Finally Back!

I haven't been able to play with Gambler in a week. First I made plans for the weekend, no big deal. But then I was sick and then I had homework. Everything seemed to be plotting against me! At long last I found my way back to the barn (and not a moment too soon).

Mom surprised me with a birthday present that I had asked for, but didn't really expect to receive. Wanna  know what it was? Here's a hint:

A new rope halter! I've been using a rope halter I purchased at Fleet Farm years before I knew Gambler existed. It has worked well enough up to this point, but the quality isn't fantastic and it doesn't fit Gambler.

Case and Point.

The Parelli website had sizing instructions, but I found them tedious and confusing so we ordered two sizes: Arab and Regular. I already have a Parelli halter in the Pony/Weanling size and Draft size, but obviously neither of those fit Gambler at all. 

Funny story I have to stick in here - Gambler and I were in the arena. I was grooming him before I tried the new halters so that they wouldn't get dirty if we wanted to replace them. He was more fussy about his feet than usual, so I looked around for something spooky. What I saw was Kezi gracefully meandering out of sight into a far pasture. Immediately I was on high alert. Mom was out of sight and ear shot with Sweetheart. Gambler was on the 12' line. There was no way I could get the gate open and let him go if he freaked. But then I looked at Gambler. He watched Kezi with an unconcerned look on his face, then he licked and chewed, and bumped me with his nose.

 I was surprised to say the least, but I figured that any minute he would notice she was leaving and freak. So I showed him the new halter. I took his old halter off and tried the Arab one. It was a little too small, so I removed it and left him loose in the ring while I grabbed the Regular size from the vehicle. Just as I got back Gambler threw his head in the air and I heard thundering hooves as Kezi galloped back toward us. I was expecting Gambler to run. He wasn't even wearing a halter! But I stroked his shoulder and said "easy" and he just stood there. Apparently somebody missed me. I should disappear for a week more often.

After all of that excitement, I finally tried the Regular halter. It is a tad big, but not nearly as big as the old halter. I left the halter on him without attaching the 12' line and wandered around the arena trying to get pictures. It wasn't official playing at liberty, because I didn't ask him to do anything, but he followed me like a puppy dog anyway.

Gambler shed out a lot while I was gone and his dapples are totally different.

Then we had to try it out. 

Drawing Gambler into the circle.

Asking Gambler to back.

He has been using his neck better lately, not flinging it up as much.

Hindquarter yield.

Then I took his halter off again and took more pictures.

Aaaaachooo!

Aaaaachoooo!

Random artistic shot.

Buddies

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).

Life Happens

I've been a bad blogger this week.

On Thursday the wheel bearing in our mini-van got so bad that it was unsafe to drive. Driving an hour to the barn and back was a no-no. So I didn't see Gambler until tonight. And today I was on my way back from an Austen-movie marathon with friends, completely unaware that I was going straight to the barn afterwards. This meant that I didn't have the camera, and thus, have no pictures to show you. I did, however, have a productive evening with Gambler.

When I got to the barn we rushed to throw hay down from the loft before the sun went down. Those hay bales are heavy. The summer I worked at Galloping Hills I gained so much muscle from carrying hale bales and water. I'm hoping that over the winter I can build some of that muscle up again. After we had the hay down, we brought the horses in to give them their grain. I couldn't do anything with Gambler in the arena because the sun had gone down, but there was plenty to do in the cross-ties.

I picked up Gambler's front feet while mom was doing some stuff in town. He was bad, mostly because I didn't want to back him up in the barn aisle. He never kicked at me and I did pick out both of his front feet. All he did was kick his right foot free once and then try to kick free a second time. So while he was "bad" he was much better than he has been. I meant to pick out his back feet when Mom got back, so that she could hold him and back him up if needed, but I forgot.

Then I played the friendly game with the girth of the bareback pad. Gambler fidgeted a bit, but he didn't grunt once. I just lightly tossed the girth onto his back, pulled it off, and tossed it up again. I did this to his withers, back, rump, and his belly where the girth normally goes. When he licked and chewed, or cocked a back leg in relaxation, I praised him and repeated the exercise on the other side.
Then I did the same exercise with the bareback pad itself. Then I left the bareback pad on and repeated the exercise with the girth while the bareback pad was on his back. Finally, I put the girth on so loosely that it barely skimmed his stomach.

While watching the Parelli colt starting DVD series, I picked up a neat tip that I tried out today. Parelli suggested that when tightening the cinch you press down on the horse's withers harder than you are pulling on the girth. I tried it out and it works very well. The horse is distracted by the pressure on on his withers and doesn't react as strongly to the pressure of the girth.

