Taming of the Shrew

TODAY WAS PROGRESS!

FOAMY BE PRAISED!

So I went to the barn, this being after going to the chiro for a session and all the horses were in. I took out Onyx first, then KC for the first time (and since he was so well behaved, I'll be willing to take him out from now on), and Carlene last. Prior to taking her out to the paddock for real, I left her tied to the tack post to see how she'd do. The last time I had tied her was in the "working paddock" which is my round pen substitute. She was very well behaved, had a saddle and pad (no girth, don't have a proper fitting one yet) on with a rope tied to the fence in a quick-release knot. I proceeded to walk away, turning to make sure she was okay, and she was. This was also the same day that we worked on "giving to pressure" which was also sucessfully (though the first few times I had to use treats to get her to touch the ground with her nose, after that she got it).


This time (in retrospect) I believe the reason why she was so alarmed was because she could no longer see me (I went in the tack room to stock up on treats). I can only guess by how I found her and what I heard. She apparently started to dance around in tight loops as much as she could, and then she started to neigh frantically (and got even more worked up after she heard KC reply- or maybe it was Onyx, sounded like KC). Besides that, she actually did do pretty well. I can credit our "give to pressure" exercise to the fact that she didn't try to break away from the post (what a flimsy thing it is- which is also why I left an emergency rope on her in case she did break away).

After that, I set her loose with her boyfriend and Onyx for a while. She's a curious thing really, so very territorial. Onyx is not allowed to interact or be interacted with any other horse but Calypso. She makes sure of this. If a horse is chatting with him across the fence, she chases it off. If she can't make it go away, she herds him away, sometimes she manages to do both at the same time. =3 However, knowing KC longer she's even more territorial of him. So instead when she (WAY on the other side of the pasture) noticed Onyx and KC nosing, she comes charging down to chase Onyx away and herd KC off. So hilarious, that one. Some would say she's a real woman, but I'm nice enough to keep that hush-hush...right? =P

So I put on the rope halter and we practiced the giving to pressure exercise. I'm really proud of her, this time it took no treats for her to touch her nose to the ground, just patience and persistance. After I was satisfied, I took her outside the paddock (she was in the large one, with both O and KC) and decided we were going on a trail together. I didn't longe her, I'm trying to make sure it isn't a crutch for me and we just "do it." Believe me, on the way down the hill I kept thinking it was a mistake. And then I eventually corrected myself and remembered to think what I wanted her to do, how she was expected as a grown lady to act. She was too busy trying to high tail it back uphill for her buddies, but it helped me in that I didn't take any shit from her. We turned, I got after her ass when she broke away or bumped into me in a rude, pushy manner. I popped her ass and shoulder more than once, that's for sure. By popped, I mean I smacked her with the balled end of the lead, nothing painful, just the shock of the sound.

She certainly rebelled, she gave a low, half-hearted rear a few times (I actually got on her case about this and see how many times she'd do it before she learned she still had to listen, lol- whatever works?). Eventually, after she settled a bit, and we were nearly half way down the lower field, we encountered a peculiar thing. A blue stateline tack blanket was lying just outside of the field. I couldn't figure out of a horse threw it (suspiciously neat for such a thing), or if someone else was odd and trail rode out and then took the blanket off to collect for later. In any event, Calypso side-stepped it so I made sure to turn her around and make her look at it, touch her nose, and I even stuck a treat on it for her to find. Once I got her to touch it twice, we turned around, she got a pat, and we walked on (didn't want to over expose her and such). Actually, we trotted (I jogged) because I wanted her to release some of that pent up nervous energy, which she did, it was a good idea. =3

We made it to the forest and she was calmer, but still a bit too aware, I call it "hyper-focused." It's an annoying phenominom that my dog also does in regards to my aunt. Bah. Anywho, all things considered this was a huge MILESTONE in our relationship and my status as herd leader. HUGE, monumental even! Why, might you ask? The very first time I ever tried this, we barely made it down the hill to the lower pasture before we turned around and went back up. I couldn't control her, I didn't really want to pop her, she didn't want to go. It was a mess. My status was knocked down quite a bit that day. I was terrified out her, she's a big, grown arabian and I didn't stand a chance with her panicing. So not only was the way down hard, but the way back may of been even worse! This because she was anxious to high tail it back and I was anxious not to get dragged! So months later, doing this by myself, it was terrific. Fantastic!

