Cross Country Pace Event with Highboy

This weekend I was in Parker again, at the Colorado Horse Park.  This time I went with Highboy to do a pair pace event.  It was put on by the Arapahoe Hunt club as a fun way to kick off their season in Colorado.  Essentially it was a cross country jumping round, with several options and levels so I could choose his course based on how confident he felt.

As we went to the warm up arena Highboy was feeling HOT.  He performed some of his favorite airs-above-ground and generally tried to cause mayhem on the path to the field.  Fortunately a very tolerant rider was ahead of us, who was very forgiving and helpful and even offered to trot the path with us, which helped Highboy to settle.  If I had tried to keep him at a slow walk the entire way it would have been like trying to keep a lid tightly closed on a pot of boiling water - steam has to escape somewhere.  Trotting worked much better.

I love my face in the warm-up photos.  Highboy is having a grand old time running sideways and being ridiculous, and I can see myself telling him "go FORWARDS" and gritting my teeth in an effort to keep my composure.  It was a challenging morning for me because of the wind.  It was blowing pretty hard, and the wind will often give me terrible balance, issues with vertigo, and vision problems.  These are all leftovers from the brain injury I experienced seven years ago.  I tried to pay close attention to my balance so I would notice if I needed to dismount, and I eventually decided to do my run because I wasn't dizzy, and I didn't have any black spots in my vision.

I had gotten to the warm up quite early so that I would have plenty of time to get Highboy to settle.  As a result, he was actually very reasonable when our start time rolled around.  We entered the start box and then took off to the first fence, a large log.  Highboy slammed on the brakes, looked at it really hard, and then leaped over it from a standstill.  He did a similar maneuver over the second fence, then galloped well up the hill and took the third fence with a smaller look.

Just after the third fence a person ran in front of me, flagging me down and waving.  It turned out someone had fallen off by the last water hazard, and they needed to assess the situation so they stopped the other riders on course.  The person needed to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, so Highboy and I waited about twenty minutes on the top of the hill while paramedics took care of the person.  Finally we were given the go-ahead to continue our course.  While I'm terribly sorry someone fell and was hurt, it was actually a good thing for Highboy to learn that sometimes I'll stop him on course and then he can wait patiently for a while before we go again.  It was also an opportunity for me to focus on my ride, and to practice tuning out the little doubting voice in my head.  I know what I do is dangerous, and so I take all the necessary safety precautions such as wearing a helmet, impact and air vests.  Then I practice positive sports psychology to keep my head in the game.  Just another good learning experience for both me and Highboy.

Because he still has a lot of growing to do, Highboy had only schooled cross country once last summer before this event, and we only do very small jumps on occasion in the arena, in addition to his liberty work with the clicker and playing over the jumps.  There has been no serious training over fences so I can keep his body sound as he develops and grows.  He has spent this summer doing lots of trail riding and going on many long walks around the property up and down hills.  I like this kind of conditioning for several reasons.  It builds our relationship to spend so much time together enjoying each other's company.  It allows his body to slowly acclimate to its new shape, strengthening bones, tendons, and ligaments without overly straining them.  It also is good for his brain to see new things and work through different types of footing.

All the time spent at slower speeds building his confidence and learning to navigate terrain changes really paid off this weekend.  Never having schooled water before, Highboy and I skipped the water hazards, but that was the only thing we needed to pass.   Highboy was balanced and comfortable going both up and down hills on course, and he didn't bat an eye when I asked him to jump up the bank.  The jumps themselves were easy for him, though he took some hard looks so he could gauge size, and then leaped over the fences from a standstill several times.  The most humorous ones were when he would stop, look at the fence, snurrfle the jump with his lips and take a quick taste of the plastic flowers, then realizing they weren't edible he would launch into the air.  By the end of the course he was galloping well and jumping confidently over the larger fences.  His entire ride was a positive progression. 

We did some very big trotting on course, I was imagining what it will look like when we get to doing an extended trot in a dressage test.  We even got a photo where NONE of Highboy's feet are on the ground!

