The Game

March 21, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On a sunny, windy day, I trudged out to the pasture in muck boots, rope halter in hand. Robin graciously hung out in the airlock and watched as I picked my way to Sham in the far corner of the pasture. He was nibbling at the first real grass blades coming up.

As I hoped, he picked his head up and walked right to me. I remained relaxed and let him sniff my hands and jacket. After a few moments I stepped toward his withers just a bit to scratch his neck. Success. Then I reached for the withers and he stepped away. I stood up and stared.

And thus the game began. I did my best to slowly stay within 10 feet of him and stared right at him until he turned to face me. Then I would release the pressure. If his eyes drifted somewhere else, I applied more pressure. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t totally bothered by it either. What bothered him was my persistence. I never let him rest. If he moved, I followed and stared. He only received release when he would come up to me.

He figured the rules out rather quickly (he is a very smart horse) and obliged me by coming up and getting a few pets. In the beginning he didn’t hang out too long. He’d investigate for as long as he felt necessary, then he’d wander away. I simply stared and followed. A few times he got agitated enough to run around somewhat vigorously and even do some rolling. I kept the pressure on. He kept coming to me. Eventually we got in some nice rounds of big pets and lots of praise, but no treats. Not yet.

After one such round I offered him the rope halter. I had unclipped the lead rope and draped it around my shoulder. I thought this might be easier for me to work with and less of a threat to Sham. It was. He let me slide the halter over his nose with no trouble and even lowered his head a bit so I could tie it on.

And then he walked off again. No big deal, I thought, I had scored the first point. So I followed and stared as he wandered around and eventually settled at the round bale. This caused me my first problem. The bales are big, difficult to move around, and there are always other horses there. And Sham was not uncomfortable enough with my staring to not eat. He didn’t like it, but he kept eating. So my first thought was to get him off the bales, and I think I started doing this a bit too aggressively. I could move him, but he would usually present his backside to me. I didn’t feel comfortable with that. It was supposed to be me making him uncomfortable, not the other way around.

Robin could see how this was playing out from her chilly place at the fence. She suggested that when he is on the bale I approach his head/neck in a very non-threatening, head down manner. This worked much better. I could get him to move, but he was not physically threatened by me.

So the game continued. Partially on the bale, and partially off the bale. Eventually I got him to stay in the open area, and I felt much better about this. I initially thought the open space would be the hardest, but I came to take comfort when we were isolated. I could be much more effective, and he was much more uncomfortable. He wandered over to a salt lick, perhaps thinking it was as safe as a bale.

Not quite. I could casually walk up to him, pet his neck, pet his withers. When he pulled away, I stared. When he came back, I smiled and relaxed and looked down. When he went for the salt lick again Robin suggested I try to clip the rope on. I took hold of the halter, gently pulled his head up, and clipped it on. As I led him to the gate I could tell he was exhausted. Not physically exhausted, but mentally exhausted.

As a reward I worked to keep things easy. We stood in the airlock and gave him pets and some grain. He was a little pully and fidgety, but I would disengage his hindquarters and then he would stand facing me. After just a few minutes of this I put him back in the pasture. He was still a tad fidgety, but I got him to stand and he was very quiet as I took off his halter.

At that point relief must have swelled through all 15.3 hands of him. He took off in a gallop, charged past one round bale, and then leaped over another pile of hay that was at least 2.5 feet tall and equally as round. He cleared it by more than a foot and continued to blow off some steam in the pasture by running some very tight circles. It was fun to watch.

Since I was able to halter him, and then later on clip the lead rope to the halter, I consider the score to be Brian 2, Sham 0. Of course, the game took a full 70 minutes. I hope the next one is shorter.

Vacation Homework

March 21, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Sham has been a little tough lately. He is certain that he is the boss, and as a result, I can’t catch him. So in my frustration (which nicely coincided with some vacation time in sunny Arizona) I went back to some of the training books we have around the house to see what I could learn. Downunder Horsemanship is my favorite. It is clearly written and full of great information. Plus the two horses Anderson uses as test cases are way worse than Sham, so that always makes me feel good.