So we get to the forest, and even if I wasn't tired, I made it a point to rest on a log and have her nose things. She found a few acorn shells and nibbled on those, and was otherwise fine (after a while of snorting and looking around like a freaky squirrel). So we eventually made off to the creek. I took a great risk by placing the rope down (though ready to grab it) and tying my bootlace and rolling up my jeans. I was lucky in that she had started to relax, and even took the opportunity to drink from the creek. I had her walk in a bit and then we just jogged right through each part. No hesitation, and she may of enjoyed it. I made it a point for her to walk up the hill, and when we reach the top we headed for the field.

At the rocks, I climbed on them to see how she went. WAY early in our experiences I climbed on a fence to see how she delt with someone above her. By combination of a creaky fence and an odd little person bossing her around for the first few times, she shied away. =3 This time, she was fine. A little hesitatant about positioning next to the rocks, but otherwise fine. I leaned on her once or twice, waved my arms (at which she took a slow step back, and you could tell she was thinking about this), and jumped up and down, then hopped off the rock and led her to the field.

I sat down and waited for her to relax. By now, Onyx would of been eating grass and trying to drag me away so he could get the best of the best, but she was busy looking all around, checking things out. I picked some blades and offered them to her, but she would have no part of it, even if she gobbled the meadow mints just after. xD Eventually, I lowered her head and coaxed her into at least nibbling. She only ate a tiny portion, but it was enough. After a bit, I decided it was getting late and I better head back. After all, Onyx and KC were still out. We headed to the rocks for a few more tests. I was THIS close to getting on her, but I checked myself. If I got thrown I was headed for rocks and logs with no helmet. =3; Been there, done that, Onyx threw me in almost the same spot and I blacked out. Lucky to not of died, though I did get a concussion. x3; I had pissed my mom off about that. She said I should have gone to the ER because the swelling could have killed me- I didn't know that. >.>

ANYWHO, wasn't risking it. So I just hopped about some more, threw my leg over with varying speed and weight. She was fine for everything. Did that step back and think thing again, but never took off. She's come a long way, for sure. A nice jogger woman with blonde hair, a light blue tee, black pants, and white sneakers asked if I needed any help holding her. xD I laughed and said no, she's never been ridden before and I was just testing her out. She said that Calypso was beautiful and I thank her. After a few more tests, we headed back.

Again, crossed with no problems, just before leaving the forest I made sure to think that we were firmly walking, and would do so calmly and orderly. And we did. She didn't even attempt to running away, or even speed up! They grow up so fast. ='D We passed the blanket, no side stepping that time, but we stopped and repeated the process anyway. I considered putting it on her back (she'd be good for it, so long as I was slow about it), but since I didn't know WHY it was there, I left it alone. At the top, I saw Bob with KC and she of course neighed to him (okay, maybe they do not grow up too fast....) and he neighed back. I tapped her a bit and made sure she behaved, but really I was looking at Onyx in the distance. He was just galloping to the gate and STOPPED (sliding stop) and REARED at the gate!!! He's never acted that way. So 1) he's more comfortable in the herd and is no longer a loner so much and 2) he's feeling MUCH better. MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better! xD In any event, Bob said he had been tearing around the pasture bucking and such, and I said an early goodbye after letting KC and Calypso exchange a hello so Onyx could have company and settle the hell down before someone complained. =P He's so cute though, he nickered to her when he saw her coming. xD So that's pretty much it. All was done, we relaxed, etc.

