Christmas with the kitties

This will be our first Christmas with Kali (aka "Demon Baby"), whom we rescued from the cold last January when she was around 6 weeks old.  She has come by her nickname due to her penchant for getting into all sorts of trouble and trying to start fights with Orenji at every opportunity.

So far she has managed to stay out of the Christmas tree for the most part, bet we shall see how long that lasts!

Trail riding video of Una on Atticus with the pups

 

Photo artwork and digital paintings

 Here are some of my recent creations… they are a combination of digital art and photos I've taken.

Atticus headshot

The back pasture, with Spring evening sun rays.

 Judge (29 yr. old retired police horse) and his

   girlfriend Cookie trotting in the pasture.

Latent Learning and giving the horse time to process

 

Have you ever had a situation similar to the following happen to you?

You decide you are going to teach your young horse to ground drive.  He has never done this before, but he is accustomed to ropes around his feet and legs, so he doesn't mind that touch.  He does seem a bit confused at you walking behind him and turning him with the long lines, but after a short session, he seems to roughly get the hang of it, and there was no resistance, so you decide that's a good start and leave it.

You get busy with other horses and other things, and don't get to another ground driving lesson for a week.  When you attach the long lines for the second lesson, suddenly the horse seems like a pro!  He turns smoothly, can do serpentines, and even halts squarely and quietly at a light touch.  You are dumbfounded.... was someone secretly working with your horse that you weren't aware of?! Did he just regain memories of a past life as a cart horse?

I had this exact situation happen to me.  Similar ones as well when teaching a horse a new concept.  I finally decided that horses take a much longer time to "digest" new information, and their timeline is completely different from ours when it comes to learning and assimilating new knowledge.

Then I heard of the concept of "latent learning" in a podcast on clicker training horses. So when teaching a horse something completely new, such as a brand new trick, or a flying lead change, or the turn on the forehand, you will achieve much more if you give your horse breaks of a few days between lessons,  instead of practicing daily. 

Most horses trained once or twice a week for a short period learn more between sessions than those taught every day in long lessons. 

The horse's brain needs time to process and absorb what it was shown. Then it needs to put that information into the long-term storage section of the brain, where it is archived and can be quickly retrieved by the horse when needed.

On the other hand, humans usually learn in one hour classroom blocks, so we expect to move at a much faster pace than the horse.  

On her page, professional horst trainer Stacy Westfall says:

"I love to work with horses that I call ‘next day learners’ or horses that the next day come out and have really absorbed the lesson that was taught the day before. They may not be experts but they seem to have thought about what went on and they are applying the concepts at least."

Slow down!  

Think of a horse's timeline of stretching out much longer than your own.  I have had a lot of success teaching a horse to pick up a leg on cue (a light tap with the whip) by asking once at the start of our grooming session, then a second time when I am all tacked up and ready to head to the mounting block.  Upon finishing our ride, the horse would frequently offer to pick up a leg while untacking and brushing out. It's almost as if the horse had been ruminating on the task over the course of our ride, and decided to show me he's figured it out!

So try not to repeatedly drill new tasks with your horse.... give him time to "digest" the lesson and his learning pace will actually increase. 

Getting your horse to take the bit

 

When I started my first horse from a youngster, I made the mistake of shoving the bit against his teeth to get him to open his mouth.  This was, of course, not the correct way, and only resulted in him having issues with bridling for many years.  So, here is the correct way to go about this task!

Position yourself on the left side, next to the horse's head, facing the same way the horse is. With your right hand holding the bridle, slide the bridle over his face so that you can put your hand over the poll and sort of between his ears. DON'T PUT THE BIT IN YET. Wait until your horse is calm and not tossing his head. You can put pressure on the poll with your right hand (or arm), asking him to lower his head if he raises it too high. Use your left hand to put slight pressure over his nose, about halfway between the eyes and the nostrils (where the bone and cartilage meet). The bit should be below his jaw at this point, and out of the way. Now, just wait.

Once your horse begins to relax and lower his head, position your left hand on the bit, to guide it into his mouth. You do not want the bit to clank or smack against his teeth, so go slow and take your time. You can reach into the horse's mouth and "tickle" his tongue, bars, or the roof of his mouth, until he opens his mouth for you. There are no teeth in this part of the horse's mouth, so you won't be risking any fingers. I often switch my right hand to under the horse's neck and holding the bridle by the cheek straps above his nose while I guide the bit. If your horse is not tossing his head, this position is more comfortable.

Once the bit is in, check to make sure the tongue is under the bit, and that the bit is adjusted and positioned correctly. Most horse's that toss their head have learned to avoid the pain they associate with the bit in any way they can, so check everything you can think of. The general rule of thumb is that an english bit should be adjusted to have 2-3 wrinkles, and a western bit should be adjusted to have one wrinkle in the corner's of the horse's mouth. Also, the cheek straps should not rub too close to the horse's eyes. If so, your browband may be too small. You might also want someone to help you check your horse's teeth to see if there might be any other reason the bit is bothering him.

