It’s nice to have a run where all falls into place. I will try to remember this the next it all seems to fall apart (realistically you do get both).
Since my last post I’ve been riding, studying, researching, working out and processing.
The processing is what I do here… Putting it all together and thinking in the wee hours of the morning half-asleep, while I’m driving or jogging the 2 miles to pick up my trailer after dropping off and riding home.
The riding has been great. Good miles and increasing speed overall. I keep seeing increasingly better sweat patterns and little or no flinching or tenderness in Khaleesi’s top line. With more attention to my weaker right side I am feeling more balanced and light in the saddle.
most recent sweat patterns- for the non-horsey readers you want even wet sweat under the saddle pad and no roughed up hairs if possible.
Her heart rate and recovery is still great although I find the heat starting to slow her down. Last year it sleeted on me during the No Frills and this year the weather is looking nice and warm. I think I’m going to do a trace clip to help her cool as she’s not quite shed out enough fur yet.
As for research…
I’ve been working on tweaking my nutrition and electolyte plan. I’ve already cut off half their pasture so they don’t end up with too much green (cake!!) grass too soon and I’ll be asking them to eat a little hay with the grass as the ride approaches to encourage drinking (in addition to the loose salt I already add to their feed).
We have a new electrolyte recipe and Susan and I have been dosing with plain applesauce to make them better at taking a syringe when we need them to. I already mix a complete grain with a balancer pellet (I don’t feed enough grain for the complete grain to truly be complete) and will continue to up the calorie ratio as we work harder toward the race and then rest a few days as well to give them some good grocery loading.
She is at good weight and muscling for an endurance horse of her breeding
I will be prepared with cut apples and carrots and pick up some alfalfa cubes for quick on the go snack on trail (the alfalfa-hydration balance has been on my mind a lot but I think a few cubes won’t upset that enough to override the need for her to keep snacking on trail).
Of course we LOVE the soaked beet pulp and will continue to use that as a super forage that also encourages hydration.
Video of my favorite sound… Lots of slurping up wet beet pulp after a good ride
Working out- the least fun of all the steps to success.
I go to the gym to get some help and a push from a trainer. I am aware of my weaker right side now all the time and it’s growing stronger.
[by the way… I think this might have been exacerbated by a minor foot/ankle injury I somehow picked up over the winter. I started really favoring my left to help the right heal, and it has… Now I have to rebuild]
I am still working slowly on dropping a few pounds to ease the weight on my horse and have the fitness and stamina to ride balanced with more core and sustain that posting trot for up to the 12 hours we are allowed to complete our first 50 miler.
It’s a process but I’m taking steps each day to get there.
the dogs like when i take the nice weather to run at home instead of the gym
Then there’s the studying.
Each new virtual classroom through Simple Equine Teaching has new ‘ah-ha’ moments. My mom recently asked what I attributed our good roll lately to… Was it the power pack de-wormer?
Yes. Actually, I am really glad I followed that advice. I think she looks healthier in her hair and coat, and she’s moving better (of course so am I) but she also used to occasionally have marks on her sides where she’d chew/scratch. I haven’t seen evidence of that since the super-wormer.
However! I attribute a large part of our good roll to the relationship and training/leadership concepts out of the SET lessons.
They build in layers and I find myself regularly going back to a previous class and re-connecting a concept in a more complex way to new things I observe.
I am working more connected with my horse by getting better at how SHE perceives me every week. In many ways it’s a lesson on how to really think like a horse scientifically — not what the horse might be thinking based on our human brains. I am doing so much better because I don’t treat her like a little human- I work with her more naturally like a horse. And a great one who deserves to be understood for who she is – not anthropomorphised.
It is a small shift actually. But it has moved our universe.
We were pretty good before. We are better now… And it makes me smile to imagine what we might do together as we grow.
I woke up to snow flurries yesterday morning and temps in the 20s. I figured we’d ridden in worse weather in February so better get out there and get some miles in anyway. Plus there’s no stopping Susan – she doesn’t get cold!
Thankfully it didn’t take long for the overnight/early morning wind to die down and the sun to come out. We were both sick of riding from home and decided to load up and find somewhere new to ride.
The loop I had in mind definitely required saws – especially in light of our spring winds this year but would be a trail I ride seldom and had been thinking about trying a loop at lately.
Jordan Run is a dirt (with embedded rocks) road about 7 miles back to a dead end and used mostly for hunting. There is also a ridge trail that intersects the road twice before heading out toward Muddy Run (the one-way we usually ride). This ride I wanted to try out the ridge trail then returning to the dirt road for around 12 miles. It turned out to be a great ride.
We had creek crossing, bush whacking, climbing up goat trail rocky paths, a downed tree to stop and cut out, beautiful ridge riding and some good road riding all in one loop.
what most of the climbing trail looks like up to the ridge
This ride piggy-backed on a great Sunday ride for both Susan and I (separately) and the horses did incredibly well. They were motivated, ears forward, waited patiently when we tied to cut out the trail, and hauled ass on the dirt road at a steady trot/gait for the last 7 miles.
I continued to work on my imbalance and occasionally if I had to adjust or shift Khaleesi would look back at me with her ear flattened as if to say:
“can you get it together up there? I’m doing all I can to drag your clumsy butt through this!”
Faygo thrives on cold weather and she led the way through much of the ride home along the road.
Upon approaching the trailer I checked the gps to see we had finally broken the winter speed ceiling and had our overall average at 5mph and our moving average for the 12 miles was 5.7mph. Very respectable for the day!
We celebrated with cheers at the personal victory and rubbed the horses as we got off to walk them in.
Then I removed my saddle and pad to find our best sweat pattern yet. Almost no roughed up hairs and completely even wet from sweat under the pad with no dry spots and as a bonus hardly any sweat on the horse otherwise.
Amazing to think my riding could have so much to do with her back as I had been conscious of trying to ride as balanced as possible. I’m sure the one tiny shim pad helps as well but I think my uneven riding was the source and continuation of the issue. Not the saddle in this case.
After Leatherwood, I spent the short time I had at the barn in feeding and doing a worming power pack on Khaleesi- and backing her up the hill in their pasture each day. Both the worming and the backing were simple things that couldn’t hurt – in worse case have no effect at all.
I am surprised to say I believe the worming has improved her mane quality already. Ever since she came to me her mane and tail were somewhat brittle- like she’d had too many colors or perms and her hair was a little fried. I brushed it out yesterday and it seemed much softer already than it’s ever been.
The backing uphill has been one small thing I’ve asked of her each morning instead of just feeding and running.
Just that simple interaction has been a neat learning opportunity for us.
I’ve been continuing through the Simple Equine Teaching classrooms and though the concepts are simple (well that is right in the name!) the shift has been ongoing and foundational for me.
I am an active, get-it-done kind of girl. I like solutions and action. This Simple Equine method of working with horses is about inhabiting their world and seeing things as a horse might see it- which is a slower process for me. I find myself observing more carefully and with more understanding each week and having much more clear intent with my horses in every interaction.
It’s also been fascinating to get more serious about energy and mental focus and realize how big a part these play in working with horses.
How exactly?
I watched a few short videos of people working with horses then a discussion group about what was going on. Some things go well, some do not- but they are not obvious as to what goes wrong… In some cases it takes a little help for me to even notice something was ‘wrong’.
The horse did what the handler asked, right?
Oh… That moment the horse looked off distracted… A missed opportunity… The tension in his back end… Right. Of course.
