Jumping at Triple Creek

 Thank goodness for Jasi at the show this weekend.  Without her stellar rides and steady progress through her division, I would have come home from the show absolutely irate about Highboy's truly MONSTROUS behavior. 

I swear you can see Highboy plotting the day's mischief

 Beauty was a bit wound up in a new place, and she jumped some of the warmup fences like they were 4' tall!  We are still wondering how Jasi managed to stay on some of those.  Jasi was able to take her from running out at nearly every fence to jumping quietly and straight by their last time through the course.  We practiced some sports psychology by breathing deeply to flush out any negative thoughts, then replacing those negatives with positive statements like, "I have soft arms, I have strong legs" to better the jumping technique.

Each jumping round was progressively better than the previous one.  With excellent performance in their division's flat classes, Jasi and Beauty went home with a fistful of ribbons including a reserve champion for the division!

I was so incredibly proud of Jasi for having the grit to stick with a difficult ride, bettering each round, and going home with a better horse than we arrived with. It was really something to hear the people watching her rides talk about her.  I was standing just outside the arena so I could coach Jasi, and there were quite a few comments from the other trainers such as, "wow, what a good seat", "such a balanced rider", "way to stick with it!"  We love to go to these shows because Triple Creek is such a friendly and encouraging place to compete.  Other riders in Jasi's division came up to her after her initial difficult round, and told her what a great job she had done.  Members of the crowd watching also came up to tell her how well she handled her horse, and compliment her horsemanship.  Lynn, who owns the facility and runs the shows, was supportive and generously let me coach Jasi in the show arena when Beauty was giving her a hard time.  This is a fantastic venue to begin show jumping, and the Bit of Honey Crew always enjoys our time there!

I wish I had such glowing reviews about Highboy's performance.  I know the saying generally goes, "you win some, you lose some", but this show felt more like, "you lose some, you get disqualified from some!"  The horseshow this weekend was an absolute fiasco for Highboy.  We were going to be showing the cross-country derby (jumping in an arena, then jumping out of the arena, then jumping a few cross country fences all in one course), as well as some jumper classes.  Highboy had it in his head that the jumps in the arena were boring at only 2'9", and so he felt the need to do some special maneuvering to entertain himself.  The result was bucking like I have not dealt with in a long time.  My only solace is that we got hilarious pictures of Highboy's antics.  He was really more of a muppet than a horse, doing his best giraffe, llama, jumping like a deer, and "can you see my tonsils?"

I debated about sharing these abysmal results, but I think it's important to tell the story that things seldom go smoothly with horses, as I've been experiencing with Highboy.  I was in an accident in 2008 that left me with brain damage (not related to Highboy), and one of the lingering deficits I have is trouble with short term memory.  Because of this difficulty I have a very hard time memorizing a jump course on the fly.  Add to that Highboy's repetitive flying as he bucked after each jump, and there was just no way a course committed only to short term memory was going to stay in my head.  I went off course in my XC derby, and I had to excuse myself after the third fence in my jumper class because I had no idea which jump came next.  It's incredibly frustrating to me when I can't remember simple things like that, especially when I'm fatigued.

Kicking down the fences as we bucked our way over them

The "one foot" series indicating he thought these were not big enough

Pretending he's never seen a jump before - what is that??

Can't take his eyes off it even when going over

best giraffe impression

best llama impression

It did help me feel better to remind myself I am an eventer.  It's a great sport for me because I can get around the short term memory problems.  I have months to learn my dressage tests, I can walk the XC course as many times as necessary to commit it to long term memory, and I have plenty of time to walk and memorize my one show jumping course before I have to ride it at an event.  Everyone has their favorite sport, and eventing is mine. 

The whole situation brought to mind this diagram:

I also comforted myself with the quote:
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's a cha-cha.” ― Robert Brault

From the horse's perspective, Highboy had a terrific time.  Between kicking at the gate person, launching around the warmup arena while trying to engage the other horses in WWF horse wrestling, and attempting to jump OUT of the warmup arena over the 3' fence he thought it was quite a party.  At the end of the day there was absolutely no remorse on his face, he had genuinely enjoyed himself.  I console myself with photographs, courtesy of Kimberly Hale Photography, and leave my frustrations with a good chuckle over Highboy's silly pictures.  Thank goodness the folks at Triple Creek are supportive and let me school my nonsensical mount there, because I do have to start somewhere.