Spend some time every time you tack up doing this ... repeatedly. Bring your horse in, put the bridle on and off a few times, then give him a treat and put him away. You can also try coating the bit with molasses and/or sugar, once you are able to get him to keep his head low for you. Often, this will help a horse associate pleasant things with the bit in his mouth, instead of pain.

Take extra care when removing the bit NOT to hit his teeth. Let the horse spit it out. He'll appreciate it, and you won't have to deal with a horse that's difficult to bridle.

Once you can get the bit in once, practice slipping it part way out of his mouth then back in repeatedly.  While doing this, the horse should keep his head down in an accessible position.

Jump Panel and Décor Ideas

 So I am always looking for novel ideas to make new horse jumps, or to dress up plain old logs in the woods.  Here are a few that I have made, as well as ideas I have for others.

Ideas for jump panels:

These PVC or vinyl panels are available at places such as Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowes.  They came up in a search for "decor screen", so hard to say how sturdy they are, but they look like they would be super easy to attach to a long board plank to act as a wider plank or a filler:

They also come in a couple different colors, although generally that is limited to shades of brown, black, and white.

Along those lines, another search for "decorative panel" came up with these that look a bit sturdier (or at least I am more confident they would stand up to outdoor use:

*Other ideas:  Woven willow / branch filler

Faux ivy / hedge fence panels

Becoming a Bombproof Rider

 I recently started reading a book about bombproofing your horse, and as I was reminded of the psychology of it, I had an epiphany; I could apply the same ideas to make myself a braver rider.

Basically, in working on de-spooking or bomb proofing your horse, you are gradually making them confront a scary thing, first from a safe distance, then gradually increasing the pressure until it's no big deal.

So it occurred to me, if I am worried about my horse spooking, or even trying to turn and bolt on me, I need to set up a situation where my horse is nervous, but I can handle it and bring him back under control.

Riding in the Rain with Magnum (2009)

Just stumbled across this old post, and thought I'd repost it for the memories!

(Originally published  Oct. 19,2009)

Yeah, this weather is really crummy!  I must say, I was very proud of myself for venturing out riding yesterday. 

 

The vet came out and looked at Magnum... she did flexion tests, felt his legs, watched him on the lunge, etc. and said she doesn't think it's arthritis.  He trotted out sound after the flexions, and she said that should have shown something if it was.  After watching him a bit, she did notice how he at times seemed stiff behind and took short steps, but she thinks it's more muscle development, and he's being protective of himself because he's worried about slipping.  She had him stand square and looked at him behind, and then showed me, and it's clear that aside from lacking muscle along the top of his hindquarters, his right hind is much more underdeveloped in a couple places.  She agreed it was probably from the EPM, that he permanently lost some muscle and it will just take more work to get it back.  I asked about the possibility of steroids to help with the development, and she said we could try it down the road if a conditioning program isn't sufficient, but it can make a horse really aggressive.

 

I had Magnum and Teddy in the front field while waiting for the vet, and Teddy was clearly wanting to play, running around and bucking, and then closely examining each part of Magnum that the vet had just checked. (She'd feel his stifle, Teddy would look at her then closely sniff Magnum's stifle, she'd poke around his pasterns, Teddy would sniff his pasterns, etc.  I had to keep shooing him away).  So I decided I'd bring Teddy along when I took Magnum for a ride up and down the power lines. Since it was a rainy Friday, I didn't think we'd come across too many other people.

 

I ponied Teddy until we were across the stream (he likes to walk with his head glued to Magnum's butt, so it wasn't difficult).  Then I took off the lead rope and let him run along.  Occasionally he'd take a parallel trail, but then he'd always cut across to come back behind us.  It was really funny when we got to the open field.  Teddy first trotted over to examine the orange traffic cone in the field, then turned and galloped all around, bucking and kicking.  Zoey would chase him for a bit, then he'd chase her.  It was like having 2 dogs out.  If he started to run too far off, I'd call him and he'd come right back.

I think he got a lot more exercise than Magnum, because he chose to run and buck so much.  I thought it would also be a good way for him to learn to navigate different terrain without a rider.  The only problem was when we turned to come back.  Teddy decided to take the lead, and thought he knew the way home, so went galloping full speed up over the hill toward the traffic circle, whinnying the whole time.  Magnum got VERY upset at that... he bucked a few times because he wanted to go with Teddy, then pranced the rest of the way with his head straight up.  He called to Teddy a few times, but no response. 

 

Turns out, Teddy thought he knew the way back but got lost... he was over by the pavilion, galloping back and forth along the wood line, trying to find the trail.  So when we came up over the hill, he saw Magnum and came straight back to us, with his head at Magnum's butt as usual.  I thought he might have learned his lesson about running off, but once we got down to the main open field, he figured NOW he knew the way back and took off again.  Unfortunately, this time he followed the road up to the playground area.  (So much for horses having great sense of direction).  So we walked up there, and he was again galloping along the wood line, whinnying and trying to find the trail.  Magnum and I just stood there until Teddy saw we weren't going to follow him and came dejectedly back to us.  Then he obediently followed the rest of the way home.  I think he was quite tired by then... he hasn't had that kind of a workout before.  It was a fun experiment.  I'd like to do it again, but a weekend probably isn't the best time.