Another Lesson in Trailer Loading

 Have I talked about this before?  I must have.  I really feel like I'm beating my head against a wall here.  

There's a mare that was brought to the farm by a well meaning but horribly inexperienced lady a couple of years ago. A situation where an ethical seller would never have put either horse or prospective owner in for their own mutual safety.  However... buyer thought she had enough experience and education after taking a few trail rides to purchase a green horse (who came with tack) for $500 (what a deal!) The seller even delivered!  

Any other long-time horse persons see the red flags?  Yeah, thought so, but I will continue... 

Buyer did not see the horse being ridden nor rode the horse herself before purchasing so we have no idea the level of training (?) the horse has had.

When the horse was delivered to the farm, the seller stated that she was a bit of a "rodeo" to load and unload.  

Naturally the path of horse and human was not all roses and unicorns like she'd anticipated.  I believe the mare kicked the owner at some point.  I was certainly dealing with enough in my own life that I did not have the time, energy nor desire to invest in this horse and human pairing so it went the way you'd anticipate.  Eventually owner got behind on board and surrendered the horse to my mother, farm owner.  

And so she sat... 

Now as time goes on, people come and go and I have had the incredible good fortune to meet a beautifully kind-hearted man whose daughter is keenly active in horses and so he, himself, has an interest in learning about horses and participating in equine activities.  He enjoys the farm and likes the idea of being able to take a horse to the mountains for hunting, etc.  He discovered said abandoned horse and began spending time with her.  Although he is not experienced, he takes direction brilliantly (even from me!!) and shared a desire to try to see if the mare would be a willing participant in the direction he'd like to go.  

I agreed, provisionally.  The mare had to go to a trainer for at least an evaluation to see if she is a willing participant or if there is a behavioral predisposition that could be dangerous.  Cause if someone's going to get hurt, game over.  

We arranged for a two-week trial with my favorite trainer, Roland Sawatzky, and the day came to take the mare over to the barn.  

Remember the day she was brought to the farm?  How we were told she was a rodeo to load?  Right... Now I preach about how your energy and attitude can have a major impact on trailer loading and, to be completely honest, I'm not a fan of loading in most trailers!  But I love mine <3 So I made sure my energy and attitude was in a positive direction while listening to what the mare had to say.  She did walk right up the ramp and into the trailer; however, once she was there, she was anything but calm and confident so I backed her out again.  This needed some practice.  We tried again and that's where she showed me the rodeo.  She was crooked, very tense, and when she felt trapped by pressure, she jumped up and struck out with her front legs and pawed aggressively on the ramp. I'm all for horses communicating and expressing themselves, but not in a manner dangerous to people.  A brief but succinct discussion about her behavior followed and then I had Ali grab good old Mud Puddle from the pen where she and this mare lived together.  Mud, although the bane of my existence, has loaded and hauled plenty and I was confident that she would just walk in. She did not disappoint. 

With the assistance of a friend, mare put in a bit of effort to think her way through my request.  There was ample pawing at first which I interpreted as an expression of stress. I corrected the dangerous behavior and encouraged her attempts to cooperate.  The impression I got was that she was waiting for a fight and was going to give it everything she had.  How terrible.  I don't believe in that.  Sure, yes, absolutely I've gotten to the place of major frustration previously, made bad calls and not handled myself in constructive ways with horses before, yes.  But I've learned and grown and now I can do better!  So I did not engage.  I did not let my energy escalate.  I stayed positive, encouraging effort, recognizing and praising her attempts to cooperate. Eventually when her energy levelled out, I picked up my favorite magical dressage whip.  No, I certainly did not use it to inflict pain, that's totally counter productive.  Also, I had tried to introduce it earlier but felt a lot of tension from her so opted for better timing later. Sometimes you cannot force the process, just need to wait for timing.   Now seemed more appropriate timing.  We had a short conversation about when I tap your back, you step forward and the tapping stops.  Good enough, so onto the ramp.  She would give me front feet on the ramp, head in the trailer and stop. 

