Phew, so Christmas has come and gone...Hope everyone had a great one! Things are finally slowing down for me at work and hopefully I will get a little bit of time to write.
I spent the morning at the barn, doing chores, fixing stuff and just puttering around. I certainly miss doing these types of things! It was therapeutic, as it has always been for me. Just being around the horses, doing things and talking to them has a calming effect on the soul. I could spend all day there.
I just found and rented a small barn on some property and I am really enjoying the freedom of being able to do my own thing with my horses. I loved the place I was at before, but hated the lack of control with where I could put my horses. The new place has lots of pasture and the horses are extremely happy, even though it's winter. I love seeing their hoofprints going out to the pasture and the signs of them exploring their new surroundings.
I have 3 horses, or as I like to say, 2 and a half...
Rhys: (Lyn Oaks Rhys) Is a Section A Welsh Mountain Pony stallion of 20 years! I've had him since he was a 7 month old colt. He's such a character, full of personality, has been a great little pony through the years. He drives, does dressage and jumps (or did, but now he's mostly retired). He practically raised my daughter, who rode him. He's my little buddy and is a huge part of our family.
Emma: (Lil Kimmster) Approximately 7 yr old Standardbred mare. Emma came into our lives kinda by chance. I wanted a horse that my daughter could ride and have as a project. She was quite sour when we got her, was hard to catch, spooky, scared of people and pretty much everything else. My daughter really bonded with her, and through a lot of patience and much love, I'm happy to say she is pretty much over her fears, she's such a sweet little mare and is also now a part of our family. We've had Emma for just over 2 years now.
Kallie: Approximately 17 yr old Thoroughbred mare. Kallie has had some very bad past experiences. She is pretty much retired, except for the odd hack through the field. She certainly has done her time, and had enough bad times that she just deserves to be loved and spoiled! She has a bone chip in her knee and is lame off and on. She is a wonderful sweet mare who doesn't have a mean bone in her body. We've had her for approximately 6 years now, and unless someone really really special comes along, she will live the rest of her life with me.
Well, that's about it tonight. It's been a busy day and with promise of more fun tomorrow! I'll be off to the barn to cut burr bushes down and get rid of them. Yucky yucky burrs!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Natural Horse
Through the years I've made mistakes with horses, followed the mainstream, rode with a desire for perfection and technical mastery. Along the way in my journey, I've learned some things:
1. Horses each have their own personality and way of doing things...they are creatures of habit, but more than that they are unique in every way.
2. Horses don't conform to our technical ideas. They try, they will go "our" way, but it never looks natural.
3. A natural horse can have self-carriage and move freely without constraints.
So why do we endeavor to put them into "frames" or have them go around looking unnatural? Fashion..simply put, the peanut rollers, the hunters, the dressage horses, in every single discipline there is always some new fashion or fad...this goes back as far as we've used horses as a status symbol. I've only realized this in the last 10 years or so, having moved out of the mainstream, I now am an outside observer and what I see makes me cringe.
So, where do we go from here? I have not taught riding lessons in about 7 years or so, I love to teach, it's in my blood. So here it is, my way of teaching while still holding my job that pays well, and being able to have time with my kids, grandchild and my own horses. I hope to have at least one new topic each week. I will answer questions too, so feel free to post them.
1. Horses each have their own personality and way of doing things...they are creatures of habit, but more than that they are unique in every way.
2. Horses don't conform to our technical ideas. They try, they will go "our" way, but it never looks natural.
3. A natural horse can have self-carriage and move freely without constraints.
So why do we endeavor to put them into "frames" or have them go around looking unnatural? Fashion..simply put, the peanut rollers, the hunters, the dressage horses, in every single discipline there is always some new fashion or fad...this goes back as far as we've used horses as a status symbol. I've only realized this in the last 10 years or so, having moved out of the mainstream, I now am an outside observer and what I see makes me cringe.
So, where do we go from here? I have not taught riding lessons in about 7 years or so, I love to teach, it's in my blood. So here it is, my way of teaching while still holding my job that pays well, and being able to have time with my kids, grandchild and my own horses. I hope to have at least one new topic each week. I will answer questions too, so feel free to post them.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Why is my horse so hard to catch?
To fully understand this, we need to go to the core of a horses' psyche. Horses are vegetarian, they are prey, and if we keep this in mind when we are trying to interact at every level of our relationship, then we will begin to understand why he does the things he does in reaction to what we do.