In some of the landing photos you can tell Highboy is looking at the ground to figure out where to put his feet.  Almost as if to say, "Now where do I go with these hooves?"

There were definitely some "green horse moments" when Highboy wasn't sure what to do over a jump, but it's all part of learning how to play the game.

He was really starting to find his rhythm and enjoy himself by the end.  During the final gallop to the last fence I heard some of my Fort Collins friends hollering and cheering for me and Highboy as we approached the last jump.  It was great to feel like we had an audience!  Highboy galloped to the jump and launched over, causing some gasping and more cheering.  He crossed the finish line wanting more, in a good galloping rhythm, and eager to see what came next.  Always a good way to wrap up a ride, with more confidence than when you started it.

 A huge thank you to Kimberly Hale Photography for spending her Saturday taking photos at this event. 

Life is Too Short, Ride Your Best Horse First

I often get so wrapped up in the client horses and riding lessons here for training that when the day comes to an end, I'm exhausted and I realize that I wanted to ride Highboy but didn't get to him.  This used to happen to me a lot when I had Major and Cecil as well, it seemed like because they were the horses who were farthest along in their training I would often leave them for last on the list because it wasn't a crisis if I didn't get to them. 

However, as time has passed and I've lost good horses to the big pasture in the sky, I've come to realize that the quote, "Life is too short, ride your best horse first" is a good one by which to live.  As part of my self-care routine I have been working with Highboy twice a week, because he is MY horse, and the one that grows my soul.  He is a long term project, he arrived here two years ago as a four year old.  In the time he's been with me he has grown four inches taller, and now he looks like a sport horse instead of a gangly youngster.  If his free jumping while playing in the arena is any indicator, once he is finished growing and I really start his under saddle jumping training he will make me a better rider over fences, too. 

One afternoon a few weeks ago I was riding with some boarders here, and Highboy approached Sara and asked to chew on her crop.  It had a rubbery handle with little nubbles for grip.  Sara offered it to Highboy, who took it in between his teeth and proceeded to slowly chew on it.  He almost went into a trance, he closed his eyes and kept rolling the crop handle around and around in his mouth.  I had the thought that he may be wanting a different bit now that he's further along in his training and getting a little fidgety with his face.  

Since then I've been experimenting with his bits to see what he likes.  At the top of the bits photo you can see the one Highboy preferred when he first arrived here.  He said he liked a snaffle with eggbutt sides, a single joint, with a copper mouth.  It was probably what was most familiar to him from racing.  At the time I tried a bunch of other things with him, but he said he preferred that one. 

Now that he is a little older and has more riding experience, he says that he's ready for something different.  I tried the bit that is second from the top in the photo, Cecil's old double jointed KK loose ring snaffle.  Highboy liked it pretty well but said he didn't want the loose ring.  I knew that was the part which was bothering him because his tongue and jaw were relatively quiet with the three pieces inside it, but if I tried to cue him with a rein he would tense and wrinkle the corners of his lips. 

To address that, I then tried a three piece bit, the third one from the top in the photo, a sweet iron french link with eggbutt sides.  Highboy liked it pretty well.  He would salivate and get some nice toothpaste-like foam in the corners of his lips, but his tongue and mouth were still busier than I would expect if he was truly happy with it.

I kept up the search to find something he likes best, and I was able to track down a combination of the things he liked:  the bottom bit in the photo.  It has D-ring sides so no movement there, three pieces, and a tasty mouthpiece with a copper roller in the middle.  I put it on Highboy this morning to see what he thought, and it was like I had hit some sort of switch in his brain. 

His mouth was incredibly quiet, and his entire demeanor changed.  The new bit was acting like a pacifier, so much that Highboy almost seemed like he had been sedated.  I had to really rev him up to get a canter from him, and even hopping over the little jumps in the arena he was almost sticky and slow.  But his mouth was quiet and he seemed so much more focused than his regular excited and distractable self.  I then took him out to the back forty to walk with the dogs, where he did wake up a little and did hop around and play once we got to the far side.  Mostly, though, he said very clearly that he likes this new snaffle, at least for now.

