A Pasture Update

Maybe some of you have been wondering what the latest has been with Milo allowing me to catch him. As you might remember, there was about a week there were he would turn tail and run away from me for upwards of fifteen minutes. He and Chica thought the game was super fun, and I was about at my wits end.

Some commented here, and I also talked to fellow local horse people about opinions. Many believed that chasing him was not the answer, but to make him want to be with me, not be punished. Im not sure that I particularly followed that route, but I think a combination of a few things happened:

First, Milo figured out pretty quick that he was working himself in the hot heat twice a day now. When I could finally catch him he would be huffing and puffing and sweating all over. Unfortunately for him, he would still receive a workout as usual from me. I think a week worth of double workouts might have sunk into him that running away really isnt all that fun or productive for him.

I then decided to bring a treat to the pasture with me. Not a bribe, but a reward for when he would allow me to catch him or to come to me. Initially, Milo would simply stand stock still, but let me halter him. After the halter was on, I would verbally praise and rub on him, then give him the treat as a reward. I then started bringing out two treats; one for Milo and one for Chica. Because Chica was the real instigator behind all of this, I wanted her to see me entering the pasture as a positive as well. If she would approach me and let me rub on her, she got a cookie as well.

Next I started dispersing the cookie treats. I would start only bringing a cookie every couple of times, usually one cookie one day, no cookie the next, cookie the following again. This was to be able to start weaning Milo off of expecting a cookie, but rather just greeting me without anything - as things had been before for four years.

I'm pleased to report that there have been no incidents, in fact, Milo as been trotting towards me in greeting (today as an example as well). While sometimes I might have a cookie to reward him with, sometimes I don't, but it doesnt seem to be effecting his willingness to greet me with the halter anymore. I've been very pleased to feel that I have my  good ole boy back again, eager to work and happy to see me. Let's hope his little shenanigans are behind us. But so far, things are looking bright again on the pasture front. More to come.

Taking a Few Steps Back to Assess the Situation

The past few rides have been far less than steller with Milo. Initially, I wanted to blame it on the simple fact that he just would not accept outside rein support and had been fighting against it. As some time went on, I was also loosing tremendous amounts of shoulder control, and was realizing after some rides that he was not sweating or even warm at his rear or gaskin area, but instead had been sweating behind his ears and greatly on his shoulder/neck area. This immediately told me that he had not been utilizing his rear and was working off of his forehand. This was something I had been noticing in riding; I just wasnt feeling that energy from the rear as I had before.

I had been quite sure that I had been finding my neutral posture, was torso twisting back and forth on circles and even straight lines, counter balancing as needed. I posted about a particuarly bad ride, and how I felt that I was asking for something that Milo just couldnt deliver that day. But it almost feels like we are falling down a slippery slope now, and each ride is getting progressively "worse". Not only something as solid as I thought we had, that is, our figure eight works hip in, nose out, arcing (has been incredibly hard lately), but not so much of the counter arcing.

I have been bringing a dressage whip with me when I ride for if I need a reinforcer, or Motivator, for steps generally laterally where Milo gets that "flat tire" effect. But it really all boils down to why he isnt accepting outside rein contact. Ive been really trying to look to myself and discover what it is that I am doing so terribly wrong. I'm trying to maintain a soft and neutral back, I've been putting my shoulder back to encourage him to accept the contact, a trick that Sarah had shown me and had been working greatly. Ive been trying to focus on my seat and where my hips are, and yet, things still seem to be falling apart (ok, might be a little dramatic). But when we go from having those figure eight exercises down, to now not being able to perform a simple balanced circle, or even a straight line? Something is going on.

I must admit, I had noticed last week that Milo lapsed into his "old ways" of walking forward into the cross ties as I toss the saddle onto his back. His head is up and bracing against the cross ties, and his back is tight. This is something I had experienced with him back from poor saddle fitting. But this saddle is made for him - what gives? I thought initially that maybe he just was thinking that it was going to hurt as he has still been learning to trust the saddle (any saddle for that matter). Then a few days ago, I noticed that he was slightly wincing and tightening his back to me grooming him. Hmm, a sure indicator he isnt feeling so well there. I ran my hands gently along his back, trying to soften him up a little.

