Author: KaylaMarie

Sometimes, You Should Just Stay Home!

True story.  Sometimes you can make all the plans in the world, but if the stars align just right and the moon is in a funny position, pigs can suddenly fly but unicorns are stabbing them out of the sky and all kinds of other freaky crap happens.  I have a story to share with you, and it’s a story about how some days you should just listen to the first sign and stay the hell home! Lesson learned, universe!

It was a nice day outside, sunny, not too hot, not too cold, just perfect for the trail riding I had planned with Mary Jo.  Yeah… little did I know, life had some more lessons to teach me.

First of all, I am not sure I shared here the story of Fiz’s”game” with not wanting to come in from the field? Well, he wore a halter for nearly 2 months (until he broke it into several pieces) because at one point this year he decided it was fun to run away at the sight of us, presumably just to laugh at us chasing him down. Since he broke the halter, he hasn’t worn another one and he has been fine to catch, no issues whatsoever for over a month. I decide I’d like to take him trail riding, and arrange to meet Mary Jo for a nice little ride at McNeely Lake Park.  Fiz decides that’s the day to begin another round of the “game” with the running away in the field.  Hilarious, I tell ya (note the sarcasm here).

I go to his field the day of the ride, about 30 minutes before I needed to leave the barn to meet her.  He runs away like a bat out of hell. So, I run him and run him and run him until he’s tired enough to let me catch him. Then, I realized that he’d nicked his front heel with his back foot, and pulled the shoe off his front right hoof. Despite that, it barely bled and he seemed fine, so I decided to load up anyway…. NOTED UNIVERSE, I SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED HOME.  I get it.  Really, I do.  Note to readers:  It’s all downhill from here.

Fiz and I got to McNeely about 30 minutes late and unload. Well, Mary Jo dropped the butt bar before I unhooked the trailer tie (totally not her fault, I should have had this done) and he tried to fly out of the trailer, getting STUCK by the trailer tie, and then tearing off a piece of the rubber on the side of the trailer by flailing around before I could get him loose. The tie is supposed to be one of those emergency release things, which did not work as intended. EPIC FAIL.

Get him out of the trailer, finally, and again, he’s fine. He seems in good spirits, looking around, acting nice and calm, eating grass, etc. So we decide to see if he would tie. We tied him to her trailer, on the opposite side of her horse, and stood there with him about 10 minutes while he was again, calm, and being good. I decide to go back to the trailer and get his bridle. Well, AS SOON as I walk away, he ran backwards BREAKING the damn lead and GOT LOOSE. At McNeely! REALLY??? He begins running away down the road we came in. At this point I’m thinking “Well, I hope whoever finds you will give you a good home, because obviously I’m never gonna catch you out here in the open.” At this point, I also wanted to cry, felt like I was about to have a heart attack, but didn’t have it in me to give up.  I guess that’s just not in my DNA, as I keep coming back time and again for more, no matter what!

Luckily, I had some grain in a bucket in the trailer, so I go retrieve it to try and coax him back to me. Finally catch him about 10 or so minutes later. At this point it’s like “REALLY, this day is cursed” but we’re already there so might as well keep going.  Finally get saddled up and on the trail… he’s again going along fine and happy like no big deal. Until we hit some places with rocks on the trail, then he proceeds to act as though he is completely crippled on the foot with no shoe. Well that’s terrific. (Again, note the sarcasm here).

So we turn around and head back to the trailers. We were out a little over an hour. He loads FINE. Like no issues at all. Then, Mary Jo’s horse wouldn’t load, and he NEVER has issues! So we finally get both horses loaded and all is right with the world. So I thought.

I get back to the barn, and now he’s managed to get cut up on one of his back legs also. So that’s bleeding everywhere.  I say everywhere, but in all reality it really wasn’t THAT bad.   WHAT THE HELLLLLLL????? And then he won’t back OFF of the trailer! I assume afraid because of what happened at McNeely. Dear sweet baby Jesus please help me! It took about 10 minutes to convince him he could go backwards and step down. The wall of the trailer looks as though all he did was kick at it the entire ride back home. So much for having a sane, normal horse. Or wait, did we ever?  Anyway, I doctored his leg, turned him out, and went home.