Sweetpeacefuldream Jumps at the Saddle Club

This morning Sweetpeacefuldream and Dewey went with us to the Rockie Mountain Saddle Club.  Miss Pea was trying again to get the hang of horse shows consisting mainly of "hurry up and wait."  Dewey came along for moral support and to have a field trip off the ranch with his new owner, Rebecca.

Miss Pea did really well.  She is really starting to get the hang of the horse show routine.  It's a funny game that horses have to adjust to, somewhat different from track life.  Miss Pea realized that the show game is mostly about standing around and visiting with friends, interrupted by the occasional tour of the arena.  As soon as she had that figured out she thought it was pretty fun.

A summary of her day at the show:
1 - Wake up early, eat breakfast, load in the trailer, drive to the show.

2-  Wait in the trailer while your human gets you signed up and checked in, then unload and stand at the trailer eating out of a hay bag during grooming.

3 - Get dressed, warm up in the arena and look at everything.
4 - Graciously accept compliments from the spectators, fellow competitors, and show organizers about what a gorgeous mare you are.

5 - Fall asleep standing near the bleachers with your Bit of Honey Training crew while you wait for your turn to ride in your classes.

6 - Ride in your division, accept ribbons for being spectacular, go back to the trailer and snack on hay.
7 - Do a little jumping and show the kids how it's done.  Miss Pea got to do the little hunter hack course a few times so she could get the hang of it.  A video of her three goes can be seen here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HINJCb7aE5w

Jumping is a tricky thing, because a horse has her eyes on the sides of her head.  This creates a blind spot immediately in front of her, and thus the fence actually disappears out of her field of vision right as she needs to take off to jump it.  It's quite a gift that horses are willing to jump at all for us when some of the things we ask them to leap over are quite monstrous.  Then the monster disappears just before the horse presents her belly to the beast by jumping over it.

Her first time through was a chance for Miss Pea to take a good hard look at the little jumps.  Because Miss Pea is careful and wanted to do it right, she weaved and dipped her head, and sucked back just in front of the jump so that she could see exactly where it was as she approached.  She was also checking to see how big she ought to take it.  She would rather overestimate the size than hit a pole by accident, so she leaped big during round one.

Her second time through she was a little straighter to the fences, and while she still took a good look and was cautious, she was growing more confident.  By the third time through she conservatively hopped over the first fence, cantered her four steady strides in between, and then hopped over the second fence.  Great success for a youngster thinking her way through a simple line. 

The last item of the day was to load back into the trailer and go home to eat some more. She and Dewey did this part really well.

We had friends from other barns there at the show with us as well.  The miniature pinto is Cher, who is fabulous at showmanship with her owner, Sandy.  Sandy is a really fun individual, she is a great admirer and supporter of the Thoroughbreds I bring along.  Sandy was one of the very first female jockeys, and has been in the Jockeys' Hall of Fame.  She is now retired from racing, as well as a retired doctor and professor from CSU here in Fort Collins.  She now shows her horses at the saddle club shows and shares really fun stories with us from when she raced in the 60s.

My friend Trisha was there as well, with her twenty five year old Lipizzaner.  He came from Florida a couple years ago through another friend, never having done anything other than dressage in an arena.  He now also enjoys his retirement at the saddle club, as well as teaching Trisha's students, including  an eleven year old girl who will piaffe and passage with him.

Balance Rider Training Sessions

We had a great time at the Balance Rider Clinic last weekend.  We had a group of about fifteen people between teachers, riders, and auditors.  The sessions were informative, with each rider using the Balance Rider with Jim for about thirty minutes, then immediately mounting their horse and doing a lesson with me for about thirty minutes.  Each rider made significant improvements to her riding in these sessions. 