But it’s all there if you look again.
In one video a woman was leading a horse and training the horse to lead with quality. The horse was very interested in the woman and trying to do the right thing. As soon as the horse hesitated or wasn’t quite lined up the woman corrected harshly with a stick/string (not hitting the horse but still overly harsh for what the horse was giving). As the video went on, the horse continued to get more frustrated and eventually began to rear on the lead.
It was interesting to watch the 2 minute clip over and over and ask “what went wrong there?” She seemed to be training the horse firmly- but nothing I haven’t seen many times. Still- the horse who began so willingly became so frustrated (in less then 2 minutes) that nothing good could be accomplished. This wasn’t so obvious to me at first glance, but I knew my heart rate rose while watching. Something went wrong.
After a few times I tuned in to the first time the horse hesitated in following at her shoulder and RIGHT before the horse slowed the woman hesitated… If you really paid attention, it seemed to me she had lost her forward energy and clear mental intent of what she wanted to do… She looked as if she might stop and back and then changed to continue forward.
Right after that hesitation that was only perceptible to me after re-watching a few times – the horse slowed and then picked back up. And not fast enough as the woman tossed her stick behind to reprimand the horse. The more I watched the more I saw how she used her energy was confusing- she would stop and back and change speeds (all good things to train) but she wasn’t being clear in her mind what her plan was and the horse who appeared to be trying to play along to the best of his ability was more and more frustrated from being punished when the request wasn’t really that clear.
She also didn’t give a release or reward when the horse did try; only once stopped to pat the horse’s neck then jerked forward so fast back into ‘the game’ it wasn’t at all a release or reward.
Then it hit me.
These animals ARE energy creatures. I’ve been backing Khaleesi uphill which is less comfortable than backing on the flat. Once I get a few quality steps I release her lead and rub her neck – however– I know in my mind we are still backing up the hill more steps. My goal oriented brain is still mentally not done backing up the hill and I can look back to these short sessions in my mind and see that though I’ve ‘released‘ her physically- she didn’t relax. She would look around, move her head, as if she was uncomfortable. It hit me as so obvious that I had only released her physically. Not mentally, not with my energy.
So these layers once you see them….
They can’t be unseen.
Susan has been fun to run ideas by and she said there was a time she would have said that its ‘mumbo-jumbo’ voodoo junk… We know how to work with horses, you put your leg there, your pull the rein… The lead… This is a waste of time…. But she is starting to see it too.
Sure- you do pull the rein or jerk the lead if you have to (and boy sometimes do I have to) but the bigger picture is if you’ve started the request or conversation with clear mental intent, back it up with the energy you need, then if you still aren’t getting the response use physical pressure until you do ‘get it done’ but as humans we don’t seem to realize that the physical cue – depending on how harshly it’s used is at best raising your voice and at worst screaming.
After putting together the electric fence to bisect our pasture and teach Khaleesi for future camping systems, I took her in to ride armed once again with a little more understanding.
Khaleesi checking out the fencing supplies
I thought about how riding used to be relaxing and carefree and now my mind was full of tweaks and improvements I needed to make (being a goal oriented person- this is naturally where I would end up in any activity and for the record it is fun for me to function this way and I like having purpose- so I am not lamenting the carefree days of old when I didn’t know what I didn’t know):
*Try one less saddle pad insert and see if my sweat pattern and saddle fit improves.
*Get her moving with more purpose on alone rides.
*More steady trotting and more cantering intervals.
*Fix my balance in the saddle
*Continue to learn from ‘the turn around’ so we can move past that once and for all!
I know taking her out alone is the key to all of these. I decided to be more clear in my own mental intent to see if that would help her stay forward and help me when she tried to turn me around.
We got to begin this immediately. She started turning around in the yard to say:
I’d like to go back and eat grass with Faygo.
To which I set my intent firmly on the iron gates that I knew once we passed she would get with the program- I looked at them, imagined us going through them, and I held firmly to the right rein as she tried to turn left and held her from turning. It felt like an energy dam- like she was pushing a lot of energy my way towards turning around and I held as firm as I could until she gave the slightest give in the direction I wanted. Then I let my energy flow wide open toward the gate (total mental, emotional and physical release) and she’d take a few steps that way. We did this about 3 times until the muscles in my back (shoulderblade) were sore from holding firm against her pull – and for the record though I was calm, this felt like screaming at her in horse language terms– then she seemed to decide going with the flow was a better choice and we were off.
Next I imagined a point on the trail near where I might turn back around and visualized it clearly in my mind and mentally headed there – I backed it up with forward energy and if she started to dawdle or plod I pushed on with a good walk we also trotted out regularly. This seemed to make a difference!
There was only one more place she tried a turn around and it happened to be at the base of a nice hill not long into the ride. I had just been thinking that I hadn’t backed her uphill yet and today we could do it under saddle.
Great timing girl.
She turned around and I asked her to back up the direction we had been going. After a few steps I allowed her to choose- forward again?
Nope. She wasn’t ready.
We backed more and stopped. (She’s doing well backing!) she licked and yawned (not tired, processing). She tried to step forward, I blocked her.
Choices are only these:
Walk my direction forward.
Back up my direction.
We backed again and I gave her the choice. She turned to walk forward for 5 steps then turned around again.
Repeat.
Licking and yawning.
Once we turned back up the trail with my mind still firmly set on the end point she did not ask to turn again.
I will not be so bold to say problem solved– however this turn around question is beginning to grow on me! It’s been a learning opportunity that I’ve been able to tackle from many angles with some things working better than others. But something learned each time.
The entire ride I tried to stay focused mentally. I do get distracted easily- my thoughts wander. This isn’t bad but I can’t expect my horse to stay focused moving forward if my mind is elsewhere. How great that she is that in tune with me.
It worked.
We rode alone for 7.5 miles with a moving pace of 4mph. Considering we tried a new route through some open woods with lots of down fencing and a deer herd that moved through and scary cows jumping out of the woods in a ravine, we spent a decent chunk of time walking slow enough to navigate and also find our way back to a trail I knew was out there somewhere.
Her pace was exactly what I needed when I asked for it- and this could be the first time I felt that was happening between us so easily.
I remembered Pam’s last words to me as she left for winter. They have rung in my head off and on since: if you do nothing else, work on riding with your energy this winter.
I heard her. But I wasn’t there yet. I think this ride began to click on what she was trying to tell me.
The difference was ALL mental on my part. The mumbo-jumbo energy stuff. Not kicking with my leg or driving with my leathers.
Some may say – that’s just not fun. I want to ride my horse to zone out and enjoy the woods. I hear that. But for me, yesterday was one of my favorite rides ever. We seemed more connected and that was worth all the mental effort.
The other tweak I’m working on is balancing myself in the saddle. I saw this photo from leatherwood and was aghast at how uneven my legs and hips are!
As I rode I tried to sort out what’s going on, and I think I have something.
I am much more comfortable riding one handed with reins in my right hand. (I am right handed). I believe my right hip comes forward and shortens my right side and in holding the reins my right shoulder also comes forward. In the picture my left side is long and my right side is shortened both upper and lower body.
After paying more specific attention yesterday I am convinced the picture is not an anomaly or off-moment. It is a sliver of truth- and I worked on pulling back my right leg and riding two handed to balance my shoulders as well.
It felt funny but I hope in time I can straighten out! The right side (where I am collapsed) is the side Khaleesi has the most tender spots after hard riding and where we need the pad inserts. I am pretty sure it was my uneven riding that created the issue in the first place.
