Happy New Year!

I thought about making some New Year's resolutions for Gambler and myself, but decided against it. I have goals and plans for Gambler already. I don't need more. If there is anything Gambler has taught me, it is that goals are never concrete. When push comes to shove, I'm on his time schedule.

I saw Gambler just long enough to pick out his feet. He and Kezi had already been fed and turned out to pasture with hay so I just haltered him while he was eating. I tossed the lead rope over his back and picked up his feet. He let me pick out all four like that. That shows definite improvement. Right now I want him to let me set his foot back on the ground. Gambler would rather put his own foot down. In itself, it's not a big deal, but it's a power thing. I know from past experience that Gamby will take every once of control I give him, so we will continue to work on this until he finally gives in.

Lessons (Never) Learned

You'd think by now I'd know that whenever I plan out my session with Gambler something will cause it to go awry. But that is a lesson I never seem to learn. Today I thought it all out. If the ground was frozen, I'd stick to picking up his feet and mounting prep. If the footing was okay, I'd play stick-to-me on line. However, when I got to the barn Kezi and Gambler were in the weirdest mood. Think playful and grumpy; spooky and chill. I guess they just didn't like the cold and the wind.

Watching me through the window.

Zoooooom!

Having an argument.

Anyway, I tried to lure them out of the arena into the pasture with a little handful of hay so that I could close off the arena (in case anyone is wondering, the arena is part of the pasture that can be sectioned off). Usually this works, but today instead of eating the hay, they just followed me around bucking, kicking, squealing, pinning their ears at each other, kicking each other. You name it, they were doing it. I would have just asked my Mom to hold them while I shut the fence, but she was running a quick errand. Instead I decided to bring them in and feed them. I could take Gambler into the arena if I still had light afterwards, or just pick out his feet in the cross-ties. 

I prepared their grain and opened the gate to let them into the barn. The way the barn is set up, the one gate opens straight into the pasture. Each horse knows where his (or her) stall is so all I have to do is open the door. Well today Kezi and Gambler ignored their grain, trotted all the way to one end of the barn, then spun around and trotted all the way back out. They would have come back in again, but I shut the gate and told them sternly, "You have to stop acting so ditsy first!"

So I stood there and waited. They seemed to lose interest in getting fed. They just stood stock still looking out to pasture. To give you an idea of how still they were (like horsie statutes) I got several pictures of Gambler's face in focus, even in the bad lighting. On most occasions it is very hard to get a good picture of Gambler's face because he never stops moving.

Check out those dapples. I'm excited to see if Gambler will grey out any more, or stay this color permanently.

Abruptly, Kezi and Gambler headed out into the pasture. Then they came back again. I got a really nice video of Gambler cantering back, but the camera spazzed out because of the cold and it was lost. 

When they got back I attempted to let them into the barn again. This time they just stood there and looked at me like I was crazy. "Why would you possibly want us to go into the barn we always go into at the time we always go into it and eat the grain we always eat?"

Then my mom got back. Of course, when she opened the gate they walked into their stalls like perfectly normal horses. I see how it is!

I asked my mom to hold Gambler while I picked out his hooves so that she could back him up when he misbehaved. I picked out three of the four today! I was very happy to see that his back feet weren't nasty, because I haven't picked them out for weeks and I was starting to worry about thrush. I had no reason to worry. Both back feet look fine and the one I picked out hardly had anything in it. Gambler will now let me pick out his front left foot without complaint and his back left and front right foot with complaint. That one foot, the back left, is his worst. He still does not like to have me pick it up and has a tendency to kick out. 

All in all, it wasn't a bad day, even though it didn't go according to plan. Gambler is improving and I am enjoying myself. Really, that's all that matters. 

Putting the Plan into Practice

Thursday was a rainy fall day, so I didn't get a session with Gambler. I did, however, get a tack chest! I don't remember exactly when I got it, but it was sometime this last week. My mom found an add on craigslist: an antique chest that a woman was giving away for free. We drove thirty minutes to pick it up. I was not disappointed!

It isn't fancy, or extraordinarily beautiful, but it is well-built. I don't doubt that it will keep my various horse supplies clean, safe, and contained. It's better than a 20 dollar plastic bin from Walmart any day!

Today I tried out my "old new plan." I don't have any pictures, but my brother might take some tomorrow. I know that if he's behind the camera I'll have several good pictures and videos to show you. 

I started out with desensitizing exercises. I tossed the stick and string over his back and smacked it on the ground several times on both sides. This is old stuff - I've been doing it since day one - but Gambler is still unsure of it on his right side. That is his weak side; he is unsure when seeing things out of his right eye. I started a new phase of the desensitizing today, one that I haven't done before. I led Gambler forward (or asked him to circle me) and tossed the stick and string over his back while he was walking. It became immediately apparent that Gambler doesn't understand the difference between motion and motion with energy. This is probably my fault, I am guilty of laziness and lacking energy. Though it will take time, I want to teach Gambler that the stick and string are equally harmless at the walk and the halt. 

Sensitizing is just as important as desensitizing. If your horse is completely desensitized, he'll never do anything. I want Gambler to know that when I give him a cue (with energy) I want him to respond and quickly. So I played with moving the forequarters and hindquarters, paying specific attention to when I gave him the release of pressure. If my release is immediate, his response will become immediate. 