Onto the blanket mystery! It turns out a couple of boarders (the busybody, Linda, and the nice lady, Kirsten) had taken off all of the blankets (I COMMEND YOU!!!) because it was just too damn hot out. They must of forgotten to take that blanket up, and it happened to belong to Louie, an older and skinnier horse. Well Lisa (blanket and shaving freak) was naturally pissed off about this, but I wasn't going to rat Kirsten out, I like her (of course a different boarder managed to do that- why'd you open your trap?! Ah well...). So I just mentioned that I did see a blue blanket down there by the lower field. She thanked me and went with Doc in the truck to go get it and put it on the old guy. =3

The end? Almost. After a bit more waiting, I went up to bring the horses down. Onyx went into his stall first, i put two treats in his bucket (insta-gobbled!) and then left. When I went to get Calyspo, she was talking with KC (Bob had walked over) on the other side of the training paddock. Well I wasn't concerned, she wasn't going to run anywhere, so I just went up to the gate and started to unlock it.

Well, she did the most heart-warming thing she's ever done thus far. She walked over to me. Why is this so heartwarming? I say this ALL the time because it's true. KC and Calypso are "critically attached" in the annoying buddy-sour sort of way. CONJOINED TWINS. Anywho, when free, she hangs with him, no doubts about it. However, in the middle of me unlocking the gate, she came right over to me and stood there waiting patiently for me to take her out. It was so cute. She choose me over him. =3 Any other time she would of stuck with him, perhaps even side stepped away from me to not be caught, but this time she chose to come. So cool and I can really tell we're going to have fun trailing together. =3 So I semi-rewarded her by walking her back over to him (had to switch halters anywho), and then we left no problem. =D

The end! xP

Shinanigans

Well, after quite a bit of time in between, Sammi and I managed to get together so she could help me with Calypso's training. The last time she was out, I had ridden Onyx bareback and we both got quite the unwanted work out (let's just say he was seriously considering bucking me twice at least). We worked with Calypso while Doc and whoever else spectated (BAH) and given my extreme anxiety disorder, I was tense and Calypso could probably sense it, whoops. xD; We didn't even get the bit in once, but that's okay. We walked her around a bit and she determined that when I got on her, she wouldn't be sure what I wanted her to do, so teaching her voice commands for movement would make her more confident.

She also felt that dipping the bit in coke would help her, so I'll have to try. =3 Because of said anxiety (performance anxiety is what my mom calls it, I hate that term though- reminds me of a dude who can't get a stiffy for his gal), I put Calypso away instead of working with her more so Doc would leave me the hell alone.

A while after Sammi left, Dawn surprised me by popping up at the barn and dropping off Onyx's new boots. =3 But then he had rubs from the old ones and they must stay off for a bit.

Also, I found out Laura is REALLY into the Parelli scene. I kind of want to convert her to "anything but," but whatever... I can resist. Her horses are broke, so whatever helps her. At least that explains why she suddenly purchased a round pen.


ETA
I later found out the round pen is 60 ft, and I think I will invest in a 50-60 one myself, it is plenty big.

So Yesterday

UGH. Horrid. Well I did write down what had happened, but now that I am going back to publish this WEEKS later, I can't find said paper and don't remember anything worth a damn. XD

What I do remember is that I was throughly upset, I had messed up Calypso's training and felt as if whatever connection we had gained, I had just sacrificed. It was depressing, really. It was a Wednesday I believe, and I had been determined to do the very thing I thought I shouldn't have. I rushed her. I wanted her to tolerate everything immediately and to my absolute standard. Needless to say, I ended up not accomplishing anything. I had wanted her to be completely tolerant of the whip, so I walked her around it on the ground, whipped it back and forth on her back (which sent her flying each and every time and I couldn't figure out why she wasn't accepting it [dduurr]). So yeah, made an ass out of myself and I confused animal out of my horse. xD

She's Too Young

Many a time I have seen a profession trainer break their horse out all in one day, some even boast they can do it in less than a day. I personally think this is too much stress for an unhandled horse such as Calypso. It would be exposure to tack, scary things, noises, strange objects, all of which a horse like her has not had the previous experiences with. She would not take to the idea, and whatever lesson was meant would simply fall short. Because of this, I have determined to take things slowly. She is, for some reason that eludes me, headshy. I cannot determine if this is because of abuse in her life, or if she simply was not taught to tolerate hands. It could be a little of both. So it is this shyness I recide to work on. After touching her face and rubbing all areas I could, I determined she is particularly uncomfortable with her ears being handled. No good, no good at all. How am I supposed to ride her if I can't even get a bridle over her ears, forget the bit in her mouth!