I fully expected the next day for him to be super sore, but NOPE!  He was just fine.  His cuts healed in less than 3 whole days and he is perfectly fine now, but we have not since been off the farm.  We have also purchased a set of shipping boots to protect him from those type of cuts in the future.  Hopefully the next adventure is not as… adventurous!  As always, stay tuned for more adventures of Fizzy!

Scratches, AGAIN

Every year, without fail and without warning, this crap pops up on Fizzy’s leg(s).  The first time, we had no idea what it was as we had never seen anything like it before.  So, to try and help any readers we may get from the frustration of this crazy stuff, here’s an explanation of what it is and how to get rid of it.

Scratches is also called greasy heel, mud fever, dew poisoning, or in more technical terms, pastern dermatitis or pastern folliculitis. Anyway, it’s some sort of nasty fungus that happens when the conditions a horse lives in are muddy, wet, etc. It seems to be worse when there is repeated wetting/drying of the legs.  Horses that live in fields are prone to it since overnight can get dewy (dew poisoning) and then during the daytime the field dries out. Even more prone to it are white legs.  Lucky Fizzy, he has 3 white legs!!

Early on, it might just look like some kind of liquid/gel on your horses leg(s) and if detected early, will be no big deal.  The earlier you begin treatment, the easier it is to treat.  As it progresses, it will look like scabbing, and it can be very sensitive to the touch and in bad cases even cause lameness.  Avoid picking at it, trust me on this one.  I tried to “wash” it off the first time Fizzy had it, and that did not turn out very well and he was very uncomfortable.  I feel like a bad mommy because I didn’t know any better.

Some recommend you have it diagnosed by a veterinarian and receive anything from antibiotics, antifungals, to steroids… I know, I can see the dollar signs too.  However, THERE IS HOPE!!  I’m here to tell you (and save you some major money) that you don’t necessarily need that for this junk to go away.  However, if you try my method and it’s just not working, then by all means, you need to call a vet.

Anyway, I remembered to get a few photos this time since the last few years I did not.  I was at the barn Wednesday morning, did not go Thursday morning, and showed up Friday morning to picture #1, below.  This tells you how fast this stuff can pop up. I always groom Fizzy’s legs (and use polo wraps/splint boots) so there’s no way I would not have noticed this Wednesday.

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I immediately knew what it was as we had dealt with it before, so I began to treat it with what I am going to call my miracle mix.  Yes, you will get funny looks buying these items together at the department store or pharmacy.  Yes, your horse is worth any humiliation you might experience.  #1, Bordreaux’s Butt Paste, I buy the larger tube size in maximum strength, with 40% zinc as this is the active ingredient. I assume generic diaper rash cream might work, but I like using the best of the best with the 40% zinc. #2. Jock Itch Cream. These are usually in small tubes like .5oz, I buy 3 or 4 of them in a generic brand because they all basically have the same ingredients.  #3. Triple Antibiotic, again, small tubes in 1 oz, I’ll buy one or two in the generic store brand.  Mix it all up, and there you have it: Miracle Mix. I keep it in tupperware at the barn, and it’s held up and kept well til I need it.  I always have it on hand so I can begin treating this immediately when I notice it.  That way, it doesn’t spread.

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Put it on the affected area, and leave it alone.  Because we really have no other option, we have to turn Fiz back out, so he goes into the field with this on.  Apply it daily (or as much as you can) and the scabs will start falling off.  Keep applying until the scabs are gone and the area starts growing hair back.  If after seeral days to a week, the scabs persist, please call a vet and get some more serious treatment for your horse.  However, this is the treatment that has worked without fail for us on Fizzy every time for the last 3 years.

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I didn’t take a photo after the first day, this is after the 3rd day of treatment.  As you can see, the scabbing is going away but still present.

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Below is after a week, and not treating every single day.  Only a small amount of scabbing remains.  I keep putting it over the entire area anyway, just as a precaution.

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His first case was VERY bad.  I only have a photo of the spot after it had begun healing. As you can see, this area is much more largely affected than the above, because we didn’t know how to treat it and it spread.  Once we began treating it with the cream I talked about above, it looked like the below photo within 2 weeks.

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The Show Must Go On

We have a horse show in less than 2 days.  Saturday, the 16th, Fizzy will show in Country Pleasure at the Hardin County Fair. Those of you who care, the show starts at 8pm, we’re in the 12th class, and the address for the fairgrounds is 5617 South Dixie Hwy, Glendale, KY, 42740.  All shameless self-promotions aside, lets move on.

