Slip Slidin' Backwards

Wed Feb 15, 2006

Well, we've slid nicely BACKWARDS since our riding lesson last week! GRRRR...once again I am going to IGNORE the trainer's advice and do it MY way...her insistence on yanking on the horse's face to get him to bend his neck and back up resulted in him REARING UP! (without tucking his head)...NO thanks...it's obvious he's got Issues with that sort of thing, so I'm tossing aside her advice.

Last night I rode him bitless, but with the jaw straps in place (so it wasn't a side-pull, but applied pressure under the jaw and along the poll), and when I tried to get him to give to pressure and back (I could get him to tuck his head, and I could get him to back, but not both together), I made a point of shifting my weight backwards, applying leg pressure, and SHORT tugs on the reins...repeated...very light, I was only using my pinkies to apply pressure...and by the end of the evening we backed a good 6 steps, and his head was relaxed and nice! Granted it wasn't fast, his chin wasn't in his chest, and it wasn't the straightest, but by God he did it WILLINGLY and without tossing his head up and rearing!

*sigh*. Trainers.

Been using my treeless saddle lately, including last night, and he was SOOOOO soft and rounded...probably due to the fact I round-penned the snot out of him beforehand, LOL...got him cantering SO sweet and balanced, it shocked me!!! No spurs, no whip, no bit, just 100% Natural Horse!

What's a headset anyway...an artificial manmade burden totally unnecessary. Looking through those old issues of Arabian Horse News, their heads are all "high", the only ones half-way tucked are the Park horses with the snaffle rein held tight...I figure hey, if the horse is balanced and pleasant and willing, who cares where the head is? And when Quzqo gets going in a nice balanced trot or canter, his head NATURALLY drops and his back rounds up and he verily FLOATS...

Trainers, phooey!

Other than that, he was an obnoxious little snot blossom last night...he was in a good mood I guess. We did a little whip-handle targeting with the clicker until I ran out of apple chunks, but then he started nosing around after the whip on the ground on his own, figuring hey, it's worth a try! Touch the whip, get a treat! Goofy lad.

He's got two lovely toothmarks on his FACE right below his right eye...right down to the black skin! *sigh*. Maybe I should put a halter on him just so his playmates will chew on THAT instead of his face!!

We're due for a Major Winter Storm tomorrow night, so I don't know if we'll have our riding lesson or not...depends if those 50 mph winds kick up or not (but then, I have a Forester, I can make it through ANYthing, ha!)

A Quzqo Portrait Model

The Brigette Eberl "Jamil" resin, painted as a young version of Quzqo.

Lessons Learned

Fri Feb 10, 2006

Deb the trainer at the barn is offering her Ladies' Riding Lessons every Thursday in February, and I'd be a fool to not take advantage of advice from a professional trainer!! Last night was the second lesson (technically the fourth, since she gave a couple in January). Only three of us this time, probably because it was TWENTY FRICKIN' DEGREES out! But hey, that's why they invented long johns and riding mittens, by gosh!

Quzqo has been doing SO well, overall...every time I ride there's SOME improvement, and as long as I'm seeing improvement and actually learning something from Deb, I figure why not. He's pretty much the "worst" horse in the class, but he's pretty much the oldest with the least training, so it's understandable. Besides, he's so dang purdy, who cares, LOL! Deb used to have Arabians, so she dotes on him (Teacher's Pet!)

Anyway, he's SO improved with his backing up!! He still tries to stick his nose in the air and pitch a hissy, but we're working on that...more often than not his head is down or actually tucked NICELY, and it's no problem to get him to back up...the trick now is to get him to back up with his head down and balanced.

We learned to do pivots on the forehand last night, (previous week we did the pivots on the hindquarters), and heck, I'd been working on that for months, doing all the stuff I learned with Tezlu (dressage exercises, etc), and everyone was amazed when Quzqo just pivoted SO sweet, both to the left and right, with his head tucked so nice!! LOL! (I have to remember to sit straight...it's the hind pivot where you lean back and drop your weight)(Hey, I had him spinning like a slow-mo reining horse this past weekend, and Deb saw that!)

