How to win the trust of a horse.

I just had a Monty Roberts kind of break through. Two weeks ago I had three horses put into the field next to my house. It then rained, poured and made my field into a sponge. I was beside myself... The two horses that I had in the field are in constant training, and I could not ride them.

To pass the time I groomed them, watched their behavior, and worked on trust games. My little pony Raven is a five year old baby, and to challenge her trust I would jump on her back with no bridle, no helmet, no saddle and sit on her back while she ate grass. She acted as if there was nothing wrong with this situation. I was waiting for her to bolt, drop her shoulder and dump me to the ground. Instead, Ellie, her lover came over and would nudge my leg, as if to say, "Get off my girlfriend"

Giselle is my other project horse. Ginger bought her from Camelot Auction house. We had no idea how this horse moved, where she came from, and we didn't test ride her. The day had come when she was at the Stable with us, and I was to ride her. She was nervous, and quick. It took all of my strength to calm my nerves, to keep this horse from taking off and bucking me off. She kicked, she bucked, she was a hot mess to ride. I was scared of her, and was a full hot horse full of nervous scared energy.

Over a month I gradually worked with this horse. She still bucked at the canter enough to throw any beginner rider to the ground. I kept my heel planted and my leg on her and rode her through the bucking. Still, I was nervous to ride this horse. Ginger had an acupuncturist come in, to do her magic. After a few days, I went to ride her once again. Still the same horse. I was terribly disappointed, but held strong to my hope. I had to think back to when I hated to ride little Raven, and then one day she turned a corner and became a joy to ride. I learned from this that with consistent slow work one day it seems to click with these horses. My second ride was better, and then she threw a shoe.

Now I have Giselle in my field. I had all of her shoes pulled and her feet looked at. She is now barefoot. I don't know much about her.... her health background or who owned her before me... She is a Thoroughbred off the track. She has had two wins. She is by no means a loser. She has won $20,000 in winnings. What happened to this horse? The more I found out about her the more I tried to win her over. I wanted her to trust me.

She was head shy- I couldn't touch her head without her thinking that I was going to hurt her in some way. This was a sign to be gentle, no matter what this horse does wrong. I touched her face all over... over and over again, to the point where now, she knows... that I will never ever put a hard hand to her body or face. When I come to her she walks up to me, and places her whole head into my body. She relaxes like a Golden Retriever and lets me hold her head for a massage of the for head, and kisses to the muzzle. Then on cue Raven will be nickering at my rump, asking me to love her too. I have been accepted as the head of the pack. They follow me around with their heads bowed low, and trust me to groom them with out being tied up. They stand still while I brush their legs and face.... they enjoy my company. I don't have to raise my voice, yet, with a stern voice I can tell one to go away, or one to stand better for me and they obey. I have respect from these enormous animals.

Tonight was magic.

I had received some terrible news, and was very stressed out. I was itching to get a release in some way. I knew that riding was the only way to calm my nerves and to get my mind off of the tragic news. I decided that tonight was the night that I was going to ride in the field. I wanted to ride Raven, because she was a safe bet... yet, I have no bridle that fits her yet... My bridle fits Ellie and Giselle. This morning I lunged Giselle to check the footing. It seemed hard enough.... and she was having no problems going around on the uneven grass. I grabbed my saddle, helmet, bridle, and marched out to the field determined to get something done.

I put Ellie on the other side of the fence this morning. She has separation anxiety, and the only way to rid her of this is to separate her. She had finally calmed down. I grabbed Giselle, and without even putting a halter on her I put my saddle on her, she stood like a rock. No kicking. I held her head and asked her for one huge favor.... "Please give me a nice ride... please don't buck me off, I am so stressed out... I really need you to make me happy...." She bowed her head into my chest, and took the bit happily. I took one last breath and threw my leg over the saddle. I was on ..... here we go.... this should be interesting. Raven was loose in the field with us, and followed us at the walk for a couple minutes before she relized that Giselle was a working girl right now... she got bored and wandered over to the run in shed, and stood in there as if it was a stall. Watching.... Meanwhile, Ellie was trotting up and down the fence line calling out to Giselle.... Giselle ignored her- almost as if to say, "Shut up! I'm working!"