So that's the goal. Work up our trust and tolerance. =D


P.S.
Damn that Lifetime.

A Prelude to Spring

Time to catch up on recent events!

I decided to rename this project from Some Hallowed Day to Taming of the Shrew though, way funnier. Some Hallowed Day can just apply to training in general.

I decided about a week and a half ago to dump my current farrier and take Onyx out of his shoes. I also decided a month (give or take) ago to buy Calypso. A lot of people would view her as being bought for more than her worth, but we'll see... I am perfectly aware of everything this decision had entailed. Back to the trimmer. Onyx, according to the trimmers, has navicular, but they assured me that with both new and old research that navicular had nothing to do with the navicular bone, but instead had to do with extreme pain in the heel. He is now on the road to recovery (should take six months, give or take) and is enjoying his boots and new found barefoot trim. Calypso (as far as I know) had received minimal or no farrier or vet care, and her hooves had been left to their own devices, making the toes long. Now they are back to normal though. Since then, I have trained Calypso about three times now, and each time has been an improvement upon the other, as it should be. This journal entry has taken me almost a week to finish, which is why I've yet to update on the others. Now you are all caught up. =D

Yesterday, the 2nd of March, I had the trimmer (I keep writing farrier by habit, but there is a difference) come out for another session on Onyx's hooves (for free, as this was a continuation of last weeks trim). I had thought this was for both Onyx and Calypso, so she had been left in as well as him (and I quote "because you wouldn't be able to catch her once she as out"- wtf). So naturally she was not a happy horse, being away from KC and then watching Onyx leave so she was truly alone. I lead Onyx to the ties in the upper barn, but opted to have him on the grass by the forever-stagnant trailer. We just wanted a flat spot where he would be comfortable. Unfortunately, Doc followed in his truck (along with Rusty and Lisa in tow). Though this is a hypocritical statement, I really do wish they would stop watching. The trimmers may not of cared, but I hate it. I suppose it is my ever-present stage fright, I enjoy not being noticed for the most part, it is easier to observe and think. In any event, they left with the hounds to go foxhunting (taking advantage of the first of spring, I assume). Shortly after a rather annoying would-be lecture I found from the trimmer that if Calypso stays at Doc's (with no pasture board), then she will no longer be trimming her, but instead putting me in touch with someone who would. My mom is also pushing for a place with pasture board, so I might as well take a look around. That didn't annoy me so much though, I do want to see if I can find something better. Rather, annoyed me was her suggesting I shouldn't keep Onyx, and that traveling out to see him would just not be worth it. I completely disagree with that and I had to desperately hold me tongue to keep myself from giving her a straight forward talking to. She also suggested that even though she didn't know what I paid for Calypso, but I probably overpaid. My feelings are that she would be a good foundation mare in a breeding program and I hope to have her in foal in 8 or so years. I feel she will be able to "pay me back" for her purchase price in later years, and even if she doesn't, money isn't an issue as she is my birthday present, and think people should butt the hell out to say the least. I also realise it may be a tad hypocritical to breed her, but we'll see. It has already been decided that if the third generation is not exceptional, I will stop and review. But I digress...

Upon the trimmer leaving, I was left alone with Onyx and Calypso still running about in the arena. Shortly after, I took Onyx out, leaving Calypso to her own frantic devices, so as to put his boots on and turn him out in the field. When she saw him leaving, she naturally became even more insistent on being out in the pasture (a consequence of turning them out together so she could get attached to him). In any event, I grabbed her and in a split second decision (no one to spy on me) I chose to free-longe her. The smaller, first paddock was taken up by a pony named Munchkin and a pinto Arabian yearling filly named Kahlua. Kahlua was in heat this day of all days, and little Munchkin took it upon himself to attempt mounting her. I may have never been more disgusted in my life (what with her squirting all in his face, the mounting, the squealing- at least they enjoyed it). But alas and alack, this is something I will have to get used to given my chosen career and my desire to breed quality horses. Given the situation, I had to compromise and use the middle paddock. Now, I had avoided using this paddock previously because I felt it wouldn't allow me enough control. In retrospect, the paddock I preferred was actually the more compromising one, given the short distance and tighter turns. The other boarders can have that- to hell with it, I've found something better! xD

