Spring Rains

I love, love, love rainy hazy days. Spring has arrived in this part of the world, bringing my favorite weather with it. Many people find rainy days gloomy and depressing, but I relish in them. There is something about a good rainy day that fills the very air with energy. I love the way that the rain or mist conceals things far away, or changes the way light hits them. It makes you look at everyday things in a different light - literally and figuratively. 

Weather like this reveals layers where you don't expect them. What was once is now three-dimensional. What seemed simple in the sunlight carries a new complexity in the layers of grey. 

And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
I would not change it.
~ from As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Partner Mindset

When I arrived at the barn on Tuesday, it was windy, cold, and rainy. It was the type of day that Gambler uses as an excuse to be afraid of everything. Keeping this in mind, I set up the arena as usual with ground poles, a jump, and the saddle. Gambler needs to face scary experiences with the saddle on his back, because that is when he is most likely to buck and rear and bolt. The more situations he learns to carry the saddle through, the safer it will be for me to ride him through those same scary situations. 

Before I brought Gambler into the arena or saddled him up, I had to walk out to the far pasture to catch him. Actually, he caught me. He trotted up to me with energy, and stopped a reasonable distance away without crowding my space. That is a good sign! I gave him a massage and picked all of those nasty ticks off of his chin and then haltered him.

As I tried to walk him back to the barn, however, he reared, tried to bolt, and nipped my hand - all unacceptable behavior. At first I jerked on the halter, bopped him in the nose, and spoke tersely to him in effort to make him behave. This, of course, didn't work. Then I thought about what I was doing and tried a different approach. Using the yo-yo game, I backed him across the pasture. Every time he spooked or wasn't paying attention to me or misbehaved in some other way, I asked him to back up faster. If he backed quickly, lowered his head, perked his ears toward me, or showed any signs of relaxation I released the pressure and let him rest. I backed him halfway back to the barn before he calmed down enough for me to lead him normally. 

I led him the rest of the way on a loose line. He licked and chewed and yawned, even when Kezi realized he was leaving and came thundering past us to the barn. 

When Gambler and I were in the arena, I saddled him up and then headed straight for the horse-eating-trees. We played one of his favorite games, half-circles at the trot or canter. It took him a while to get into it because he was still pretty right-brained - spooking and bucking. He doesn't mind the saddle until you add other stimuli. Wind is okay. The saddle is okay. But wind and the saddle? That's something else entirely!

Bringing Gambler in a little to switch direction.

I'm not sure if he is bucking here or just jumping into the canter - probably a little bit of both.

Asking Gambler to walk on.

Here he is settling down and thinking instead of reacting.

Grumpy face much?

Snuggles.

Once he was acting like a partner instead of a prey animal, we played the circling game over ground poles. 

Gambler and I had a break through with the sideways game! I've been trying to play it from to close to him apparently. When I stepped back and gave him some room, he started to understand.

I wasn't sure how clear these pictures would be, but you can definitely see the sideways here!

I promise I did it on the other side too, I just don't have pictures of it.

Yo-yo game!!

Backing. . . 

Backing . . .

Backing . . .

All the way out on the 22' line!

And bringing him back in.

More snuggles. 

Thunderstorm

I love thunderstorms. I have been craving a good thunderstorm since March when spring first arrived. I think there have been a few electric storms at night after I was asleep, but not during the day. Finally, Sunday afternoon, it thunderstormed. We went out to feed the horses right before the storm, but they could sense it, so they wouldn't even come into the barn to eat. 

"Can you feel it too?"

I caught him red-handed under the trees.

Love. This. Picture.

Evaluation

When I wrote about the bucking incident yesterday, I purposefully didn't go into the whys and wherefores. I wanted to take time to think it through, run over the events in my head a few hundred times, research possible solutions, receive advice, and form a game plan. Now that I have done those things, I am ready to evaluate what happened, why it happened, and how I can keep it from happening again.

What happened?

Gambler wasn't using his "left brain" (yes I am aware that left-brain, right-brain is a myth, everyone uses both sides - I am just using the terms to represent a horse's mentality) and acting as a partner. Instead, he was acting defensively, like a prey animal who needs to survive. 

Why did it happen?

I've done a good job of getting Gambler to use the left side of his brain and act as a partner on the ground before I mount up. Once I get into the saddle, however, I stop playing the games and start riding. Gambler has been sending me "yellow lights" at the halt and at the walk. He has been bracy, not responsive. Instead of recognizing that Gambler was uncomfortable and getting off and playing or staying on and playing the games I pushed him into a trot. Having already sent me signals to slow down, Gambler sent a clear "red light." 

Things that went wrong:

The longe line - I've had Mom circling Gambler on the longe line because I believed it was more safe. From the events of last night, I'd say it's not much safer. The only thing it stops Gambler from doing is bolting, and I've never had him bolt under saddle (knock on wood). When I tried to pull Gambler into a one-rein stop (more on that later) I couldn't because the longe line was pulling his head in the opposite direction. This caused the situation to be even more dangerous. 

I fell off - Thankfully I landed on my feet and wasn't hurt at all, but falling off is still a really bad thing. Gambler now knows that he can buck a rider off to get out of work. Falling off once isn't horrible, falling off twice is bad, and if I fall off three times we're going to be in a lot of trouble. If he forms a habit of bucking people off, I will have created a problem horse. 

Things that went right:

One-rein stop - My first instinct while Gambler was bucking was to pull him into a one-rein stop. This is really good because I have never actually been in a situation where I had to stop a horse in that manner, or I have never thought to do it. I've been telling myself that's what I need to do, but I had no idea if I would remember in the moment. 

Landing on my feet - The fact that I landed on my feet means that while I didn't stay on the horse, I did keep my balance. That is encouraging because it means I am more likely to stay on in the future, especially since I am more confident. 

Confidence - As I briefly mentioned in the last post, Mom and I have been worried that if I was bucked off it would destroy my confidence and/or Gambler's confidence and our trust in each other. But after I was bucked off, neither of us were phased by it. I had adrenaline pumping through my system, and when I mounted again I was more wary, but neither Gambler nor I were visibly shaken or worked up. In fact, I think now that the thing we've been dreading has occurred, we can move forward with more boldness. 

How can I keep this from happening again?

First, I am going to continue playing with Gambler on the ground while he is wearing the saddle to build his confidence and encourage him to work with me as a partner. 

Second, I am going to play around with the mounting process so that he sees it as another part of the games. I am going to make sure that he gives me a green light at every phase of the mounting process. 

Third, I think I'm going to ditch the longe line. That doesn't mean I'm not still going to have my mom watching me carefully - you bet I am! But the longe line won't stop me from getting bucked off (as we've seen), and without it I can do things like disengage Gambler's hindquarters, taking away his power to buck. 

Forth, I'm going to play with Gambler while riding at the walk, specifically the friendly game and the porcupine/driving game with his hindquarters and forequarters. This will build his confidence at the walk and give me more control in the case of another bucking fit. 

Finally, when Gambler gives me all green lights at the walk and I can easily pull him to a one-rein stop and yeild his hindquarters, we will start trotting again. If he bucks again, I will pull him to a stop with one rein, move his hindquarters, and put him to work at the walk. Then we'll trot again. 

So that is the evaluation. Of course, with a green horse (or any horse), the plan is always under construction. This is just a skeleton, a game plan to alter as the occasion calls, because good leaders always have a plan and are always flexible (more Parelli lingo).