Between the pad and improved symmetry I hope to help her back stay happy.
Upon returning to the barn her sweat patterns and hair smoothness was the best I’ve seen it.
The next day I am a little sore on my right side from the extra effort. At the gym I’ve also seen weakness in that side and we are working on that too! How odd that being right handed my left side appears stronger.
So a small triumph for us both mentally and physically. And the electric fence is a success. Nice to have some moments where things seem on track!
Dark, starry night. Camp is quiet by now though it’s only 10:30. I can’t sleep this early- and even when I do sleep it won’t be sound. I always listen for the munching and drinking of my horse. A horse chewing hay outside your trailer is surprisingly loud when the entire camp is quiet. What wakes me is the silence in between. The moments of true rest between fueling up for the next day. That and the occasional clang of metal on metal if she accidentally hits the fencing with her head and then I panic for a moment
What happened?!… Is she caught? Trying to reach something outside the paddock? Is she out of hay? Is that possible – I threw in a weeks worth before bed to be sure! She must be thrashing in her pen with colic … Wait that is totally ridiculous. She is fine just bumped the side.
Doesn’t matter. I still have to get up and look to be sure there is still hay and water at 2am. I won’t get back to sleep if I don’t just check.
Then sounds of munching and drinking lull me back to sleep.
So here I stand with Khaleesi under the stars’trading breath’ as she deeply exhales deeply her horse breaths that smell like earth and hay. I don’t say a word. We just breathe on each other and she stops eating to stand with me nose to nose. I think she’s ready for tomorrow. She is confident, calm and relaxed. I could feel every whisker and velvet hair on her nose as she stood with her head over the corral breathing on me quietly.
I should get some sleep.
We arrived at base camp slightly later than I’d wanted to. One primitive section was just about full and the only spot left was dead center as the other rigs were lining the perimeter. Didn’t seem ideal, but in the end it was a pretty good spot. No one has much privacy in base camp anyway. We might have been in center view- but we had no actual neighbors which was kind of nice.
Endurance camping is not as leisurely as normal camping- there is a ton to do and the horses have been riding in the cramped trailer dehydrating all morning. They need to pass a vet check but not until you’ve found some water for them, make sure they’ve eaten (need gut sounds), and stretched their legs a bit so they don’t look stiff on trot out.
They need their enclosure set up and you have to check in to get your number (also before vet check). At some point your own sleeping area and human things will matter and I’m grateful there is a ride meeting and camp dinner because I might just skip dinner altogether if I didn’t have to drop what I’m doing and go get the information necessary to a good ride the next day accompanied by some food!
Somehow it all gets done and lately I’ve been fortunate enough to have a crew/team along and it is truly a godsend to not have to go solo with every detail- and have company to laugh with and share your stresses with and hep carry aluminum panels.
As I was brushing off Khaleesi I felt she had a slightly sensitive spot on her back- it wasn’t terrible. Just something to pay attention to. Both horses passed the vet check with A’s and we were set for the morning.
We get up well before dawn to soak some beet pulp and get breakfast ready for the girls. Everything is set up the evening before as we knew we’d be tacking up and prepping in the dark. The 50 milers were schedule to ride out at 7am but the times were going to be adjusted for daylight so they would hold the start until light was sufficient. 25 mile riders would start 30 minutes later, so we would have some daylight pre-ride but not much.
I made the coffee (always the priority on ride morning) and Jessica (Susan’s daughter) came to crew for us so we helped her with a checklist. As usual we made some friends and Roger (whose cousins grew up in the house Ed and I bought – which is a whole other story….) was riding the 50 with a crewman (Nathan) who helped Jessica if she had any questions going through the process.
new friends Roger and Nathan- helping Jess with her moms car battery in camp
The ride had a controlled start which concerned me a little- only because I’d never done one. In this case at the start, a 4-wheeler acts like a pace car taking the group out of camp to the trail. Sometimes controlled starts are used for safety: the terrain isn’t safe for faster starts (pavement?) or traffic concerns- or sometimes it might not be very clear how to get out of camp and onto the right trail? I’m not exactly sure why we had a controlled start but it ended up being fine and Khaleesi and I aimed for mid-pack while Faygo and Susan held back as long as possible (an extra 5 minutes) to ride a slower pace.
For the record- Faygo was not OK with this plan, but she and Susan handled it really well and once they were on trail they found a friend and Faygo was great – as I had thought (and hoped).
I seemed to fall in with a couple of riders from Virginia who were on walking horses. They were kind enough to include me in their group and Khaleesi seemed to step in with them eagerly.
Last year we had been the leader on a ride (with a new rider), and the follower on a ride as we tagged along with a more experienced rider and a ride with Faygo where we held back for her (won the turtle that day!). My goal for this ride was to move through it as quickly as she would go inspired by my forward energy, other horses and the excitement but not by me driving her with any aids or force from me.
This group inspired her so we tagged along at their pace. Which for the first 16 miles (into the vet check) was a moving average of 7mph- faster than we’ve ever sustained on a training ride.
Leatherwood held up to its reputation as a hilly monster though the footing I found not rocky but good sand (not deep) and easy. We were either going up or going down the entire 25 miles- both of which are hard on a horse. The group I rode with tended to jog along then canter for stretches. We do canter on our rides but never this much.
Still- the girl was game and I never asked her for more speed- in fact occasionally I held her back going down a steep section the walking horses can maneuver faster than she can do well.
I paid close attention to her heart rate and her recoveries were great. There were stretches going uphill she would rise higher than I’d like but she never faltered or slowed and when we’d level out she’d return back to 110 or 120 and often she’d hang around 80-90bpm as we trotted along. If we stopped at a crossing or trough she often recovered below 60 in a couple minutes.
She hardly drank the first loop- but it was cloudy and cool so I wasn’t concerned. I know this horse will drink out of a mud puddle when she is ready. We did stop for a couple minutes in some lush grass where she ate eagerly before the final approach.
We pulled into the vet check (in camp) in a little over 2 hours where Khaleesi drank and chowed down on the green grass. She pulsed down to 60 within 3 minutes of arriving (and we trotted in at a pretty fast clip) where the vet said she looked good but probably could use to eat and drink.
She drank a ton and turned her nose at the grain and beet pulp for the grass which she mowed down for the entire break.
Khaleesi chowing grass at Jess’s awesome crew station!
She’s never turned her nose at grain or beet pulp. We had been adding her electrolytes to her beet pulp for days now and shed eaten them with no fuss. I wanted to try not dosing her with the electrolytes (which they hate) but having her eat them in the wet beet pulp. It seemed worth trying. Until it didn’t work when I needed it.
Enter Dr. Sarah from Lynn’s crew (Lynn is our mentor). She came to help and boy did she!
As soon as she walked over she started listing off suggestions and I can’t even remember them all now. She paused at one point (I must have looked overwhelmed) to say oh- I’m sorry, tell me if I’m interfering- I know Lynn said you guys are new and I just wanted to help.
Oh no… Not interfering. Keep going- I’m with you no matter what the look on my face might seem to say!
So she asked where our electrolytes were… In her beet pulp. Oh no. Do you have a plan B? A dose for her if she didn’t eat them?
Plan B? No. No plan B. Extra electrolytes back at the trailer.
Never leave something that important to chance. Your horse is giving you everything today- you have got to fuel it the best you can- wait here. I’ll be right back.