I was going to save this story until after the horse show because I know my loving Mother reads this blog, and you know how Mom’s worry.  I felt this situation to be similar to that time I wrecked my motorcycle days before a horse show and did not tell Mom until after I’d ridden in the show.  I did this to prove that I could function normally,  that I didn’t somehow become a paraplegic due to some scrapes and bruises.  Anyway, she’s been informed, so I guess the rest of you can be too.  Love you Momma!

Here’s the scoop.  Why is it that every time it’s crunch time, it seems like the universe wants to rain on our parade?  I mean, does this kind of crap really happen to other people, or is it just me? First let me begin by saying Fizzy has now been promoted to certified Saint, absolutely the most perfect horse in the universe of all horses.  (This week, anyway.)  Really, I should never speak ill of him ever again, in any capacity, for any reason!

That said, here’s the reason why. We had an accident in the cart Wednesday morning. Before you gasp and go “OH MY GAWWWDDD did you DIE?” No, we didn’t.  We are both just fine, by my definition of the word! Horse unscathed, Human might have walked a little weird for a day. Anyhow, here’s what happened. Coming around a corner in the indoor arena, the cart tumped over.  Yes, I mean, flipped onto its side.  As you can imagine, it’s not easy to sit on a seat that is no longer parallel to the ground, so I bit the dust pretty hard. I’m talking arena sand in my ears, nose, mouth, and pretty much covering my body hard. Probably ate some poop too, but we’re going to pretend that didn’t happen. I admit, picturing how it must have looked playing out, I’m laughing. I am going to assume this happened because of the bent pieces I later discovered while inspecting the cart.  I KNOW it was not previously like this. Despite the hard fall, I was still was able to hold onto the lines by some miracle (rope burned fingers, aside). Dragging the cart, now on its side, I shouted out  “WHOAH” and Fizzy stopped, immediately, and turned and looked at me. He stood perfectly still until I was able to get myself together, stand up, and walk over to put the cart back on it’s wheels and unhook him from it.

He literally could have ripped the cart apart, but he listened to me without a second thought and saved both of us the grief. Thank GOD that horse has a brain, and sometimes uses it! You know, when it counts! It’s one of those things you look back on and say “how in the actual hell did we get so lucky?” when you remember those “driving disaster” videos on YouTube where all hell breaks loose and some crazy equine is running loose, wildly trying to remove the rolling object from its self. Parts flying everywhere, a wheel here, a shaft there, and people scrambling around trying to stop it from further damage while it crashes into anything in its path. In case you haven’t had the luxury of seeing one of these terrifying videos, check this one out:  Driving Class Gone Wrong.  Yeah, thankfully that wasn’t us.  Saint status, yep, Fizzy has earned it.

Anyway, here’s the culprit, I assume… now to figure out how to fix that and get back to business, since we have already established that working Fizzy with the cart more has tremendously helped him! I apologize for the crappy cell phone photos, it’s the best I could do at the time.

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The aftermath:  I’ll spare you photos of my purple hip, so be glad for that.  My wonderful and caring man bandaged me up, politely telling me I should always wear my helmet for any activity, not just riding.  He might be right, but don’t tell him that.  He also laughed (because he knew I was OK), called me “Grace” and commented on how I like to “practice falling down” as he says.  I admit it, I’m not the most graceful person to ever walk planet earth and he’s witnessed a multitude of “mishaps” I’ve had.  A long time ago, he bought me this little plush horse and named it “Bandaid” in reference to my uncanny ability to inflict harm on myself without trying. So what? the show must go on, and we will be out there Saturday night giving it all we’ve got! So come join us in the fun.  🙂

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More Trail Riding!

It has been a few weeks, but I just want to say we took Fizzy trail riding around Seneca Park.  It was loads of fun, even it it was hot as Hades outside!  Fizzy hadn’t been ridden in a few days and thought walking was optional.  He’s a character, with a very backwards mind.  We learned a few things, such as stationary silent objects such as large rocks and gazebos are not OK, they are every reason needed to move sideways, snort, blow, and try to turn around. Loud moving vehicles (fire truck with sirens blaring) doesn’t get a second look or thought. I crack up at his decision making skills, and what he chooses to be afraid of.  None of it ever makes any sense to me!  If only I could see inside his mind and know what he was thinking sometimes.  Nonetheless, he always keeps me entertained.  I do feel like he likes getting away from home to do something other than go to a show, and I anticipate lots more trail riding this fall.  Here are some photos and a short video of our fun in the park!  In the video, you can hear the siren blaring and can tell that this doesn’t even phase him!