The other two ladies (my friend with the Paint and another lady with a QH/Morgan cross) had hell of a time, LOL...their horses didn't know what to do with their legs and pretty much got upset about it. Well, sweet revenge for them being able to do pretty little jog trots, GRRR.

Deb tried to work with us on a jog trot, or even a half-civilized sitting trot...Coos just freaked and kept his head high and mouth gaping and fighting every second. Deb gave me some tips on how to deal with that, and by the end of the lesson, I was able to slow-trot at the sit a 10 meter circle over poles, with the horse's head DOWN and in contact! WHOO!!! He was SO round and balanced, it was delightful! (I think he was just worn out, LOL). She offered to help me with him if she's at the barn this weekend...to let HER have the reins...poor Quzqo!

Well, I've only been able to get a half-slow sitting trot out of him since January, so I'm happy. This takes time, and I'm in no hurry. My friend with the Paint plans to show English this summer (damn, competition!!), but she was having trouble getting her horse into a posting trot, LOL...but she's got a sweet little slow jog! Eh, Quzqo and I will blow her hubcaps off in the show ring! Don't recall ever having to do a jog trot in an English Pleasure class.

Haven't made much progress in the clicker training...I'm now having to use it to reinforce the idea that he needs to STAND STILL. The instant I get him into the arena, the goofy nut starts raising his left foreleg and dropping his head...that'd be great, if I wanted him to bow, but not just standing while I adjust the tack! He just stood there holding his leg up...that didn't get him any treats, so he started pawing with his RIGHT foot...nope, that didn't work! As soon as he stood with all four feet on the ground, THEN he got the click/treat! What a goof! He's been good with the mounting block too, since I began clicking/giving him a carrot chunk when he stands still by the block...double bonus because he's so concentrated on chewing the carrot with a bit in his mouth, he stands quiet while I get on...plus he's learning to just stand after I'm on (as he chews)...he used to take off before I had my right leg over his back, the nut!

So...he's coming along! The first show is in early May, I hope we're going, that'd be so fun! (total chaos!)!

Back To School

Fri Jan 20, 2006

Yep, another Ladies' Riding Lesson last night at the barn!! We had a bigger crowd this time, it's getting funner and funner! 4 QHs, a Paint, and Quzqo!

There's this new boarder with a HUGE black and white pinto Draft cross, about the same size and attitude as the Shire/Paint cross. That woman is annoying the hell out of me AND my horse; she gets on that 18hh monster, and proceeds to BOMB AROUND the arena at either a fast trot, canter, or hand gallop! Git outta de way!! The thing breaths loud when it's running, the ground vibrates from its hooves...sounds like a steam locomotive coming after ya! I was riding Quzqo at a trot along the rail and that fool thing came pounding up behind us, Quzqo paused in mid-stride to KICK at the thing, BWAHAHAA! He missed, but I thought it was funny and I hoped the rider would make an effort to keep away in the future...she didn't. So it's now a constant challenge to try to stay on the opposite side of the arena at all times, *sigh*. One disadvantage to riding a short horse...that feeling of being run over!

Anyhoo, last night's lesson involved bending and circles, one of the exercises we do is a "drill team" with half the class riding one direction, the other half riding the opposite, and trying to get the horses to keep up with their "partner" across the way and to cross perfectly at the ends. It was a nightmare last time because I was paired with a lady on a young QH that walked very fast compared to Quzqo's foot-dragging shuffle, but at the trot, her QH would jog daintily and Quzqo would float around at twice the speed, LOL. But tonight we were paired with my friend with her Paint mare, and they managed to get in sync with us pretty well!

Learned a bit, including the importance of maintaining a look of "arrogance" in the show ring to show the judge that you're in control and on top of the situation no matter what, LOL! I wonder if that'll work at a model horse show...Happy to say I got that down pat...it's easy to look arrogant while astride a gorgeous Horse of the Pharoahs, ha, right!

Course you'll recall last class we had the big Back-up issue. Well, he started that goofiness last night as well, BUT since I'd been working with him over the past 2 weeks, and Coos is a smart little cookie, by the end of the lesson I actually got him to back up a couple of steps WITH HIS HEAD DOWN! He's getting there...I'd say this $20/lesson business is just what we needed to get unstuck.

Just had his normal Dee-ring snaffle, no noseband. Even got him backing up with barely any leg pressure. He can do it!