And she went to get her own electrolyte mix and dosed Khaleesi then rinsed her mouth and helped us get tacked back up- your hay looks fine for day- to-day- but you need to find something performance for ride weekends… Do you have carrots and apples chopped for them ready to go? How has her heart rate been? Keep her under 150 otherwise it’s anaerobic and you don’t want that this afternoon. Hold on, you need to move your HRM electrode over this way more… Your HRM pack is reversed – next time use electrical tape to be sure the connections don’t come loose as you ride. What is your out time? You have 3 minutes lets get you on now-
My head was spinning with all the suggestions and small details and tweaks we’d not thought of. This woman had successful 100s and plenty of top ten finishes and was working with other super successful riders. Whatever she had to say was worth taking note.
For now though: L32 heading back out. Second loop was shorter (9 miles) and the sun had come out to warm us up. We stayed with the same riding group on the second loop. RobertaCarmen
The climbing on the second loop was at least as tough as the first and our pace was slower (5.4mph). This loop we stopped longer for water and all 3 horses drank their fill every time. We did more walking in the afternoon and when we did fast climbing Khaleesi’s heart rate stayed higher than in the cooler morning so the walking was good to bring her back down each time.
We even paused long enough at a pretty spot to take some pictures.
My final ride time for the 25 miles was 4 hours and 23 minutes- we came in 18th place out of 38 starting. The ladies I rode with finished 16th and 17th. I’m very happy with how we did.
It was a success for us- but also a big learning experience. I have been asking the question: how do we know we are ready for the 50? And I still am not sure how to answer it- but what I’ve decided after Leatherwood is that I may not know how to tell if we are ready- but I do know how to tell we are not, and right now we are not.
After going over important details earlier with Sarah, I said a few times you’re right I should have known that…or oh, I didn’t realize… Or I’ve heard of that but didn’t understand why…
She said “that is what the LD is for, you learn these things now in a distance you can make mistakes without dire consequences. You can’t make those mistakes on a 100”
So I’ve nicknamed the LD (Limited Distance) the Learning Distance for me and I am going to see if we can do better at the No Frills next month.
Small things we need to up our game with:
**Better electrolyte plan.
**Pick up some super high quality hay for the weekend.
**Cut up some carrots and apples to set out at vet checks and post-ride as a treat (we brought apples- but just whole, and carrots would be so much easier to carry on the ride)
**Add some senior or sweet feed ride weekend for extra palatability.
**Adjust where my HRM electrodes are and add electrical tape on ride day.
pulse station- the ladies would give her a scratchy glove face rub before moving on to vet- she loved it.
Those are easy. The two looming issues we need to adjust before we can do a 50 are her back and our pacing.
I’ll address pacing first.
The saying goes: ‘ride your own ride’ and I didn’t exactly follow that sage advice.
I struggle keeping this girl moving at a faster pace on everyday rides without using force (which I don’t want to do) and have had some success this winter with finding motivation and she is improving. Still- I knew she was capable of more and this weekend I wanted to see what she could do. I allowed her to ride ‘with the herd’ — she’s young so I also felt she could learn what the other horses are doing out here.
I do not regret riding with our friends- because I learned a lot, and Khaleesi was happy and willing and we had a great ride. She was not ‘race-brained’ and out of control, she was happily flying along the trails with new friends- but although we gave her a couple chances- she was not ready to lead that group and told me she did not want to go in front (in fact she turned around only when I put her in front. I allowed her to go back in line as it wasn’t an appropriate place for an argument) she was ok with being in the middle – just not the lead.
I do not believe we could have sustained that pace if we were truly riding our own ride and riding alone.
Possibly more important were the cantering intervals… And more cantering. A lot more cantering than we do at home. It was fun and she offered the cantering every time without any sense of being tired…. However….
I think her best ride all around to date was at Big South Fork when we rode with a buddy who sustained a great metronome trot. I think that is a strength that Khaleesi has- and we didn’t use it at Leatherwood. Everyone has a different way to get through a ride and I think next ride I will try to keep a more sustained pace. (Of course we also dealt with a lot of climbing and descent at leatherwood so that’s a speed changing factor as well!)
I am pretty sure the excessive (for us) cantering is a contributor to her tight lower back post-ride. Which is the next issue.
I was fortunate enough to have Dr. Jeannie Waldron – who is the mentor of my mentor- take a look at Khaleesi the evening after the ride.
We had passed the vet checks fine and she came through sound and healthy, but that’s not the whole story.
She had some sore spots on when I ran my fingernail down her back. It was only our 3rd ride with the have a heart pad so I’m not sure if I have that right, and one side was more sensitive than the other.
When Dr. Waldron looked at her she kept touching her mane. She said to me “I have a few things to tell you about your horse.”
She is too tight in her lower back.
She asked me about our worming program. I told her what we’d done which was pretty significant and included a recent fecal count of 0.
She said she was impressed with what we had been doing worming wise- but suggested a power pack for her because she felt there were parasites we may have missed that would affect her back (too much to remember every specific detail here, but I’ve got an overview…) these parasites can impact an area that makes it hard to use her back properly and can contribute to a tight back- and her mane seemed to agree with the diagnosis. It wasn’t as healthy as it should be. She believed that would help her immediately.
She then suggested I back her 15-20 steps uphill every day to help build up those muscles even more so they are stronger.
We also checked for saddle fit, and though the saddle fit is good for the most part- it might be too narrow at her spine for her. I could feel what she meant and have a call into the maker to talk about it.
The worst spots were low in her back- and we finally have the dry spots and rubbing sorted out (I think!!).
Though she passed the vet check, I would not have wanted to ride her another loop with her back tight and sensitive (pain) spots she seemed to have.
This is my biggest concern and the thing I will be paying the most attention to in the next month as we ride.
I have made a promise never to put my goals ahead of my horse, and I will fix this issue (or at least significantly improve it) before I put her out for a 50 mile ride.
The night after the ride everything seemed overwhelming. I felt even a little like I had failed my horse. I saw all the things I didn’t do as well as I wanted.
Two days later as I finish recalling and processing I have a brighter outlook. I learned a lot from this and she came through strong and healthy overall. Some others were not so lucky – and in that vein my heart goes out to KL who was not so fortunate through no fault of anyone. There is enough consequence from lack of preparation, bad decisions, and mistakes but it is so heart breaking when you’ve done everything right and a freak accident changes everything.
Both my horses are safe and happy. They ate and drank all night and had great attitude and though tired were not worn out as some horses I’ve seen over-ridden and dull in the eyes. Her legs stayed firm with no fluid in the joint areas. We made it safely home to a big green pasture and they both get the week off.
** post script note: today her back is already greatly improved. The left side has no sensitivity at all and the right side (the side I added pad inserts) has a twitch but not a dip when I scrape a fingernail or pointy object down her back I have an appointment to talk to Jamie Evan tomorrow and I might need to do some more sorting out on my pad inserts.
I will use the Learning Distance LD to keep getting better until we are ready to try for the next step.
I am so proud of my tough little mare. She really shined on Saturday and she gave me everything forgiving once again my small mistakes.
If it were easy, everyone would do it!
Some extra pictures from the weekend:
Getting some fresh air at the gas stop
pretty section of trail water station
Ride buddies at the finish ride morning vetting in friday evening vet card
Last ride before our first ride. To those who’ve been following our story that probably makes sense to you. For those new readers: our first ride of the season is Saturday, and this is our last ride before we head out to the leatherwood challenge this weekend.