Keeping Up the Good Work-Cantering Continued

So I realize that I haven’t posted much in the training and AOT category since we updated on Fiz’s month of boot camp with a professional trainer.  So, here I am to give some updates.  Here goes.

Let me just say first and foremost, since starting this AOT journey I have found a new respect for trainers who make a living out of caring for and teaching other people’s horses how to behave.  It is, in a word, DIFFICULT.  To elaborate on that, to care for a very large and complicated animal, and teach it to behave in an appropriate way no matter where you take it, is an undertaking not for the faint at heart.  When we started this journey three years ago, I thought “It can’t be THAT hard.” Well, I am here to tell you now, that I was completely, in every sense of the word, WRONG.  IT IS HARD.  Very, very hard.  It is time consuming, and at times, life consuming.  You give up a lot.  You work harder than you thought you knew how.  You make difficult decisions, hell, you make EVERY decision.  You lose sleep.  You face challenges and you fight an uphill battle.  You set goals.  Sometimes you meet them, sometimes you work harder and try again next time. You have to be stubborn, determined, DEDICATED.  You have to push through, even in the times where you feel you’re getting no where.  For the sake of your horse and sometimes even your own sanity, you push through.  On top of all of that, as an AOT, you still have to go to work at some random full time job. So in many ways, we have it even more difficult than actual trainers do, since they spend all day every day focusing on just the horses.

Anyway, off the soap box of how difficult the “trainer” role is, the last two months have been going pretty dang good.  What Fiz learned at boot camp was a fantastic base for furthering his education and I can’t be happier with the results we got from spending a small fortune on one month.  I talked about everything he learned in a previous post, so you can go back and read about it in case you missed that.  We have been using the jog cart a lot more.  So much more that the poor $200 thing is falling apart.  I’ve had a slew of issues lately with that (do professional trainers have these same things happen, or is it just me?)  Over the last month, the dash has fallen off the cart twice, the tug fell off the harness once, the traces can’t seem to figure out how to stay on (the keepers are messed up), and there was also one fateful morning of the tire explosion.  Poor Fizzy has been more than patient with me and all of the crazy things.  He keeps coming in day after day happy to work, also regardless of the oddball hours I show up to work him!

In using the jog cart more though, we’ve come up with some very clear signaling to help with our cantering problems.  If you’ve been following our journey, you know by now that this horse is a difficult one to get “correct” at the canter.  He anticipates the takeoff, then gets all mixed up, has a BIG takeoff, and if you get out of sorts as the rider, he gets out of sorts too.   So we’ve been working on cantering in the jog cart hoping the voice signals and more work will help with his “mix ups” cantering.

Since one of the key things Fizzy learned with the professional was how to push up to the bridle and go faster without breaking into the next gait, we didn’t want to ruin that.  So, whenever we ask him to move on and extend the trot in the cart, the whip always taps him on the top of his butt.  The voice signal is always a cluck, and if you feel him getting off, a “whoop trot” is in order.  He listens to that because we have said it enough he knows what it means.  When signaling for the canter, I will slightly turn his head to the rail (this is by no means a big signal, it’s just a tiny bit) and say “ready…. CANTER” and then tap him on his HIP if he doesn’t take off cantering. The “ready…canter” tip came from one of Smith Lilly’s DVD’s on training, and the “ready” part is intended to prepare them mentally for what we are about to ask, and to separate it from a “Whoop Trot” very easily. 95% of the time using this method, he takes off on the correct lead.  And since he’s so smart, he now tries taking off when I say “ready…” so I might have to drop that.  However, I do my best not to allow him to take off before I ask him to by saying the word “canter”.

I’ve been riding him less, but when I do ride him, I ride harder, and I ask for more than I used to.  Since we don’t ride as much, I can do this.  If I were riding every day, I wouldn’t be able to ask for as much all the time, as that would cause issues such as back soreness, etc. It’s more difficult for a horse to carry a rider than it is for them to pull a cart, but pulling a cart helps build the muscle necessary to carry a rider more easily.  You want to make sure you balance their workouts, the same as people do.  Don’t make them perform the same tasks every day, or work the same muscle groups.  They get bored doing the same things, just like people do.  This can cause them to act out, so change up the routine and keep it interesting.  Don’t be afraid to try new things.