Now I would tap more and ask her to continue forward.  Like most horses, she didn't want to cooperate and went backwards.  When that happens, the tapping continues and gets firmer and in a quicker rhythm.  As soon as she steps forward again, the tapping stops and she is praised.  Now, I have not yet met a horse that this technique doesn't work for but I do feel that there is a timing for implementing it. Indeed, she stepped up, into the trailer, one step at a time, lots of praise.  We did this three times and on the third time I did not have to touch the whip to her, just raised it above her and she stepped in.  I was able to hand her off to Ali and went around to do up the butt bar.  We were away on the road within minutes and both rode like champs!  

PS, short sleeves in December!!

Mare even unloaded like a rockstar and went down the shedrow very politely.  The little black horse who stayed in the trailer however... 

Mud just can't even...

The ride back was uneventful, Mud stopped her theatrics once we were moving.  We finished the day loving on our herd.  Ali has such a love affair with Chai.  I am hopeful that the day will come soon when we're all riding enough that they can begin a further partnership.

My girls <3

All in all, I believe the mare does have a desire to be part of a team but will need to learn to trust that she's not going to get backed into a corner with no way out but to be dangerous and she will not be met with anger, high energy and emotional outbursts from the humans around her. No, I'm not putting down the mare's name because I'm hoping it will change with her partnership and career. 

Happy horseing (and stay safe!)

A Beautiful Fall Day

We haven't ridden much this year. In truth, we haven't ridden much in the last two years.  I don't think I'd been on my horse since late June or maybe early July.  It's life, it's not ideal but it's also not permanent.  That being said, we've had the good luck of some lovely fall weather and took advantage of it on the weekend.  

Sunday was my mom's birthday (50th with several years of practice of course) so we went to give her a bottle of wine and visit the critters while we were out.  The horses were all up looking like they wanted something to do so we pulled in a couple and tacked them up. Jose, as you know, is a superstar.  The other horse is Mud.  Maybe I've written about her before... she's kind of the bane of my existence but she's growing on me after all these years.  She's 16 this year but hasn't ever had much experience with regards to all things equine.  Although, to her credit, she isn't stupid under saddle, just hasn't had much eduction.  My mother had been wanting to get on her horse all summer.  This time we got it to happen.  Funny that there was no tack already set up for her - we had to find a bit and reins and bridle then size it down for her.  Unfortunately we also haven't got a well-fitted saddle for her either; however, we made work what we did have.  

I lunged the Mud Puddle which she thought was a great, fun idea, for about 30 seconds, and then it became WORK, how dare I?!  But once she proved that paying attention to what I was asking for was of higher importance than responding to her friend's whinny, I praised her and brought her in.  I don't ride Mud, I'd just rather not and I feel Mud also appreciates that.  But Ali does!  So I popped my kidlet up on her and handed the lead rope to my mother and they had a lovely stroll around while I got up on Jose and did some work.  Since he's a Rockstar and it's been so long since we last rode, I made it a short and positive one.  Once I popped off him, we brought in Mud and changed out the riders.  Mom did great!  Yes, she walked for maybe 7 minutes but that's more than her body has done in a year.  The Puddle was calm and a good citizen and strolled around relaxed with Ali in lead.  

Sometimes it's not about the hard training and the ribbons, sometimes it's just the simplest action of spending some quality time together.

And a special shout out to my amazing boyfriend for capturing some images from our rides.  Thanks love! 

And happy horseing! 

Sharing Forward - The Lesson Horse

If we've met or you've read some of my previous musings, you probably understand my gratitude for people sharing their wisdom and time with me as a young person.  As an adult with the good fortune to have some lovely animals, I've continued to feel that the greatest service I can do is share my animals and knowledge forward.  It is something that I'm trying very hard to teach my daughter about, and there are occasions where she makes me very proud. 

Two years ago, she was gifted with a lovely old-man Salle Francaise gelding.  Since Bucky was getting up in years and could not take Ali further in riding than he had, we were on the lookout for something still very safe, but for her to move up on.  Through the grapevine, word came around about this fella, and our meeting went really well.  His owner offered him to my daughter and we brought him home the next day.  Since then, they've had many adventures including attending their first horse show and doing some very small jumps.  He's in his 20's but was apparently was a Grand Prix jumper back in his day. I can see that the way he goes to the fences. 