Then I would move onto the connected groundwork and exercises I have been employing and further reading about. But Milo had really turned back into his grumpy "old self" from those "old days" of an uninformed owner. He has been sour to my approaching him in the pasture, biting at the halter and putting his ears back (not extremely, but not his usual perky self). He also has seemed really resistant to the connected groundwork exercises, not reaching for contact and "meeting" me, not loosening and relaxing his muscles when I caterpillar or perform a shoulder delineation. Again, I've been quite sure that I've kept a soft and relaxed back, standing in neatral posture, even monitoring my breathing and finding that I am trying to find that slow and rhythmic pattern. But Milo repsonds with tension, niping, and total disconnection.

It has been frustrating to say the least - am I really that unaware of my posture? Am I really not in the positions that I have believed myself to be in? I put Milo into the snaffle bit yesterday as a friend and I took off onto the trail. I thought possibly he hadnt been coming into contact because of the lifter bit - maybe I had been too rough with it and frightened him of it? At any rate, I hoped to get him soft in the snaffle and reaching for that contact again, as I had done before. Well, the trail ride was a total trainwreck. He was so concerned about being "left behind" when the other horse would be in front of him, he was resulting to jigging, prancing, extreme tension, and even slight bucks, kick outs, and rears in place. We have had problems on the trail before with being in the back, but nothing had ever escalated to these outbursts. Needless to say, I didnt get to work on the outside rein contact.

In a frustrated and disappointed text, I sent my frustrations to Boyfriend, needing to get it out although knowing he wouldnt really understand what I was referring to with his lack of being on the outside aid. Nonetheless, he called me later and suggested maybe Milo's back is sore because of the saddle, and maybe that is why he is "acting up". I initially wanted to go onto the defensive about the saddle - his back cant be sore, the saddle fits! But then Boyfriend said that while that might be the case, Milo also hasnt had a saddle consistently on him for more than seven months. He could just be sore from having it on him five days a week since I received it about two weeks ago.

That makes sense. If his back is sore, that could result in his unwillingness to reach for the rein, lift his back, or arc his body. It could also make him resistent to all of the exercises on the ground not only through a level of pain, but also a mental block now. Like I said, he hasnt been his usual self, reverting back to an attitude I hadnt seen since before I was working with Sarah at our first saddle fitting, over a year and a half ago. If he is upset and hurting, its no wonder he doesnt want to "connect" with me. However, this does not excuse his back behavior on the trail. While pain and frustration may be a contibuting factor, I know a lot was hissy fits to being "left behind" by the other horse. He would get so upset if she was ahead of us, particularly at a trot, that he simply would flip off the snaffle bit and run right through it, even forgetting how to execute a one rein stop.

Photo from that trail ride. I guess the expression on my face really tells it all...also note the heavy sweating on Milo's neck and shoulder. The horse we were with wasnt sweating at all. This was all Milo's nerves, anxiety and frustration coming out. But I did break in the chinks that day...haha. 

Then I talked with Sarah, who believes his sore back could be coming from my switch in the saddle pads. Dave had suggested a thin navajo pad under the saddle, but Sarah who fit the saddle, suggests continuing to ride in the reverse wedge cashel pad. She believes he still needs the lift offered from the wedge pad, and it provides more "cushion" and shock absorption unlike the navajo. This could very well be a contributing factor as well.

So, after I've gotten that all out now, what am I planning to do? Well, Wednesday I was greeted with a sour face and some tenderness in his back. I decided that I for one was not going to ride and instead, give him some time to feel better and work on our groundwork exercises. Then, I will alternate between riding in the saddle with the wedge pad, and riding bareback. Hopefully this will help his back get better acclimated to more consistent saddle riding. In the meantime, we can focus on our groundwork and I can try and help him release some of his tension. It might take some time now before I can work on some of the things we had "left off" on undersaddle, but I've about said goodbye to the show season this summer anyways due to my unemployment status. This might just be the best thing for us, to take a few steps back from the maneuvers and "work", and instead focus on finding out harmony together again. And having a horse that is looking forward to riding, not greeting his owner with a grumpy expression.

Patience Really is a Virtue

I was finally getting the rhythm down with my body, my horse, and most importantly; my outside rein.

When I rode on Monday I realized that Milo was having a lot of difficulty when switching from one outside rein to the other, particularly switching from the left (my dominant) to right. This most certainly was stemming somewhere from my body, as well as what muscle memory has emphasized for both of us.