Kate came to ride Faygo along with me.
Overall it was a great success:
Weather was sunny and warm.
Zero turn around arguments (well… Not counting the deer incident, which I do not- more on that later)
We finally kept up a pace of over 5mph (for 12 miles)!
The ‘have a heart ‘ pad with 2 inserts on the right seemed to be perfect. Saddle felt even and I felt the most balanced I ever have in it. The ‘strange’ trotting diagonal that used to be less comfortable seems to be gone- it may be the pad evening us out, or the fact that I’ve been aware of it and trying to use it and work it more- or a combination. But my knee doesn’t bother me on that side and I felt much more even.
Heart rate monitor is working and Khaleesi trotted along rarely braking 100bpm much of the ride and dropped heart rate to the 50s each water break pretty quickly.
After a rough Monday we seemed to be finally clicking along on all cylinders.
Except….
The horses spent most of the ride on ‘high alert’.
We got to the ‘horse’ parking lot and unloaded fine. At some point both horses were super focused on something: ears pointed, heads up on long necks. They were on opposite sides of the trailer not really able to see each other but the energy was obvious.
I had no idea what could have them so concerned except a man had arrived in the ‘human’ parking lot with a medium sized dog in an orange vest who was jogging around the field sniffing and just being a dog. My horses are around dogs all the time.
We got ourselves mounted and headed down the trail along the field at a great forward easy trot (gait for Faygo) and every 12 steps Khaleesi would zag slightly- her nose, ears and eyes looking around any bush or tree for potential danger.
In fact much of the ride had the horses expecting some kind of danger around the next thicket. Occasionally a few spring birds would shoot out and I’d feel her pull up fast and prepare for evasive action…
It’s a bird! You’ve seen birds before!
I was reminded of a cartoon I saw recently:
Perhaps a bush.
I am well aware that our horses can be worried and we often respond by being more tense and creating a nervous cycle that spirals – I do not believe this happened yesterday.
Her ‘high alert’ status did not worry me. Probably it should have, but this horse has only spooked once where I’ve come off (a deer jumped out of a culvert) I landed in the grass where she had been a second before she leapt sideways and she stood quietly while I got up. Since then any grouse we flush (that sounds like a helicopter taking off in the bush next to us) or deer that jumps out of the grasses that sends a spook our way, knock on wood as they say- she tends to keep me up there.
She’s not a ‘spooky’ horse in general, but the grouse spook me they are so sudden and loud! It’s going to happen. So instead of riding tense and worried- I keep loose, melt into my saddle a bit, and keep easy breathing and soft eyes.
Your’re fine, I’m fine- we’re fine.
We were more than half way home along my favorite stretch of grassy flat trail along the Jackson River moving at a good clip when she pulled up fast- my weight fell forward onto her neck, Kate and Faygo nearly rear-ended us and I wondered if I’d have to bail momentarily. I was able to stabilize myself and get back into the saddle while she whipped around ready for flight running into Faygo and I practically knocked Kate as we circled- now Faygo getting ready to topple us in flight.
What the………
Whoa whoa whoa!
I pulled her to circle into a true stop, regained some composure and heard Kate say:
Deer.
I guess there were a few in an opening in the brush and they were close and frozen still- as we approached right on them- they took flight apparently scaring the bejesus out of Khaleesi who was already on high alert.
Deer.
We see deer all the time. Apparently there’s a rumor at the barn of a new horse-eating deer monster that is hungry after a winter hibernation.
After we regrouped a moment and apologized to the small family who had been crossing the path to go fishing about 50 feet ahead of us and watched the whole thing – in fact I had noticed the family – acknowledging in my head that she may be concerned about the people as we approached when the deer on the periphery were the true danger.
We had a little laugh after it was clear we were all fine. Both horses didn’t actually run in flight, and both of us had stayed on through the whirling. In fact I’m not even sure what Faygo did as my world was in the spin zone at the time. She probably just froze in place except being practically barreled over by Khaleesi.
We put Faygo in front for a while – she could get eaten first.
I then told Kate this will be a grouse day. We see them enough that I had a feeling this was ‘the’ day for stuff like that. My only guess as to why they were acting so odd on this warm spring day is there DID seem to be more animals moving about than usual.
True enough, about 2 miles later we flushed a grouse out of the laurel we were riding through.
At this point we were ‘spooked out’ and she hardly seemed to care.
Susan often reminds me that Khaleesi is the biggest handful when she’s had too much time off.
It’s been just about a week since our last ride. The way life happens sometimes- our team training ride over the weekend was cancelled and I ended up out of town over the weekend unexpectedly. We’ve kept up a pretty strong training schedule through most of winter, and two weeks before the ride we should start dropping back our conditioning (though I wouldn’t have chosen to get all the way to zero this fast). I’m glad I made the decision to start our season with th 25 mile ride as I predicted – the time (schedule) and weather just haven’t been cooperative enough to jump into a March 50.
Jamie Evan at Phoenix Rising (the folks who made my saddle) was kind enough after hearing about my vet visit and our guess about uneven shoulders causing rubs- sent me a ‘have a heart’ pad which they designed to fix my very issue.
No new equipment the day of a ride is a serious law to abide by so I was determined to tack up and at least pull off a very short (less than an hour?) ride today.
It wasn’t our finest day. I brought Khaleesi in with no trouble; she had some lunch and the good news is spring is finally here (you can keep the groundhog- we know it’s spring when our horses lose pounds of hair) her hair fell off in clumps today.
I took a look at the new pad made up of two Velcro pockets with foam type inserts Because she’s uneven I took the inserts out of one side and left all four in the other. After I put the pad on and the saddle I thought the saddle looked visibly out of balance (overcorrected) so I pulled it back off and took one of the 4 back out. Seemed better.
saddle now had too much lift on the right side
After fixing the extra pad- I began to finish the process of saddle & tack. I needed to feel around under the pad and saddle to see how the placement was.
She did not like this process and let me know by nipping in my general direction.
I am concerned I am not getting the right balance of our good relationship with firm leadership and decided this nipping action was a bad sign – and we spent more time than I’d wanted backing up the barn aisle and working on moving feet and getting some boundaries working better.
I think she got the message and we got saddled and bridled – then she wasn’t as cooperative standing at the stool for me to mount either. I slowed this down and insisted we do it right (eating more time out of an already short ride) then once in the saddle, she let me know in no uncertain terms she wasn’t planning to go out of the yard with me today. As we headed toward the gate she turned me around every 2 feet.
I decided to continue the energy balance work and it did get us spiraling up the driveway in the right direction- but I had to wonder HOW MANY TIMES could she want to circle- sometimes I’d encourage extra circles as well in hopes she wouldn’t want to continue going in circles.
We did eventually get onto the trail but it was a constant conversation where she said “I don’t what to do this with you today”
I made the decision that she was absolutely not overworked coming out of a weeks’ rest, and sometimes she’s going to have to do things she doesn’t feel like doing. So we ARE doing this.
At one point we did at least 10 (TEN) circles in a row because she refused to go forward. I had already accepted our ride would be super short and wasn’t angry with her. I kept a pretty easy mental state not angry or emotional and just thought:
I can keep this up as long as you want to!
That’s when the worlds started humming through my head “you’re making me dizzy… My head is spinning… Like a whirlpool it never ends.”
