Sunday's Session

I spent a little less time in the round-pen today. The weather has been lovely here, not even cold enough to wear a sweater. I timed myself more carefully today to make sure that I spent a full thirty minutes riding. We still just walked, but Calico stood very still as I mounted today. She was relaxed, but still wants to decide which direction we go. It doesn't take to much to convince her that I'm the one giving directions, but she always says, "okay, just checking". I think I mentioned before that there is an ATV parked in the arena with a mechanical roping calf behind it. The first time I took Cali near it she about had a heart attack. She wanted to hide behind me and sniffed and snorted. I kept her off me of course, and we went back and forth past it several times. We were on the outside of the arena that day. Yesterday, when I rode her in there, I led her past it a few more times, so she could see it well. Today, we rode past it, many times and it didn't phase her a bit. That's cool! I think what surprises me most is the amount of anxiety I still feel after falling off. That was months ago! I feel like we've worked through so many issues, yet it seems the only cure is to ride without falling. Stephan thinks I should just practice falling off over and over. He said, "Ya know, bronc riders can't be afraid of falling, they fall nearly every time they ride. They're just good at falling" He might have a point there, but I'd still like to have a nice, well-mannered horse, not a bronc. I like having my ribs intact. I'm really looking forward to my next session with Robin. We'll be riding together soon.

Pre-ride preparations

Each time I take Calico out, I go through a series of excercises to warm-up and prepare for riding. Today Stephan came out with our boy Philip. He was able to get a few new pictures for the blog. I know that as we forge ahead in our journey, the prep times will be shorter and the rides will be longer. Today, I spent about 45 minutes warming up and about 20 in the saddle. The big news is that we moved back to the arena for the first time since my fall. We really had to work on standing still while I mount up. She was much more responsive to the bit yesterday in the round pen, but I think overall we did well. Watch the transformation from wild bronc to relaxed pleasure horse. I have to admit, as I was walking her around I felt nervous and wondered how I was ever going to be ready to get out on the trail. We will do it just like we've done everything else, slow and steady.

This is just before our round penning session. Fresh and Fun.

She is really having fun with the dogs. I think she'd like to kill them.

Here we're doing some basic round-penning. I put a feed bag on the ground in her path that she had to manuever without coming in toward me.

In the last clip, you can see we moved to the arena. Stephan was busy with Philip, so he only got the last few moments of our ride, but I really did have a good time with her today.

More Confidence Building

Yesterday, I was on my own. I went through all my excercises on the ground with Calico. When I'm not with the trainer, I have to use the small roundpen at the place where Cali is boarded. It's very cramped and it's hard for her to get a real workout. Even though it's small, it still works to prepare her mentally because I can visibly see her mind settle and then she's ready to focus on what I'm asking. I was just about to get on her when the landscaper arrived with the weed-whacker and leaf blower. She was distracted, so I did a few more minutes on the ground with her to see if she would react to the noise, then I mounted up. We just walked today. I feel like a baby, taking baby steps, but each time we end on a good note, I can push a little farther. I was suppose to spend at least thirty minutes in the saddle, I think I spent about 12. I dismounted and remounted again. She did fine and it felt good to be on her again. Next time I think I'll ride in the arena instead of the round pen. She responds to the lightest pressure on the rein and she seems very relaxed. If we just do lots of circles, and serpentines and walk-trot transitions, I think we'll be fine.
I'm thinking about the Twenty Mule Team ride in Ridgecrest, CA. That's near Death Valley not too far from here. It's on February 27th, so I better get to work.

Back in the saddle

Okay, quick review. On Sept. 1st, I got dumped on my tailbone pretty hard, and decided to get some professional help. Calico and I worked together with our trainer Robin to fill in the holes in my training. Cali was a quick learner, but we definitely had some respect issues to hammer out. Over the holidays, I found myself making excuses to just clean stalls and rush home. Nearly a month went by between training sessions and I was wondering if this was ever going to be fun again or if fear would always be there nagging me. I'm sure Robin picked up on my hesitation. She nudged me a little, then dangled some joy in front of me.