So I put her in the paddock, got my equipment and took her appearance in. She was honestly ragged. Sweating all over from working herself into a fine frenzy, but not sweating enough to discourage me from working with her. This just meant this was a fine day to be working together! Nothing but the occasional gentle (and welcome) breeze and the sun overhead. It wasn't hard to get her moving, all that took was a crack of the longe whip. What took a while was getting back in the groove of longeing, the time it took to actually feel her out. Once we were in tune though, things started working out for the better. I worked on her turning shoulder-in as soon as I felt she was ready. I still haven't been able to get these consistently (and I admit I did not push at it), so this is something I will have to review and prepare for the next session. However, my goal was to just get her to pay attention to me, and to re-establish myself as leader. So about we went, up until that one moment that no matter how many times it happens will never get old. When she stops, and I stop. When we look at each other, she lowers her head, chews, and takes a few tentative steps towards me. "Let's talk this over," her eyes say as they stare curiously, aloof.

I make my way over to her, taking care to be even- not too fast, not too slow, always easing in from the side. Since the first moment I have done this, she has always contemplated running. I see it in her wide eyes that flutter about in rhythm to her large ears. I see it in her raised head that snakes back and forth as if she is taking in the directions she could flee. I see it in her tense body as she rocks back on her hind end. But most of all I feel it, I feel it as her heavy breath comes not just from the cease of running, but from the nervousness of "what happens next?" And then I touch her. Time stands still as she lowers her head onto my chest and gives a sigh of relief. She allows me to pat her forehead, rub her sensitive ears, and offer light coos of reassurance that this is indeed the right choice. And then in an instant time catches up and she too is up again, fluttering about, unsure if she should stay or go.

The choice is hers, and I yearn for her to choose to stay with me, to follow me as I turn around and walk away. I glance over my shoulder and my heart warms as she takes slow, deliberate steps towards me, eyes and ears still flickering about. We continue to walk like this, with her following at my heels until I am satisfied that her attention is honestly and truly on me. Whenever she responded to the calls of her herd mate, I took the offensive and stayed just on her heels to make my views perfectly clear (in normal longeing I give her considerable distance and am satisfied if she keeps up pace and attention). Until she no longer turns at every noise the little couple next door makes. Until she no longer turns to neigh a reply to her critically attached herd mate. Abbrubtly, I stop and turn to face her side. She looks down at me quizically, desire to avoid me still fresh in her face. I stand and stare up at her head and into her eyes (admittedly rude fashion in horse language) as I try to work out a way to communicate that I want her to turn away from me. She is excellent at turning with and toward me, and I suspect this is because of whatever previous training she has had, but we've yet to successfully make a turn where I move in her direction and she moves away. I recall a technique I had seen used with Jay O Jay, a Canadian horse trainer, and figure if I am at a loss for ideas it wouldn't hurt to try his. I move towards her and raise my hand to her eye, shaking it as rhthymically as a belly dancer and as she shies away I follow until I am satisfied with the number of steps she has taken to the right. I stop and pet her, reassuring her that she won't have to worry. I then go back to walking away from the mare and having her follow me, she could use something familiar and safe-feeling after that little experience. We repeat this exercise, switching from towards me and away from me until I no longer have to use my hands, but instead exagerate my leg movement. We do this until I was satisfied with her timings compared to how light my aids are.