This time the book didn’t have exactly what I wanted. Re-familiarizing myself with being the boss and how to start the groundwork training really helped; I love the apply continual pressure until you get the desired response and then reward the horse with release concept. But he didn’t talk about catching a horse, or how to do this without already having a rope halter and lead line connecting the two of you.

After a little Google searching I did find some good and not so good articles on catching a horse in the pasture. And all the good ones talked about applying pressure and rewarding with the release of said pressure. The pressure is simply standing in a tall and deliberate manner and staring your horse in the eyes. If he turns away, you slowly follow in a roundabout way (being sure not to actually chase him). If he takes a step toward you, release the pressure by relaxing and taking your eyes off him. Eventually he will learn that it is more comfortable to go to you than it is to stay away. As Anderson says, “make it easy for your horse to choose correctly.”

Some people call this the mirror game, staring down, or even walking off your horse. I’m simply going to call it ‘the game.’ I’m sure there are other games I will end up playing with Sham, but until he willingly comes to me for haltering, this will be our game. And it could take awhile, but I’m excited to try it out. And I’m curious to see how the time off affected Sham. I’m thinking the R and R will have a positive result, but we’ll see.

A Shock to the System

March 9, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Thursday’s spook near the gate turned out to be worse than we thought. What actually happened is the charge in the electric wire arced through the puddle, zapping Sham through all four feet. I was fine in my rubber boots. I was lucky in that all the work I did with Sham after that was positive and pain free.

Nevertheless, we discovered on Saturday morning that he would go nowhere near the gate because it had a large puddle on either side of it. So with my parents hoping to spend some time with him, it was rather disappointing to have to leave him in the pasture. I was able to get close to him and feed him grain, but there was no way he was letting me put his halter on. So we went and got Steen instead.

On Sunday we unplugged the electric fence and received some help from the barn owner. As a barn owner with decades of experience she was very helpful in catching Sham. She does have a different training philosophy than Robin and I, though, and we fear some of the post-catch antics caused a little backsliding in Sham.

Today was dreary and foggy, and Robin and I went out to the barn with the intention of making Sham want to hang out with us. I spent much of today reading about horses and watching some rather interesting training videos. In the back of my mind I hoped Sham would be happy to see me and come right over. But that was not to be.

Thankfully we had a strategy to work off of. I walked around Sham with a bucket of grain and made him very, very interested in me. I started by walking up to him, feeding him a little bit, and then walking away. We had some really good following this way. He let me get in lots of pets, too.

Then we stopped and got a very, very muddy Steen. He was also a well behaved Steen, which was nice. So the two of us double groomed for quite some time, but there was no getting all the mud off of him. We put him back out to wait for his dinner.

Then I went for round two with Sham. Initially he wasn’t as interested in playing the follow game. But I started walking up to him and then past him. He didn’t like this and started following almost immediately. I kept this up, and after a couple of feeds he had really hooked on to me. His body language was relaxed, he let me pet him all over, and he had almost no visible fear in him. I ended the day with one final treat and then walked away from him without looking back. He was still curious, certainly a good sign.

Sham is definitely going to challenge me, but in the end I think we will have a stronger relationship because of it. And in some ways it is a blessing to be forced to do this kind of work early on and not after some larger disaster.

Back to Riding

March 5, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Exactly one week after Sham got his teeth done I decided to see how he liked the bit, and if things went well I hoped for a nice ride, too.

He continues to be great coming out of the pasture. He is already in the habit of pooping and then coming up to me. He came right out into the airlock and let me halter him up. At that point he let the mud, water, and fence spook him. To be fair, he did receive a shock from the fence earlier today. Robin and our friend Gay were hanging out and feeding him. Robin gently warned him a few times about the fence, but he bumped it with his nose anyways. That sent him running, and it left him keyed up for a good part of the afternoon.

So off Sham went to the other side of the airlock. Spraying me with a decent amount of mud, too. I did get him to come back to me with no problem. I do feel lucky that he likes me.

Inside we got to our usual groundwork routine. He was nervous, but I am getting better at working hard and being effective, and he responds right to it. And since I was planning on asking more of him today, I followed Robin’s advice to do intermittent ground work throughout the tacking up process. So we groomed, put on his new saddle (which looks quite good, by the way), then worked on more groundwork, then picked hooves, put in the bit (he was not thrilled about this, but he acquiesced), and then did more groundwork.