Then we let the horses back out to pasture to eat their hay. I love Gambler's stall manners so much. He is one of the most respectful horses I know. Granted, he still has his days when he thinks he's a stud and all respect for my space flies out the window, but on most occasions he is very respectful. For instance, today I opened his stall door, told him "whoa" and stood in the door of his stall. He stood there calmly and quietly until I stepped out of the way and let him out. There are many horses (including Gambler a few months ago) who I would never stand in front of while letting them out of their stall. It's a good way to get run over. But Gambler has gotten to the point that I can trust him to respect my space. Now if I can just get him to let me pick up his feet and sit on his back!

Since I don't have any new pictures, here are a few old ones.

This pictures was taken just a few days after Gambler re-discovered the art of longeing. It took me a long time to teach him my version, a mixture of traditional longeing and the Parelli Circling Game.

Check out the collection! Why doesn't he do this anymore?

Funny how he had no issue with the girth the first time I put it on him.

Conquering the Back Feet

Today I only had half an hour of daylight (seems to happen a lot now that it's winter) and I was determined to make the most of it. The weather was a lot like yesterday, about 41 degrees Fahrenheit and foggy. Only today it was more rainy than foggy. That meant that the footing was a little worse. So instead of doing any longeing, I worked on Gambler's feet and did some mounting prep. Neither of those things require a lot of movement, much to Gambler's chagrin. Someone needs to explain to that horse that slippery muddy grass is bad for his legs.

I'm happy with how he did today. I picked out both of his front feet and with help from my mom, "picked up" Gambler's back feet.

Over the last few weeks I've been asking Gambler to pick up his back hooves by squeezing the cap of his hock. Pat Parelli encourages horse owners to teach their horses to pick up their own hooves by squeezing the chestnut (front legs) and the cap of the hock (back legs) to discourage the horse from leaning on them. I've found that it also discourages the horse from kicking at you.

Then when watching a helpful video blog on Youtube called To The Heart of a Mustang, I came upon another tactic and decided to try it out. That was what I did yesterday. I picked up Gambler's right front foot and every time he kicked or pulled away I backed him up a few steps and tried again. It worked so well that I decided to try it on the back feet.

I'll be honest, I've never liked picking out horses's back feet, even on well-trained animals. It has always made me nervous. That combined with the fact that I know Gambler kicks out made me unwilling to work on those back feet, but I know that I have to for his sake. So first I squeezed the cap of the hock, then I reached down and grabbed the hoof. If at any point he kicked out or pulled away, I had Mom back him up and then I tried again. I didn't get to the point of picking them out, but I did pick up each hoof a few inches off the ground and set it back down without any kicking, which I consider a success.

After that I tried some mounting prep, but Gambler really wasn't feeling it today. So we retreated and found a good note to end on.

Back on Track (Again)

Today was the first day I've found time for a session with Gambler in over a week. The light was fading fast, so everything was a bit rushed. Gambler was attentive and relaxed, which was impressive given the circumstances. He's always a little squirrely when I haven't seen him in a while.

I started out by playing the Parelli games with him just to see where we were. Horses live in the moment. They remember everything, but they don't live for yesterday, or tomorrow; they live today. So every time I  see Gambler I run over the basics to see what horse I have for the day.

Circling at the walk.

Yielding the forequarters

Yielding the hindquarters

Lateral flexion

Lateral flexion

Flipping the reins over Gambler's neck to get him used to the motion.

One thing I have been focusing on Gambler's right side. He is not comfortable seeing me out of his right eye. He prefers to be led from the left, and whenever I groom him on the right he wants to turn his head and look at me from the left eye. I've spent enough time on the circling game that he is comfortable going both directions, but the friendly game is scarier on the right. Not to mention when I play the driving game to move his forequarters on the right he will swing his hindquarters at me threateningly. Today I spent some time on the right side and it paid off. He started licking and chewing and yawning, releasing a lot of nervous energy. 

Then I did some mounting prep. He still isn't acting spooky, but he is grumpy. I've had the chiropractor come out, so I know everything is okay, but he's acting like he is in pain. I hope that it's a ptsd sort of thing, and he is just remembering a past injury. I'm afraid the damage is deeper. For now I'm going to continue. I've sat on him before without any grunting so maybe he just had a belly ache today. Fingers crossed.

While my mom and I were trying to put weight on him without head tossing, biting, and grunting, a new situation arose. Kezi is apparently no longer herd-bound to Gambler. Gambler, on the other hand, is definitely attached to Kezi. So Kez just walked away into the other pasture and Gambler went bananas. I'm talking full-out cantering in circles, bucking, kicking, you name it. For the most part he listened to my cues and stayed out of my space (he needed a few reminders), which was impressive. Needless to say, it's just one more thing we'll have to address at a later date.

By this point the sun had nearly set, so we brought the horses in to feed them. We gave Gambler an extra dose of Metamucil in case his grumpiness was caused by a sand colic flare-up. Then I spent some time grooming him in the cross-ties.