By now, she no longer insists upon neighing to her fatally attached companion in the field, and her attention is on me as I wish. When she does respond, I opt to make things are clear as possible. You see, in normal free longeing I make sure my legs are in the position I find most horses understand (hard to really describe, but it is the body language that doesn't confuse them), and I also try to be as close to the middle as the paddock allows, I also did not care about her pace, as long as she didn't crash into a fence, and did not walk. This was not so when she dared to neigh, I kept on her heels quite adimantly and kept the pace fairly quick. It was very clear though, and after two rounds of this she was smart enough to ignore her friend's calls. Not even the indication of turning to look. It was at this time that I started finding out which areas of her body she was uncertain about. The main issue in this is that whoever trained her last had her following so well that following was all she did, she didn't know what a signal for standing in place was. It wasn't so hard to work out though, as I would simply follow her side as she turned to try and face me- up until she finally gives in and stands still. Working down her body from one side to the other, neck to legs, to tail, and back again. Places I do not trust to touch myself, I first touch with the whip. She dances away from it at first, but soon learns to accept this too, and even rests a leg and lowers her head (though she quickly swerves it around to look at what I am doing). Calypso has a sensitive underbelly, has trouble responding to pressure on her shoulder, hates her head being handled (it is a wonder a new halter was placed on her- probably done in her stall), loathes the whisp of the whip as it moves, and was generally found the whole process of patting, poking, and light tapping unpleasant at best, but I am sure with time this will become more pleasurable (at least the patting). She is still unsure of what is happening, but she is trusting enough to stay and tolerate what I do.

After all of this, the opportunity arouse to take her on a trail with some accompanying riders. I had tried once before to walk her alone (whoops, this was before I even considered buying her) and let's just say it wasn't a situation I would run to with open arms. Still, I was more confident and the prospect of people around to help if something went wrong was appealing. So off we set, I on foot, and walked a distance I never though I could bear. It must of only been a mile or so, if that, but it was a mile I took on no breakfast or food within 7-12 hours, and only one sip of water on a hot day in boots. The path was horrendous for me, up and down, and up and down, and through the river, over the rocks and into the mud, then back on level ground only to meet once more with mud mixed with rocks. All of this on foot, trying to keep up with an arabian mare who truly set a pace for me. If I could of ridden her, I have no doubt we would of been the ones leading the way. I have to say, I have a new found appreciation for the gelding I lease who loyaly hauled my ass through these very paths! xD I am very proud of her though, she is much calmer that I ever gave her credit for- she did things her field buddy would cringe and crow hop at, all without batting an eye. She jumped a log, jumped a puddle (she was nervous, or would have crossed it normally, but I cannot fault her for she did cross it without other hesitation), saw cars (6 or so feet away in an area where they give no warning and just "appear"), crossed a road, saw a bike (1-2 feet away), heard some dogs, passed some dogs (fair distance away), fell far behind her companions when I started to get exhausted, and did all of this without any acting up. Her only downfall during the entire process was that she was hard to manage as we just left the barn and up until entering the forest, and then upon leaving the forest and seeing the barn. This is just being barn sour (can't blame her when she hasn't been trailed in probably years), and it is something we will definately nip. I have no other complaints though, she was otherwise an angel on Earth.

I let her cool down (though she actually wasn't sweating), walked her about, put her in her stall and left as my mom had arrived and I could not stay any longer (not that I wanted to, I was ready to pass out just as we were almost out of the forest- I had to push myself with the knowledge that we were almost there). I really did pay for that hike though. As soon as I was in the car, the adreniline must of left me. I had a massive headache, could barely move, was starving, and generally felt lousy. I know I should have turned back, but I didn't see any more logic in going down an unfamiliar path alone with a mare who may or may not like the idea of being seperated from the other horses we were following any more so than what I was already doing. Stick to the dangers you know was my theory. As soon as I got home, I ate a bit, drank a lot, and then passed out in my bed while "watching" V for Vendetta (great move BTW, never read the graphic novel). I awoke a few hours later to discover that I couldn't walk.

You see, I have this annoying and unknown condition in my lower back that acts up for reasons unknown. It is like my tail bone in pinching a never so deep that if you were to poke at the general area, you still could not reach the source. My only theory is that I fell on my ass a few too many times on blacktop as a child and damaged my tail bone or something. It is a peculiar thing, it usually appears when I have too much intense exercise, but not always. Some days I can ride for an hour and be fine, other days I can ride for a half an hour and come home limping. My mom has arranged for me to see a chiropracter though, as this was my worst case in a long time (truly imobile short of hopping or an annoyingly and painfully pronounced limp). But that is a price I am willing to pay, especially for the knowledge that Calypso will have no problem adjust to be the trail mare I bought her to be.