Think about how you approach your horse, are you being a predator? Lets look at an example...
My pony stallion. I purchased him when he was seven months old. He'd never had a halter on, never been handled. I spent about an hour haltering, teaching him the basics of how to follow me, and finally loaded him on a trailer and took him home. I turned him out in a giant field and then proceeded to gain his trust...it took four days before I could "catch" him, I spent numerous calories and was exhausted by the end of each session, because he was fast! What I learned at the end of it all, was priceless...and here's how I finally got him:
In the four days I had intent to "catch" him, I was a predator. I would walk out into the field with a halter, chase him into a corner and try to get hold of him. This obviously didn't work! Finally, I realized that he was just scared and what happened when I realized that is quite close to miraculous.
My final attempt I walked out into the field with no halter and sat down in the middle of the best patch of grass (where he spent most of his time grazing), I "grazed" for a while (ie. picked grass and made a nice pile) and his own curiosity or the smell of the fresh picked grass got the better of him. He began to approach...I watched him out of the corner of my eye, not making eye contact, and continued just sitting there talking quietly to him. He mustered up the nerve to graze close to his favorite grassy spot, and slowly came in close enough to sniff me and I let him poke at me and sniff me until he began to graze again. That's when I began to move. At first it was just to pick more grass, then I got up to my knees, always keeping the low mumbling words of encouragement to him, he tensed and relaxed several times during this process, but soon became desensitized to it. When he was completely relaxed with my movements, I moved away and sat about 10 feet from him. He moved with me. I continued this little game of pick grass, move away, sit and pick grass again, for about another 30 or 40 feet and then I stood up and moved away the next 10 feet or so by walking away. He followed, so I took the opportunity to continue my "walk". I walked around the whole field, stopping to do little things, adjusting my boot lace, picking some weeds, picking up stones, and all the while talking to him. As we made our loop around the field, he began to come in closer to me, walking in my shadow and he was so close I could reach out to touch him, I started to slightly move my arm toward him, keeping my hands low, I rubbed him with my elbow on the neck/shoulder, he came closer, seemingly wanting my closeness, wanting to feel my touch. Finally, I stopped in the middle of the field and keeping my hand low, I let my fingers gently massage his shoulder and then moved my way up to his withers for a little scratch. I am sure I had him at that scratch! Watch horses in a field, as they groom each other, it is pleasurable for them, and it's part of the herd way of life...If you offer a scratch to a timid horse they soon become relaxed and will get into it. The rest of this story is the beginning of a 20+ year friendship with my stallion. He followed me right up to the shelter that day, no halter or lead rope. And from that day forward he would gallop full speed in from the field to greet me when I came to the fence. He is still just as easy to "catch" anywhere...just call him and he comes full speed!
Herd dynamics: You must become part of your horses herd, not the predator...
Think about how you approach your horse, are you being a predator? Lets look at an example...
My pony stallion. I purchased him when he was seven months old. He'd never had a halter on, never been handled. I spent about an hour haltering, teaching him the basics of how to follow me, and finally loaded him on a trailer and took him home. I turned him out in a giant field and then proceeded to gain his trust...it took four days before I could "catch" him, I spent numerous calories and was exhausted by the end of each session, because he was fast! What I learned at the end of it all, was priceless...and here's how I finally got him:
In the four days I had intent to "catch" him, I was a predator. I would walk out into the field with a halter, chase him into a corner and try to get hold of him. This obviously didn't work! Finally, I realized that he was just scared and what happened when I realized that is quite close to miraculous.