I'd say everybody in the class is an experienced horsewomen, but everyone's got basically green horses. So it's no pressure to do perfect...one horse can lope a cute little circle, but another one can do a lovely floaty trot, while another can back like a pro. We learn from watching each other. Nice!

LOL...before the class, I was leading Himself out to the arena, paused to snug up the girth...the little nutburger immediately raised his left foreleg and held it! He thought we were going to do clicker training!! He wanted a treat!! LOL!!! One of the other ladies was alarmed and wanted to know what was wrong with him! Why's he doing that? Is he lame???? BWAHAHAA! No, just a goober! So I showed her how I've trained him to raise that leg when you tap the cannon bone...which came REAL handy later when I was picking out his feets. I think I'll teach him to raise the right foreleg too. Saw a guy on RFD-TV teaching a mule to pick up its feets, so, why not.

Hey, Quzqo is SHEDDING! Hooray! Spring is coming!!!

I'm curious to see how much of what we learned last night has stuck with him tomorrow.

Oh, and remember the young girl whose mare died last week? Apparently she's been test-driving the trainer's horse, that she got from my Farrier...a BIG ole' bulldoggy chestnut Paint (minimal overo). That's nice, he's a great horse and does okay at the shows too. Only thing that can fill a horse-sized hole in your heart is another horse, that's for sure.

A Sad, But Good Day

Tue Jan 10, 2006

Let's see...happy news first, or sad news. I guess we'll go with the sad, better to end with Happy.

Quzqo's next-stall neighbor, a young 4 yr old QH Mare, collapsed in her stall around 5 tonight, and began bleeding from her vulva. Course they called the vet right in, she put in a catheter, and I guess bloody urine spilled out everywhere. She took a blood sample and was alarmed that it wasn't clotting at all. She gave the mare a sedative, and hurried back to her office to run labwork
on the blood sample. So by the time I got there around 7, there was basically a death watch going on in the aisleway. The horse's owner, a young 15 yr old girl, was up in the viewing room crying, and her mom was down by the horse along with a bunch of other ladies (boarders). Not much you can do but stand and look and toss around ideas, like the vet hadn't thought of them already. The mare was calm, but awake. She wasn't breathing hard or struggling, just laying in her bedding, her head in the hay, a big bloody stain in the sawdust. Sheesh. The consensus among the armchair veterinarians is she had a preexisting immunity disorder nobody knew about. The girl had only had her for three months. I didn't find out what the final diagnosis was, but Bob got a phone call from the vet, who didn't have to come back out, because the mare basically died on her own...all within 3 hours of collapsing.

Huh.

Gotta give 'em credit...Bob and my farrier (who was there working his young 3 yr old QH) managed to drag her out of the stall using chains and the tractor, then pulled her down the aisle and out the barn door and I assume they parked her somewhere until day light. Temps are in the mid-20's, she'll be fine.

Sure as hellfire makes you want to hug your horse (or other pets or loved ones)...

Kinda put an damper on the evening, but Quzqo was VERY good tonight (okay, yes, I had fun! Though I kept a solemn face the whole evening). He was a WILD MAN when I first got on, he took off before I had my leg over him, the little bugger! Wouldn't stop or stand still so I could tighten the girth, I had to run him into a corner to stop him, LOL! Then we TROTTED...O, did we trot! I thought I was riding Tezlu for a while there...my farrier, (his name is Mike, which is less to type than "my farrier" repeatedly) was jogging his QH around, we lapped him four times easily! Hey, best thing to do is just let the horse go and get it out of his system, which is what I did!

Well, tonight I used the big, FAT eggbutt snaffle on him, his "baby bit", LOL! Haven't used it in weeks, and I think it's Richard Shrake (among others I'm sure) who recommend "going backwards" whenever you run into a roadblock, so I did. I am DElighted to say that while he didn't back like a dream, he WAS tucking his head and I actually got him to back a step or two WITH the head lowered! He did SO good, and he was just tucking and tucking, even at the walk, and at the posting trot a few times! I wasn't hauling on his face either, he just did it!

But that's the way he works...we'll struggle with something and get nowhere, I forget about it for a while, come back to it, and he's like a dream...granted he only had one day off, but must have been enough! Very heartening, I tell ya!