A fun and interesting detail of the day was that I taught variations on the same concept to all nine sessions of riding instruction.  The idea was "Seat Feet," a concept I take from my riding instructor certification group, Centered Riding.  I chose this as the overarching concept for the day because the Balance Rider works to increase a person's awareness of seated balance.  Recognizing the Seat Feet is one way to identify your seated balance.  The idea is to imagine your seat bones as little feet.  When you sit in the saddle, can you identify them?  Can you feel them individually?  Can you tell when one Seat Foot is taking a step and when the other one is?  At the walk do they tend to move together, individually, or a combination? 

The answers to these questions varied depending on the person riding, and the horse that she rode.  For example, my lesson horse Cole the Connemara has a very distinctive walk, with both side to side and front to back movement.  The riders on him noticed their Seat Feet moving very individually, and could identify when the left and right seat bones had more or less weight in them.  Jubilee the petite Arabian mare has a much more springy and compact walk, and her rider felt the Seat Feet as moving together in a pair.  Fergie, the Thoroughbred/Clydesdale, was a combination of both types of movement, and her rider felt that both seat bones moved together, yet they would alternate which one moved more dramatically.  We also had a Haflinger, cutting bred Quarter Horse, a Paint Horse, and a Thoroughbred to work with.  This made for a diverse and interesting series of individualized lessons!

This was a great lesson plan to use for the Bit of Honey Training sessions.  There was so much variation in the way people perceived the concept of Seat Feet, I was able to tailor each lesson to that rider and horse pair.  Because of this, each of the nine lessons that day were slightly different, despite the basic concept being the same.  All the riders who audited each other's rides learned something from observing and listening to different lessons, because I presented the information slightly differently to each.  When you learn the same information in a variety of modalities you tend to absorb the concepts better. 

We had a few display tables for the weekend, too.  There was the anatomy table, with the human skeleton, the horse skeleton, diagrams showing how humans and equines have mostly the same body parts, and a human pelvis for people to get a hands-on look at their Seat Feet.

RCoatney Art was also representing, so that people could see some of the amazing fine art Rebecca produces.

One of my favorite images from the day was when one (adult) rider exclaimed,  "I can SEE them!  My Seat Feet!  They are bright purple sneakers with sparkles and turquoise laces.  If I want the horse to take bigger strides I empty the weight out of my Seat Feet to make them lighter and they take bigger strides.  If I want the horse to take smaller steps I imagine the Seat Feet are heavy, like a kid waddling around with a full diaper."

Incompletely Closed Garage Results in Small Animal Adventures

Last week I had one of those Dog Days of Summer.  To be more accurate, Nase the house dog and Miles the border collie had a Dog Day of Summer.  I had forgotten that the middle garage door wasn't entirely closed, and I let Nase out in the morning a little before 6am for his daily constitutional.  He ran around the side of the house and got Miles, then the two of them disappeared on a rabbit hunt.  For seven hours.  I called them but heard no hint of their mischief neither did I see any sign of their location.  Though both dogs are seven years old now, Miles is in pretty good shape from working outside with me all the time.  On the other hand, Nase's biggest day-to-day exertion consists of deciding whether to nap under the bed or in the closet. 

Around 1:30pm they finally returned.  Nase came to the front door as he always does, and when I opened it I saw my bearded friend had rubbed out most of the hair on top of his muzzle, and was covered in scratches on his face and front legs from digging under something in search of the rabbits.  He was also very hot and tired, and slowly walked into the house.  He went to the laundry room and had a long drink of water, then he laid down with one paw on either side of his water bowl and his chin IN the water.  He closed his eyes and fell asleep.  Perhaps rehydrating via beard-wicking properties?

The next day Nase was so sore he could barely move.  I couldn't convince him to go outside to do business in the morning, so I had to put a leash on him and nearly drag him outside.  He stiffly stumbled through the house on his leash until we made it out, then when he was done relieving himself he slowly and carefully teetered back to the closet to sleep the rest of the day.  It's hard getting older.  I tried to tell him this is why sedentary senior citizens don't run marathons without training.  Nase insists it was fun, it was worth it, and he'll do it again.