 

 

American Road Horse and Pony Show

The first horse show of 2016 is in the books.  The first show since Fizzy completed his 30 days of professional training.  Overall, he was much improved and looked terrific.  We have not purchased photos from this show, but we might depending on how the rest of the year goes. They can be seen in this album over at Stevie B Photos: Bluegrass Select 3 Gaited Country Pleasure.  She got a few really great shots of Fizzy and I!  Better than any in previous years, partly because she’s a great photographer and partly because he looks SO MUCH better this year!

Special thanks to my Mom who got these few great shots of us on the rail!

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Things we learned at this show:

1.  Make sure to check, double check, and triple check your tack before you get on.  Malfunctions and oversights happen.  Make sure you’re good before you get on and go warm up.

2.  You have a voice, use it.  If you practice at home in speaking to your horse and giving voice commands, and he executes it perfectly that way, don’t suddenly forget you have a voice when you get in the ring.  Be understanding of why your horse may have been confused on what you were asking.

3.  When the right people are behind you, any loss can feel like a win.  We made it to the show and in the ring with the perfect cheering section, and that’s all a girl can really hope for.

4.  When you get stuck for 2 hours dead stopped on the interstate with a horse in tow, anything is fair game, such as watering your horse with blue Gatorade.  Peeing in a bucket in the horse trailer not excluded, either.

Said Traffic, at least the sunset was pretty:  trafficjam

5. At the end of the long, long horse show days, all that really matters is that you arrive home safely and have a happy horse!

Also a special thanks to Cindy for the video and commentary!

 

3 years

It’s been 3 years today that we brought Fizzy home. So, here’s a video, mostly in chronological order! There’s been a lot of challenges, learning experiences, good times, hard times, fun and frustration. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and wouldn’t want anyone other than Cindy as my co-owner in this crazy horse!

Check out our video here:   3 Years of Fizzy!

 

Update on Fiz’s training!

Fiz has been at a professional trainer since March 25th. He’s there almost through the end of April. There have been some big changes in his life during this time period. He is used to living in a pasture, and only coming in to work, then going back out. He lives in a stall the majority of the time at the trainers place. He is used to being worked only about 4 days a week. He is getting worked 6 days a week at the trainer. He’s used to amateurs who fly by the seat of their pants and lack professional training knowledge. Now he’s being worked by a professional who has a clearly defined training method and structure.

Today, April 14th, he’s been with the trainer for about 2.5 weeks. I got to ride him for the first time since he has been there. Cindy rode him on Saturday, and had a really great ride. I would like to talk about some of the things I noticed with her ride, and some of the things I learned during mine. I will also talk about some of the training advice we have gotten and how it differs from the ideas we previously had.

First, let me say this. He is much improved in several areas. Below, I’ll take you through the gaits and what advice has been offered for each.

#1, The Walk
Flat, straight, and patient. Make him walk straight up into the corners and make the arena square. Make his shoulders and his hips walk inline with each other, and make sure as you are walking to push him up to the bridle so he has to take ahold of it. Do not pull. Hands steady, and in the same spot. When he takes hold, give. Just a small release of your fingers, but keep pushing with your leg making him walk up to the bit.

#2, The Trot
A country pleasure horse needs 2 trots. The pleasure trot and extended trot. We knew this, but previously Fiz would get mad when he was asked to go faster and he would break into a canter without ever actually going faster. It’s better to have only one speed than have to break, so that’s what we used to do.  A pleasure trot needs to have energy, it needs to cover ground, but it also needs to save room for max trotting speed at the extended trot. Same principles apply as the walk, use a lot of leg, push him to the bridle and make him take hold as he moves forward. Music to my non-equitation body type and mind frame was, let your legs hit him in the sides and even flop around on him some. Apply pressure, keep him moving forward and pushing from the hind end. He is expected to move from the back to the front, pushing off his hind to give his front momentum. Always keep the whip right against his shoulder.

