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!
A few hours ago I published a post about how I had lost track of my purpose. I got so focused on riding and training that I lost the relationship and the trust. So today I determined not to worry about getting on his back, but not to put it off either. I just wanted to develop our relationship, because that would naturally lead to riding. I had high hopes for the evening but I had no idea just how awesome it would be.
I walked out and tried to catch Gambler, who was way out in the South pasture. He looked up at me, nickered, and started trotting. I thought "awwww, how sweet." And then he trotted right past me and chased Kezi all the way back to the barn, leaving me to eat dust behind them. Thanks Gamby. Much appreciated. At least they had the decency to run around me instead of over the top of me.
I look so cheerful wandering through the pasture. :P
After we fed the horses, I took Gambler out into the arena. I've never really played the Parelli games in order with him. He did surprisingly well! I didn't need to use very much pressure at all to get him to lower his head, back up, yield his forequarters and hindquarters from either side, or come forward to me. I introduced him to the game of circling as the Parelli's do it, which is slightly different from how I've done it so far. I normally face him as he circles me, but they stand facing one direction and expect the horse to keep going around them. At first Gambler was really confused, but now he will go two to three full circles at the walk without checking in with me.
The barn owner brought Kezi into the arena for a while to see how she would react to a tarp I had set up under some trot poles. It was the first time we've ever tried working with Kezi and Gambler at the same time. Gambley was a little anxious when Kezi was walking through the barn and he couldn't see her, but as soon as she was in the arena he was fine.
Kezi photobombing ;)
Since my goal for the day was to play with Gambler and rekindle the bond between us, I set up a few fun obstacles to play with. Gambler's favorite! My goal was to do some liberty work with him because I haven't in such a long time, but I started by leading him on the 12' line. He didn't have any problem whatsoever.
Then came the moment of truth: I took the lead rope off. Since we haven't done anything like this in so long, I really didn't know what to expect. Gambley surprised me! Here is a video of him going over the tarp/trot poles.
There were definitely times that Gambler just walked (or trotted) away from me, but he always came back.
A couple of times he dodged around the tarp, but he loved the jump. He even trotted over it a couple times.
licking and chewing
Somebody had an itchy chin.
Signs of relaxation: lowered head and licking and chewing motions.
I asked him to walk onto the tarp, stop . . .
back up a few steps . . .
and walk on.
I was tempted to only show pictures of Gambler being good and edit all the "oops moments" out of my videos, but I decided against it. I want to show anyone who would ever want to try liberty that it isn't going to be perfect in the beginning and that is okay. Your horse is going to walk away from you. He's going to walk around the obstacles or awkwardly stand looking at you. There were a few times Gambler stood looking at me and I knew if I walked after him he would walk away. So I waited. It took patience, but every time I waited, he walked over to me.
He's thinking about coming to me.
Still waiting.
And he comes over to see what I'm up (or down) to.
Snuggles
Gambler trotting over the jump at liberty.
I let him check out the mounting block too.
But wait . . .there's more! The best part is that I got all the way on my horse today! I didn't "ride" him because he was holding still and I was just laying over his back. But I jumped over him sideways many times on both sides and stayed on there quite a while. There was a point when he saw my boot out of the corner of his eye and spooked, but he never bucked or anything like that. I fell off a ton (landing on my feet) while he was standing still. It is way harder to balance while laying sideways over a horse than you would think! I think it's ironic and amazing that the one day I didn't put all my effort into getting on his back was the day I finally mounted my horse.
Today I was going to begin the first phase of my new plan. I started by longeing Gambler to warm him up like I always do. But since I have ground poles set up in the arena, the best place to circle was next to the trees. Gambler hadn't been acting spooky up until that point, but it was a little windy, so I should've known better. He walked about half the circle, to the point where he started to turn away from the trees, then bolted. It didn't last very long; I just stopped him and asked him to continue at a walk like I always do. He did it again. By this point my hands were stinging. (Side note: I absolutely love the Parelli ropes. Although my hands sting a little when Gamby takes off, I've never gotten rope burn.)
I led Gambler to a different part of the arena, away from the trees. The whole way there he was spooky and crowding my space; he even bolted again. Once we were away from the trees, I asked him to circle at a walk. He was still tense, but he didn't bolt. Since I haven't been able to get much done with Gambler lately, due in part to the wind, I decided it was time to show those trees who's boss.
So we attacked the trees again. Or they attacked us. It's merely a matter of perspective. Pat Parelli often says something along the lines of "make the wrong answer uncomfortable." Except he says it a thousand times better than that. Recently I watched one of Clinton Anderson's videos and he stressed the same principle. It got me thinking . . . could I make spooking at the trees uncomfortable?
I began by asking him to circle calmly next to the trees. As long as he walked I stayed neutral. But when he broke into a trot (or bolted into a canter) I increased my pressure by 100%. I drove him forward with my body language and smacked the ground with the carrot stick and urged him forward with my voice. The most important part is that I only pressured him when he was on the side of the circle opposite the trees. When he was next to the trees, I dropped my pressure completely.
So when Gambler rushed away from the trees, I upped my energy causing him to keep that faster gait until he was next to the trees again. At this point he was given a choice: slow down and chill or freak out and keep going. This continued until he got tired of cantering in blind panic and thought, man I'm really tired. It sure would be nice to take a break. Thing is, he couldn't rest on the "safe" side (away from the trees) because that's where I drove him forward. He had to make the choice to relax and slow his gait on the "scary" side (closest to the trees). It was more aggressive approach than I've taken in the past, but Gambler responded to it well.
The first time I tried it he cantered for three to five circles before slowing to a trot. I rewarded him immediately by bringing him into the middle of the circle for rest and lots of nose rubs! The second time was about the same, just in the other direction. By the third time he was trotting instead of cantering. Eventually, he got to the point where he would walk two full circles without breaking into a trot or canter. We ended there, on a good note.
After our tree-defeating adventure he stood ground tied while I gave him a nice long grooming session. I could tell that he was processing what just happened. He was completely relaxed, even thought we were in the same place where he had been spooking earlier. He just yawned and yawned and yawned. I'm sure that I haven't seen the last of the deathly trees, but we've taken a big step in the right direction. I'm just sad that I forgot the camera at home again.
