tense (he was pretty much used to being manhandled), but, since I didn't know much, I didn't ask for much. Ultimately I got the feeling that he had been "using" horse......he was used as a ranch horse (and ultimately I found out that was true). Before long, I was able to do sliding stops on him, spin him and go in any direction I wanted. He even "rescued" several run aways (I don't take credit for them.....he put himself in the position to head them off). They sold him during the summer I was off from school; when I came back the next year, they said they had to, since he would not ride with most people. I got on a lot of horses that year and learned a lot more from them. Ultimately, the stables was arsoned by developers buying up all the other land in the area........18 horses, their feed and saddles were in the barn at the time.
Like I said, I didn't get my first horse til after graduating college. But the one thing I learned from each stable/over-used horse I rode is that even though they had the worst "job" a horse can have, and usually had the attitude to match, when you let them be who they are......they can become happy, enjoyable, and dependable friends.
And I think that's why some people think MY horses are "crazy". They are who they are. I ALLOW them their personalities; I don't expect them to be robots and perform perfectly all the time (although there's lots of times I WISH they would). My horses are excited to see me, they seem to LIKE my presence, and when we are getting ready to perform......they get excited about showing off. Oh, I've had my runaways (been put in the hospital by one). But those people who call my horses "crazy" don't see them at home. They know the difference between training, galvanting around for fun and the show ring. You won't see them hyped up at home.....but they know when there's a show and they do seem to want to show off (well, most of them......there are always a few "Eeyore's").
I've had a few horses that were labeled "crazy" before I got them. And we seem to buy a LOT of horses that have major issues......(most of them have gone on to other homes, not as wound up as they were when we got them....I won't sell a horse that has major issues to deal with, because most people don't "listen" or even want to understand!) But I guess I don't see them as "crazy". And the most surprising part is that once they are allowed to be who they are......the change can be dramatic!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Explanation in order
I was talking to some people about Horse Listening and suddenly realized that they really had no idea of what I was talking about. There were questions about neighs and squeals and nickers, etc.; what they meant. I shook my head; they didn't get it. And, it was my fault, because I really didn't EXPLAIN what Horse Listening really is.
Most people think that Listening is part of sense of hearing. Well it is, but that's not ALL it is.
Hearing is the science of sound waves hitting the eardrum, sending chemical and electrical currents up nerves to the brain. The art of hearing comes as the brain interprets what those chemical and electrical impulses are telling it. Hearing is only a part of Listening.
Humans, as arrogant as we tend to be in relation to our animal friends, seem to think that OUR understanding of the senses is the way ALL creatures should sense. But even WE don't just sense that way. Think about it......how often have you just known something was wrong with a family member or friend, even when no one said anything. Obviously they didn't tell you in the normal sense of the word....you didn't really hear it through your ears. But you still knew it. You LISTENED.
The ART of Listening uses all the senses.....including that sixth sense we call intuition. Yes, it includes the sense of hearing from ears, but it also includes the sense of seeing with eyes, sensing with intuition, perhaps even smelling and/or tasting with the nose and tactile sensations (feeling) with the hands. Anyone who has ever had a really sick horse knows they have an odor that is different from anything ever smelled before. Manure pulled out by a vet smells different that that which plops on the ground normally.
ALL of these things are interpreted by our brains, to give us a "big picture". Now, we can get the wrong big picture because we interpret the signals poorly. Anyone who has played the game of "telephone" as a little kid, knows how distorted the message gets as it gets passed on. Why? Lots of reasons. We may have "heard" the words, but our brain "heard" something else. A long time ago someone said, "You may have heard what you think I said, but I don't think you heard what I really meant."
All that said, now let's get to the meat of this.
Horses, as prey animals, have few sounds. Obviously, the quieter one is, the less likely one will attract a predator. So, many animals rely on displays rather than sounds. "Reading" those displays tell you what is really going on. These displays have different meanings, depending on what other display is happening.
OK that was as clear as mud.
Simply put.......ears back mean ????? Well, it depends on how far back, how they are rotated, what the eyes are focused on, what the lips are doing, how the body is held, how the body is situated to the focus, etc, etc, etc. It's absolutely amazing how very small movements of ears, lips and focus can tell another horse to "knock it off", or "don't even think it", in no uncertain terms for them. Or the head position and focus of a foal, who's mom is nickering because it is too far away, will rotate one ear back, and the mare will go back to eating......she knows the foal knows where she is.....and soon, it trots back to her.
So, Horse Listening is an ART that we have to learn. Horses (and dogs and cats) are much better at learning OUR language than we are at learning theirs. The wonderful thing is, when we learn it, we begin to have whole "conversations" with our friends, and our training and just being with them becomes oh, so much better!!!