When you ask for the extended trot, cluck, then squeeze (don’t kick) and if he doesn’t move on, give a slight tap with the whip on his shoulder. Not a whack, a TAP. If that doesn’t do it, growl at him and tap again. He has learned that he has to move on and not break into the canter. That doesn’t mean he will never break. If he does, don’t stop! Keep cantering. Teach him that it’s more work to do the wrong thing than the right. Rest assured, he will find his trot after enough of making him go and go, and you will find the sweet spot where you have hit max trotting speed before he has to canter. If you really want to find good separation, work him at a pleasure trot, then extended trot, and bring him back down to a pleasure trot. Even if just for one rail, you try to find that max speed, really ask him to step up, then come back down to the pleasure trot. Keep the energy and the go forward all the time. Do not forget about contact with his mouth (keep this in mind at all gaits) and do not forget that reward of giving when he takes a hold on his bridle and moves on forward. Always give him that reward.

#3, The Canter.
His canter cues are more clearly defined and he is learning the expectation for getting and keeping the correct lead both directions of the ring. Previously, we thought each time he took it wrong, we should stop and ask again until he got it right. This method had taught him if he does it wrong, he gets to quit. The new method is, no matter which way he takes it, do not let him stop. Make him GO. And go, and go some more. Teach him that just because he does something wrong, he does not get to stop and quit. He’s working no matter what he does, and again, it’s going to be harder when he does it wrong.

The canter cue needs to be very clear. A slight turn of the head (bring the rail rein straight back and at the same time give with the inside rein with a release of your fingers), rail leg, and SPEAK the word “Canter” to him. Speak the word EVERY TIME you ask for the canter. Do not be afraid to be vocal. IF he runs sideways when you turn to canter, DO NOT let him canter. This is unacceptable behavior that will be punished by forcing him back to the rail and to walk straight, and patiently, until he is asked again for the canter with the clear signal. This could mean setting him up to canter multiple times, but never allowing him to actually take off. Set up to canter and then go back to straight walking forward on the rail until he doesn’t get all sideways and crooked. Then maybe trot. Do anything else so he loses the train of thought to anticipate cantering.

When cantering, he is capable of cantering SLOW.  Take back on the upward motion, and give on the downward motion.  Give and take, constantly.  And still, SAY the word CANTER, or make a “kiss” sound to him.  Make him canter straight, and do not let him swing his back end to the middle, because this makes it easier for him to swap leads.  If anything, turn his head more toward the middle so it makes it more difficult for him to swap leads or fall out of the canter.  When he does it right, don’t push the issue or make him keep on going. Maybe one or two trips around is good, then quit on a good note.  Remember, make it EASIER to do the RIGHT thing.

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Bottom line is, he’s going to make mistakes. The most important thing is to teach him that it’s easier on him to do right than to do wrong. Bad behavior is punished by harder work. Good behavior is rewarded by giving (releasing your fingers) in the bridle and getting to be finished sooner because he did everything you asked and he did it correctly.

Always ask yourself the question: “Am I training or am I un-training?” and if you are not certain, it’s probably the latter. If you can answer that you are training, follow up with “What is this teaching him?” and as long as you are happy with what it is teaching, stick with it. If you’re not, change it up. Think ahead, have a plan, and execute that plan.
Another thing we’ve been taught is that he needs to jog. And jog, and jog, and jog. The more fit he is (which is accomplished by miles and miles in the jog cart) the easier it is going to be for him to do the right things, the easier it will be for him to be able to willingly go forward and move on. We can’t ask him to run a marathon when he’s been working as a sprinter.

Check out this video clip after his first week of training.

A Short Video from Professional Training

Knowing When to Ask For Help

As an AOT, sometimes it gets hard.  Really hard.  Sometimes you lose hope, and want to give up.  There will be people who are discouraging and who want to see you fail, as with anything you do in life.  But also as with anything you do in life, you can choose how to handle these types of situations, and you can choose the people in your life that you listen to.  Those should be people who support your choices, who encourage you to keep going, to live, to learn, to take your mistakes with a grain of salt and do better next time.  That’s who you need to have around.  It takes an army, and we are lucky to have the support and encouragement of many wonderful people, as I have stated in this blog before.

That said, you also need to know when you should ask for help.  I am definitely not above asking questions to whoever will listen to me, and whoever is willing to give me advice.  There comes a point in time where you may have run out of answers, and where the challenge(s) you are facing exceed your experience and/or ability.  For the sake of your horse, your sanity, and the well being of everyone involved, you owe it to yourself to seek professional help.  I admit that I struggle with seeing this in a good light, and that I struggle to remind myself that it is not a failure.  That asking for help means you are wise enough to know the limits of your knowledge and experience, and smart enough to reach out to a professional who has the background and experience to help you and your horse succeed.  It is certainly not a failure to get a well qualified individual involved to help you evaluate, to direct you, and help you form a plan for the future.

