A New Ride & Thoughts

Horses are, by far, the most eco-friendly mode of transportation. You feed them a renewable product, hay, and they take you where you want to go, in 4-wheel drive. 

But after horses, e-bikes are not a bad option. 

Meet GiGi. Aka the Gray Glam. 

Why an e-bike?

Well, my husband has bad knees and was looking for a form of exercise that wouldn’t put stress on them. Biking fits the bill. We already have nice bikes, and we used to bike together, but he is in the camp of “gotta KILL it” when he rides, and I’m in the camp of, “Let’s have fun.”  

Killing it is not fun. 

Actually, it was a combination of things that led me to quit biking because I couldn’t help thinking, whenever we rode bikes, I’d rather be riding horses. 

Nothing has really changed for me, I still prefer a horse and I still want to have fun. My compromise was an e-bike. 

I went with the Aventon Level2 Commuter bike, which makes it easy to use as a regular bike or get a little help with pedal assist. It also has a throttle on those days that you don’t feel like pedaling at all. 

We took it on our first ride last night, and I love it. We have extremely steep hills around here, and my husband (still using our old traditional bike) had to get off and push. I went up and down several times with pedal assist while yelling back at him, “Do you hate me?” 

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I want to circle back to the last post about assertive versus aggressive / passive. 

I’ve been working with Mr Tumbleweed in the mornings, before the heat of the day, and I found myself getting frustrated with the tarp training. 

After some thought, and research, I think there are two toxic brews: complacency and the aggression that comes from frustration. By aggression, I’m not talking about physical aggression, though it can take that form. I’m talking about working from an aggressive head space, one where you lose empathy and move more towards, you should be able to do this. 

The opposite, being passive or complacent, comes from the same part of the brain: fight, flight, freeze. It’s just as bad because your horse thinks there is something to be scared about.  

I’m checking in with myself during our sessions and asking where I’m at on the continuum. If I’m moving towards either toxic brew, I’m taking a step back to what he can do and working in that space to get our partnership back. 

After a long session the day I wrote, then deleted my thoughts, on that post about Assertive Vs Aggressive, I had this aha moment to go back out (with grandson in tow by then because I also needed to babysit late morning) and place the tarp between Tweed’s run and turnout, and release the other horses to pasture. 

As you saw in the video, he went right over the tarp. 

It’s not a real solution. In fact, it’s cheating. But I’m okay with doing this for now to get him past the block in his head—tarp is bad. 

In the meantime, I’ve moved on to other ways of “getting his feet.”

Assertive Vs Aggressive

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of assertive versus passive / aggressive. I think it’s a fine line between the switches in our brain. 

Here are some random photos of ideas that resonated with me, offered without extra commentary. (Because I deleted the extra commentary.)

(Photo from Flint Rehab)

"The amygdala is involved in all types of emotional responses, but it's especially important in situations that cause fear, anxiety, or rage." (AI generated)

(image from neuroquotient.com)

It Was Meant to Be: Epona’s Journey

 

Epona is home. 

We went to get Epona on Saturday, before the temps get much higher, as they’re expected to be in the 100’s today and through the week. 

She was exactly 4 weeks at our trainer’s. That’s not a lot of time to start a horse, and we hadn’t done much to prepare her. Surprisingly, it turned out that Sarah got a long way with her anyway, even starting from zero.

Backtracking for a moment, my daughter learned to ride, and also started Epona’s mom, Cowgirl, with this same trainer. At the time, my husband and I had worked out a deal with Shiloh that we would pay half of Cowgirl’s training fee IF she worked side-by-side with our trainer the entire time. 

It forged a bond between Shiloh and Sarah, and laid a foundation of trust. So, when Sarah asked my daughter if she wanted to hop up and ride Epona Saturday, and I expected her to decline, Shiloh instead said yes, … without any hesitation.

I was shocked. 

But off they went, walk, trot, and galloping.

As a mother, I cannot tell you the emotions that came up from inside me watching Epona and Shiloh blend together and melt into their work. 

Everything the two of them have been through! I didn’t expect that either of them would be able to meet this moment. Not only did they meet it, but they each surpassed it. 

Epona seemed to relax as soon as my daughter took the reins. There was a complete shift in her attitude from when our trainer had been demonstrating on her. 

Sarah was surprised, too. 

It truly seemed meant to be. That’s the only way I can describe it. Meant. To. Be. They were flying on the wings of many angels. 

Here is their backstory. 

Shiloh found Cowgirl on Dream Horse 20 years ago, all by herself. She was 12 at the time, and had just lost the yearling she had been raising to a broken shoulder. She bought Cowgirl with her own money she had saved and, until she turned 18, had to pay for half of her upkeep. 

