Baby Steps with Clipping

I have a list in my head of the assorted skills that I would like Donut to develop during her first few years with me.  Being clipped is definitely near the top of that list.  Over the past few months, I've done maybe three short sessions with Donut, getting her used to the sight and sound of my quiet, battery-operated clippers.  I haven't done any actual clipping, though, because she was giving them the eye that tells me she is tolerating them, but not happy about them.

A few days ago, I decided to work on clipping a bit more diligently.  Spring is nearly over here, and we should have temperatures in the mid- to high-80s for several days this week.  We could still have a few cooler nights, but I don't expect we will get any more near-freezing temperatures, and the 90s aren't far away.  That means I can actually start taking some hair off without risking Donut getting chilled or needing a blanket.

I started my session as I typically do, with Donut in her stall, munching on some alfalfa hay.  I went through the slow process of checking to see how she felt about the clippers.  I stood several feet away from her to start and just turned them on.  As soon as she looked at them, I turned them off.  I repeated that process a few times.  Then I started to move closer about every 10 seconds.  If I noticed tension in her body, I stayed where I was until she looked at the clippers and then turned them off for a bit.  

After a few minutes, I was able to run the clippers over her hindquarters, using the back of the blade, so I wasn't clipping any hair.  Once she seemed comfortable with that, I started actually taking some hair off, as if I would be starting a trace clip.  She did really well with that, so after I clipped a small area, I called it a day.

Day 1 progress.  It's not pretty, but that's OK!

Well, I admit to being pretty impressed with myself and Donut after that first session, so I got it in my head that I could just work on a new section of her body every day and have a full trace clip after a week.  What is the saying?  Something about nothing teaching humility faster than a horse? 

I went into my second session the next day expecting to briefly go over what I'd done the day before and start clipping either the other side of Donut's haunches or her belly.  Donut quietly explained to me that that wasn't going to happen.  I'm not sure if she could sense my intent or if I just went through the previous day's process too fast for her, but she walked away from her food and me as soon as she felt the blades on her coat, which told me that she was not ready for more.

So I regrouped, and spent some more time with her just trying to get back to where we'd been the day before.  As soon as I got that, I stopped for the day, and reminded myself that not every horse is the same and they all learn and adapt to new things in their own time.

For Day 3 of the clipping extravaganza, I went in to it with a much better mind-set.  My plan was simply to see if I could repeat what I'd done the first day and that maybe instead of planning to take a day with each part of her body, I should plan for a week.  After all, there is no rush.  There is no show or competition.  And she is steadily shedding, so the long hair won't be there much longer anyway.

I was able to repeat what I did on the first day, and then I decided to try clipping just a little more to see how Donut handled that.  She did great, and I expanded the clip a little on her hind leg.  I was also able to start running the clippers over her back and belly, using the back of the blade.

Progress on Day 3.  It is starting to look like a legitimate clipping job!

The thing that I learned from the past few days is that I still need a reminder every once in awhile about taking the time it takes to move through a process, and that I can't assume anything about future progress based on the current progress.  Stay tuned to see how long it takes me to get Donut clipped! :)

Gemma goes to a show!

My daughter first went to a hunter show about a year and a half ago.  She showed twice and had a really great experience.  Since then, a lot has happened.  The pony she was showing and riding for lessons died unexpectedly (R.I.P. sweet Clever).  She has gotten a new riding instructor twice.  COVID-19 shut down all the shows last year, except a very few toward the end of the season, and they weren't ones that we could participate in.

After all those challenges, this year, Gemma was determined to go to a show one way or another.  Luckily, the barn I board at offers a series of hunter shows that are very quiet and well-run, and they were back on the schedule this year (with a modified process for social distancing).  But a week before the first show of the year, I still didn't know which horse/pony she would be riding.  There were quite a few lesson kids who wanted to show who didn't have horses, and I wasn't sure what the logistics would be.  

