Back to School With My Green Horses

Originally published 9/21/15

Exciting adventures coming this fall and winter, beginning tomorrow, but first, I played hookie from work today.  Is it hooky or hookie?  Why do they call it hookie?  Anyway, it was good hookie.  The weather was beautiful and about 6 of us hit the trails.  We arrived at 10 am, played around on the obstacle course and rode the trails along the Spokane River.  I pulled out at 12:45 with my two horses, drove home and unloaded, threw on a new outfit (did not have time to shower, so still smell like my sweaty horse--which is to say GOOD), and was back in the car at 1:10 and back to work by 1:25.

(Me playing hookie)

Saturday morning I was privileged to ride in the First Annual Ride and Hike to benefit Free Rein Therapeutic Riding--a non-profit that uses horses to help children with autism, and other special needs, and PTSD in veterans.

(Riding out with my partner.)

 (Returning with my partner)

 (My partner and I at the trailhead)

Tomorrow I start training C'ya with the help of a professional.  I discovered two things:

1.  I don't feel comfortable training a green horse.  It's not something I do all the time, and I want her to have a solid foundation.

2.  I don't want to send her off to someone for training because I want to grow as she grows and get to know her through the process.  Even though I've owned her and trained her since she was 2--and even rode her in the past--we never got very far in the whole process, and I never took her out on the trails.  All the riding happened in the round pen and arena and there wasn't much of it.  I sent her to a trainer a few years ago who rode her for two weeks, but C'ya developed cinch sores, and I had to bring her home.  I've worked with her since then, from the ground, going over poles and obstacles (to teach her to watch where she's putting her feet--a complaint from the trainer) and basic yielding, etc.  Cowboy has taken all my time and attention--and he still will as long as he stays sound--but through fall and winter, especially winter, when I wouldn't be trail riding anyway, I want to concentrate first on C'ya and then, when I've had a green horse refresher, with Beautiful Girl.

Wish me luck on going back to school with my green horses. Should be a great adventure.

(C'ya)

American Pharoah Will Continue to Race, but Why?

Yesterday I wrote that American Pharoah would probably be retired and put out to stud now that he's won the Triple Crown, but I was wrong.  Apparently, he'll continue to race.

The owner of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah says plans are underway for his champion to race again this year.  (ESPN)

Ahmed Zayat, American Pharoah's owner, sold the breeding rights before the Belmont, but they don't kick in until Pharoah actually retires. 

 "They have zero say until he retires,'' Zayat said. "We owe it to the sport to do the right thing. Money plays an important factor in this game. I've already sold the breeding rights, but it is my genuine desire, as a fan, as someone who loves horses, to race him as long as I possibly can.''  (ESPN)

 

 But what if American Pharoah is injured in a race?

Should anything happen to the colt in future races, Zayat is covered by an insurance policy for which the rates are "incredibly high,'' Baffert said recently. (ESPN)

My first question was, "Why would they take this risk?"   So, I looked it up and, apparently, many other Triple Crown winners have continued to race.

 The first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, American Pharoah is in uncharted territory, with no contemporary peers. The last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed in 1978, raced 13 times after his Belmont Stakes, running a full season as a four-year-old; Seattle Slew, the 1977 Triple Crown winner, ran eight times after the Belmont, through November of 1978. Secretariat raced six times after winning the Belmont and was retired at the end of the year. (The Guardian)

 

But still, "Why?"

“Purses these days are hefty,” he (Charlie Boden, stallion manager of Darley America, the breeding operation of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) pointed out. “He’s got $10 million sitting there next March [in the Dubai World Cup]. That’s $6 million to him [if he wins]. The Breeders’ Cup Classic is $5 million. He stands to make another $10 million before the end of March next year.

 “If he’s going to the breeding shed, he could get 100 horses to breed to him at $100,000, but that’s a year down the road, assuming he’s fertile and if he wants to breed, and those are two big ifs. We know that we can run and beat just about every sumbitch that lines up next to him.” (The Guardian)

Oh, that's why.  Money.  Speaking of which, did you see the Burger King in American Pharoah's box during the Belmont?  So did we.  What the #@?  It turns out, Burger King paid $200,000 for that privilege.  The bright side?  The money is going to charity.  The down side?  It seemed creepy.

If all this is making you a little queasy, here's some good news to balance it.  American Pharoah's jockey, Victor Espinoza, who, by the way, was scared of horses at one point in his life, is donating his $80,000 winnings to City of Hope, a research and treatment center that aims to fight cancer and life-threatening illnesses.  Espinoza has always donated a percentage of his earnings to that same charity.  Kudos to Espinoza!