LOL, the little bugger...after riding and untacking/brushing him, I got out my white-handled whip and the clicker, and put him in the arena...before I had a chance to do ANYthing...he picks up his left foreleg and holds it up! Not even waiting for his cue, LOL! No, he didn't get a click and a treat, because I hadn't asked him to do it! What a cutie (It was safe to laugh and praise him, because by that time the grieving family of the mare had left and she'd been dragged outside). Got him to stand with the one leg up and his head tucked down to his knee...all off lead...now to get him to rock back and lower to the bow! Well, we've been at it a week and a half...I might have him doing somersaults by Springtime!

Oh, you bet he got plenty of horse hugs, and warnings to NOT drop dead on me, I don't need that again so soon, LOL. *sigh*, sad sight, that; worse because she was a young horse. Tezlu had no complaints, he lived a very long and full life..that poor little thing didn't have a chance to do much, but at least she had a young owner who loved her for that short time. Could have done worse.

Back and Forth

Sun Jan 8, 2006

What a good boy!! I tell ya, I never get tired of walking out into the pasture and having MY horse see me, leave the haypile and company of other horses on his own, and WALK across the way to ME! Beats being one of those poor saps who can't catch their horses at all, LOL!

Apparently other people saw the hole chewed in his chest the other day and TRIED to get near him in the field to check it out, but he wouldn't let them near him! LOL! Bob can't catch him out in the pasture either...but me, he comes right up to (once he RAN to me, that was neat...sort of a RinTinTin moment).

I think I know who has been chewing on him though...that young dun QH (think he's 3 or 4) that hangs around him like a kid brother (whatcha doin'? can I help? Huh? can I?)...he's an adorable thing, BIG white blaze, a fugly banana-shaped head (very convex face, strange), eyewhites showing all the time (a sure sign of a screwy horse, In my experience)...while I was giving Quzqo his peppermint in the field, that horse came right up and started to CHEW on Quzqo's nose! LOL! Quzqo, of course, returned the favor...they were basically playing halter tag w/o a halter! O-kay...glad it wasn't an enemy chewing on my boy!

My farrier was busy dragging the indoor arena, so rather than dodge that little spectacle, I ended up going on a trail ride! Heck, the snow was 4" deep in the deepest parts, was a pleasant ride through the woods and back alongside the farm property, Quzqo was NOT enthused. LOL, as we came along the fenceline, who comes GALLOPING across the pasture towards us...his Little Buddy the dun! LOL! That stupid thing pretty much tagged along the entire length of the pasture through the untracked snow, occasionally prancing and rearing and tossing his head and
basically having a helluva good time...I was glad Quzqo wasn't worried..normally other horses on the other side of fences worry him, but this is his Little Buddy after all (LOL, that Dun was sort of acting like Gilligan...so that makes Quzqo the Skipper, I guess) (Considering the # of times Quzqo has KICKED young Gilligan...yep, I think that analogy fits!)

After the trail ride, we ended up in the arena...they were still dragging the arena, but heck, that's good for the horse...we pretty much played "Chicken" with the tractor, and got a lot of good trotting done. I GOT HIM TO JOG! WhooHOOO! Only about 5 strides, but still, I got him into a SLOW, soft, rounded, side-to-side western-style jog! That was fun (I was using the bitless bridle
today)! He's learning he doesn't have to RUNRUNRUNRUN...he can enjoy other speeds of locomotion.

Anyway, the BIG news of the day is...I've been clicker-training him for a week and a half now, working on the bow. No, he isn't bowing, but today I got him to hold up his left foreleg and KEEP IT UP! Tap him on the cannon, he picks up the leg and holds it up!! And stays there! LOL! What a good boy!

I think I need to figure out a way to clicker-train and treat when we work on backing up, because I'm worried he's getting worse about it, especially after following that trainer's advice. I tried today and again he threw his head straight up and barged FORWARD...that's a classic Tezlu behavior, and by God, I'm not turning this angel horse into a Tezlu!! I figure if I can get a helper, I can sit in the saddle with the reins, and apply the pressure to tuck and back, and the instant he does it, my helper would click and give him a TREAT. That horse will literally stand on his head for an apple chunk. Hm, I'm sure I can recruit a teen or my friend with the Paint... gotta do something.