Thankfully, a couple of boarders stepped up and offered their horses to be used for the show.  One of those horses is a little mustang named Olaf, and Gemma's instructor decided he would be a good fit for her.  The only issue was that she had never ridden him.  So the day before the show, Gemma got a quick lesson on Olaf and a review of show procedures and etiquette.  And because Olaf is a gray, he needed some TLC to show his true shining self.  But Gemma was beyond delighted to help with his bath and show prep and we spent many hours at the barn on Saturday getting ready.  

The day of the show dawned a bit dreary and cool, but Gemma was undaunted.  She insisted that she be awakened at 6 am to have enough time to get ready.  We were out the door by 7, and at the barn by 7:30.  Olaf had been covered head to toe with slinkies and a tail wrap to keep him clean overnight, so he was virtually spotless and didn't need much additional prep.

Gemma did a quick warm-up in the round pen, because the schooling in the arena looked like about a dozen kids careening around in a random and very fast fashion.  I made an executive decision that being a part of that nuthouse was not necessary to ensure Olaf's successful warm-up.  Gemma did an impressive job warming Olaf up and practicing an exercise she'd been given the day before by her instructor.  It looked like she and Olaf were going to get along just fine.

Gemma never seemed nervous at all, although I admit to a few nerves, mostly because Olaf was new to Gemma.  He was an experienced show horse for his teenaged rider, though, and he had already gone to a few competitions in the past couple of months.  So he knew his job, and as long as his rider wasn't falling asleep at the wheel, so to speak, he was going to focus.

Gemma was competing in what is called the Pre-Short Stirrup Division, which is for young riders (I forget the age cut-off, maybe 10?).  One class is walk only, one class is walk and posting trot, and the third class is walk and trot with riders sitting, posting, and going into jump position.  They also need to be able to halt and change direction at the walk.  Gemma did great.  She missed her diagonal a couple of times, but realized it and corrected it.  And she turned to the outside instead of the inside of the arena once, but otherwise, she and Olaf were a good pair.  Olaf listened to her aids and responded quickly and kept her out of trouble as about six kids on ponies of varying abilities wandered around the arena.

It was a wonderful experience for Gemma, and she now considers Olaf to be on her list of Most Adored Equines.  I'm not sure if she'll have the opportunity to show him again this year, because he is in high demand by other riders and of course, his owner.  But it was a great way to start off the show season, and I was relieved that she had a safe horse to ride.

And I had fun too.  There were some other show moms there and we were able to support each other (and our kids and horses) and spend some time chatting and watching everyone's kids compete.  I'm still not a huge fan of the hunter style of riding, but at Gemma's age, I think it is more important for her to learn how to be in a competition and have fun and learn good sportsmanship.  And she got to socialize a bit with other riders her age and older.  She told me that it was her best experience ever and she is super excited for the next show.

It takes a special horse to be covered in hot pink and still feel confident!:)

Gemma and Olaf are focused on their turn!

Happy faces all around!

Gemma and Olaf show off their ribbons!

Donut Turns Two!

Donut had her second birthday over the weekend.  I'm not much of a party planner, but I did give her some extra time to eat all the green grass that is coming in.  I can't know for sure, but I think green grass is her favorite food and eating is her favorite thing to do, so I think that was probably the best thing I could have done for her.

I also took her out to the round pen for a little photo shoot.  She is usually pretty quiet out there, but she spent so much of her time moving around at Warp 9 that almost all of the pictures were quite blurry.  I did get a couple that I liked, though:

It's amazing to think that I've had her for almost nine months.  She is definitely looking more like a horse now and less like a baby.  And every once in a while, I can feel the moments of stillness.  Mostly Donut is like many young animals (and humans!).  She is curious and excitable and unless she is napping, she prefers doing something over standing still.  But sometimes when I am with her in her stall, I will catch a glimpse of the horse that I think she will become.

There was one day not that long ago that I categorize as one of those glorious, perfect days spent with a horse.  I was out at the barn later in the day than usual, and about the time that I was getting ready to leave, a really bad storm came through.  I knew from the weather report that it was likely to be very short - less than 30 minutes - and I had no desire to drag Donut back to the field in the middle of what looked like the most rain that could physically fall from the sky at one time.  She seemed happy munching on hay in her stall, even as the sound in the barn became deafening and other horses around her started to act up as the full force of the storm beat down on the barn.