At about this time something in the arena made a zapping noise and Sham had his third big bolt of the day. Sham’s pretty big, you can hardly see me in the picture below, so his bolts are also big.

This time I was a little bit more prepared, and I hung on to the lead rope. He sheepishly came back to me for lots of pets. I did my best to remain calm, but I was a wee bit nervous. So after more groundwork, Robin offered to hop on.

And he was pretty good. He thought he hated the bit at first, but then he realized that it actually wasn’t that uncomfortable. So we are thinking his mouth is close to healed. She just walked around on him for a minute or two and then I climbed up. He was the best he has been so far. We walked lots of figure eights and then did a little bit if easy trotting. He has such a big trot, and he’s not used to the indoor arena, so it was rough at times. But we still both remained calm. And I was happy that I didn’t need to test out my new helmet, which is rather comfy.

This weekend my parents are coming up for some riding. And with the warm weather forecast, we should be able to get outside in the near future. I think both Sham and myself will be more relaxed on the strip.

After the Dentist

March 2, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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While I was up in Wisconsin for the Birkebeiner, Robin graciously took care of Sham for the vet visit (I really have an amazing wife). He was mostly good for the appointment, but still I worried that he would hold onto a few bad memories when I went out to see him next. Afterall, I’ve only had him for about two and a half weeks.

But when I trudged out to the pasture today he looked up and came right over to me. I had carrots in my pocket and a bucket of grain mixed with alfalfa. He was more than happy to venture into the airlock for snacks. And after much chomping and petting, I haltered him up with very little difficulty (he only pulled away once).

Today he led like a dream. It was almost as if the dental visit never happened. But after he was inside for about 60 seconds the worries came flooding back. So I concentrated on our leading exercises. We did lots of easy, short, sharp turns and I gave him many pets and words of encouragement. Within a few minutes we had some nice and relaxed head carriage going. We slowly worked into a few of our other groundwork drills, and I was back to feeling surprised at how well he behaved given his past visit indoors.

We finished up our evening with some grooming and tacking. He is getting more comfortable with the tie stall and isn’t creeping forward nearly as much. And he picks his feet up like he’s standing on hot coals. It is amazingly fast. Sometimes it is so fast I’m not ready for it.

After the untacking and final grooming I left him in the pasture as the sun dropped in the west. He turned down the come-ons of one of the pasture mares and hung out with Robin and I instead. Sham is turning into quite the companion. I can’t wait to see where we will go this spring.

Continual Progress

February 23, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today was the fourth day in a row that I have worked with Sham. In those four days I’ve seen some excellent behavior, some running away, some discomfort, some attempts to please, and now some definite, happy submission to me, the boss.

Again Sham came to me in the pasture. He was much friendlier than usual, letting my feed him grain and rub all over his neck and withers. Usually he comes up happily, but he keeps a little distance and only puts his nose out to me. Today I got the rope around his neck and only a few moments later had his halter on. No fuss. We didn’t even need the airlock.

In the arena he was great. His leading is improving every day. His yielding was amazing, too. I was able to turn into him for multiple circles and he was totally fine with it. He also showed me some new, low head carriage that I didn’t really expect to get from him.

Since things were going so well I decided to add a few new things. We worked on really abrupt stops at varying points during our leading-he was awesome at this. We spent a few more minutes on backing-he was just so so at this. And we had a few interesting attempts at circle driving-he tried really hard at this. Robin says it was hilarious. I couldn’t tell because he was always a little bit behind me, but apparently he was very timidly following me along and keeping close tabs on the stick that moved around his back and neck due to the fact that he kept lagging (it’s supposed to stay at his withers). Perhaps we should film the next attempt.

After lots of demanding exercises (Sham was visibly tired, it certainly wasn’t taxing physically, but we think his brain was working really hard), we brought him back to the pasture. He is getting so happy to hang out with us that he didn’t even roll and trot off to the bale or the water tub. Instead he just hung out by the gate for more nose rubs and ear scratches.