Lynn did get some video of Highboy on the XC course.  It was his best behavior of the day, probably because it requires some thinking and therefore he found it interesting. It can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PhY3kw4TKY

Gwenyth Cantering and the Clean Socks

Gwenyth the Clydesdale is coming along well!  We've had several rides both in the round pen and in the arena, as well as hacking out in the front pasture around the barn and house.  She is a truly kind soul who desperately wants to do the right thing.  If she doesn't understand what I'm asking, her first reaction is to carefully come to a stop.  Then she looks at me as if to say, "I'm sorry, Kim, I didn't catch that.  Could you clarify for me what I'm supposed to be doing?"

As an 11 year old who has had extensive ground work she has wonderful ground manners and a very solid foundation in ground driving.  At this point in her training with me she is mostly figuring out balance while carrying a rider.  Because of her size and weight, it's tricky for her to shift her balance around, and my weight on top of her is just enough to make it challenging for her to canter under saddle.  She can do it loose in the round pen, but when I have been on her and asked for a canter she trots faster, loses her balance, and spirals into the center of the ring.  Then she stops, looks at me over her shoulder and explains that there's not enough room to canter in there.

So next we went to the big arena.  It's 100'x200', with half of it covered.  Gwenyth has been remarkably brave with riding from light into dark, the pigeons periodically dive bombing us, and the dogs cavorting around barking instructions while we ride.  Cantering is still sticky for her, though.  She really wants to do what I'm asking, but she genuinely believes there's not enough room to canter in there before she has to make a turn and then she'll lose her balance. 

Today I had a friend riding with me who offered to hold the noisiest dog (who was barking instructions at Gwenyth and confusing her).  I put Gwenyth on the lunge line since she seems to be able to canter in a circle without a rider, and I'm dealing with the Draft Horse Brain.  This is very normal for cold-blooded horses like Clydesdales to need extra time to process new things.  They tend to be one-at-a-time thinkers, and anything new needs to be introduced gradually, with only one new thing introduced at a time.  Too many new things will really stress out a draft brain, and once a draft horse is stressed it's nearly impossible to teach them anything that they will retain.  If they are calm and thinking, once they get the idea you almost never need to repeat the lesson.  I need to simplify what I'm asking of Gwenyth so she can think all the way through what I want without getting nervous.  This also means we take frequent breaks for her to ponder each thing we do accomplish.

Gwenyth was worried because I'd introduced too many things at once:  the arena, riding with another horse, trotting and steering at the same time, barking dogs, and she still is getting used to carrying me as a rider.  I pared down the list of new stimuli by having the dog restrained, the other horse halted, I got off, and I asked Gwenyth to canter on the lunge line.  She was able to do it, though did lose her balance a few times causing her to lean out on the circle and lose her lead in her hind end.  The great thing about the draft brain and Gwenyth in particular, is when she gets nervous or doesn't understand something her default is to stop and ask me for help.  When she lost her balance on the lunge line she simply stopped and turned to look at me.  When I reassured her by telling her she was doing it right and to just try again, she would take a deep breath and go out on the circle once more for a fresh attempt. 

Bless her heart, she finally figured out what I was after and when we went the other direction she got a nice canter on the first try.  Because she did it so well I immediately ended the lesson for the day and we just stood in the center of the arena snuggling for a few minutes.  She likes her shoulder rubbed and her ears stroked, and she likes to stand with her forehead close to me.  This posture is really comforting to her so we spent some time that way while my friend finished her ride on her horse.  Gwenyth watched carefully, especially when the horse was cantering.  I swear Gwenyth was studying how it was done.

After we untacked I took some time to do a little beauty treatment on Gwenyth, or the bearded lady as her owner had affectionately called her.  Gwenyth now has her billy goat's gruff trimmed so that the bridle straps don't snag her beard, she has a nice bridlepath behind her ears, her tail has been washed and detangled, and her feathers are sparkly white.  It was a big day for the big girl.

Walsh was a little jealous of the photo session, so he stood in front of the camera encouraging me to document his four matching socks as well.  A shorter horse, and a little less hair, though. 