I was able to put my leg on her, no kicking.... or ears pinned. She did a nice slow trot, not the usual extreme stride bouncy, uncomfortable urgent trot that I was used to. Am I on the right horse? I was able to do a wonderful sitting trot figure eights, Giselle went right onto the bit, collected up on a loose light rein... she was ready for the deadly canter. Do I dare ask her to do this? I was envisioning her to pinn her ears, give a huge buck and gallop uncontrolably down the field over the fence and dump me next to Ellie. I was expecting it. This is something Giselle would do. I asked her... "ARe you ready to Canter?" and with that she picked up a canter, a slow controlled canter bending effortlessly around the circle I had made up in the field. It was comfortable, I could have ridden her at the buckle of my reins. And then I noticed that her ears were perked forward... was she actually liking this? YES! She was happy, to do this for me. I asked for the walk, and she responded. I walked her down to the bottom of the field. There is a slight hill going up to the end of it. I was going to see if I could control her on this. I asked her to come to a stop at the bottom, and then asked her to "Canter!" and she took off up the hill in a wonderful controlled hand gallop, within seconds we were at the top. She circled, balanced, bending.... and then when I asked her to halt she slowed down and came to a dead stop. She gave out a big sigh.

It went on like this for the next 15 minutes. Walk down to the bottom, canter to the top, circle, stop. It was the best ride I have had in a while. I jumped off her.... I took the saddle off, and the bridle, and with a huge Thank you, I wrapped my arms around her next. her head went limp on my shoulder, she was hugging me back... I pulled away and her eyes were closed. That is one... happy relaxed horse. She opened them slowly. "Thank you! For that my sweet girl... you are amazing!" Then Raven came galloping out of the run in shed and demanded that I too tell her how amazing she was for staying put in her "stall"... The breeze had picked up... I stood there with my two favorite girls... Both demanding my love, and me absorbing every moment with both of them.

I am a horse trainer.... I know that I have a special gift for animal behavior. I took a pony that is as stubborn as a mule and made her into a a wannabe show pony. I took a scared, abused off the track race horse and made her into an event prospect. I did this in under two months.... and all it took was lots of ground time with them. I spent lots of time hanging out with them as if I was one of them. I spend a half hour every night grooming them, massaging them, scratching their itchy spots, and treating them as if I were another horse...I just look different.

I don't think enough people take the time it takes to gain the trust of their horses. They are too busy breaking them.... throwing devices on them to make them do things that are un natural to them. They work them too hard too fast. They do things the same way for too long.

 I do it differently. I become one of them, I gain their trust, I become their mothers.... I treat them with respect, and I love and care for them as if they are my own kids. I feed them well, I give them fresh clean water, I make sure they are comfortable. That's all horses want... They want to be free, they want to be horses, they will take your love and turn it to gold. They are quick to forgive, but will remember the day you harm them.

Like I said, it can't be a fluke that I just won over two horses... I must be doing something right.

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy from Batman... if only this is what it looked like in the field, I would have no problem finding her. 

Poison Ivy the plant... looks like every single plant growing in my yard.

It's green and has leaves.....

I just came into contact with some Poison Ivy. I can't find it anywhere. Thankfully the hubster didn't come into contact with it, he has a tendency to turn into a giant swollen blister it's disgusting.

 I on the other hand don't get blisters. I get something that looks like a heat rash, and a raised tuft of skin with small bumps that weep.

So, how does one get Poison Ivy even though they can't find it anywhere in the garden? I thought at first it was Ron my cat... who came running in from outside and gave me a nice cuddle. I have it all over the inside of my arms which almost outlines the cat that I was cradling.

However, now I have it on the tip of my nose on my cheeks, on my stomach, on my legs, and a few patches on my shoulder blades.

Ron didn't touch most of these places.... and I was exposed to more areas after I gave him a bath. Who could be the culprit?? Nobody else seems to have poison Ivy... just me.... and then I started to realize...

I was out in the field last night grooming the horses. First Giselle, and then Raven came up and was rubbing her muzzle all over my neck and my back, especially the shoulder area, and then when I went to ride Ellie bare back I felt my shirt lift up and my belly touched her coat.... exactly where the poison ivy is.

And who do I make facial contact with? Raven. Raven gets so many kisses.... which would explain why my lips are swollen.