The other part of the incompletely closed garage door story involves the cats.  Sabbath, my black barn cat, has been very stressed by an orange tom cat who has been hanging around our place and beating him up regularly. 

 The night the garage door wouldn't close all the way, Miles gave us his yip of alert to let us know something was afoot in the outdoor domicile.  When my husband Owen and I switched the light on to check things out, we discovered Orange Cat and George the black cat having a showdown in the middle of the garage.  Miles was watching from the corner doing his best to let us know, but stay unnoticed himself.  I shooed George out of the garage, and once he was gone Orange Tom Cat became very friendly!  Purring, rubbing up against my legs, asking to be pet.  I picked him up and put him in a large dog crate for the night with wet food, an old horse blanket, and a litter box.  He was so friendly I suspect he was either dumped by someone or left behind when a neighbor moved. 



The next morning I discovered the giant mess he made out of the crate by finger painting with the litter box (some cats are artistic like that) and demolishing everything within reach of his paws through the slots.  But he was happy and meowing at me, rubbing his face up against the side of the crate and jumped into my arms for a snuggle when I opened the door.  One of my working kids said he needed a cat to do mouse control at his place, so I put Orange Cat in a cat carrier which was then strapped to the back of the 4-wheeler, and my working kid drove him home.  Apparently Orange Cat escaped the second night and came back here, but I haven't caught him again yet.  This time I'll take him to the cat rescue in Fort Collins to be neutered and adopted.  If he wasn't beating up Sabbath (who was here first) I'd keep him myself because he was such a sweetheart, but I won't make my current adorable mousers endure bullying. 

RCoatney Art

This is an example of the impressive fine art RCoatney Art creates. These are four of my thoroughbreds, Thai, Major, Highboy, and Cecil.  This art phenomenally done, and using only photographs she has captured each of their personalities in their faces.  I have no idea how this is accomplished, but each and every piece I have seen Rebecca create shows the personality of the subject.  Whether the subject is horses, dogs, cats, humans, or even landscapes, this is some seriously impressive fine art. 

The holidays are coming, contact me if you would like to get a piece scheduled.

The History of Bit of Honey Blogging

I was that kid in English class whose every poem was about her love for her piano teacher's horse.   Every essay involved getting to the olympics for eventing.  Every art project made from a horseshoe.  I have also always kept a journal, and over the years many horses have been featured in my books.  I have a cedar chest that sits at the end of my bed, filled to the brim with my journals.  I can't fit any more hardbound books in there, so I have the more recent ones in my office on a shelf. 

When I was about ten years old I started what was called The Penny and Tonka Diary, named after the two horses who occupied my every waking thought, and most of my sleeping ones.  I was the president of our little group called the Horseshoe Club, and my tolerant middle school friends were willing to follow my lead in recording all of our horsey endeavors in the little black book, with the title emblazoned on the cover in glittery gold puffy paint.  I still have The Penny and Tonka Diary, it sits in the cedar chest with the other books of my youth. 

I have to nod at how my adult life has reflected my childhood.  The stable colors now are black and yellow, the diary was black with gold puffy paint.  I blog about my equine adventures now, and I was very detailed in my assessment of each session with the horses in this little book. 

This blog has become an extension of my journal, and a way for me to record the stories of things that happen at Bit of Honey Training.  Each year I print the blog, and I have a good sized collection of books accumulating.  It's fun to recognize my roots in my current situation, and to look back on how my horsey lifestyle began.

Penny and Tonka were a pony and horse owned by my piano teacher.  They were the end of my piano lessons and the beginning of my affair with equines. 












I can't help but contrast them to my current horse and pony, Highboy and Garmin.  Garmin was clearly purchased with my subconscious attending to Tonka's color.  Highboy is a wish come true for me, I own the big bay Thoroughbred I always dreamed of, and I've been fortunate to work with so many other gorgeous Thoroughbreds over the years.  I feel so grateful for the solid horses who raised me, and the beautiful creatures I work with today.