Note Free Jumping and Tarp Training

Today Note and I went to the round pen to play.  He has become a typical Bit of Honey horse in that he loves to jump, even without a rider.  I prefer to introduce jumping to horses this way because it gives them a chance to figure out what is required of their bodies without a rider to balance as well.  Note enjoyed himself running around the round pen and jumping the barrels, and also took a couple swings at Mazhi my dog when she tried a little too hard to motivate him. 

Some video of Note free jumping can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWbP3hE3Uys

Once we were done jumping we decided to mess around with some of the toys I keep in the round pen.  First were the tires, which Note has seen before. Mahzi helped with the obstacles as well since she is so good at demonstrating they are harmless.

Lastly we worked with the tarp.  Usually something big, green, flappy, and moving is scary for a horse.  However, I have a few ways of introducing the tarp which minimize the boogey-monster qualities.  Sometimes I introduce it with cookies, so whenever the horse approaches the tarp they get a treat.  However, I didn't have any treats on me today so I decided to use one of my other techniques.  This one involves chasing - but it's the horse chasing the tarp.  It works really well with horses who are curious and intelligent.  Note is also a very confident fellow and is always keen to boss someone or something around, so this method was going to work well with him.

I began by standing near the tarp with the dogs so Note could check it out and see that the dogs didn't think it was anything dangerous.  He went up to it and did some snorting and honking, also poking it with his nose.  Because my tarp has been around for a few years it's in rough shape, which worked in my favor today since I could grab a smaller piece and drag that around. 

I picked up a section of the tarp and I proceeded to walk away from Note with it.  Once it started moving Note really began to pay attention.  He followed it, still snorting and honking.  This began our game of "chase".  When Note stopped, the tarp would stop.  When Note started chasing, the tarp would retreat away from him.  In Note's point of view, this monster could be herded around the round pen, and monsters are much less scary if they run away from you!  It was a fun game for him, and he even grabbed a piece of it and tore it off.  Eventually it wasn't a scary thing anymore, and he took a break to roll.  After his sand bath he resumed following the tarp around.  Tarp training:  mission accomplished.

Here is some video of Note chasing the tarp:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ne6Rdw9KYs

Highboy's First Time at Training Level Dressage Tests

We arrived early at the show at Tomora Training Center in Greeley, CO.  The indoor show arena was open for hand walking from 7-8am and Highboy definitely needed to check it all out and see himself in the mirrors before we tried to ride a dressage test in it, so we were there bright and early.

Blurry-eyed Highboy said it was REALLY early.

Since we were there so far in advance of our scheduled ride time, I was able to do a good long warmup for Highboy.  He can be fickle, so it's hard to know how much time he will need to put his brain back in his head after the excitement of arrival.  For example, it's not uncommon to go 8 miles on the trails at a strong trot before he settles down.  Other times he walks calmly from the start.  Given that the previous day's practice for the dressage show included this display of athleticism when cantering to the left:

I wanted to make sure we had sufficient time to get Highboy into a cooperative mindset at the show grounds. 

He actually rode very well in the warmup.  I was really pleased with his forward trot and how he was looking to stretch his back and topline.  His canter work had some spring to it, though picking up the left lead needed some careful setup to do it correctly. 

We rode Training Level Tests 1 and 2, which are basic walk/trot/canter tests and include a free walk and a stretchy trot circle. 

This photo with the K in the background is the beginning of Highboy's stretchy trot circle, you can see him starting to reach forward and down with his head as his back comes up.

The cantering went very well, other than the difficulty picking up the left lead and some balance challenges in the transitions.  Just more stuff to work on and gives me some good direction on where we go from here. 

I am certainly a perfectionist, and in some ways that is a help when training for dressage competitions because of my attention to detail.  After my tests are finished, however, my perfectionist nature is a terrible stress.  Dressage tests are scored against an impossible ideal, the perfect (imaginary) ride.  A perfect score on a movement is a 10, though no one ever earns that mark.  If you consistently score 6s on your movements you're doing well, 7's are really good and 8's are incredible.  If the judge gives you a mark lower than an 8 they put a comment in the test regarding why they scored you that way. 

