Dressage clinic with Denise O'Reilly April 2016

We finally got to do the postponed dressage clinic the first week in April. Having lessons over 3 consecutive days was great, only maybe I could have done with a couple more! The first issue to sort out was Fina's fast trot, she sets off like a runaway train, which was taking me out of position and my timing was poor on correcting her and releasing when she steadied so that had to be addressed before we could move on. We did however get complimented on improving her lateral suppleness. I needed to (continue to) work on my core which still tends to collapse. I was put in a body belt to help remind me (like being back in pony club when you had a crop stuck down your shirt or behind elbows!) but we were getting a much steadier trot and flashes of some nice work, and good results from the various exercises. We stayed in trot work and didn't get on to any canter work or advanced movements but made real progress in the areas I felt I needed help on, like the trot speed and tempo, and my position and the effect on Fina's way of going, and our communication. On day 3 we managed some nice soft thoughtful trot work with flashes of how Fina will feel like if I keep this up; she has a really exciting powerful trot when steady and engaged, and when it all came together for a few strides, it made me smile as I remembered how it should feel like (from a time when I rode better and on "proper" horses). We can't do the next clinic, which is in June, but maybe the autumn one, if my purse allows. The good news is that the steady, thinking trot is still with us, even when hacking Now I really must get a bit of flat field fenced off.

Before...

... After

Everything means something

Everything means something in the horse's view of life

The little details matter

It's important to your horse in their view of the world that you pay attention to little details, because if you don't notice them be sure that the horse will. Be aware of their Attitude. Like how they go past you when asked, or how they lead, are they pushing just a little into your space maybe with their shoulder? Who is really leading who? Are they giving you the respect they would another higher ranking horse? Do they stop when you stop, or do they take an extra step? It's easy to let it go, say to yourself they were not paying attention. You may think it doesn't matter. That's where you would be wrong, you are most likely losing a tiny bit of respect in your horse's eyes; and those little things can add up, until one day you may notice that your horse has started making faces at you, or moving into you, and it isn't an accident, it never is with horses!

Ignoring the signs, the little details, is also losing a big opportunity to create, nurture and maintain that respect, and to have the rapport and partnership that the best horseman have. Not through fear, not through mastering and manhandling, or micromanaging, but through mutual politeness and respect. That is how it works in horse world. Because if the horse believes you merit respect he will do anything for you. It really is that simple. It may look wonderful and magic how the spectacular equestrian trainers like Lorenzo or Jean-François Pignon can perform with multiple horses but it all starts and rests on this.

So these are the little things that you can correct without giving offence to your horse and that make a bigger difference than you might imagine.

If like me, you check the groundwork every day, and before riding, test the responses, ask for a forehand and hindquarter yield on both sides, note any difference or blocking, maybe ask again for a little more effort or less resistance. But it should start before that, the moment you approach the field. The way in which you approach the horses. How you halter them. Before even talking about how you ask them through the gate. You get the point.

Like looking through the wrong end of a telescope.

Take any of these as an example:

Going through the gate.
Who goes first? You do, you're the leader. I teach my horse to wait while I open the gate, then I pick up the lead rope and invite her to follow. I may stop to adjust the gate, if she doesn't stop I ask her to.

Look out for that extra step.
When walking or leading your horse, does he take an extra step when you stop? Do you correct this, always, sometimes or never, or don't need to because he doesn't do it? Or maybe you haven't noticed.

Start to notice, because your horse will, and it means something to him. One day it starts with a little step, barely noticeable; next day it might be two steps; then one day there will be a big bang and if you wonder why, start thinking about the little signs you may have missed, before you blame the scary corner or the flapping plastic.

Everything means something to the horse, to some more than others but only in what they do with the knowledge. So allowing your horse to make decisions may be useful in some situations, but in others it just tells your horse that you are not an effective leader, and that belief or perception of you can lead to their lack of confidence in other situations.

So next time you lead, notice if your horse takes the extra step. If so, ask him to take that one step back. Quietly, not as if it's a big deal. And do this every time you stop and he doesn't, and do it occasionally at any time, to reinforce the principle, that you are the leader and you decide when he moves his feet and who goes through the gate first.

Of course, you will be doing this, as you do everything, quietly and without emotion, assertive not aggressive, and in my view without complicating it with vocals or treating. This is a basic respect issue.

So observe and don't ignore or underestimate those little signs; take care of th edetails and the big picture may take care of itself.

A small step for you, a big step for your relationship, and maybe your safety.