Fast forward a few years, and Shiloh admired an amazing Thoroughbred stallion Sarah acquired, super smart, sweet, and gorgeous, you’d never have known he was intact. Shiloh swore she would breed Cowgirl to him someday. 

Unfortunately, he was an older stallion when Sarah got him, and passed away before Shiloh was ready to breed Cowgirl, but, surprise, surprise, Sarah acquired his son, an appy named Mr Tom Horn. 

When I took Tweed down for his training (see how everything is connected?), Shiloh took Cowgirl down with him for company and a little tuneup. 

While Cowgirl was there, Sarah’s stud made a big scene crying for her. It was almost embarrassing, and we all laughed quite a bit. Mr. Tom Horn made his desire well known, and it planted the idea for Shiloh. After a couple weeks thinking about it, she decided to breed Cowgirl.

Cowgirl was a maiden mare at 17, and the vet had to help her go into heat (I can’t remember how, exactly, but something had to be removed). Whatever he did worked, and she went into heat immediately. Sarah brought Mr. Tom Horn over to live-cover Cowgirl everyday for a week, until Cowgirl naturally rejected him, and she got the job done.

Cowgirl came home pregnant and happy. 

The rest is history, and you all know it well (pharyngeal dysfunction), but to say it’s a miracle that Epona is here today is a huge understatement. 

She is here for a purpose, and that purpose is to help heal my daughter’s heart. 

Curiosity & Confidence 2: Tarp Training

I have a love/hate relationship with tarp training. It has been a part of “kindergarten” for every one of our horses, and it simulates so much of what they might see on a trail or at home. I love that part.

Our horse trainer uses the tarp to get them used to things flapping on and around them, and they have to pack it on the saddle and be able to drag it. Epona just finished that work.

I haven’t seen Sarah ask them to step onto the tarp, but I’ll ask her about it when we pick up Epona tomorrow.

Why do I have a love…hate relationship? Well, some horses are just really confident in their feet. All of our mares have had that confidence, and most of our geldings, except my heart horse Cowboy and now Tweed. My vet told me once that Cowboy’s hesitancy was part of his good survival skills and would serve him well in the wild. And that’s true. If they lose a foot, they’re done in the wild. Their feet are their most vital asset. 

Like Cowboy, Tweed challenges me to earn his trust over and over, but when I get it, I get his heart, too. Leah was confident, but I never really felt she gave me her full heart. Big difference. 

I would test that theory over and over with indirect pressure, just coming into her living space and watching her body language. She would always turn her head away from me, like no thanks. I’d halter her anyway, and since she was such a compliant horse, we’d have good rides despite it.

In contrast, Tweed always turns his head towards me, and even leaves the other horses to come to me. He wants a relationship.

Cowboy did that, too.

Back to sweet, but no thanks Leah, she was extremely giving when it came to her feet. But we were at one of those despooking (Path to Partnership) clinics, and she went right over the tarp obstacle, but one of her feet went through and got caught in it.  She pulled her foot back and the tarp came with it, “chasing her.” 

Because she is such a calm horse, she didn’t back away from it very far, maybe 15 feet, and allowed me to approach and free her foot. Fast forward ten years later, and it’s always in the back of my mind as a possibility with the tarps.

Tweed has now done six of the seven steps, but is still hesitant about his feet ON the tarp.

The 7 steps from the video:

1. Follow the tarp.

2. Investigate the tarp by voluntarily touching his nose to it. 

3. Touch the tarp to his nose and face/body.

4. Pack the tarp and be okay with it dropping off.

5. Move out on a circle wearing the tarp.

6. Step onto and over the tarp.

7. Drag the tarp.

Here they are:

1. Follow the tarp 

2. Be curious. Voluntarily touch nose to tarp. 

3. Touch the tarp to his nose, face, body.

4. Pack the tarp and be okay with it falling off

5. Move out on a circle packing the tarp.

Tweed did all of those steps with very little effort. He wanted to look at the cows, but every time he did, I moved the tarp and brought his attention back. (A horse can only think about one thing at a time.)

As I said before, we didn’t accomplish step 6, but he was happy to put his nose on it and investigate with confidence. “Don’t get greedy.” I took that as a win and moved on to step 7.

7. Drag the tarp. 

For this step, you should tie a rope to the tarp and drag it behind and at the side. I didn’t expect to get to step 7, so I drug it by hand. Today, I’ll go out with the rope and make sure it’s further behind him. 

The reason this is the last step, I think, is because the tarp can get under their feet as they’re turning around dragging it, so it’s best for them to be okay with that.

I’m excited to go out and do it again today and see if we can get those reluctant, yet smart, feet onto the tarp. When we can do this on the ground, we will start from step one and do it all in saddle. 