So yesterday I spent a long while serpentining back and forth, switching my body and my outside rein with every turn. It seemed to be really helping - I was really able to feel my body twist out of it's locked and "natural" position with my hip to the left, my dominant direction. I was actually feeling what sitting centered was, and balancing off of my right rein. Milo was getting it too and we fell into a steady rhythm: left to right, right to left. We repeated at the trot and things were coming together nicely.

I started moving from serpentines into a three piece figure eight - so three circles all interjoined, giving me more chances to chance outside rein and body. Again, Milo and I were moving together and I was really understanding the feel behind the outside rein.

Although Milo was repsonding beautifully to my aids for arcing and counter arcing, I moved him onto the simple figure eight pattern we have been working on, mostly because I was striving for the leg yield which we hadnt worked on yet since my last lesson with Sarah.

Initially, I was having a hard time actually cueing for a leg yield, I kept cueing for a half pass. But I established a good working circle again, then tipped his nose away from the direction of travel, pointing my hips inward for his hips to travel that direction as well. When his shoulder would lag, I would reduce the amount of twist in my body, but I would loose the hips again. We should get it in time though, as the half pass and leg yield require a bit more effort from both parties.

Feeling good, I pushed Milo over into the lope. In the post with the video, Sarah commented that there were a few times when I would cue for the lope crookedly. I pushed his hip to the inside, a "trick" I had developed from watching BN(reining)Ts online. But this only sets the horse up crookedly - its an easy way to just ensure your lead, but doesnt allow the horse ot depart into the lope straight.

So with the voice of Sarah in my head agian, I pushed him away from our intended lope direction, hips that direction as well. Then, with a subtle half halt and a hip direction change, we loped off straight into the lead. It felt great. I lost Milo's head in the air for the actual departure, indicating to me that I didnt give him enough outside rein to balance on.

In the left lead lope, I was trying to find my outside rein again. Initially, I seemed to have it, but I ended up losing it somewhere in our first circle. Finding it again, my horse moved straight on on the outside aid for a few strides, and when I felt his shoulder drift out, I twisted that direction briefly, then back to center or the inside. We are always adjusting ourselves for our horse when needed. He felt pretty good, so I pushed him into the counter canter. The first few steps in it, I realized I hadnt set him up properly, and he was hollow and crooked. But I found the outside rein again, and pushed his hip to the outside, counter arcing (on the circle) but arcing on the counter canter. I gathered ourselves back into rhythm on the canter circle, then really emphasized a hip in before the counter canter. This time he counter cantered the circle nicely, so after coming back to our first circle, I gave him a break.

I had noticed though that my tilting forward body was coming back, but I felt that I was getting a better grasp of my outside rein again, and wasnt locking into a fixed position. Progress!

Well then I loped him on the right lead. This should seem like cake because its the direction my body wants to travel, and the outside rein is my dominant one. But I found I have a greater problem on this side. Firstly, finding the outside rein is no problem, but riding off of it correctly is. Because my body is inclined to ride with this hip forward, so basically always with a twist to the right, I essentially just get locked in this position. I can change it momemntarily to the outside for when Milo's shoulder drifts, but I can't seem to find straight in this lead/direction. Because my body was "locking down" Milo's started too and I began to ride too much off of my hand. Then I tried to move into the counter canter which was a trainwreck. Bless Milo's heart he kept the counter canter, but it was all sorts of unbalanced and crooked, my fault naturally.

Getting frustrated, I put him into the trotting figure eights again, trying to get back in tune with myself and my horse. We switched from outside rein to outside rein, I arced him and counter arced him. I felt I was doing a bit better, and loped him off again. Initially, the first few strides were straight and nice off the left rein. Then my body got locked again with that left hip just slightly forward. Tired rider and tired horse, I called the last few decent strides good, and cooled him down on some turnarounds and walking fencing.

I felt a little defeated as I led him to the barn, but looking back I dont think I really should. I had discovered how to ride off of my right rein, and was making progress in unlocking my body at the lope, at least on the left lead. I had a few strides of straightness on the right lead as well, before my body fell back into it's muscle memory. I shouldnt be so down on myself, or my horse, really. We are progressing, I just need patience.