Safe haven or scary place

Not a very nice week weather wise, or at least, not on the days when I was able to get the horses out. We have a new car so it got the garage space where I used to shelter and tack up the horses so I'm having to change my habits and prepare them near the woodsheds and field shelter. I had just got them ready for a hack on Thursday hoping to dodge the rain, when it poured down. So we headed for the field shelter. Not Lucie's favourite place at the best of times - she will use it in summer, for shade, and allows Fina to stand in it with her to keep the flies off her face. On a wet and windy day, Lucie  would rather stand out in the rain; well, not even stand because there are scary noises out there which need keeping and eye on. So while Fina, who I think was delighted to find she could stand in the shed unchallenged, and I sheltered from the rain, Lucie fidgeted about on the end of the rope and got wet. I treated it as an exercise, allowed her to move her feet when she needed to, not trying to make her stand still or come inside until she offered to, then allowing her to float out again when she felt insecure; she did accept to stand with us for a while.

Once the rain stopped, we had a quite a nice ride and lead, both horses happy to get out and get moving. Later we came to a fallen tree which I had to get off to move; the horses waited patiently but once again Lucie's horsenality got the better of her, she thought I was taking too long and it would be quicker if she did the job herself and only managed to get entangled in the branches...  I took this photo when I got off to move the fallen branch, and before Lucie got bored of me taking photos and broke ranks...

Just a couple of examples highlighting the different horseanalities of my two mares, and how for Seraphina, standing still is a comfort, while for Lucie it is often a trial and brings on anxiety and the need to move her feet. Being in an enclosed space is hard for her.
 

Vet routine visit

The vet came this morning for winter routine visit and jabs. The ponies behaved perfectly and stood quietly, he has a simple effective unconfrontational approach anyway. Only Fina jumped dramatically as the needle came out, I guess it offended her being woken in her day dream. Lucie has it all sussed in advance and knows the routine. Fina always manages to look mildly surprised at everything.

Good and bad news, vet thinks I should gradually try Lucie back in light work (she has been lame for about 4 years with bone spavin in one hock) and he suggests boosting her with a mineral composition for a month. The small bones in her hock are fusing nicely, which means stiff movement but less pain. She is fine on forward movement, a bit stiff to start with but once moving she trots and canters and even jumps happily. Less good is that she has a small brown melanoma developing in the corner of each eye, which I have to watch. She has always had irritated eyes even now in winter and some discharge which I wash off daily. The irritation and rubbing may have caused the melanomas to develop, and if they enlarge may interfere with vision and have to be removed Not much I can do except try to keep them clean and less irritated.

He also checked teeth and says time for a tidy up, he saw a point developing on one of Lucie's, so will get the horse dentist round to do them both.

Don't ignore the signs

The weather has turned colder and it's stopped raining, but field and consequently the horses, very muddy. I got them out of field and mud and cleaned them up a bit, really to check them over and give a good scratch because the next day they would be covered in mud again. So I just tidied them up quickly and decided to go for a hack. Very cold but nice and sunny, and quiet for a Saturday, some dogs hunting in the distance but no shots.

The day before, when I walked them up from the bottom field, not having been handled or out of the field for a week, some ground rules needed re-establishing as manners had been forgotten. This is where it all goes wrong if you don't take a moment to do things quietly and I noted the signs. Lucie trying to get ahead as we went up the path, trying to eat, trying to impose her idea (where the grass looks tasty); Fina looking away from me, both of them a bit pushy and impolite. Fair do's, I haven't done more than feed them and go back in the warm recently.

With Lucie, I have learnt that she needs quietly but firmly to be put in her place, alongside or behind me. Allowing her to get zone 2 in front gives her the idea that she is in charge or that she thinks I am not. I don't want to be pulled along, or to be constantly checking her, and have long ago stopped getting annoyed or using my voice. I simply stop and when she doesn't stop, I quietly ask her for a step back into place. I keep doing this, no more no less, until she stops resisting the feel I put on the rope, behind her chin. Walk, stop, back a step, until the stop and back happen without any touch or pressure. As the lane gets narrower, I ask Lucie to walk behind me, stopping if I stop, backing out of my space if I take a step back. I feel the horses start to connect with me again. Ignoring Lucie trying to get ahead, or fighting her, results in my quiet little mare becoming a bolshy, excited bombshell who if she thinks nobody is in charge, or sees her chance to be leading or making decisions, is liable to kick whatever is behind or near her. I learned never ever let her think I am not the leader, and only let her go ahead if I ask her or allow her to. Some horses, especially mares, are like this, it is what is most important to them, and if you tap into what makes them tick, they will trust and respect you. So it is with Lucie. Seraphina also needs to respect (my) leadership but with her it is different, less extreme, more grey areas and she is more laid back, and somewhat lazy!