We have been lucky thus far, nearly 3 years into ownership of our special horse that he has been so versatile, so willing, so tolerant of our mistakes.  But at this point, we owe it to him and to ourselves to see what more he can do.  We owe it to ourselves to put ourselves out there, to learn from someone with more experience, and to apply what they teach us in our AOT adventure.  We owe it to ourselves to grow as horsewomen, and soak up as much knowledge as we can from whoever is willing to teach us, and I for one can’t wait for the next chapter of our story to unfold and see where we end up.

I hope you’re ready for your 30 day professional evaluation Fizzy.  I know you are capable of much, much more and I can’t wait to see how you surprise us next! 20160308_050024[1]

Trail Ride Numero Dos

I read somewhere that show horses take to the trails like ducks to water, and I can honestly say that I believe that more than ever now.  We went on another great trail ride, this time at Taylorsville Lake State Park, with Mary Jo and her terrific seasoned trail horses Romeo and Cruiser.  I got to ride Cruiser, so that Cindy could take Fiz out on a real trail since she wasn’t able to go last time we went.  We had tougher trails including some rocky inclined paths, narrow paths, and trails by the road.  Our boy was a champ, and just went on like it was no big deal.  Our American Saddlebred is a perfect example of the versatility and willingness of this breed.  So before I go on running my mouth about how incredibly proud I am of our horse and the fact that he is simply amazing, I’ll just put some pictures from our ride down here and call it a day.

So You Had a Photoshoot….

Now here’s your best shot.  OK, maybe I’ve watched too much America’s Next Top Model.  I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a model and Fiz is an even less cooperative “prop” however, my fabulously talented sister in law Carter, of www.cartermwebbphotography.com still got some awesome shots of us.  It is difficult to pick just ONE best shot, but I have a few favorites as the large photos.  The others, I’ve made a gallery of smaller ones below.  Enjoy!

Hopefully soon, I will be able to take some photos of Cindy and Fiz, and I hope I can capture them as well as Carter did for me.

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Let’s Go Trail Riding!

Show season is over, but that doesn’t mean Fiz’s lessons and learning ends.  Sure, he might get worked less often and less seriously, but we still ride and have fun.  We were able to take him on his very first REAL trail ride. And by that I mean, not through a field at the farm he lives at or in the grass near an arena we are about to show or practice in.  A real trail, through the woods, in a western saddle, with other horses, and the whole shebang.

I am happy to report he was wonderful.  He was a little unsure at first, but he relaxed pretty quickly and barely spooked at anything.  I can’t wait to do it again!  Anyway, here are some pictures and a video from our ride.

IT’S FINE!!!

“It’s FINE” was the motto for our horse show Saturday.  So what if we didn’t have our hair done quite right, our makeup done at all, enough holes punched in the tugs on the harness, or our horse broke both ways of the ring in one class and bucked both ways of the ring in the other? So what if there was no electric for a fan in his stall and it was a stuffy 90-something degrees?  So what if half the stuff we needed was in the truck, and the truck was locked and we didn’t know where the keys were half the time?  So what if the first class got cancelled and we lost that time to prepare for the driving class?  So what if half the classes in between the first class and second class had no entries, so we had to rush and had no time to warm up? IT’S FINE. Smile, work, prevail, and have fun anyway.

Every show is a learning experience and this show in particular taught us a lot more than some of the others we have attended.  First and foremost, we learned that we can do it.  Just Cindy and I, we can load up everything we need and head to the show and enter, unpack the trailer at the show grounds, and get the horse ready to show all by ourselves. We can load all the stuff back into the trailer and load the horse from the show to go home (with the help of some random nice man to get the cart back in the bed of the truck at the show!). The last several shows we have had Emily to groom, which has completely spoiled us!  We missed her this show.  We also learned that despite arriving with what should have been plenty of time, things can still go wrong and cause you to be rushed.  We learned that you can never have enough black electrical tape, and that electrical tape can fix a lot in a pinch.  We learned that warming up is an important thing to do, and that when we don’t have the time to do it, unplanned/unexpected things can happen that you just can’t prepare for or fix. We learned that having a bad show doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.  We learned that it usually feels worse than it actually looks.