Do horses get poison Ivy? Raven has strange looking marks all over her muzzle. So....

Yes. They are up to their arm pits in it... out in the field. Now I have it, and I'm in hell. My face is so itchy. I wash my face with dishwasher detergent every half hour and then cover myself in calamine lotion. My skin is taking a beating.

Please be careful of your pets fur this summer! I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with my animals this summer without constantly coming into contact with the Ivy. I suppose I could go and find it....but first I would have to identify it, and that seems to be impossible.... I suck at plant identification almost as much as speaking another language.

My first week back in the saddle.

I did not draw this... This is a Norman Thelwell cartoon... he died in 2004 and was an amazing pony cartoonist. He is from England, and worked for Punch magazine. He is one of my favorite artists.

Thelwell Website

It has been about five years since I have consistently rode a horse. I was surprised at how quickly my muscle memory came back. My body knows what to do but is lacking the muscle to keep me in place. I am , after a week, starting to get my muscle back in all the right places so that I can stay put in one place and let loose in another. Without my muscle I am gripping everywhere just to stay still and am overcompensating by using my hands or lower leg. Riding looks easy, but every muscle is involved from your head down to your heal.

Last night I rode a horse named Ellie. I also rode her on Sunday. She has been ridden a handful of times since coming to Snap Dragon Stables. I brought her in from the field and hooked her up to the cross ties.. She immediately started to dance and weave nervously all over the place.

Horses are herd animals. They can't be by themselves. Ellie has made friends with a horse named Lucy, and they are best buds. Ellie was freaking out without Lucy by her side. One of the barn girls brought Lucy in while I brushed Ellie and tried to get her tacked up. She was very upset... but I was reassured that she would be fine in the ring. My favorite saying is "bad in the barn, good in the ring" I was hoping this would be true this time.

Ellie is a teenager, and must have been a show horse at some point. She was a little stiff at first, but was very quiet at the trot. She didn't pull anything sneaky, and responded well to my leg. A tap with my left heal and she drifted right. This old mare had some training, and she was letting me know about it.

Her attention soon left Lucy, and within moments we were dancing. I was Ellie's new partner in crime. No toes were being stepped on and we glided across the ring in sync. Both of us having something in common. Out of shape, old girls, diamonds in the rough, wanting to dazzle each other with our skills.

I dismounted, and Ellie nudged me, head held low, calm, relaxed, a low snort (a comforting relaxed sound a horse makes).  This was a completely different horse then what I had brought out of the barn.

The next day I was to ride her again. I brought her into the barn and hooked her up. I started to brush her... and then it dawned on me... she wasn't like this yesterday. She was skipping and sashaying every which way... but  today, she stood like a rock, watching me, listening to me as I gabbed to the girls. Could she possibly remember me?

I saddled her up and walked out to the ring. We started to work, and already she was much better then the previous day. She was loose, more limber, more agile, and more graceful. She floated, extended, collected, bended and responded as if she had been in serious training for months. Ginger, the owner was watching. "I heard she can jump" No need to ask... let's get the jumps set up.

Ginger set up the course, and soon I was trotting up to my first cross rail on a horse that nobody has seen jump... Ellie could see the jump coming and turned into a Porshe... wanting to gallop down the line... me holding her back, collecting her up, keeping her straight and focused without getting in her way. She sailed over the jump... no problem. She liked it, and so did I. We did it a few more times, and it became less sloppy every time. Could I ask her to bend this hard at a canter? I didn't know, I asked, and she happily responded... bending sharply, while collected and balanced she sailed over the jumps. This was no spring chicken. This was my new fancy girl!!

She is my new Bestie... this is what I love about horses. I can always find something in common with them. It sounds cliche... but riding is very much like dancing. Some dance partners have no rhythm and step on your toes and it takes time to get on the same page. While others are like your right arm, they are just meant to be there at your side.

I'm excited, I feel like a kid again. I got fire in my belly, and energy in my step... I wonder what Ellie is doing right now... I wonder if she feels sore from yesterday, or happy to be back into work... I think horses like to be worked, and praised. I hope so anyway. I know I do.

It's raining today, I don't think we will be dancing tonight. That's ok though- I have time.