Most people think that Listening is part of sense of hearing. Well it is, but that's not ALL it is.
Hearing is the science of sound waves hitting the eardrum, sending chemical and electrical currents up nerves to the brain. The art of hearing comes as the brain interprets what those chemical and electrical impulses are telling it. Hearing is only a part of Listening.
Humans, as arrogant as we tend to be in relation to our animal friends, seem to think that OUR understanding of the senses is the way ALL creatures should sense. But even WE don't just sense that way. Think about it......how often have you just known something was wrong with a family member or friend, even when no one said anything. Obviously they didn't tell you in the normal sense of the word....you didn't really hear it through your ears. But you still knew it. You LISTENED.
The ART of Listening uses all the senses.....including that sixth sense we call intuition. Yes, it includes the sense of hearing from ears, but it also includes the sense of seeing with eyes, sensing with intuition, perhaps even smelling and/or tasting with the nose and tactile sensations (feeling) with the hands. Anyone who has ever had a really sick horse knows they have an odor that is different from anything ever smelled before. Manure pulled out by a vet smells different that that which plops on the ground normally.
ALL of these things are interpreted by our brains, to give us a "big picture". Now, we can get the wrong big picture because we interpret the signals poorly. Anyone who has played the game of "telephone" as a little kid, knows how distorted the message gets as it gets passed on. Why? Lots of reasons. We may have "heard" the words, but our brain "heard" something else. A long time ago someone said, "You may have heard what you think I said, but I don't think you heard what I really meant."
All that said, now let's get to the meat of this.
Horses, as prey animals, have few sounds. Obviously, the quieter one is, the less likely one will attract a predator. So, many animals rely on displays rather than sounds. "Reading" those displays tell you what is really going on. These displays have different meanings, depending on what other display is happening.
OK that was as clear as mud.
Simply put.......ears back mean ????? Well, it depends on how far back, how they are rotated, what the eyes are focused on, what the lips are doing, how the body is held, how the body is situated to the focus, etc, etc, etc. It's absolutely amazing how very small movements of ears, lips and focus can tell another horse to "knock it off", or "don't even think it", in no uncertain terms for them. Or the head position and focus of a foal, who's mom is nickering because it is too far away, will rotate one ear back, and the mare will go back to eating......she knows the foal knows where she is.....and soon, it trots back to her.
So, Horse Listening is an ART that we have to learn. Horses (and dogs and cats) are much better at learning OUR language than we are at learning theirs. The wonderful thing is, when we learn it, we begin to have whole "conversations" with our friends, and our training and just being with them becomes oh, so much better!!!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
About the Delay......
Sorry about the delay. I had a young filly born Mid-March who was exceptional in every way.....but one. She was born rather easily and quickly, but she is a head-strong little cuss, and was trying to "frog" up to Mom's head before she was even half-way out! For those not familiar with birthing, the babies seem to instinctively try to get to Mom's head so she can lick them and get used to them. Since they can't stand yet, they kind of "throw" themselves in the general direction and it looks like a frog hop. Because she was so absolutely determined to get up there right now, she was pulling on the cord, so I had to cut it. I prefer not to, but the choice was..... 1) cut it, 2) let her break the cord close to her body (and trust me, that means a major loss of blood on the foal's part or 3) let her pull the placenta out of Mom (major loss of blood from Mom, plus infection and all sorts of ick). So it got cut......just like human babies.....between 2 ties to prevent as much blood loss as possible. The problem with cutting it is that you usually end up with a "ropier" (thicker) cord than normal.....and that can cause hernias or other problems.
Everything went well......the booger-butt is independent and was not about to let us help her get to her feet; she found the spigot on her own and very quickly.....in fact was the easiest baby we've ever had. I should've known. She was bright-eyed and bouncy.......until no one was around. We have cameras on our broodmares, so we can watch and help if there's a problem. At about 2 weeks of age, I noticed that when there was no one around, she did the "dummy walk". A dummy foal usually does not nurse, is not aware of it's surroundings and it walks into and along the walls, rubbing its nose on the wall as if trying to nurse. I've had one, and it is heartbreaking to watch. However, she was no dummy, since she was easily distracted by people and behaved normally then. She also continued to nurse and check out Mom's feed. She just wasn't........right.