Over the years I've established a routine for assessing my day at the show.  When each test's ride is complete, I make a mental note of the things that went well and the things I know we need to work on.  I take a moment to compare how well we rode the test compared to the last dressage show, and remind myself that THAT comparison is the significant one, not comparing to how he rides at home.  Apples to apples and that sort of thing. 

Because of the scoring being held against (impossible) perfection, if I allow myself detailed examination of the scores and comments after receiving the score sheet I get incredibly frustrated and become hypercritical of how my rides went.  I begin to disregard the impressions I had when I finished the ride, no matter how positive they were, and then I begin to harp on any and all mistakes and inadequacies.  So I've developed a routine to help myself remain positive about myself, my day, and my horses.

After receiving my test sheet I read through the scores and comments twice.  The first time I scan the test looking for good marks and positive comments.  The second time through I read more carefully, noting problem areas and things to improve.  Then I throw the test away.  This allows me to be pleased with any color ribbons I may have gotten, and helps me to be proud of myself and the horse. 

Today we got some good scores, and the best part of the comments was the first thing written by the judge:  "quiet horse."  Everyone at the show who knew Highboy was startled by those two little words, and then we all cheered!

Progress is satisfying. Thank you to Kimberly Hale Photography for documenting the experience!

Getting to Know Gwenyth

Gwenyth and I spent some time getting to know each other this morning.  After feeding all the horses, I haltered Gwenyth and tied her for grooming and tack fitting.  She was very well behaved and I found a saddle in my collection that can accommodate her high withers as well as her very wide ribs/back.

Because I was waiting on a girth extender, I ended up taking her to the round pen without tack.  I turned her loose in the round pen to play a little, just to see how she behaved without anything affecting her movement.  She did trot and canter around a little on her own, pausing at the gates to look for other horses.  Once she had investigated the whole round pen and taken a cursory glance at some of my toys (ball, tires, barrels, poles, tarps) she settled right down and came into the middle of the pen where I was standing.  She is a typical draft horse, who needed to be given a little time to think and process her new environment on her own terms before being asked to do something by a new person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWsRqT4eHE

After she came into the middle, she just followed me as I walked around with no lead rope.  Eventually I sauntered over to the gate where I keep my lunge line, and I attached it to her halter.  We then proceeded back to the center of the round pen and I asked her to walk, trot, canter, whoa, and reverse on the line.  This is all old hat for her and she was very well behaved with no bucking or nonsense, and she paid close attention to my requests.

Faster speeds in a smaller circle can be challenging for a draft horse because they are built with the conformation to pull a cart, plow, or carriage at slower speeds like the walk or trot in a straight line.  Because of this, it can take some concentration and space for a draft to canter in a circle.  Gwenyth is of course a big mare, and so my lunge line circle was fairly large, and I'm fortunate to have a large 100' round pen.  However, as long as she had room to maneuver she easily picked up the correct lead at the canter going each direction.  She was a little cautious about my dogs cavorting around and barking at the lunge whip (their favorite toy), but as soon as she realized they were just being silly she ignored them completely.

Our next workout will include saddling up and repeating today's routine with tack, and investigating bits that might work for her.  I like to introduce things in this boring order, first day round pen "getting to know you", second day repeating it but with tack, then proceed from there so a new horse can get used to the routine and will know what to expect on any given day.  I of course vary the workouts to keep in interesting, but I find that with these first sessions, the more closely I adhere to a routine the easier a new horse acclimates to Bit of Honey Training.

Introducing Gwenyth

This weekend we welcomed a Clydesdale to the Bit of Honey Training herd!  Her name is Gwenyth Rose, and is a eleven year old mare who has come for training to be a riding horse.  She arrived on our gloomy, rainy, and muddy Saturday afternoon but her good looks certainly spice up the place. 

I like to make sure new horses have a chance to meet everyone before we put them out in a paddock with a group of strangers, so Gwenyth is in the small barn paddock sharing the fenceline with the ponies and with Highboy.  Interestingly, Highboy and Gwenyth are nearly the same height!

While I was taking photos of her, Highboy marched over to talk to me and demand a close-up of his own.

Once he had been appropriately acknowledged by the paparazzi, he went back to talking with Gwenyth and discussing how things work around here.

And with one last photobomb, Highboy allowed me to take a full body photo of his new favorite girl.  It will be fun to see how Gwenyth comes along, I do love the draft horse brain!