 

And, kudos to Bob Baffert (Pharoah's trainer) and Jill, his wife, for donating their winnings to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund; the California Retirement Management Account, a nonprofit that helps retired California racehorses; and Old Friends Farm, a thoroughbred retirement facility.

 

Triple Crown history was made, but if you, like me, are unable to rest easy until the hero himself is safe and sound, it appears we'll have to wait a little longer.

Riding Through the Scary Tunnels with Buddies

Sometimes, everything in you says "DANGER"!  That's instinct, and it's a good thing to heed.  Like this tunnel, for example: graffiti, the smell of urine, the tincture of heated rail from the train that passes every hour or so above, the sometimes present noise of arrows at the archery range it feeds into....and the darkness.  Scary Danger!

Last year, the only way I could get Cowboy through this tunnel was to back him up until he was partially in, then turn him around and ride the rest of the way through.  Tricky!  We all had a good laugh about that one.  But you do what you have to do, and then reward them on the other side.

As we've all been talking about lately on this blog, fear is a good thing.  It shows a smart horse.  But elevated anxiety in our horses can also be dangerous for us as riders. That said, we decided to spend some time going back and forth through the scary tunnel in various ways.  We let the ones who were nervous (which were all but one) follow, and then, as they became more comfortable, take the lead, as we passed through back and forth as many times as it took to get them all to OK.

That's what you want in trail buddies, because it's what makes the adventure enjoyable for horses and riders and keeps everyone in the group safe.

Many years ago now, I made a bunch of horse friends online and we all met up and became flesh and blood friends.  Our friendship revolves around our shared love of horses. We have the same philosophy, even if we get to it different ways.  Mostly, we have support for each other as horsewomen.

I wouldn't go through the scary tunnels without this group, so I'm not much different than Cowboy. Call me "Smart", because "graffiti, the smell of urine...and darkness" really do point to danger when riding alone.  

We're buddies and our horses are buddies, and we all rely on each other to get through the scary places.

Who are your riding buddies?  What scary tunnels have they helped you pass through?

A Sensitive, Neurotic Horse May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

 Humans need to avoid stereotyping equine personalities into “good” or “bad.” “It's important to realize that, just like in people, there is no perfect personality type," she said. "For example, a neurotic horse will be more prone to stress and will be more likely to spook, which may be difficult to work with. On the other hand, their sensitivity means that they are incredibly responsive and can thus appear 'in tune' with their handler. If you're a good, calm handler, you can get amazing results by putting this to good use. "Researchers Develop Subjective Equine Personality Test", Christa Lese'-Lasserre,MA, June 13, 2013

What an inspiring quote to start the day out with, at least for all of us with super-sensitive-borderline-neurotic horses that we LOVE.  And, thanks for all your stories and wisdom last week regarding the post, "Equine Anxieties, From a Psychiatric Perspective."   All were GREAT food for thought.

The things I took from that human/horse panic attack connection were:

1. Control some physiological parameter.
2. Use a top down approach and get them thinking.
3. Do not pressure them forward, but get them to relax and not run away.
4. Help them experience the feared situation as a pleasant situation.

I'm not going to put this on the list, but I do think it's great insight.  My husband said that a panic attack feels truly horrible, and people who have them feel like they're going to die.  Eventually, their anxiety comes from the fear of the panic attack itself.  I imagine it's similar for horses.  Horses have phenomenal fear memory and can remember a scary place for a long time (maybe years later) even if there was nothing there to fear.  What is that except fear of fear?

Kerry Thomas, the "Horse Detective" in the last post, wrote a paper on Equine PTSD.  In it, he said:

(Concerning an Arabian Show) From a psychological standpoint, I saw these otherwise beautiful horses being brought into the arena much like a pin-ball being sprung forth, injected if you will into a game of psychological chaos.

(Concerning training mind and then body)  Physical change is necessitated by environmental conditions and stimuli.  Mental interpretations of these happen prior to the physical response.  This is why in training the horse; we must train the mind ahead of the body, if we wish to have the most efficiency from that body. 

On the trail, you're usually riding with a group, and have pressure to keep going--get across the water, get past the ravens in the trees, get past (insert anything here that scares your horse), that's why it's so important to have trail partners who think like you do and are able to adapt the ride to help the horses. It might take extra time to let them think about things and develop curiosity and courage, but it has to be done if you have an eye for the long term.  I so regret the times I didn't do that--didn't have enough confidence in my own instincts and didn't have enough courage to listen to my horse.  It's not about the ride, getting from point A to point Z, it's about the partnership along the way as you encounter A, B, C, D.....Z.