She did start to move more forward better but all the way ‘out’ she threw in an occasional turn around. When we were headed the direction I wanted I insisted she move it! Easy trot- no plodding along trying to change my mind.
Get with the program!
Finally once we hit a spot to turn home (which I intended to take, but on my terms and not hers!) I insisted she pass the turn to home and continue down the trail. I picked up my energy and when she really started to feel like she’d given in and accepted my plan I stopped her and turned back to home.
She was a gem from then on if you can believe it.
When we got back to the barn and I hopped off we had an odd moment. She just stood there quietly, and she yawned and licked and chewed a lot- not trying to eat- just stood quietly occasionally licking her lips.
We’d had a lot of energy spent in discussions but at only 3 miles she was not exhausted. I am hoping she was processing something positive. Video- after ride
I waited for a while through this out of curiosity but it didn’t change much. Eventually I invited her in the barn and she stood eating some hay while I pulled off the saddle.
I think I need to remove one more piece out of the heart pad because I felt out of balance still. I’m glad we tried it out.
So a short ride- with too many arguments for my taste on event week… As my husband always reminds me: you don’t want to peak too soon! At this rate we have nothing to worry about!
Meanwhile the list checking and supply shopping has commenced as well be pulling out on Friday! It seems unreal that our first ride this season- so highly anticipated is finally almost here!
This post is a reflection of my brain at the moment – which seems to have a lot going on. Probably too much. So apologies in advance for the spider web of information I am about to present.
Let’s begin with Friday.
Friday brought both the farrier and the vet visit for spring.
New shoes for the girls. Khaleesi did really well with her second ever hot shoeing and though she was a little concerned she didn’t fidget or jump too much and my farrier said that I’d done really good work with her and should be pleased with how well she is doing for his visits.
Over the year I notice more instances where Khaleesi seems to have more confidence than Faygo in ways that I wouldn’t have expected. One example was a snake-like blue cord my farrier used. He tossed it out while it was Faygo’s turn and she snorted and acted concerned by it. She didn’t spook or panic, but she was not calm and confident. She knew how she was supposed to behave (stand still) but internally was disturbed. When it was time to pull the same cord up past Khaleesi a friend at the barn warned me to pay attention – it could spook her as it snaked close by. She looked down and noticed it with little concern as it whipped by her feet. I find this to be more and more common between the two mares- my young horse seems more at ease in her environment and more confident in her surroundings than her older experienced friend. I don’t believe Faygo is changing, and as horses go she is still a solid dependable safe horse- but there is something about Khaleesi – a level headedness… Confidence… Curiosity over fear… Something that I sense about her that comes from somewhere inside rather than from external training.
This thought links me next to the book I’ve just finished by Mark Rashid: Whole Heart, Whole Horse.
Toward the end he talks about softness vs. lightness. Lightness (I just loaned the book out so forgive me if I get the words reversed) is something you train- but softness can never come from training alone. Lightness is external- correct response to what you ask- while softness is when the horse opens up her inside… Mental and emotional… And participates fully inside and out. I hope that is what I’m able to taste once in a while in my work with Khaleesi.
The difference I feel with Faygo is good training but without having gotten to her softness. The things I didn’t understand.
My farrier, who has known the horse a few years, in random conversation made a comment about Faygo having been ‘through the ringer‘ which made me think. His comment was meant to be positive, but as I reflected on what he said- It made her a dependable and safe horse, but did it cost something bigger? I’m not sure I know the answer but I am truly grateful that Susan had come into our lives to start fresh with her and hopefully give her a new chance to trust someone with her softness who truly is deserving of that trust.
Relationship.
I think that softness comes though the relationship which is a whole other knot to untie and I’m still constantly working on what it means… The dance. The mental, emotional and physical balance. Finding a way to make what you want what your horse wants too so you don’t become at odds or adversarial- but always seeking agreement. Alignment is the word a friend uses often. This can’t happen if you aren’t seeing from the horse’s perspective. Not so simple to do.
Today we took on a challenging ride. The trail itself we’ve ridden and isn’t particularly tough- it was only challenging because of the multi-faceted layers in play.
#1- weather. It was rainy (not pleasant for the riders) but too warm for the horses still in winter coats, and humid.
#2- loop. I’ve been able to motivate Khaleesi to move better when I drive her off and ride her home, today we took on a loop where we’d end up back at the trailer. We struggle to keep impusion with this type of ride.
#3- conditioning. We are out of winter danger footing issues and 3 weeks away from our first ride. The horses have had relaxed riding because conditions haven’t allowed to push- now we need to see some speed work, some elevated heart rates to add fitness and they are just not used to being asked to work harder yet.
#4 technical & occasionally steep. The ride has a few very steep sections (once we got off to hand walk just to give them a break and it was a hard climb for us humans!) there were also many sections where the rocks embedded in the trail made it hard to scramble along wihout slowing down and muddy-creek bed sections where they weren’t sure enough to push through quickly. This made for ‘go-slow-go again’ riding which can be an energy drain.
The ride was more exhausting for me than other recent rides and not a joyful celebration of spring, but it was still a good ride and a valuable one!
There were moments where Khaleesi really wanted to drag- slow down and laze along ‘what is the rush?’ She often seems to ask. This winter, I’ve worked on finding motivation to pick up her speed (riding home, or faster horses to keep up with) but today I decided she is capable and ready mentally and physically for me to ask more. I made a conscious decision to begin with energy, then leg, and if those didn’t pick her up I drove with my leathers on my reins. At first I had to drive with my strings a decent amount- and considering I often ended up hitting my own leg- I can assure you it wasn’t hard or painful- just a push to say “let’s go”. I used the mantra as little as you need but as much as it takes and I never pushed her so hard that she was exhausted. I know what this little horse is capable of and today I needed to work on her giving it even if the spirit didn’t move her. As the ride went on I found her giving more from energy and leg and rarely having to drive her with my leathers.
Observe. That is one more word of the month. How to see from the horse’s perspective. Before I ask or assume- try to observe what is actually going on. Everything a horse does gives us information.
At one part of the ride I could get Khaleesi moving then she would pull back. It was a bit frustrating and I was forced to ask
Why is this section so difficult to keep pace? The ground looks fine, it’s not up or downhill… Why does she keep slowing?
We had hit a long section of trail that had embedded rocks that made it hard for her to move quickly. She would land right on one or next to one throwing her off and she was asking to take a safer pace. They were not to easy to see unless you were looking close and there were stretches of nice trail in between. Once I understood I thanked her for taking care of us and we worked on transitions. I could see a good section and I’d push my energy up and ask her to go- she would. When I saw the rock sections I’d pull my energy back and ask her to walk. I struggle with transitions anyway so this was great practice for me. Energy up-energy down (and stay balanced!)
Unfortunately we did have 6 (yes I counted) turn around conversations. However I used them as opportunities to try another concept I read in Mark Rashid’s book. This concept was really new to me regarding energy balance.
Let’s say you want energy 100% to be in proper balance. Ideally you’d like to have 50% your energy and 50% from your horse. It doesn’t always work this way- if your horse is only giving 25%, you may need to give 75% to get what you need done. Hopefully after you amp up the energy you can get more in balance as your horse meets you. It might take some work.
But what about the moments when your horse spooks, or fights you- ramping their energy up to 90%? The trouble is that most people get caught up and also bring their energy up. Now you are well over 100% and way out of balance. This makes trouble. Instead- having emotional control dictates that when the horse amps up the volume then we must as the human dial back and meet their 90% with only 10%. Now we can stay in balance together and come out alright.