Ultimately I had the vet out; he could find nothing, no temp, no soreness.....nothing. So he took blood. He did a quick test back at the office lab and called immediately and said, "get her to the Horsepital." We are lucky enough in NE Ohio to have several very good ones within 3 hours of us. Her IgG was way low.....less than 400 and they like it at 1600. Something was going on. At first we thought it was a lack in the mare's milk (this is a first foal) so she was transfused with immunity proteins. Fortunately the vet at Equine Specialty listened to me and my gut instincts and went on HER gut instincts and checked her lungs for pneumonia (nope!) and ultra-sounded the umbilicus. Bingo. What looked like a patent yurakus. Meaning the veins, arteries and urinary tract structures that are used when the baby is in utero are still trying to work....and they should stop and shrink when the baby is born. Soooooooo. surgery. Ouch.....for both baby and pocketbook. Sure enough it was way bigger than it should be, but when it was being prepared for pathology (to find out what went wrong) it was full of nasty thick pus. Major, major antibiotics and care have been going on for some time, to clear this all up. All this time she has not acted sick.....like you would expect a sick horse to act. She just would have these little "spells" where she would act like she was a little colicky.....or at least uncomfortable. In fact, it took 4 people to contain her enough to get a sedative in her and 3 people AFTER the shot to get her clipped for the IV!!! You can just imagine the rodeo we had giving her shots at home!!!! (Note to you all: Naxcel is a wonderful drug......but it STINGS when it goes in....and booger-butt let us all know she did NOT appreciate it!!!!) Oh, yeah, she jumped straight up in the air about 5 feet (my arms were almost ripped out of their sockets) for the blood tests.
All things are healing well, now. But the important point is this:
LISTEN TO WHAT THE HORSE IS SAYING!!!!
Most people would have never noticed a change, it was that slight. Just knowing the horse and seeing a change in the sparkle in her eye......being lucky enough to watch the "dummy walk" when the barn was quiet and she was not distracted from realizing that she did not feel good (she is soooooo afraid she might miss something!!).....those were the only markers (and my own gut after seeing it). According to the ES vets, we would have had a dead foal within a week, as the infection was getting ready to bust through the abdominal wall.
So LISTEN. When you know the body language, it can tell you oh so much more than just sight along!!!
Everything went well......the booger-butt is independent and was not about to let us help her get to her feet; she found the spigot on her own and very quickly.....in fact was the easiest baby we've ever had. I should've known. She was bright-eyed and bouncy.......until no one was around. We have cameras on our broodmares, so we can watch and help if there's a problem. At about 2 weeks of age, I noticed that when there was no one around, she did the "dummy walk". A dummy foal usually does not nurse, is not aware of it's surroundings and it walks into and along the walls, rubbing its nose on the wall as if trying to nurse. I've had one, and it is heartbreaking to watch. However, she was no dummy, since she was easily distracted by people and behaved normally then. She also continued to nurse and check out Mom's feed. She just wasn't........right.
Ultimately I had the vet out; he could find nothing, no temp, no soreness.....nothing. So he took blood. He did a quick test back at the office lab and called immediately and said, "get her to the Horsepital." We are lucky enough in NE Ohio to have several very good ones within 3 hours of us. Her IgG was way low.....less than 400 and they like it at 1600. Something was going on. At first we thought it was a lack in the mare's milk (this is a first foal) so she was transfused with immunity proteins. Fortunately the vet at Equine Specialty listened to me and my gut instincts and went on HER gut instincts and checked her lungs for pneumonia (nope!) and ultra-sounded the umbilicus. Bingo. What looked like a patent yurakus. Meaning the veins, arteries and urinary tract structures that are used when the baby is in utero are still trying to work....and they should stop and shrink when the baby is born. Soooooooo. surgery. Ouch.....for both baby and pocketbook. Sure enough it was way bigger than it should be, but when it was being prepared for pathology (to find out what went wrong) it was full of nasty thick pus. Major, major antibiotics and care have been going on for some time, to clear this all up. All this time she has not acted sick.....like you would expect a sick horse to act. She just would have these little "spells" where she would act like she was a little colicky.....or at least uncomfortable. In fact, it took 4 people to contain her enough to get a sedative in her and 3 people AFTER the shot to get her clipped for the IV!!! You can just imagine the rodeo we had giving her shots at home!!!! (Note to you all: Naxcel is a wonderful drug......but it STINGS when it goes in....and booger-butt let us all know she did NOT appreciate it!!!!) Oh, yeah, she jumped straight up in the air about 5 feet (my arms were almost ripped out of their sockets) for the blood tests.
All things are healing well, now. But the important point is this:
LISTEN TO WHAT THE HORSE IS SAYING!!!!
Most people would have never noticed a change, it was that slight. Just knowing the horse and seeing a change in the sparkle in her eye......being lucky enough to watch the "dummy walk" when the barn was quiet and she was not distracted from realizing that she did not feel good (she is soooooo afraid she might miss something!!).....those were the only markers (and my own gut after seeing it). According to the ES vets, we would have had a dead foal within a week, as the infection was getting ready to bust through the abdominal wall.
So LISTEN. When you know the body language, it can tell you oh so much more than just sight along!!!
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