Most of the day, we pretty much looked like this:  classcall

We learned that our entourage is the absolute BEST! My parents came, my wonderful boyfriend Wes came, my brother Michael, my sister in law Carter, my aunt Betty, and our friends Mary Jo, Carolyn, BJ, and William came!  All to see us show our one horse in one little show! Carolyn and Wes pitched in wiping things down, running to the truck to get stuff for us, and helping to hold the horse, among many other things.  My Mom got the number put in the cart’s number holder.  William video’d Cindy’s class, which, she can post if she chooses but I’ll leave that decision up to her.  Carter of the amazing Carter Webb Photography took pictures of my class, which are posted below.  As I said, it always looks better than it feels.  He did look pretty good despite cantering when he was supposed to be trotting, and bucking when he was supposed to be cantering!! I took some pictures of Cindy’s class with my phone, which didn’t turn out to be anywhere near decent, but I’ve added a few of them anyway.

All the rushing aside, we still had a lot of fun.  We have decided that it’s time to take a step back, re-evaluate our training, figure some stuff out, and make this our last show of our season.  Next reset, the show shoes are coming off and we are going to just have some fun for the time being.  Showing is fun, but you also have to know when you need to stay home and work on fixing some things before you go.

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When Patience Wears Thin

I have heard time and again how training horses takes mass amounts of patience.  I never fully understood what this meant until I became an AOT.  As someone who very much lacks patience in my every day life, I have to make it a point to tell myself over and over again to have patience with Fiz.  It is my job to teach him to understand, not punish him for not understanding.

That said, I had a very trying morning.  Cindy requested that I ride him in the full bridle using the new snaffle that I had purchased to try and be easier on his mouth from the one he is currently showing in. She rode him in it Saturday and was iffy on it being the bit for him, and wanted to get my opinion since I hadn’t tried it yet.  So, I put him in the bridle and mounted up ready to tackle the world, per my motivational post pre-ride yesterday.  I have gotten into the habit of making small goals for each ride over the last year or so, and I try to have a plan every time I get on.  I find making small goals keeps me focused on teaching him one thing at a time and not overwhelming him with information to the point where he explodes because he literally has no idea what I am trying to accomplish.  That whole patience thing comes into play here because since horses learn by repetition, this can take ride after ride after ride to accomplish a solid understanding.

My goal for this morning’s ride was simply, yield to the curb and be happy in the snaffle.  Our full bridle rides lately have needed a lot of warm up and only toward the end resulted in acceptance of the bits.  We started off slowly, just walking with a steady feel on the snaffle, and tickling of the curb every few steps.  Knowing how to independently work your reins is a must in this situation.  This is something that can be practiced at home just holding reins and learning how to move your fingers separately.  The training video “Saddleseat Riding Skills” from Smith Lilly’s DVD collection teaches some great bridle handling techniques that offer adjustments without even moving your fingers, also.  Actually, check out ALL of Smith’s products, which we have found to be extremely informative.  http://www.saddleseathorsemanship.com/store/

It took several trips around walking before Fiz dropped his nose to the tickling, for which he was rewarded with a release of pressure on the reins, a “good boy, good boy” and petting on his neck.  He likes this reward.  Remember, we all like to hear “attaboy” from time to time.  Each time he tried to stick his nose back out, tickling, and each time he yielded to it, same reward.  Once the walk was good, we trotted, doing the same exercises.  Over and over again, and each time he would stick his nose out I had to fight the urge to become irritated and yank on the reins.  I mean, we’ve only been over the SAME thing for the last 25 minutes.

Fighting that urge to lose your patience is something every trainer needs to practice diligently.  What would have happened had I yanked my reins, trying to force him to yield and give in? Every reward I had just given him would have been forgotten, and all he remembered would be that punishment for an unwanted behavior.  Nothing would have been accomplished because he would have forgotten all the rewards for the desired behavior because I couldn’t keep my patience in check.  Take the extra time, ride long enough for your rewards to mean something.  Stay the course, as frustrating as it may be, you always stay the course and keep your patience.  End your ride on a positive note, when the horse does what you are asking it to do consistently for that session.  Build on those little tiny victories each training session and you and your horse will make much larger victories in your progress over time.