My final attempt I walked out into the field with no halter and sat down in the middle of the best patch of grass (where he spent most of his time grazing), I "grazed" for a while (ie. picked grass and made a nice pile) and his own curiosity or the smell of the fresh picked grass got the better of him. He began to approach...I watched him out of the corner of my eye, not making eye contact, and continued just sitting there talking quietly to him. He mustered up the nerve to graze close to his favorite grassy spot, and slowly came in close enough to sniff me and I let him poke at me and sniff me until he began to graze again. That's when I began to move. At first it was just to pick more grass, then I got up to my knees, always keeping the low mumbling words of encouragement to him, he tensed and relaxed several times during this process, but soon became desensitized to it. When he was completely relaxed with my movements, I moved away and sat about 10 feet from him. He moved with me. I continued this little game of pick grass, move away, sit and pick grass again, for about another 30 or 40 feet and then I stood up and moved away the next 10 feet or so by walking away. He followed, so I took the opportunity to continue my "walk". I walked around the whole field, stopping to do little things, adjusting my boot lace, picking some weeds, picking up stones, and all the while talking to him. As we made our loop around the field, he began to come in closer to me, walking in my shadow and he was so close I could reach out to touch him, I started to slightly move my arm toward him, keeping my hands low, I rubbed him with my elbow on the neck/shoulder, he came closer, seemingly wanting my closeness, wanting to feel my touch. Finally, I stopped in the middle of the field and keeping my hand low, I let my fingers gently massage his shoulder and then moved my way up to his withers for a little scratch. I am sure I had him at that scratch! Watch horses in a field, as they groom each other, it is pleasurable for them, and it's part of the herd way of life...If you offer a scratch to a timid horse they soon become relaxed and will get into it. The rest of this story is the beginning of a 20+ year friendship with my stallion. He followed me right up to the shelter that day, no halter or lead rope. And from that day forward he would gallop full speed in from the field to greet me when I came to the fence. He is still just as easy to "catch" anywhere...just call him and he comes full speed!
Herd dynamics: You must become part of your horses herd, not the predator...
Horses...
Horses, love them or hate them? In this blog I'm going to try to cast some insight into what your spouse or partner is doing for hours on end at the barn. Why they forfeit holidays, special events, and family gatherings, and for those who want to learn, I will give you the most important thing you can arm yourself with...Knowledge!
First though, a little history about me! I am 42 years old, a mother, grandmother, auntie, sister, daughter, friend, and of course horse crazy woman. From the time I was conceived I have been on a horses back or listening to the sounds of them nickering and munching hay...Yes, I said "from the time I was conceived". My parents were always into horses, and actually that's how they met! They spent their whole lives involved in horses in some way, from managing polo barns, to racing Standardbreds. But no matter where they were in their lives, one thing is for certain, they always had horses.
I am following in that tradition and cannot see myself without them. They are my therapy and my workout routine and my reason sometimes for getting up in the morning, without them I'd be lost!
Horses speak to me (no I don't mean in our language, and I'm not crazy!) I will explain...
There is an unspoken language that all animals have, it is a combination of body language, expressions and personality traits. I have had 42 years to learn this language with horses, and I know it well, but with that being said, I'm still learning every single day. I hope as we go through this blog that you will gain a little insight into your own horses language and it will help you become more in tune with him and make riding, handling and owning a horse what it is to me, because it is the most wonderful thing that a person can have in their lives. And as for the boyfriends, spouses, girlfriends and all the other halves of a relationship who are sitting at home with the remote wondering where the heck dinner is, or why your wife/husband seems to enjoy the barn more than you, maybe I can help you too. My word of advice is this...read, learn, keep an open mind. If you begin to interact with him/her on the level of the equine enthusiast, you are opening up a whole new chapter in your lives, and believe me, it is going to be amazing!
First though, a little history about me! I am 42 years old, a mother, grandmother, auntie, sister, daughter, friend, and of course horse crazy woman. From the time I was conceived I have been on a horses back or listening to the sounds of them nickering and munching hay...Yes, I said "from the time I was conceived". My parents were always into horses, and actually that's how they met! They spent their whole lives involved in horses in some way, from managing polo barns, to racing Standardbreds. But no matter where they were in their lives, one thing is for certain, they always had horses.
I am following in that tradition and cannot see myself without them. They are my therapy and my workout routine and my reason sometimes for getting up in the morning, without them I'd be lost!
Horses speak to me (no I don't mean in our language, and I'm not crazy!) I will explain...
There is an unspoken language that all animals have, it is a combination of body language, expressions and personality traits. I have had 42 years to learn this language with horses, and I know it well, but with that being said, I'm still learning every single day. I hope as we go through this blog that you will gain a little insight into your own horses language and it will help you become more in tune with him and make riding, handling and owning a horse what it is to me, because it is the most wonderful thing that a person can have in their lives. And as for the boyfriends, spouses, girlfriends and all the other halves of a relationship who are sitting at home with the remote wondering where the heck dinner is, or why your wife/husband seems to enjoy the barn more than you, maybe I can help you too. My word of advice is this...read, learn, keep an open mind. If you begin to interact with him/her on the level of the equine enthusiast, you are opening up a whole new chapter in your lives, and believe me, it is going to be amazing!
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