Cali saw the horse trailer pull up, and got excited. I put her in the little round pen next to her stall, and she went wild, bucking and kicking up a dust storm. After she settled down a bit I led her out to the street; she jumped right in the trailer. She was ready to work. Robin said, since it had been a while since our last session, she wanted me to work with her first to see if Calico tried any tricks. Her energy was a little high, and a little pissy, but she got right into the old routine quickly, and soon we were waltzing around like Fred and Ginger. After a while, Robin put on Calico's tack and mounted up. She was walking and trotting, bending and stopping. Then it was my turn. I hadn't trotted on her since before my fall. It was so relaxed, loose rein, easy downward transitions to a walk. Robin said, " You plan when you want to do your first limited distance (25 mile) ride and I'll go with you." I'm so excited. I promised I would ride her at least two days a week, and then we're going to start doing some little trail rides around the neighborhood and local trails. Robin has done so much more than train my horse, she's help me to regain my confidence. That's huge. I'm back.....I'm back in the saddle again!

Intro to Tarp

I have heard Clinton Anderson say that horses are afraid of objects, especially if they move and make noise. It's funny because it's true. If it doesn't live in the horse's stall or pasture it comes under suspicion, and horses don't usually wait around to find out if it will kill them. They need to trust their rider's judgement, so lots of desensitizing exercises help the horse to build it's trust and confidence in the rider. I don't think we can ever prepare our horses for every situation they may encounter, but each time we have a successful training session, and the horse isn't hurt, it helps them to trust

a little more and look to the handler for guidance. Here's Calico's first encounter with the tarp. She's not too worried; she was more indignant than afraid.

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In the second video, you can see the trainer has added the saddle. She uses the basic round penning cues; move forward, inside turn, change direction, come in to me, but has added the stress of something noisy dragging and flapping behind her. She did great.

Update on Training

From what I can tell, most people around here send their horse to a trainer for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or whatever, and get a trained horse back. I want to train my own horse. I don't want to just ride. I like the process. I just needed help ironing out problems, and I need feedback on my technique. I found the perfect trainer for us. Robin Bailey is a John Lyons certified trainer. She is teaching me to train my horse in a very methodical way. I love it. It makes sense to me and to my horse. She starts with a basic cues in the round pen, then adds a new challenge or twist. After her initial evaluation, she offered to pick us up in her trailer and use her round-pen a few blocks away. It's great to practice trailer loading each time. We've been working together regularly since the beginning of October. The most important lesson she gave me right off was about establishing respect. Calico is very dominant and pushy. Well, I knew that. What I didn't know was that her pushiness was sometimes very subtle. I thought as long as she wasn't running over the top of me, we were doing okay. She was 85% better than when I first got her. I was letting little stuff slide or just wasn't unaware of it. For Cali, it meant she was the leader of our tiny herd and she was making the decisions. There's no sometimes for a horse; either they are the leader or they're not. Big 'ah ha' moment for me.

We are both quick learners. Now that I understand this and can correct it immediately, she is much more respectful of my personal space. She is loading in the trailer easily, accepting new challenges and I look forward to each lesson. She's accepting a bit and responding to the pressure from the rein. Yesterday, we did a lot of work with a tarp. She took it all in stride.

Professional help

Okay, I know it's been ages since my last post. I felt Calico and I were making great progress. On September 1st I was riding her in the arena; and we were going through all our usual exercises. Another rider was in there with us but we were staying apart. As soon as we tried to ride together Calico spooked then bucked hard and I came off. I got right back on and we rode some more, but my hip and sacrum really hurt, and my confidence was shaken.

Although I think we've made great progress this year, I know there are gaps in my training. Training has to come before conditioning. I quickly made a decision to get some help from a professional trainer.

One of my problems was finding the right trainer. I've studied Parelli, Clinton Anderson, Chris Erwin, John Lyons, Michael Schaffer, Linda Tellington-Jones, Sally Swift, Kitty Lauman, and Dr. Deb. While their end goals are the same; a balanced, supple, responsive horse that enjoys his work, their approach or techniques are very different. The tools are different, the jargon is different. They all have their method that they are marketing and the novice has to cut through all the hype to get to the heart of training. Reading about a technique and implementing it are worlds apart. I watched countless videos, read dozens of blogs & articles, discussed this for hours with my friends and spent hundreds of dollars in the process. I know where I want to be, but when I walk into the round pen with my horse, all this information is rolling around in my head, and applying it in the moment takes trial and error. It also takes time and patience. I only had an arena to work in most of this year, no access to a round pen until September. So I felt very good that I had been able to ride my horse through the neighborhood and out in the desert with minimal problems. After falling for the third time, though, I was ready to make real progress, and have a very solid foundation before I conditioning for distance rides. In the meantime, I've become very interested in Cowboy Mounted Shooting, but that will have to wait for another post. What matters most, right now, is to have a safe and willing horse, so here we go.