I immediately grabbed this concept in my ‘turn around’ arguments.
When she tries to turn me she pushes up her energy to fight with me to at least 75% or more. It’s not out of control but it’s higher energy. I notice that I engage in the argument – pulling at her head, kicking at her hindquarters – refusing to let her ‘win’. (Adversarial) My energy also goes up- at least to match hers. We feel out of balance.
This time I tried something new again. I dialed DOWN the energy instead. I can’t do that and fight her; so instead I went with her into the circle- and continued it for a 360 to put us back on the path and even one step further: when we were pointed back the way we were supposed to go- her energy dialed back down and I picked mine up then “forward!!!! Let’s go!!!” To keep in balance there too.
This seemed to work pretty well.
Although we still have the turn around conversations. The are not ‘solved’ yet. But I’m using them to learn until they are. I’ve heard in life you keep facing the same struggles until you learn what you need to from them.
One last important learning moment from the ride that wasn’t exactly fun came in crossing a barbed wire fence at the last field. I knew the fence was there but it was cut back and down in one section. One strand left in the spot we intended to cross lay on the ground and a log lay over enough to aim for clearance over. As I look back now, I believe she did not understand why I would choose the harder crossing (over a log) when a path straight through to the field was so obvious.
She didn’t obey my request where I was asking her feet to go- and we got a bit sideways in the conversation. This resulted in her getting a hoof just barely tripped on the wire- stepping clumsily over sideways then a back foot truly hung in the strand. Momentary panic (hers not mine thankfully- I’ve been in enough barbed wire to know if we stay calm we can get out unharmed). She struggled at first and I had brief visions of this going really really bad (this was her first time hung up in wire) but just asked her to whoa-girluntil she stood still enough for me to safely dismount. She’d cut her back foot but it was only a surface scratch and I picked it up and put it down safely on the other side. She was a bit slow to believe she was untangled but I walked her off and rubbed her and told her what a good job she did there.
We made it through her first barbed wire encounter safely. Living in the mountains and riding the old land we do- it won’t be our last- it’s important to know she can be still and allow me to help her out safely. She also had a few spooks on the trail as we’d come trotting up to grouse who make a ridiculous amount of noise when they flush. Each time she jumped mid-trot and kept me right in the sweet spot. I always remember Pam saying a horse can spook, whirl and spin and still protect you or the smallest thing can toss you depending on if they want you off. One more reason for the relationship to come first- sometimes I can’t believe the quick moves she’s done at a fast pace before I have a second to realize what’s happened and she’s kept me right where I need to be. Another product of riding remote trails!
Back at the trailer I took a look at her sweat patterns and found them improved with my temporary sheepskin shim… Which brings us back to Friday once again.
We met a new vet and I really like her. We talked worming, diet (selenium intake, omega supplements, pasture restriction- for new spring grasses), electrolytes, body condition (both girls are in great shape), vaccinations, heaves, wound care and back soreness/saddle fit (and that doesn’t include the topics with my friend’s horses she also saw at the barn).
As for backs & saddles both horses are doing well. Khaleesi has been exhibiting some dry spots and it’s been hard to get a good sense considering I haven’t been able to get much sweat at all out of her until very recently! I sent some photos to Jamie Evan of Phoneix Rising (who made my saddle) for input and shared the emails with Kathryn (the vet) for insight and advice.
Jamie thought I actually had some bridging going on- though I’ve always heard dry spots were from pressure. We put the saddle on without pad and did some feeling around. Sure enough- the spots that were inclined to be dry actually seemed to be where the saddle had the least contact. It was not the same on both sides.
So still without the pad I added girth and got in the saddle. Without even moving it became very obvious her shoulders are not even. The right (where I get the dry spots under my seat) is higher around the shoulder/whithers than the left. This seems to be causing more uneven pressure on the right side in front (whithers) as the saddle doesn’t make good contact under my seat. She had slight sensitivity there in a test as well though it was very minor.
In endurance riding however- there is little room for error because small things compound over many miles.
Jamie has a solution pad if this is the case and I can’t say I’m completely sure how the pad works yet- but in the meanwhile until this week when she gets my follow up- I went ahead and put a little shim of my own in that right side where the contact was not even and I think it made a difference. Usually one diagonal doesn’t feel quite comfortable, and today I did not find that to be the case. I also just felt more naturally balanced in the saddle overall.
Last random thought- in trying to work with the clippers- which Faygo is kind of doing better with, I gave a neck clipping to Khaleesi who as usual seemed not too concerned by the process. There were a few moments she didn’t quite hold still and I’m very inexperienced so it looks a little like a Frankenstein trim, but as spring warms up it won’t hurt her to have a little extra cool-down air. And it’s not nearly as ugly as the cut on her face she managed last week that’s incited the return of her nickname ‘scarface’ (she seems slightly accident prone especially on her head!) The vet said it would heal ok but always have a bump there- thankfully she’s headed to an endurance and not a show career!
To end: I’m still working on the balance of being firm and clear with what I want (leader) with observing and caring what my horse’s thoughts and feeling are. Relationship must come first…. Yet I can’t have a horse that only gets her own way either.
All the great horsemen (and women) seem to agree that the language of equus is a language of gestures and body movements. I’ve known this a long time- at least since I was inspired by Monty Roberts to try to work with my new young horse and looked to him as an example of how to do this ‘right’ from the start.
So why do I talk so much to my horses?
Sometimes the talking is for me: I sing when I am worried to calm my adrenaline and breathing which then reassures my horse. Sometimes talking helps direct me and keep me focused on what I’m trying to accomplish.
Sometimes the talking is for other people in riding/working with: I talk so they know what I’m doing.
Mostly: I talk because I’m a human- and a chatty one at that – and love to communicate.
Does this chatter get in the way of really communicating with my horse?
Absolutely.
I took an experimental ‘vow of silence’ for about 90 minutes the other day to really watch my horses and learn a little from them, but also to try to NOT TALK at them and see what happened.
This wasn’t entirely groundbreaking. They ate, they visited with me, went back to eating again. There was one moment though that stood out.
Khaleesi was eating grass a ways off. I stopped what I was doing (some shed clean up though I was more intent on the horses and the clean up was just a task to do in between) and watched her, leaned relaxed against the shed wall.
After a short time she picked her head up and locked eyes with me. I just stayed there and met her gaze. Kept my body language relaxed and my eyes on hers but soft. For a minute.
Then without taking one more bite she began to come toward me- in arcs (not straight on) but definitely with purpose.
She came all the way up to me and I held out my hand (palm down) and she sniffed it, then gave me her neck to rub.
There was communication and energy in that interaction as clearly (actually more clearly) as if I’d called to her to come. I hadn’t said a word.
Mark Rashid says that Everything a horse does gives you information. (Highly recommend his book Whole Heart, Whole Horse) It’s not good and bad behavior, it’s a horse communicating something. I’m curious now about what they are communicating – all the time!! And I’m wondering if my chatter is getting in the way of that process.
I was completely embarrassed by one example of this just yesterday. Keep in mind that I was already aware and paying attention to my human chatter and trying to ‘speak’ my horses language first.
Susan and I were riding on a pretty early spring day on hunting roads that had great footing with the intent of making good time as safely possible to practice picking up speed and increase their cardio workout.
With faster speed comes more ‘racing’ behavior between my two mares and those are the times Khaleesi threatens to kick Faygo if she passes us.