Praise

February 21, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Sham is a big, strong guy who is used to a firm hand. And over the past week I have been trying to be that firm hand. The problem is, I don’t send very strong signals (I’m used to working with Steen and Cal, who really don’t respond to a firm hand). Thankfully Sham is willing and tries to respond to me. But he does get frustrated when things aren’t clear. Then I get frustrated when he starts pushing his weight around.

This is what happened shortly after we got into the arena this morning (we did have an easier time getting him haltered today, so that was good). He was a little nervous and started to get pushy. I worked on making him move. The problem was that I asked for many things over and over again, and sometimes in different ways. And I never really stopped to praise him when he did it right. I had certainly been praising him the last few days (I am excited he’s my horse, and he is a very good horse, too), but I haven’t been doing it enough, and more importantly, I haven’t always been doing it at the right time.

Robin could easily see what was happening and volunteered to show me a few things. This was extremely helpful. I learned many of Clinton Anderson’s groundwork practices over a year ago. But I learned them on Steen. And Steen is a groundwork pro (all because of Robin). But I never saw what these exercises looked like when the horse was just learning them. So today I got to watch Robin move Sham around and get very excited at his little progresses. Before today I didn’t know that I should get quite so excited, and I also didn’t know exactly what to look for. I was used to seeing Steen take huge, enthusiastic steps when I’d send him in a certain direction. Today I got used to praising Sham for starting to move in the right direction and having that head down “I’m really trying” look on his face.

And he responded very well to the praise. He loves the excited “good job.” He also loves the big scratches and the big pats. Really big scratches and pats. Some horses don’t like the pats, they are a little aggressive. But remember, Sham is a big, strong guy. He is far more masculine than I am. He likes those signs of affection that make sound. The ones where you firmly say “I love you man” but are also softly hitting them at the same time.

So today was another big step forward. Every day I’m learning new things about both Sham and my own horse handling skills. It is very fun.

Here I am getting some very good yielding to the right out of Sham. We’ve improved a lot at this.

And here I am explaining some moves to Sham, but he’s more interested in Robin and the camera. We’ve obviously got a ways to go here.

Forward and Backward

February 20, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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On Saturday we woke up nice and early, and after our leisurely routine of coffee and breakfast, we headed off to the barn. It was super quiet when we arrived. Only Cathi, the owner, was there. We chatted for a few minutes and then Robin and I walked out to get our respective horses. The plan today was for me to give Sham a break from riding (it has become so abundantly clear that the bit/headstall is really irritating his long teeth, so no more riding until those are floated) and do some ground work while Robin got in a nice bareback ride.

When I entered the pasture Sham came right to me from the round bale. I gave him a little treat and went to put the rope around his neck so I could halter him. He slowly walked off, though. That was a first. I got some more grain out of my pocket and pursued him slowly. Again I could get quite close, but I had no luck with the rope or halter. And now he started running off with more purpose.

We got to see Sham, head of the herd, in full action. He is a rather smart fellow. Of course he is big and athletic and has no trouble staying away from me. But he figured that wasn’t quite enough, so he started moving all the other members of the herd. It was particularly interesting to watch him use Leonard, another bay gelding, and Star, a red mare, as blockers. He continually placed them directly between himself and me. If I wasn’t so mad at him at the time I would have been more impressed.

Robin was watching all this from the airlock with a very happy and passive Steen. She kept giving pointers, but there really was nothing I could do. I tapped out and let Robin have a try. She had a similar experience as mine. Though in time, her experience allowed her to get closer to him. But only closer, she didn’t get him. Finally she came up with the bright idea to lure him into the airlock with some grain. This worked like a charm. And once he was away from the herd, he was back to his happy, relaxed, and semi-submissive self.

So, not a great start to the barn day. Once inside the arena I quickly made a mental check of all the ground work tools I had (yielding, moving hindquarters, stopping, backing, all the while being calm and assertive) and got to work on showing him that I was the head of the herd, and I wasn’t going to make it painful either.