Being more provocative

I have realised I need to be more provocative with Fina. I said at the start of the year that I wanted to complete the Parelli level 2 audition and we still seem to be messing about so I got the task sheet out. There is a list of things you should be able to do and certain compulsories to be shown in the video submission, it's much like an Interdressage test. It's all about improving communication and connection. The checklist has things like back your horse out to the end of the 22' rope and 2 to 4 laps circling at trot with change of direction, sending the horse to to different points using the 22', you standing still, etc. all of which we can do, kinda... but I need to get Fina doing with more enthusiasm 
and less of the "well if I must but I'm really not interested"... 

Yesterday I thought I'd up the game, see what happens. So after some circles where I let her discover that if she didn't pay attention to the speed of the trot she would slip on the wet ground, and sending her around markers at distance, I set up a squeeze where she passes round a marker and then I disengage her to stop and face me. The first time she went through the gap and stopped when she felt like it; the second time I just focused strongly on a spot on the ground behind her (where she should no longer be) as she went through the gap and that woke her up, she zoomed through and turned and stopped with head high and ears pricked... I don't want to scare her, just motivate her, and it worked, next time I got a snappy departure and her full attention on the game, and I didn't have to do anything; she offered more and with an interest in it. So this looks like the way to go and I was right, I was being boring and ineffective and she switches off. With the girls it's so easy to get this wrong and offend them; with boys it's much easier to wake up the play drive.

Then we went for a hack, the day was nice and cool but still some nasty biting flies around.

Afterwards I let them graze in the orchard while I poo-picked; the grass has been well grazed in their field now and Lucie keeps telling me I should open more field; so when she goes back in she's looking round for where I've moved the fence. I will have to get this on video, she is so cheeky! I had moved a section but she didn't see it. I was taking them towards it and tried to remove a fly from Lucie's side but she was cross with me because she thought she didn't have anything fresh to eat and took umbrage, galloping off and taking Fina with her. They did three laps of the field flat out, with some high kicks, then pulled up and came over, hot and puffing like two old ladies and I had to stick around guarding the water trough until they had cooled off enough for it to be safe to let them drink Amazingly Lucie who is lame and was resting that leg afterwards, was moving fine this morning. Silly girls. I expect i'll give in and open more grazing today.

Colic scare

Had a bit of a scare with the yellow horse; Fina refused her carrots in the bucket on Thursday evening, and after looking her over and walking her around a bit I called my friend Jennie to consult; she kindly came over, and as there was obviously something wrong, I called out the vet who arrived about 10 pm by which time it was dark. Basically it was mild colic or a blockage, she was in discomfort, although she passed two lots of poo, but had no interest in grass or eating. The vet sedated her (a little too successfully, we had a job to keep her on her feet) and tubed her, injected her, gave her paraffin, then a drip; and after listening again to her vitals, detected movement inside and finally left after midnight. Next morning Fina was okay but not herself, she had pooed, but was still not very interested in eating. It was pouring with rain and she looked cold and shell-shocked, and tired; she made only feeble efforts to move or graze; so when it wasn't improving by itself, I got them both out to look for some tasty tempting grass. While Lucie flung herself on it enthusiastically, Fina was still just picking. Eventually the reflex kicked back in but after a while she would just stand and rest. I spent the day either grazing them or resting under the shelter of the garage, and after several phone discussions with the vet, by mid-afternoon I felt she was reviving and starting to be more alert, and I could hear gut rumbles. Once she passed some poo I felt happier.

My best guess on what caused it is eating some mouldy hay which is lying at the edge of the field and didn't get baled. Why she should find this more attractive than the green grass which is now regrowing a bit I can't imagine. I caught her choosing to eat the black stuff when I was grazing her. Now I'm going to have to go and clear it all up but at least all seems well again, thank goodness! What a worry these horses give us, and I thought my two were sensible eaters, rustic ponies, out 24/7. It seems one can never be sure what they're going to get up to.

What was interesting is how introverted Fina became; it was as if she went into shock and I wonder how long it would have taken her to come out of it. She just seemed to shut down, maybe that was her way of recovering but it seemed to me she needed help to restart the vital processes of eating. We all know how it feels after a bout of gastro, when you are almost nervous to eat anything and have lost the normal desire and food reflex; well that is how it is for me. I have had rare (thank goodness!) cases of colic before with horses, but never seen this reaction.