I'm very picky about my riding partners.   How about you? 

Equine Anxiety, From a Psychiatric Perspective

After the last blog my mind has been racing around with words like these, as they relate to horses:

Anxiety, Insecurity, Panic, 

Refusal, Fear, Stress, Reactive Mind

I'm sure we could all think of more along that line, but those are a pretty decent list of completely UNWANTED responses in our horses...and ourselves.  It actually causes me a little pain in my neck just reading them.

After my ride yesterday, I sat with my husband, at home, and processed my thoughts with him.

Me: So, Cowboy has always hated going into water, right?  And, we came up to Fishtrap Lake during our ride.  And a couple of the other horses went in and started splashing around.  And, usually I'd pressure him in to going in, too, right?  But today I stood back and let him watch the other horses and waited for him to show interest, relaxation, and curiosity and, sure enough, he did.  He really enjoyed watching them.  After a little bit, he wanted to get closer and stepped closer on his own.

Husband: Did he go into the water?

Me: No, but he went up voluntarily, about 2 feet away, and showed no signs of panic.  So, I got off and walked down to the water myself and he followed me, very relaxed, and we just stood there as I petted him and praised him for being so calm.

(Photo: Me standing by the water at Fish Lake, petting Cowboy.)

Husband: That's perfect.  You want him to have new, positive experiences in situations that he usually fears.  [Picks up his book to read.]

(Photo: Cowboy looking at Fish Lake after we left it.)

Me: [Not satisfied to stop there.]  Because, usually, I'd make him go to the water, but it's always unpleasant and his heart is pounding and it's a fight.  But then, when he gets in, he sees it's okay and eventually relaxes.  But today I told Cowboy, I know it's crazy to talk to your horse, but I told Cowboy that the ride was about him...and me...and building trust.

Husband: Yep. [Thinks to himself, as eyes glaze over, "Oh no, she's starting to talk about talking to her horses.  I really need to read my book."]

Me: [Realizing I sound like a parent who might come to our clinic to get help for their anxious child, or themselves, I finally see the correlation.  Maybe, just maybe, there's something to learn from human anxiety and its treatment that could be applied to horse anxiety and its treatment.  And, sitting across from me is my husband, a psychiatrist, who specializes in helping people past their anxieties.]  Do you think horse anxieties are like people's?

Husband:  I don't know.

Me:  Can you explain what happens in a human panic attack?

Husband:  Sure.  [Seems to be eager to talk about one of his favorite topics.]  There are cells, deep inside the brain that release norepinephrine, it's adrenaline, and that is released throughout the brain and affects all the major structures of the brain such as the cortex, which is where thinking goes on, so people have scary thoughts.  It affects the hypothalamus, which is what controls heartbeat, breathing and, of course, those go up in a panic attack.  And then, norepinephrine stimulates nerves that go to the peripheral nervous system, which creates the shaking, sweating, and all those sorts of things, as well as the gut which can go into spasms and become part of it.  That can go on from anywhere between ten minutes to two hours, and then, those people experiencing a panic attack will be drained, but it will replenish itself in a few hours.

The interesting thing is, while panic attacks usually start in some kind of situation of fear and anxiety, after a while, the thing that's really painful is that people fear having a panic attack itself--they fear the feeling of anxiety, and then they can become housebound.

Me: How do you stop a panic attack once it's started?

Husband: You have to start with a top down approach, so you go to the thinking part of the brain and start to rethink what's going on, re-frame what's going on, learn new ways to relax, learn to control at least one physiological parameter, because in a panic attack physiology is out of control.  This tells the brain, I might be partly out of control, but I'm not totally out of control.  And, eventually, you have to begin to expose yourself to feared situations, in small doses, so you can begin to re-experience them as more pleasurable now.

Me: So, for instance with Cowboy, panicking about water or anything else, how would that apply if they're already at the feared object?

Husband: If they're already there, try to get them to relax without having them go further.  Don't let them run away.  For humans, you have to get them to recapture some bodily function that they can control.  Eventually, you want them to experience the feared situation as a pleasurable situation.

I'll stop here because I haven't formulated a post about what this means for horses from my own, personal observations working with them.  My husband did add that when a person (or horse) is panicked or in flight mode, you cannot accomplish anything positive.  It's over.  The work always has to be done in small doses, and small accomplishments, that build on each other.

As always, I welcome your thoughts about the correlation between human and horse panic attacks. Thanks!

(Photo: The falls at Hog Lake, our destination on yesterday's ride.)