I was still using the bitless bridle, which applies pressure to the poll, nose, and jaw...sort of grabs
the whole head. Let's face it, I'm not strong enough to pull a horse's head anywhere it doesn't want to go. I had enough tug-o-wars with Tezlu and I don't want to even start down that road with Coos. He's intelligent enough to know to
do it, I don't want to even get out the draw reins or martingales again.

Funny, he can sure tuck that head when there's apples around...and he tucks it
nicely to BACK from the GROUND, grr...but he will NOT back nicely from the
ground if he's got a bridle on...he doesn't like the bridle aspect I think.

Left Himself with his face stuffed into a pile of hay...what a good boy! LOL, another boarder told me yesterday that the trainer had told HER how impressed she was with ME and my work with Quzqo! LOL, spread the word!

Quzqo Learns A Lesson

Fri Jan 6, 2006

Poor Quzqo.

It's bad enough that all week SOMEbody has been literally CHEWING on him out in the pasture (he now has a HUGE patch of fur missing from his chest, and a smaller chunk missing from his shoulder (shaved right down to the black skin, so he's got black spots!), dozens of chunks from his butt, two pieces missing from his FACE, and even part of his bridlepath is missing!!), but last night was one of the Weekly Women's Riding Lessons given by the resident trainer, Deb!

Yep, Quzqo and I had a Riding Lesson! a REAL one with a TRAINER! Eh, I figured it wouldn't hurt, and would be good to get an opinion on whether I'm wrecking the horse or not. And it was a group lesson, so there was the fun angle as well.

I'm just glad I waited to do this, because a year ago we couldn't have done a lot of the stuff...like CANTERING and BACKING. We had to do a very small horsemanship pattern, which was laughable, and SO small that even my farrier's daughter on her uber-trained High Point Paint mare couldn't maneuver, so I didn't feel too bad when we screwed it up every time. But at least every time we tried, there was SOME improvement...walk to first cone, jog trot a serpentine (yeah, right, TRY to get Quzqo to TROT, period!), stop at last cone, back four steps, canter 10 meter circle to the left, stop. But by the final time (after about 6 goes), I did get him to trot the last serpentine, and at least he cantered a whole circle (granted it was twice as big as it was supposed to be, but that's about the smallest circle I've been able to get him TO canter!!)

What was THE most valuable was the bit of individual attention I got from Deb (which is what I was hoping for). She gave me some GOOD pointers on how to work with him so he CAN do a jog trot (right now he has two speeds at the trot: long-strided floaty trot, and standing still), how to work with him on his backing, but amazingly, she shortened my stirrup leathers by ONE notch, and DAMN, what an improvement for both me and the horse!!! WOW! That was worth the $20 right there, LOL! No more flopping feet, great leg contact, better posture in the saddle, and good contact with the stirrup and the ball of my foot! It felt strange, but secure and balanced!

Quzqo was tired and cranky and figured I'd been riding him long enough (nearly 2 hours!), so when I asked him to back, he'd start grabbing the bit in his mouth and marching FORWARD with his nose in the air, LOL! So, Deb got on him for me...Uh OH! He should count himself blessed, she charges $500/mo to work with people's horses! She showed me how to treat him when he starts doing that, basically applying bit pressure until he gives...he was backing and backing, but had his nose in the air, until FINALLY he relented and dropped his nose, and of course she instantly released the pressure. Was kind of painful for ME to watch from the ground...he had his mouth WAY open and eyes bugging out and rolling in the sockets, and I had a clear view of the snaffle squishing his tongue, but wasn't anybody making him hold his head up in the air...*sigh*, gonna be a long winter.

She did get him to drop his head a few times, so I got the idea. I'd been worried about doing that, thinking people might think I was being "mean", but if Deb can do it...nobody can glare at me, LOL.

Kinda nice though, she gave me a very nice complement on how well I HAVE done with him...she certainly was there when I first got him, so she saw him "before" and "after". Coming from her, that means a lot.

At least now I have focus and some ideas on what I'm doing (and those shortened stirrups making SUCH a difference!). Goes to show, you're never too old to learn.

(One of the other ladies asked me how old my "pony" was, *sigh*)