Curiosity and Confidence

For the last few weeks I’ve been dealing, unsuccessfully, with having Tweed step over a tarp. Turns out, I was operating under a false paradigm. 

I thought Tumbleweed was confident, but being stubborn and unhappy about work at home. I based that upon the fact that he did so well working at the equestrian park compared to here.

But when we started asking him to walk over the tarp during a lesson, I hit a brick wall of resistance that led me to a new, and better, understanding.

It took me a long time to change my thinking, but the final piece of evidence was this:

Frustrated with our lack of progress, and at my wit’s end for solutions to move forward, I placed the tarp under a poll that Tumbleweed is confident going over, and then in front of the exit from the arena. 

Food and friends awaited him on the other side of the gate, but Tweed absolutely refused to go. 

That’s all the evidence I needed to know that it was a confidence issue. It made my heart soften and the frustration instantly evaporate. My baby needed me to think outside of the box and help him, not keep pushing him beyond his ability and making him feel like a failure. 

I took the tarp out of the picture, left the poll in front of the gate, and asked for him to walk in and out a few times over the poll. 

He did it. 

We went for a walk in-hand, exploring the property together and rebuilding our bond, then I released him with the others.

Back to the drawing board.

How do I build Tweed’s confidence with the tarp? 

I searched the internet and found a great video by Mastery Horsemanship, “Horse Is Afraid of Tarp,” which outlines the steps from 1 to 7. Spoiler alert: walking over the tarp is step 6! 😳 And yes, he has done steps 1-4 in previous years, but that doesn’t mean squat this year.

Today I went out to get Tweed again and, lo and behold, he left the others and walked right up to me, ready to go to work. (Further evidence that horses are very forgiving and everyday is a new day.)

My only goal was for him to follow the tarp, be curious, and touch it with his nose, follow it again, and let me rub it all over him, steps 1 and 2. He did awesome!

Tomorrow we will work on Steps 3 and 4, putting it on his back and letting it drop next to him.

It should always be fun, and Tweed should feel good about our work, successful and confident. I have all the time in the world. 

Epona comes home on Saturday.

It will be nice to have her home and she can benefit from the same work Tweed is doing. We will add her to the lessons with my trainer up here as a follow up.

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Let’s talk growing our own food. 

My barn tomatoes were coming along beautifully…and I was ever so proud of myself…

Until something found them & took the first bites of the garden bounty. 

When I realized I share my garden with critters, I went searching for protection and found these on Amazon. 

These bags have zippers, which make it easier to get into them and harvest tomatoes. 

So far so good, but with all the rain we had, I appear to have overwatered them. At first, I thought it was the bags blocking out light, but then I did some research and realized they can have too much of a good thing. 

They were also a little big for my plants, and flopping over, so I put a few stakes into them for support. 

They’re not the most attractive solution, but what do you do?

The other plants (except the apples) are doing well and don’t seem to be bothered by creatures. 

Did I mention that I’m buying an e-bike? We rented e-bikes in Coeur D’Alene and drove them 20 miles around the lake and back, pulling our grandson in a bike trailer. It was so much fun! Like being a kid again! 

I’ve always loved biking, but the hills around here are killers. The e-bike allowed me to go back and forth, sometimes with assist, sometimes without. 

My new bike should be here next week, but then temperatures will be 100+ for a few days. 😒 blah. 

But oh, the fun I will have on this bike when the temperatures go back to normal! 

E-bikes can be dangerous, or so I am told, but I have a healthy fear of going too fast. 

Goings On

Well…the last update on Epona wasn’t great. She had a bad day at training. It was a bit surprising, because until then she had been the #1 star student. Oh, Epona! Goes to show, horses have good and bad days, even with the pros. 

As for Tweed and I, we had out of town company and a lot of severe weather, which limited what we could do. I decided to focus on very basic leading in straight lines over obstacles and keeping his attention when the cows came running to see what we were doing. 

I kept reminding myself:

“A horse can only think of one thing at a time and that should be you.” 

If I don’t have his attention, I can’t get his feet. 

It has been going very well, and I should have a lesson tomorrow, my first since the clinic. 

We finally finished the barn breezeway. 

Oops, I lied. Not finished. We still need to put the trim around the door. 

Night. 

Day. 

I’ve also planted the raised beds at the barn. 

They are a mixture of flowers, herbs, trees, tomatoes, and peppers. 

The trees are apple and Kwanza Cherry. 

The herbs are thyme, basil, oregano, lavender, cilantro, and dill. 

Several varieties of tomatoes, even a Czech variety since my husband is 1/2 Czech. 

Habaneros and jalapeños. 

We have a gas fire pit there now, and have enjoyed evenings at the barn with a glass of wine. That’s a date night for us. 

Does it get any better?