Ninja (Sixteenth Ride)

Gambler and I had another exciting first today!

Playing the porcupine game to disengage his hindquarters.

Playing the circling game over a low cross-rail.

Longeing over jump standards is a pain, but Gambler loves to jump so I'll survive. :P Hopefully I'll be riding over them some day soon.

Since Gambler was jumping calmly instead of being a crazy critter like last time, I upped the height. 

Then I put the saddle on Gambler for the first time in a week or so. I tried a different saddle pad, which I think fits the saddle and Gambler's back better.

We played the circling game under the trees.

Then we played one of Gambler's favorite games, where I ask him to make half-circles, switching direction half way through each circle. Usually he jumps into a canter with each change of direction, but today he was worn out. Earlier Marguerite had ridden Kezi and Gambler spent at least half an hour running around the pasture.

That's more like it!

Because Gambler was so calm and worn out from his earlier exercise, I decided to ride him. Throughout our session he didn't buck with the saddle at all. I lowered the jump to a cross-rail again and sent him over it with the saddle. When even a jump didn't cause Gambler to buck, I mounted up. I still had Mom holding the longe line, and I had gaming reins attached to the halter. 

At first we just walked around the circle and changing directions and halting now and then. Gambler is definitely starting to relax and listen to the riders cues. Once I felt him relax I asked for the trot. For a few steps (about a quarter of a circle) he trotted without and issue. Then he bucked a little. I pushed him forward. Then he bucked a lot. I don't remember much, and what I do remember is in slo-mo (because that's how the mind works when adrenaline is rushing through your system), but I tried to pull him into a one-rein stop. I lost my hold on the reins and fell backward out of the saddle onto his butt and then landed on my feet behind him. 

After giving myself a once-over to make sure that nothing hurt in a dangerous way, I took the longe line from Mom and told Gambler to canter for several circles, changing directions often. I don't want him to learn that bucking means less work. Then I mounted up again. I didn't trot, because the bucking is an issue that only comes up at the trot and I need to form a game plan. I don't think rushing into battle without a plan is a good idea. But I'll have a post about that soon. 

I talked to Mom afterwards and she said that Gambler bucked and I came forward on the saddle, then he reared and spun, going one direction while I went the other. It sounds pretty much like all the bucking fits I've seen him have on the ground. My only injuries are a small bruise on my thigh from the saddle and a blood blister/rope burn on one of my fingers. 

Mom and I have been worried that something like this would happen and it would destroy Gambler's and my confidence. I would argue that it has just strengthened it. Like the first spook under saddle, the first fall is bound to happen, especially with a green horse. Now that it's over with, I feel that I will be able to ride more confidently in the future. 

And can we just take a moment to dwell on the fact that I landed on my feet!

The Pay-off

Gambler and I are at that point where all of our hard work is starting to pay off. He was wonderful today! We got to the barn with about two hours of daylight left, maybe a little less, which is plenty of time. I set up the arena and brought Gambler in. He went through this phase a few weeks ago, where he would run away when I tried to catch him. I started just chasing him up to the barn. He would let himself be haltered there (he wanted his grain).Yesterday he wouldn't run back to the barn. Apparently he has decided it's better to let me catch him. I'm not complaining.

Gambler has excellent manners in his stall and going through gates. One of my biggest pet peeves is when horse owners let their horses push through gates and stall doors. 

His leading has come a long way too. I need to lead him more on the off side, because he prefers his near side. Notice that he is mirroring me by using the same leg I am. 

First, I did some desensitizing. I threw the stick and string over his back at the halt and then at the walk. He is still nervous at the walk, especially on his off side; but his reaction was better today than it was yesterday, which is encouraging. In the video, you can see a clear difference in my energy and body language between when I am tossing the string over his back and when I am asking him to go forward.

It was very windy today, so somebody was feeling frisky.

Second, I attached the 22' line to Gambler's halter. I flipped the line over to the other side of his body, wrapped it around his hindquarters, and asked him to give to pressure in order to untangle himself. The first couple of times he didn't understand. I've done this exercise before, but it has been a long time. Obviously, Gambler didn't remember how it went. Then I gave him the cue to yield his hindquarters while pulling on the rope. Once he started to unravel himself, he figured it out. 

Third, I attached the gaming reins to the halter and did some one-rein stops on the ground. I also asked him to disengage his hindquarters, which he is beginning to figure out. 

And here are a few gorgeous artistic shots. Have I mentioned that my brother is a fantastic photographer?