I decided to stay with her and give her an extra deep grooming.  The two of us just hung out while the rain pounded down.  I brushed and brushed.  I worked on all the spots that had some residual dirt and looked for places that still had a lot of hair to shed out.  All the while, Donut contentedly munched on her hay.  

After the storm passed, I put my brushes away and led her out to eat grass for a few minutes before turning her out.  The light was ethereal as it often is after a storm.  And the air smelled clean and fresh.  Donut seemed calmer than usual and we had a nice walk out to the field.  There wasn't anything different that I can put my finger on.  It was more of a feeling of quiet and just existing in the moment together.  It was incredibly refreshing and it is easily my favorite time with Donut so far.  Moments like that are why I love horses.

I've also noticed that her airs above the ground have become significantly less over the past couple of months.  And no more temper tantrums, which is nice.  So I'm going to cautiously dip our toes into the world of lungeing and see how things go.  I've been doing some prep work with a rope during the past month, and I'll probably start some basic small circles at a walk later this week.  If that goes well, I'll see if I can get her to the point where she can walk, trot, and canter on a lunge line in the big arena. On the other hand, if she starts getting really reactive again, I will probably table it for the time being and try again in a couple of months.

I know that lungeing a young horse can be a bit controversial because of the potential negative impact on their legs.  But I found it invaluable with Nimo.  Lungeing is such a useful skill that I think it is worth doing.  With Nimo, I just did short sessions three or four times a week during his two-year old year.  And by short, I mean 5-10 minutes of quiet work.  I don't see any need for endless circles or lots of faster work.  My purpose in lungeing isn't for exercise at this point.  Partly because I doubt I could make even the slightest dent in Donut's energy level on a lunge line - her antics out in the field are becoming the stuff of legend! - and partly because I think it is the endless circles and faster work that can cause the damage to a horse's legs.  But lungeing is a great way to start introducing the concept of work and to check Donut's mental maturity, plus I can introduce new tack and transition into ground driving.

We've also made progress with the hose work.  I upgraded the hose with a nozzle a few days ago and I've been able to do a couple of sessions with Donut.  As I expected, she was quite sensitive to and concerned about the sound of the water coming out of the nozzle.  So we did have to go back to the beginning for a short time, but I am now able to ask her to stand in the concrete wash area while I hose her legs off.  It's such a luxury to be able to have a nozzle to adjust the water and turn it on and off!

So Happy Birthday, Donut!  And here's to what I hope will be another year of fun and challenges!

It Takes the Time It Takes

One of the most important things that blogging has done for me is to allow me to reflect on myself and my work with horses.  That reflection has, without a doubt, helped me become a better person and a better horsewoman.  I still have a long way to go, but when I think about how I used to be as compared to where I am now, well, I'm thankful for the growth, and I'm sure the horses I work with are too.

Writing has also made me more observant about how others work with their horses.  I have found some professionals whose perspectives and techniques I really enjoy, but I also look at how other boarders at my barn, my friends, and even random strangers work with their horses.  And I have to admit that it is pretty rare when I see one of those people doing something I'd like to emulate.  That is not to say that I see people beating their horses or otherwise engaging in overt abuse, but I don't often see a technique that I think is really effective in a positive way.  

In fact, the thing I see most frequently is simply rushing the process.  And that rushing seems to lead to a problem somewhere down the road.  Whether it is a weird, inconsistent lameness, rushing fences, poor ground manners, or some other undesirable behavior, there is always a price to pay for moving through a horse's education too quickly.

I have watched young horses rushed through their education so that someone can show them or they can be sold for big money to someone else, who will, of course, have to deal with the holes in their education at some point.  I have watched off-the-track thoroughbreds restarted under saddle without a proper let-down period.  And I have watched people buy older horses, bring them to the barn, and then immediately start riding them without giving them time to settle in, determining what things the horse knows, or assessing the horse's fitness.

