The Hardest Parts

It has been about two weeks since I came up with a plan to fill in the holes and work towards 100% (impossible, but a worthy goal).  How is it going?

Well, we haven’t made much progress with the teeter totter bridge, but his work on the normal bridge has improved. He wants to please me, and has found the standard bridge work to be his “okay” spot now. The teeter totter will continue to be a work in progress. 

We had a trail ride today, and when we showed up they were dragging the arena. 

That made him nervous, so we went to work right out of the trailer and then over to saddle when he was relaxed. 

We have been working on saddling because he had a habit of taking a couple of steps away when I threw the pad up. 

(Here he is another day we worked on it.)

I brought him back to where I asked him to be (it took two times) and then he stood perfectly still for the saddle toss up. 

Same thing today, corrected twice, then got the stand still. (First photo) That was a very easy issue to correct with Tweed.

Let me just say, there is so much he is doing awesome! He loads, unloads, walks out on the trail, doesn’t try to run back to the trailer, and leads out when asked. He bushwhacks like a rock star, too. He has one issue: rushing down hills. 

He didn’t do much better with the straight steep ones today, even with all our work, but I did take him over to the side and descend in zigzags through the brush and over down limbs and logs, and he did awesome.  He was watching where he put his feet, being very careful, and lifting up his hind legs super well. 

All of this has given me more information and more ideas. He is anxious about steep hills and wants to rush through them, rather than pick his way carefully down. 

He is fit enough to accomplish hills, though still unsure how to use his body. 

When I take him out Thursday I’m going to go back to the steep hills and work them in sections, starting with the bottom half. If he rushes, I’m going to ask him to stop, then back up. To slow him, I’ll use one rein to ask for a subtle direction shift. If he rushes to the bottom, I’ll put him to work at the bottom and then do it again.

The more we do them, the more I understand what needs to be done next. I like the idea of letting him build confidence with the zigzagging, but some hills just don’t allow it. 

When we got back to the trailer we went into the arena and did some collected trot work. Oh. My. Goodness! Like the bridge after the teeter totter, he did so much better at collection after the trail ride. It was like floating on wings. He was really engaging his hindquarters and almost zero resistance. It was just beautiful. 

In other words, when you go for that last 10-20%, the previous 80-90% gets better, too. 

The fact is, the last 10-20% is the hardest, and slowest, work of all. Filling the holes takes everything I’ve got. But it will also reap the BIGGEST rewards. 

The Holes Can Hurt You

As I was working with Tweed, the last post synthesized into the title of this one: the holes can hurt you. 

We don’t know where the holes are until we are put to the test, but when they are revealed (and they will be), it’s our responsibility to address them. For Tweed and me, it boils down to fitness (body confidence and awareness), exposure (wet blankets), and the Respect which leads to Trust. 

It isn’t good enough to have 80-90% because that hole, the 10-20% can ruin a ride for both of you. 

So, I started to look at everything with a critical eye: where are the holes and how do I fill them?

If he comes off the trailer looky loo, I give him a job. 

If I go to throw the saddle up and he takes a couples steps to the side, I stop and bring him back. 

If he has trouble with hills, I ride him up and down hills and, like today, even back him down hills to put more emphasis on picking up those back feet, and placing them carefully where I ask.  

I reevaluated the obstacle course, too. Tweed does them all well, except one—the teeter totter bridge. That bridge exposes the holes better than any. He lacks the confidence and trust to do it. I was letting it slide, but then thought, NO, that is exactly the 10% more I’m going for. 

We did that today, too. He started by giving me only two feet, but we were able to get all four feet on by the end and called it good. For now. That’s the best he’s ever done, and I want to build on it. 

We worked hard for an hour and half today, which means tomorrow we can do a trail ride. We did a solo ride on Tuesday, and I found some “holes” around the equestrian campground. 

We walked over the logs, and lunged up and down the hills around the campground, with a couple of horses whinnying for him. It was great practice for focus. This was all done in-hand, but tomorrow we will do it all again in saddle. 

Time to fill in those holes and get to happier, magic’er trails!

I Want It All

I’m upping my game. I have to. The trail work requires more of Tumbleweed, and even me. Its like we were playing, but now we’re training. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still fun, but it’s also more methodical. 

So, this is how it’s going down:

1. He got too fat on pasture. He’s on a diet.

2. When he does a trail ride longer than two hours, he gets the next day off to rest.  

3. On days we aren’t riding trails, and he isn’t resting, we are doing pole work and riding for strength through collection and lots of transitions, either here at home, or the park.

4. Before each ride (or after) we’re doing Masterson Method work and side tail pulls. 

5. When we start our work, or go somewhere and unload, if he starts to look around and lose relaxation, he immediately gets a job. At no point now is he allowed to “takeover.” I have started following that like religion this week. Even if he steps to the side while I’m saddling, I stop and bring him back to where I set him. I found that I was giving him too much freedom and he was taking that as a lack of leadership. He has one job: do what I ask.

6. Lots of hill work, in hand and in saddle. If he acts up on a hill, we repeat the hill until he goes down with collection. 