Fourth, I brought Gambler over to the mounting block and asked him to stand next to it while I rubbed and pressed down on his back. He did spectacularly. The wind was blowing crazily and we were next to the terrifying trees, but he only spooked once. In the video you can see exactly what I've been talking about, the trees are moving a lot. When Gambler did spook, or move around too much, I just asked him to trot around a couple times. He got the idea. I focused on bringing his head down, because I've heard horses can't produce adrenaline (I could be completely wrong about that because I don't remember where I heard it) or something when their heads are below their withers. This keeps him calm even while facing the horse-eating-trees.

Itchy Ear 

Last, I did some work on his feet. Gambler still doesn't like picking up his feet, but I'm attacking the issue head-on. Today I saw some real progress. By that time the camera's batteries had died (again) so I didn't get any pictures. 

The Old New Plan

Do you remember the new plan? It was a good plan. I thought it through, did the research, formed the plan, told everyone the plan, and then never followed up on it. I tried it once (or maybe twice) but the plan revealed that Gambler and I needed to refine our groundwork. So instead of retracing my footsteps and cementing that foundation, I switched back to the "faster" old way of doing things. I asked Mom to hold Gambler while I layedd over and jumped onto his back.

Let me tell you now, faster rarely means better. In fact, with horses, faster usually means much, much worse. There was a reason that I came up with the new plan: the old plan wasn't working. That has only become more apparent as time goes on. Sure, I did sit on my horse and ride him a few steps using the old method. But that only happened once, and in the process Gambler learned several bad habits.

So I'm going back to the new plan, with a few improvements.

Overall Goal: To ride my horse? No. My goal is to play dominance games with Gambler to prove to him that I am a leader worth his trust and obedience.

First Step: Sensitization and Desensitization

Sensitization is all about energy. I want Gambler to learn that if he follows a feel he will get an immediate release. This one is on me. If I don't release pressure at the right time, Gambler will be slow to respond and require a lot of pressure to get a result. If I slowly build up pressure, however, and release as soon as he does what I'm asking, his responses will become quick and light.

Asking Gambler to yield his hindquarters.

Specifically, I want Gambler to longe with slack in the rope. I don't want him pulling on me or counter-bending. Instead, I want to see him relax, lower his head, and bend his whole body in the circle. Snappy transitions are a must. I want him to read my body language and longe walk, trot, and canter without the stick and string to push him forward.

 This is a little more slack than I'd like, but it gives you an idea.

Desensitization is a reminder that motion isn't scary. When I ask Gambler to do something I make it clear with my body language and vocal cues. The stick and string or the end of the rope are just tools to back up the cues. Every once in a while, I am going to take a break and toss the rope over his back or smack the stick and string on the ground to remind Gambler that I'm not going to hurt him. I don't want him to act out of fear.

My body language is neutral to show Gambler that I'm not asking him to move.

Very clear body language telling Gambler to move his butt.

Second Step: The Mounting Block

Now you will see why I wanted Gambler to longe well before I got to this point. My mom has been holding (or trying to hold) Gambler for me while I've been doing mounting prep, but it hasn't worked well. Gambler just moves all over the place and bites at her. For the most part, he has gotten away with it. Which is why I'm going back to doing mounting prep by myself. When I ride him, I'm going to have Mom hold an "emergency line" in case something goes wrong. Nevertheless, I'm going to prepare him for his first official ride by myself. 

The plan is to ask him to stand nicely next to the mounting block while I lean over his back. If he moves away or tries to bite or kick, I will send him out at a trot or canter around the mounting block. When he comes back we repeat until he realizes that standing nicely to be mounted is relaxing. If he stands nicely for me to lean over him on both sides I'll start asking him to flex laterally while I'm standing over him on the mounting block. The next step is to get on. 

There are a few more miscellaneous things that I want to do with Gambler. I'll make a short list here (more for my sake than yours).

*Saddle up western because we haven't done it in a while

*Introduce disengaging the hip while flexing laterally since that will be my emergency brake when I start riding

*Flip the 22' line over his back so that he has to give to pressure to unwind himself from the rope

*Practice picking up his front and back legs with and without the ropes

*When I'm longeing him and ask him to halt he should not come in to me without permission.

So that is the (old) new plan. When I wrote it out I realized it is a little tedious, but writing down my plans helps me formulate and remember them. And if anyone else is in a similar situation, maybe they will find my lesson plan helpful. 

Autumn Evening in Motion

I didn't have much time with Gambler today before the sun went down, but we managed to have some fun. I worked on his canter transitions and did a little jumping. My brother got a few really good motion shots. Sadly most of the pictures were blurry due to the fading light.