Well, this year hasn't been one for riding for us. Life has just been busy and moving swiftly in different directions.  The thought occurred to me that the horse (Hunter) might enjoy having kids fuss on him while helping teach the next generation how to fall in love with horses.  (Yes, I'm still an enabler...)  So I talked with Ali and reached out to a friend of ours who is running a H/J barn close to Edmonton.  She asked a few questions but decided that yes, she would love to have him in her program for the winter.  

Ali did great writing out his care instructions
and helped me pack his blankets and bridle.  She gave him his dewormer and loaded him into the trailer like a pro!  He travelled, unloaded and settled in like he'd lived at the barn his whole life (certainly he's lived at a barn for the majority of his life.)  And we're looking forward to seeing updates with kids falling in love with him.  We will bring him home when the ground is dry and the weather is good again.  It's occurring to me that she's once again in need of a move-up horse.  Something just a bit younger that takes just a bit more skill to ride well, but still safe.  I will keep my eyes open this winter and see if something appropriate comes up.  More and more I'm realizing there's tons of horses available, it's just a matter of connecting the right dots to find them.  

In the mean time, Happy Horseing y'all! 

Three Years Later...

Well hello 2020... 

So it's been slightly more than three years since I've blogged.  My lord the world has changed.  I can't say that anything bad has really happened though.  I'm happy for all the shifts and the opportunities and growth that has come through. 

I still have Jose the wonder pony!  In addition to all the tricks, we have added some horseback archery to our list of skills.  He did an incredible set of photo shoots a couple of years ago that resulted in a calendar or sexy men... (I work so hard, I tell ya!) and one kick-ass haunted-house poster!  

The beautiful Goran and Jose, photos by Visions of Heaphen Photography

I still have Ritchie.  He came home from BC almost two years ago and is being ridden by an Adult Ammy friend of mine who tells me she's never never ever sending him back (she threatened that last year before breeding season too, but he did, in fact, come home for a while.)  She treats him like gold and is growing so much in her own riding and confidence, I'm just thrilled!!!

My personal life has shifted.  I left the marriage over a year ago and am rocking the single-mom life!  My heart goes out to everyone suffering with PTSD, and loved ones affected, but change starts first by looking in the mirror.  The anger and abuse leaves scars of its' own.  

I haven't had the opportunity to show in the last two years.  It's so weird!  2019 was a write off for me because we moved out and had so much change to deal with.  And, of course, 2020 is just kind of a crap sandwich!  

I changed jobs.  I retired from grooming as my body just said (very loudly) THAT'S ENOUGH!! I was dealing with chronic pain and even developed asthma.  Ali and I moved up to Westlock and I took a part-time line at the hospital there.  I had the good fortune to work part-time casually for one of the local physicians in a clinic which was great for extra experience.  A temporary full-time line opened up for me and I enjoyed a very busy position for a while.  Then I saw a permanent full-time position in Barrhead and applied on a whim.  Low and behold they offered me the position and so now I'm holding securely (at least as secure as any healthcare position is currently in this political horizon.)  I enjoy the work, have no more chronic pain and no more asthma!  Unfortunately I haven't been on a horse since May either... but it will come back around in time. I have, however, been on my MOTORCYCLE!!  Something I've wanted to do forever, I finally did!  With my income-tax return, I bought myself a 2001 Kawasaki Ninja 500 and learned to ride!  What a blast! 

We bred some horses this summer!  I decided to bring "King Richard" home and cover some mares.  I've been loaned a neat warmblood mare by a lovely friend who will be a delightful compliment to the boy.  I also was gifted a grade warmblood x mare who was maiden but stood well to be bred and will hopefully produce something as nice as what we have on the ground.  Ritchie hasn't shown in three years now, but I'm not upset about that either.  He's being ridden and loved on and he's still a superstar fella. 

The website is updated and current if you care to check out www.standardsequine.com and I'm still teaching equine first-aid courses and trick-horse clinics.  

I'm happy, we're healthy and managing to get by with what we're doing.  Hopefully I'll have the ambition to continue writing regularly, but we shall see how it goes.  Definitely I've learned to relax about things... despite my grey hairs!  

Hope you have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping by!

Happy Horseing!