7. Introducing new gaits on the trail so he doesn’t think we’re running for our lives when he gets asked to trot or lope. 

8. Daily supplements with the addition of Cosequin ASU.

9. Solo trail rides between rides with partners.

This has been the first week of the new prescription, and in some ways, he is already improving, though he isn’t too sure about some of it yet because it’s not his normal routine. He got worked up about the gait changes on the trail and he doesn’t like turning around and doing hills again. He doesn’t particularly like solo rides now either, but they’re good for his confidence. 

I thought all these things through carefully with an emphasis on his fitness and ability to use his WHOLE body. Trail rides require everything from us and it’s not fair to him to be unconditioned. At the same time, it is trail rides that provide the most conditioning, but since we can’t get out every day, he has to work on fitness in between. 

It has made me look forward to winter with dread because I do not want to take that time off. We’re going so good right now and I want it to continue, not have to start again. 

I feel like a drill sergeant, and Tumbleweed looks at me like, who are you and where did you hide my owner? But I see how close we are to the magic, and that little bit we have been missing is his complete surrender to my leadership. I left a little door open, not sure why, probably a hangover from thinking of him as a baby, but now I am shutting it. 90% isn’t good enough anymore. 

I want it all. 

(Hopefully, this post won’t be followed by another one about me getting bucked off! Haha)

Getting to Happiness

Today started out with a lesson, and Regina had us work on getting Tweed’s attention fully on an obstacle before beginning it. The goal is to get him to pay attention to his feet up and downhills. She said he has a tendency to look past obstacles. At the top of a hill, he’s looking 20 feet past the bottom. At the bridge, he’s looking 10 feet past it. Etc. 

It was excellent work for Tumbleweed and paid off on the trails. I collected him before each hill, then released him and let him make his way. He was much more careful picking his way up and down. 

The dynamics with the new horse were different than Tuesday. The companion was a seasoned gelding who has done lots pack trips. Tweed wanted to be right on his butt, and he didn’t mind. We forced Tweed to lead off and on, but Tweed preferred to follow him. (That was an unusual behavior for him.)

So, while Tweed did much better this ride, we didn’t have the same connection we did Tuesday. He wanted to be more connected with Gunner, the golden old boy. I think Tweed would have even liked to join his herd and go home with him. Lol.

It was a 3 hour day for Tweed, and the boy was just so tired!

Is this fun yet, Tweed? It is for me, but I’m not sure you’re loving it.

I have to say, when I groomed him to prepare for the lesson and ride, my whole body and spirit were filled with happy endorphins. He has become my happy place, and I hope he will grow to love our rides as much as I do.  

He seems to want to, and probably will, when they’re easier for him.

An ‘Aha’ Moment

I was curious how today’s ride would go after Thursday’s adventure. I have a lesson planned with my trainer in two days, and we were in contact about what happened last time. She has some ideas to work on it. Her advice for me today was to make sure I warmed him up in the arena first and had him tuned in and listening. (We haven’t done that for the last two rides).

I arrived early and got to it, and Tweed definitely had a little resistance which was quickly worked out. No big drama or anything, just asked him to do his transitions again until he was less pissy about them. 

My friend arrived with her horse, and we stood and talked with another friend, then went out to the obstacle course.  

The very beginning of the trail ride, the two horses were getting to know each other and Tweed was acting reactive for the first, maybe, 100’ of it. My friend’s horse saw a ribbon blowing on a post and reacted to it. Tweed checked it out, head high, then I petted his neck and he took a big breath and relaxed. I asked him to go past and take the lead, and he did, while the companion horse worked through it, then quickly joined us. 

Oddly enough, that small incident worked everything out, and they were both awesome. Tweed seemed to like that Obe, the other horse, had shown concern. Maybe it made him trust him more, like if that horse is okay, the world must be okay.  Who knows. But he had zero problem following him everywhere. 

On our first ride, Tweed was scared of this building below. 

Yet, on this ride, he didn’t seem to care one bit. As you can see, his ears are where they should be, one on me and one on the thing. 

We expanded the trails this time and did more riding along the river, but it was woven into easier trail work. We’d be on the river for awhile, then cut in to the interior, then back out. 

We ended back up at the same spot we were at last week and took another photo. 

On the way back, down a hill, he got to tossing his head and speeding up.  My friend commented that it looked more like barn sour behavior. I think she’s right, and as we talked about it, we realized he thought he was on his way back to the trailer last Thursday when we had that other incident. (I ended up taking him another way that day and not back home).

It was an aha moment for me. 

While there’s no doubt balance factors in, going home is at play, too, and that’s a whole different ballgame, one I have had to work through with every horse I’ve had. 

He didn’t do that badly, but my friend could see how that needs to be worked out before we try some of the really difficult, steep and narrow trails. We can’t have him trying to take the reins and run home. He has to learn the lesson that acting right gets him home and acting out gets him more work and further from home. 

All part of the green horse experience, but overall, I couldn’t be happier with the horse I rode today. We were a little over two hours out, and he was a pure pleasure going over logs, up and down hills, past scary stumps, and along the drop offs to the river. He was relaxed and tuned in. 

We’re making progress fast.