The precursor to this is trail hogging (you can’t pass if I’m blocking you!). I discourage trail hogging- but Khaleesi is still learning that. I’ll ask her to move over and we are getting better at that every ride- however it is a constant conversation we have right now.
One such moment when she moved to the center to cut off Faygo I said out loud to her in human English:
“Nope, you have to move back over.”
Not only did I know that phrase would not encourage her to act, I noticed that while I was SAYING it, I was in fact not ‘speaking’ the only language she would understand which is my leg pressure to her side. In this case the chatter wasn’t just harmless- it had gotten in the way of me effectively communicating to my horse the information in her language.
Of course I pushed her with my leg next – but the chatter cost me time. I was frankly shocked. I would have told you I do them at the same time – and I know my human chatter was for Susan’s benefit. I wanted her to know I was trying to stay on my side of the road but struggling keeping my horse there.
So in that case was the chatter helpful or even benign?
No.
What would have helped Susan and Khaleesi would have been for me to shut my mouth and put leg on my horse.
I am certain some talking is ok. I will not be taking an equine vow of silence and turn my barn time into a monastary environment (although Carrington… That makes me think of a little business venture with these vow of silence camps springing up…..) but cutting back on the chatter I believe is helpful to being more effective.
The question I will be working with going forward if I am asking something of my horse is:
Can I say it to my horse in her language instead of resorting to mine first?
Some people are convinced that horses know some word commands (especially canter, or walk or whoa) and while I am not a scientist and can’t really argue this, I would ask if it’s truly the word or a subtle (or major!) change in the human’s energy or body position that makes the true change?
Can you really say whoa but not stop your body or energy and expect your horse to stop? I believe that would be a serious mixed message that the body/energy would win out, which tells me it’s more the body/energy than the word that matters.
I think an example where this doesn’t apply is in calming a horse. My equine dentist said that no matter what he does to reassure a worried horse, when clients (owner) talk soothingly to them they calm down better. I’ve also found at vet checks that calm breathing and calm talking while gently stroking her neck can help get her heart rate to drop. I also agree with Susan who suggested that horses know the sound of their owner’s voice.
And I doubt I will ever give up telling my horse as I rub her what a great horse she is and what a good job she is doing.
But I will be trying to cut down on asking verbally- instead trying to sort out what my body is saying and how effective I am being at asking for things more clearly in her language. For me the verbal language is watering down my attention on the physical at times and I want to get better at this.
As for first ride of the season countdown, we are in good shape! And with a faster pace yesterday I can report some positive training/conditioning notes:
#1- not one turn around ‘argument’.
#2- lots of passing each other at higher speeds and though she had the mare attitude there was no attempt to kick.
#3- good enough footing and good enough energy to add some nice cantering to the ride 🙂
It’s been fun to get a few mild weather rides in with friends lately. I’m definitely looking forward to some warmer temps appearing and trails drying out more and the countdown to shoes this week!
The weather changed overnight and Sunday was heavenly. The breeze was warm and the sun shone and I even wore my new (bought out of season on clearance months ago) half chaps for the first time (I’ve been in winter boots until yesterday) and that felt amazing!
It was the first true sweat I’ve seen on Khaleesi since fall!
It was a new halfchaps kind of day!
Khaleesi and I drove over to ride with a new friend (much more experienced endurance rider) along the Maury River- also new territory for us which is icing on the cake!
As usual they had to hold back a little for us but the footing in some places was still slippery; we also traveled some cliff-edge goat trails and had to take care. All things considered we had a respectable pace and a truly enjoyable ride.
Yestersay was the first ride this year I’ve used the heart rate monitor on Khaleesi and I was very pleased with how well she is doing. Her heart rate runs slightly higher than our racing buddy (by about 10bpm sometimes and still well within a good range) but as soon as we’d stop for a drink it dropped like a rock below 60bpm in a minute or so.
Considering she is not an Arab (ok- she’s a little bit Arab by about 25%) heart rate and cooling are our concerns. She put my mind at ease with heart rate. She also has a year under her with LSD (Long Slow Distance) and I haven’t pushed her to overwork her joints/bones/tendons. I think she is looking great coming into a season with the hope of moving eventually to 50s.
I was particularly happy to hear the comment that Khaleesi uses her body well and moves nicely. I feel like our time with Pam over the summer where I learned to ride better combined with the concept of connecting with the mind and balancing the emotions first which enables the horse to work better physically has been huge for us.
We started out that way and had been trying to do this from the start in our own way. I didn’t have terms for it the. It was probably the thing that put me on my own path when I decided to try to start a horse.
Joining up with SET lessons and having it laid out so simply and clearly has helped us break through what I had thought was a ‘teenager’ phase. I now believe it was the negative effects of us getting to a certain point well- then my efforts to push us into a new place physically without laying the mental road first. We were (in simple equine terms) out of balance.
The ride yesterday was great because I felt like we were really in balance together. As she walked easily on the trailer by herself our friend said “She is great!”
Officially I am thankful for team green member Susan Wager for dragging my lame ‘not-really-endurance-rider-yet’ butt onto the trail for a pretty awesome 16 miles ride on a snowy and windy day.
The sun peeked through maybe twice, and we laughed and I complained (though she never did!) and I was dragging a spare boot I kept hoping would get ‘lost’ on the trail somewhere (our last easycare boot that never seems to stay velcroed!). No matter what we went through my 3 renegades held on tight- and this sorry back-country boot with the Velcro refusing to stay put in the snowy wet conditions kept on- flapping about the entire ride.
I will give it to them- this backcountry boot is falling apart but still refuses to die while I wait for a new disc to get the last renegade back into circulation (a freak screw is jammed in the disc).
That flapping Velcro boot made it the entire 16 miles.
I am counting the days till we get shoes on (13 days. Eternity but I know it’ll be here before I know it). I will say I’ve put my renegades through the ringer and I’ve had a lot of rides where they’ve been flawless. A few rides they’ve needed attention- and a couple I’ve had a massive fail including a lost boot shell. But after almost a year of pretty high mileage in rough terrain I have never had a shell ‘eaten’ through which I used to have with other boots after a winter season. At the moment faygo is looking at fantastic success with them. I can’t remember the last ride I’ve had to adjust or pick up a boot on her.
I think there are a few factors: best adjustment (boy is this a learning curve and ‘feel’ to getting them just right), hoof shape (her feet aren’t bad, but they are long and narrow if anything and seem to be able to pull right out of we are on a steep – snowy river steep- hill with soft footing), and movement (I think one reason the boots are working better and better is that last season she was just learning how to carry a rider and use her body. She did some funny things with her legs like twisting her feet a little into the ground to start a canter… I think she’s starting to get her feet underneath her literally).
Still my horses in full work are doing best in metal shoes under a fantastic farrier I would trust my horses life with.
Otherwise after a hot tub soak, looking back it was a fabulous ride and the footing was much much better on the forest roads than I’d thought (the wooded trails are still slippery).
I am always grateful for those who help or join team green along the way (that line is a bit blurry), but special thanks today for Susan and Faygo for dragging us out at the tail end of February when I would have rather hidden in my house by the Woodstove.
Oh! And for an awesome shirt design for our team. Go go go green to 100!
new logo!
Here are some pics:
new shirts in action absolutely loving this girl more each day peggy sue found a deer leg snd jogged miles next to us- at a few points khaleesi would reach over to check the prize out green training team susan and faygo
green to 100 