Schedules

Throughout our journey, Gambler and I have been confronted with a lack of time.

Green horses need time. Hours of groundwork, hours with the saddle, and then, eventually, hours and hours of riding. Hours and hours that I have to scrounge up between sunrise and sunset, around work and school and friends and church and many other aspects of life.

These last few weeks I have been losing the fight against time. I finally got a job. I love the job and I need it, for multiple reasons. Working nights, however, has spun my whole Gambler schedule in chaos. This week I have slowly been collecting the pieces and reconstructing it.

I can't make any promises, but I hope to post regularly on this blog again. I haven't written because there isn't anything to write about. Once Gambler and I are making consistent progress I will begin writing regularly again.

We spent several hours together on Tuesday, but I don't have any pictures because I was at the barn by myself. I didn't ride for the same reason. There is no good reason to take unnecessary risks.

The smile says it all. 

The pictures in this post are from Sunday. I didn't ride then either, because I had a limited amount of time. On top of that, Gambler was spooking at the windy day. In our time apart, our relationship has weakened, resulting in a lack of confidence on both parts. I decided to focus on a tree that was blowing in the wind. At the beginning of our session Gambler couldn't walk past the tree without cantering away in fear. First, I asked him to circle at the walk closer and closer to the tree. Then, I asked him to slow down or stop next to the tree. After a few tries, he was standing directly beneath the tree, licking and chewing.

Directly under the tree, head down, fully relaxed.

See the licking, chewing, and floppy ears?

Playing the friendly game under the tree.

Riding the Rolly Polly Caterpillar (Nineteenth Ride)

I have found a form of communication that seems to work very well for Gambler. Starting on the ground, I cue him to go forward with an opening rein, a cluck, and a tap on the point of the hindquarters with the stick. I then steer with said opening rein and halt with a one-rein stop. He understands the cues on the ground and seems to be picking them up "under saddle" as well.

The biggest problem right now is me.

First, I am out of practice and out of shape. It doesn't help that my "little" pony-sized horse has a fat belly, and a wide back. It's less like riding a horse and more like riding a caterpillar. But seriously, I'm just really off balance when I am riding him. It's not the end of the world or anything, just something I need to keep in mind and work on.

In this picture I have an excuse for being off balance. I hadn't even settled onto his back when he started walking away - and I dropped the carrot stick. 

Second, I have not yet mastered the art of balancing lead-rope-reins and a stick while attempting to ride a green horse. We're talking about the girl who couldn't carry a tiny crop in a lesson without being throw off balance. It's not that I dislike crops, whips, and sticks; they all have their place; but I have never managed to carry them properly. I guess I had better figure it out now!

More balanced here, but trying to figure out what to do with everything in my hands. 

Overall, things are going quite well. Other than being a little nippy, Gambler hasn't shown any concern with being ridden. He will understand the cues better with time. He did spook once, when I dismounted and the carrot stick caught on the fence (again due to my clumsiness). He politely ran around me and then licked and chewed when he realized the fence wasn't going to eat him.

One-rein stop.

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Rides

I am spelling these numbers right, right? The more I stare at them, the less they look like words. Oh well, the important part is . . . EIGHTEEN RIDES (it turns out that I miscounted and he bucked me off on the sixteenth ride not the fifteenth)!Granted, these are pretty lame rides. In fact, I debated with myself for some time whether I could count these last two as rides. I was on the horse and the horse was moving so it was a ride right? Granted neither time I asked the horse to move and I only asked him to stop once. But I should explain in more detail.

On Saturday I mounted him a couple times the same way as I did in our last session. He was grumpier than the last time because I asked him to hold still for a long period of time. Gambler does not like to hold still! I don't have any pictures, but he was really good. He did nip my leg once. He also walked away from the mounting block after I mounted. I jumped off right away because I hadn't solidified the one-rein stop yet, but he wasn't acting out of fear or discomfort. He just discovered that he could walk away so he did. 

On Sunday, I started where I had left off on Saturday: the one-rein stop. I asked Gambler to flex laterally on both sides at the halt and then I led him around and asked him to stop by pulling him to a one-rein stop on the ground. Once I felt that he understood I mounted up again. This time, I introduced the stick as a riding implement. Some horses who are okay with objects on the ground are suddenly afraid when those objects appear above and around their heads. Gambler isn't one of those horses. For the moment I am only using the stick to keep him from biting me by moving his head around, but soon I will use it to ask for turns. 

The plan for the day was to ask him to walk forward and then to pull him into a one-rein stop. I had a feeling that I wouldn't need to ask him to move forward. Sure enough, he walked off on his own. The first picture in this post was taken just before I asked for the one-rein stop. He moved his feet around a little and then came to a complete stop. Success! At that point I dismounted and called it a day.

A Productive Day

I finally found a sizable chunk of time to devote to Gambler's training. Taking a break may have been the smartest move (though unintentional). Over the last few days I have been feeding Gambler, scratching his itches, and then leaving. He has taken to following me around the pasture and watching at the fence as I drive away. I guess time away really makes the heart grow fonder.

I started out with fly spray. Gambler has been afraid of fly spray for as long as I've known  him. I worked with him last year until he learned to stand (mostly) still. But after a winter of not being fly sprayed he needs to get used to it again. When I first tried to spray him, he tried to walk or trot away in a circle around me. By the end he would stand for a spray or two, as long as I rubbed him with the bottle before and after. Not bad for our first fly spray session of the year.

After that, Gambler practiced being ground-tied while I brushed him and put the saddle on him. He stood much more still for the saddle than he usually does, which is a good sign. 

At the trot, I looped a lead rope through the stirrup and waved and bumped it around some, because Gambler's issues with a rider usually appear at the trot. I hoped that shaking the stirrup would get him used to something the rider might do. Going to the left he didn't have a problem with it, but going to the right he certainly did. I tried to push him through it, but he was only getting worse. It was clear that he just wasn't ready on that side yet. So I took the lead rope off, found the problem area (circling to the right), and focused on that instead.

He bucked a few times at the trot, but I haven't put the saddle on in a while, so that didn't surprise me. I realized that Gambler's "Woah" is not solid when circling so we switched to walk-halt and trot-halt transitions. 

Then I removed the saddle and led Gambler around to cool off. I continued to work on "Woah" while leading as well as turns and backing up. For Gambler, leading is something that always needs practice. If I don't practice he falls back into old habits. 

And then the real fun began.

Asking for lateral flexion.

Gambler is on a loose lead, without a handler. So he's calling the shots. If he wants to he can leave or bite me. I don't want him to, but Mom isn't there to keep him from it.

Scratching his itches while laying against his back.

And here he is yawning!! A green light if I ever saw one. Excuse my posture, I am super off-balance in all of these photos. 

I'm scratching his mane, which is why he's craning his neck.

I mounted from the left too, but I don't have any pictures of it.

Jumping up over his back.

He threw his head a little bit here, but not as much as he has in the past.

I'd say that was a good way to end the session! It was the first time Gambler ever let me on his back without a handler. He was relaxed the whole time and I am encouraged to see how he is progressing.