And he was pretty good. I could make him move and have him calmly stand. Occasionally he would stop paying attention, but a few quick disengages and the periodic pop on the butt brought him right back to me. During the course of our work he became more flexible and supple. He was responding particularly well to me turning into him. He still has a tendency to get his head out in front of me a bit, but he is yielding much more willingly, and I can turn more sharply and demand more. I took this as a good sign, and so we stopped for the day. We had a brief, non-threatening session of grooming, and I gave him some more food and put him back outside. No pain. At least I hope not.

At about that time Robin was finishing her very nice ride on Steen and said I could ride if I wanted. I threw a saddle on and climbed aboard. He was a dream. He is neck-reining so well right now, and I would use a little bit of leg if I wanted a tighter turn. We did a lot of walk-trot circles and figure eights. There was one semi-spook when some snow slid off the roof, but we both made it through. Those moments are good for both of us. Steen learns that nothing will happen to him, and I gain a little confidence in keeping my seat when a horse moves in a short, quick burst that I’m not really ready for.

So in the end Steen saved the barn trip for us. He was perfect, and we both had great rides. After we put him out to pasture we brought a few more treats out to Sham, who again came right up to us and showed no intention of running away (of course, he could clearly see I didn’t have a rope). I’m really hopeful that after he gets his teeth done he’ll resort back to being the willing fellow I’ve seen glimpses of.

Friday at the Barn

February 20, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Shortly after Robin got Steen, we started spending the occasional Friday evening at the barn. It was quite relaxing. Not only was it the end of the week, but most people didn’t go to the barn at that time, so we would have the place to ourselves.

We hadn’t done it in awhile, but Robin had the day off (from the gallery, at least, she was busy with the BWS) and I needed to rest my arm. So to the barn we went. Becca was just finishing up the chores, so again we had an empty barn. Today’s goals were similar to the last ride’s, just get Sham comfortable with the routine, work on a little leading, then do an easy walk-trot ride in the arena.

When I went out to get him he was firmly entrenched at the round bale. Apparently late afternoon is meal time for him. I worried that I’d have to wade into all the horses and get him. But when I looked at him and said his name he walked right to me. Perfect. I had just finished an apple and gave him part of the core, and he was happy to have it.

In the arena he was better with leading. Robin gave me a few tricks to practice on that would make me more effective at moving him. He’s used to moving others. I still can’t believe that after just a few days he made himself head of the herd. How common is it to have a gelding be the head of the herd?

Anyways, we kept up the leading exercises, and it calmed him right down (although he really wasn’t all that un-calm in the beginning). In the tie stall he was great. He picked his feet up so fast I almost couldn’t keep up.

But he did show a little defiance in taking the bit. We tried to do it in the arena, after a little more groundwork, but he could move around too easily. He really needs his teeth done; it is pretty apparent that the headstall rubs in a way that does not feel nice. In the tie stall, though, he was quieter and I had no problems patiently working the bit into his mouth.

Under saddle he was much better than last time. There was almost no anxiety. The worst thing he’d do is try to hang out by the exit. I worked on keeping a loose rein, steering with my sit bones, using my legs, staying relaxed, not leaning forward (this usually is not a problem for me at all, but something about the way Sham moves, and maybe his low withers, just pitches me forward), and getting him to relax into the trot. He has a big trot.

I couldn’t have worked on all those things without Robin. She kindly suggested each one from her cold, hard seat on the mounting block while she waited her turn to ride. But after a long day of working, she was a little tired. So we put Sham back out into the gently falling snow and headed home to warm clothes and nice bottle of wine. Tomorrow we’ll give Steen a nice workout.

Mr. Friendly

February 17, 2010

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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When I visited Sham over the weekend he eagerly came to me both days. I took this as a very good sign. I have not gone to see him this week as I’ve been busy preparing for a ski race, but Robin was out there today. When she went to get Steen, who lives in an adjacent pasture, Sham left the round bale and walked right to her.

After her great ride on Steen, she put him back out to pasture and again Sham went to the fence to say hello. Knowing he was a hard working ranch horse when I got him, I was a little bit concerned that it would take him awhile to get develop a friendly relationship. But that hasn’t been the case so far.

Here he is, happily hanging out at the gate on this nice, sunny morning.