I also spent a lot of time on the circling game. I used the 12' lead line as a longe line, because I wanted to establish boundaries. I want Gambler to circle outside of my bubble, but I want slack in the rope. I also want him to bend on the circle. No counter-bending or haunches-in allowed. There is one other thing. I've noticed that every time I ask Gambler to stop while circling I let him come into me. That has to stop. I have always made him stop a few steps away until I invited him into my bubble, but now I want him to wait out on the circle until I ask him to come to me. He is used to just coming in, but by the end of the day, he was starting to understand what I was asking. 

Then I brought out the mounting block. I stood on the mounting block with Gambler facing toward me. Step by step, I asked him to stand closer to a position where I could get on. At first he pulled all the tricks that he was used to using when Mom was holding him and I was leaning on him (or vice versa, it doesn't matter who is holding him, that method just doesn't work), however, when he misbehaved, I sent him out to circle at the trot. We ended the day with him standing calmly while I rubbed his back - something I couldn't do with someone holding him. 

I want to make it clear that it isn't Mom's fault. The problem is that when someone is holding Gambler, he is being forced to hold still. This makes him feel claustrophobic and panicky or grumpy and obstinate. But today I held the line loosely. If he wanted to leave, I drove him away. In the end he decided that he would rather stand than trot. Because it was his decision, he didn't bite, or move around. 

Note: I also introduced disengaging the hip while flexing laterally, which is one of the first things I will do when I start riding him. 

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. 

Defeating the Monstrous Trees

Do you remember these:

The Trees

The scariest trees you've ever seen.

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. 

The New Plan

I've spent some time thinking about the last few sessions with Gambler. Things just haven't been working out the way I'd expected. Something needs to change. So I've thought it over and come up with a new approach. 

The first step in my new approach is the same as the first step of my last plan, only more intense. The plan was to stand on the mounting block and ask Gambler to stand next to it calmly. When he steps away or moves around I send him out in a circle around me so that he learns that the mounting block is a safe place where he gets to rest.

The problem with the last plan was in the execution. I only asked him to walk calmly, which didn't push him at all. When he walks away or moves around I need to push him into a fast trot or a canter so that when he comes back in he wants to rest. There is one more thing that I want to change. I want to attach a pair of gaming reins to the halter while I'm doing this exercise just to get him used to having them there.

The second step in the new plan is to do some in-hand work with the halter and gaming reins. I got this idea while researching dressage training methods. Some trainers will walk beside a horse holding the reins under the jaw to teach the horse head position or lateral work. I want to try out this method to teach Gambler the basics of plow-reining: turn, stop, back up, and flex laterally. I realize that it is more conventional to use long-lining, but I've tried that with Gambler before and he is very uncomfortable walking in front of me. It's something we need to work on in the future, but right now I'd rather see if he is more comfortable with in-hand work.

Lateral Flexion

The third step is to combine the first two. I will return to the mounting block and flex him laterally. At that point I will lean over him again and prepare him to be mounted. When he allows me to lay over him without moving around or leaving I will attach the 22-ft line and give it to my mom as a safety line. Then I'll get on him. If he moves around I'll do a one-rein stop (lateral flexion) until he holds still. Once he stands calmly I'll get off again. Repeat on the other side.

So that's the plan. It should take at least two days to complete, more if you count wind and rain and other strange occurrences that can't be planned for. I won't put the first ride on him for a while, because so far I've taken it slow with him and it has paid off. I want to wait until he is comfortable with the rider as a passenger before I introduce the rider as his leader.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

By now you (and I) should have recognized a pattern: every time I say that I have a plan, God reminds me that I don't run the universe. So no, I didn't ride my horse today. It rained on and off so we just fed the horses and did chores. I also got some fall pictures. The lighting wasn't great, so hopefully I'll get better pics this weekend. 

Gambly was an absolute sweetheart today. For some reason his left side was really itchy, maybe bugs, I'm not sure. When I went out to get pictures he followed me all the way into the far pasture, even leaving Kezi behind, which I though was really sweet.  

The Big Question

When people found out I had a horse, I was overwhelmed by a torrent of questions. Equestrians and non-equestrians alike quizzed me, all asking basically the same questions. "How big is your horse?" "What kind of horse is he?" "How old is he?" "Is it a he?" "Do you ride him?" "When are you gonna ride him?" I got to the point where I could rattle off the answers to most of the questions in a single sentence. However, one question always threw me off. "What are you plans for Gambler?"

*mind blank*

As a person, I pay a lot of attention to how things are going to work in the long haul. I usually don't put effort into things or people that I don't believe will last. If I'm being honest, it isn't my best character trait, but it is what it is. That being said, when anyone asked me what my long-term goals for Gambler were, I found myself stumbling over my words. 

Getting a horse was never part of my plan. While I always wanted a horse, I wasn't planning on buying one before I was in or out of college. A horse didn't really fit into the current plan (By plan I mean, graduate high school, go to college for something, and try to make money somehow. It's a very unique and well thought out plan!). Now a horse is definitely part of that plan and I can't possibly imagine life without one. That doesn't mean I have any huge plans for my horse though. 

My original plan was to buy him, start and finish him, and then sell him. I might go with that, or I might realize I am way too attached to him to do that. I've never showed (shown?), but I've tagged along to friends shows. I cannot imagine myself getting into the show atmosphere, but I might show Gambler once he is finished. In the end, my plan is to train him as well as I possibly can and learn as much from him as I possibly can. Until I feel that we no longer have anything to learn from each other, I don't see any reason to worry about what will happen in the long run.