I have seen more than one video and Facebook post by Warwick Schiller where he emphasizes that when he starts working with a horse, regardless of its age or level of training, he starts from the beginning.  So he checks if all the buttons are there, so to speak.  Can the horse lead from the ground?  Can the horse stand for grooming?  Are there any places the horse doesn't like to be touched?  Will the horse pick up its feet?  How does the horse get on the trailer?  Can it be clipped?  How does the horse handle being saddled and bridled?  Once under saddle, can the horse walk, turn, and stop?  How about at the trot?  At the canter?  If the horse can do all those things well and without anxiety, then more advanced training or work can start.  But if the horse can't do one or more of those things, well, the things it can't do need to be addressed first.

One reason that I like working with a young horse is because of the time I have to take to get to know the horse.  It forces me to slow down because I can't ride, so I might as well work on other stuff like grooming, picking up feet, bathing, clipping, trailer loading, etc.  That way, by the time I get in the saddle, I don't have to wonder what my horse knows about ground manners, and my horse and I have developed a routine that works for us.  

I think when buying a horse that is already under saddle, it is easy to bring them to your barn and then ride them the next day and then show them the next month.  But then down the road, problems start to crop up.  They seem minor at first.  The horse struggles a bit with loading on the trailer.  Transitions aren't as clean as they should be.  The horse fidgets.  And then the problems get bigger.  The horse loses her lead changes.  The horse starts refusing fences.  The horse won't get on the trailer at all.   Or maybe the the horse becomes lame and needs rehab.  Sometimes the horse can get back to competition, and sometimes she can't.  All because people rush the horse's education and conditioning.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from my experience with Nimo in endurance riding was that working with horses at a more advanced level takes time.  It takes so much time.  There are gifted professionals and even amateurs out there who can take a horse from knowing very little to being more educated fairly quickly, but they are the exception, not the rule.  And there are gifted horses who can tolerate skipped steps up to a certain point, but if they compete at an advanced level, the holes become apparent in one way or another.  How many top competition horses have weird idiosyncrasies that have to be accommodated?  Would they have those idiosyncrasies if someone had really taken the time necessary to make sure the horses had all the information they needed to do their jobs?

And I kind of wonder what impact the "natural horsemanship" school of thought has had on our ideas of how quickly a horse should be educated.  I don't think they are so common now, but remember the colt starting clinics?  Where a professional might get a young horse and be riding them within just a day or two?  I know a lot of people don't do them anymore because they realized it was giving people the wrong impression of how a horse should be trained under saddle.  But I suspect there is this lingering sense that a horse can go quickly through a lot of steps if only you use the right halter and lead rope.

I can still remember when I first rode Nimo.  By the time I got on him, I had spent about two years getting to know him.  I had done everything I could think of on the ground with him, and I'd also spent a lot of time lunging (not a lot of time in one session, but rather a full year of frequent, short sessions).  It was a nonevent.  I would definitely approach the way I continued his education once I got on a little differently now - I've had another 15 years to learn since then - but there was no bucking, rearing, snorting, taking off, or even anxiety.  Me getting on was just the next step in a process that he was prepared for.

It is my hope that I'll have the same experience with Donut.  That by the time I sit in the saddle, she will feel so comfortable with me and I will feel so comfortable with her that riding is simply a continuation of what we've been doing.  But that feeling doesn't happen overnight, or in a week, or in a month.  In my case, it takes YEARS.  

I don't mean to say that everyone who gets a new horse should spend two years before they get on, but I do wonder how many issues with horses could be avoided if we simply took a little more time with them.  If instead of forcing them to conform to our goals of riding or competing or selling, we took whatever time was needed to help that horse understand all the things it needs to know to live in a human-dominated world.  Then that horse would have a much better chance at a good quality of life no matter where it ended up.

Of if we have a horse and we start seeing little things, like anxiety about daily routines that didn't used to be there, or an off step here and there, or performance issues, we stop our forward momentum and take a step back.  We review the training basics with the horse to make sure all the knowledge is there.  We check in with a vet and/or farrier to see if there are physical issues that need to be addressed.  We take a look at our feeding program to see if adjustments need to be made.  We evaluate the horse's environment to see if any improvements are possible.  And then we take the time it takes to resolve the issues without subjecting the horse to our schedule.