Letting Go

July 23, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

Since we went to our first Buck clinic, I've been working hard to change the way I ride in any number of ways. The biggest is to do with my legs. Before Buck, I thought I used my legs, but really, I didn't. I hadn't been that great at using my legs before Steen, but he was so sensitive to any leg pressure I ended up riding him in this ridiculous posture, my legs held straight out to the side most of the time to avoid brushing him and causing a leap/surge/meltdown. What I've learned since then is how to support a horse with my legs. This has done wonders for me and Steen. I figured out all of Steen's anxiety essentially came from never knowing when someone was going to pull on his mouth. When I'm communicating with him with my legs, that takes the guesswork out of it for him. He always knows what I'm going to ask him to do next. But I still have been struggling with the legs/hand...

And the Heat Hits

Robin

July 21, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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It's been a hot week, with heat index readings into the range where they recommend you be careful with your horses. The nights haven't been cooling off, which means they don't have a chance to recover from the brutal days. We've been taking it easy.

Saturday

It was Duke Day, and all our horses were due for a trim. We got out to the barn early and took Steen and Bear on a trail ride. We hadn't ridden all week, and we spent a few minutes warming up on the strip. Since I've been using Steen as a lesson horse, I'm noticing he is often rather dull to my subtler cues when I get on. I've been spending the first five minutes or so of every ride recalibrating him a bit. Typically, Steen is quite good at moving off my leg and giving to light pressure, but it is amazing to see how quickly he will lose that when he's ridden by someone who hasn't learned to be consistent with releasing ...

July is Kind (So Far)

Robin

July 15, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Usually July in Iowa is not all that great. It tends to be hot, humid, and buggy. Not my favorite combo. This July has been much better than usual. We've had a lot of mild days. We've been getting out on the horses a lot. And as far as the blogging in concerned, that's part of the problem. We're riding so much it's hard to keep up with it, hard to find the time to write about every ride. So that means I haven't been blogging at all, which is not at all ideal. I think this is my biggest dry spell since I started this blog in 2008. Whoops. But things are going really well. I'm just going to mention some highlights. Zoey is finally coming to us in the pasture (as opposed to moving away from us, or just tolerating us approaching her). We've also been taking the groundwork to a new level with her, and it's helping her both to be quieter about strange things in general, but ...

June Recap

Robin

June 30, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Well, so June happened. So far this summer, we've been riding a lot. In May my total was over 28 hours. I've never ridden that much in a month before. At least, not since I've been keeping track. And honestly probably not since before I was keeping track, either. June has been not quite as much riding, but it's been busy in other ways. All of a sudden I'm an author, and being an author takes a surprising amount of time. I suddenly need to tweet and blog and promote my book. And while so far I've had a lot of positive feedback...

A Snaffle and a Rope

Robin

June 4, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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One of my long-term horsemanship goals is to get handy with a rope. This is partly because I think it would be neat to work with cattle in the future, but also because using a rope adds a whole extra level of sophistication to your riding. When I watch riders who not only have perfect control and communication with their horse, but are doing everything with one hand because they have a rope in the other, I am awed. Of course, I also see hacks leaning on their horse's mouth and causing a lot of pain and suffering to both the horse and the cow. I don't want to be one of those people. Which means I need to get competent with the rope before I ever try to use it. The problem is, I am not a natural with ropes. It takes me like a year every time I have to learn a new knot, and in spite of my best efforts I create kinks and snags in my mecates and lead ropes all the time. I'm gettin...

Doing What It Takes

Robin

June 2, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We stopped at the barn on the way to Chicago today. It was still soggy, still overgrown. So we rode inside. But we had the place to ourselves. That makes a big difference. I rode Laredo. I started off with some groundwork with the flag. Brian and I have both been trying very hard lately to draw a more obvious line between the "good deal" and the "make it happen" aspects of training with Laredo. I had this in mind from the very beginning. We started with basic circle work. I'd point, offering him the chance to follow my feel. If he didn't go, I did a big, over-exaggerated cocking of my arm, preparing to bring the flag in to whack his shoulder. If he didn't go, I followed through with a firm whack. (For the record, the pole of the flag is flexible, and the fabric is soft. I don't think you could hurt a horse with it if you tried...) I didn't give him any other ask between the goo...

A Quiet End to a Busy Month

Robin

May 31, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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It was quite the May. Between getting Zoey and a lot of pretty sub-par weather, the last few weeks have had their ups and downs. Today we arrived at the barn thinking we'd have a nice ride on Steen and Bear. The ground was still soggy and a lot of the places we usually ride were overgrown, but we didn't want to ride inside. Also, the bales were low and you can tell all the extreme weather is having an impact on the horses. The herd is just a bit more stressed and worried than usual. So we tacked up and just poked around the fields for a while. Steen was quiet. Bear was a little distracted. We only ended up doing one loop around the near field. Then we got off and let them graze for a while.

Steen was really a big fan of this plan. He colle...

Close Quarters

Robin

May 28, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We arrived at the barn today to find a truck and trailer parked in the center of the indoor arena, a lesson taking place around it, and the ground too soggy for riding outdoors. Not ideal conditions, to say the least...

But there was nothing to do but make the best of it. We brought Zoey and Laredo in. They were both filthy. I took my time grooming Zoey. She did pretty well in spite of all the extra commotion. She was a bit twitchy, and also obviously in heat, but I got her saddled and bridled with only minimal difficulty.

In the arena, she was distracted. I've never seen her so taken over by external impulses. She had a serious magnet for the barn door - something I've never experienced with her before, and she was heavy on her forehand and unbalanced like she'd been during our test ride.

I started the ride with copious amounts of bending. We did shor...

Spurs on Steen

Robin

May 27, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We had more storms today, so were stuck inside again. We brought Bear and Steen in, thinking we'd have a nice, relaxing ride. But these storms have been cool, and the horses get pretty tense in this kind of weather. Both of them were a tad ansty while we were getting them ready. I have been meaning to see how Steen responds to my spurs for a while now, but when we watched Richard Caldwell's video the other day, he had a whole section on spurs, and how in his opinion they are the most overlooked and misunderstood tool in horsemanship. He emphasized that a spur (just like a bit) is not worn to intimidate or harm the horse, but to facilitate communication.

I have been feeling lately like Steen and I are a little stuck. We have so many gre...

The Kid Turns Four

Robin

May 26, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Yesterday as we rode in off the trail with the sun shining, I was envisioning a wondrous three day weekend of double ride days. Instead we woke up this morning to thunder and heavy rain, not to mention unseasonably cool temps. We waited. The rain didn't stop. We checked the radar. One storm rolled out just as another came in. We've learned our lesson before about riding during storms. While it's technically feasible, the huge metal roof of our indoor arena makes it unbelievably loud in there even during a medium rain. It's really not a relaxing environment. So we waited some more, and around 3:00 the rain let up enough to make going to the barn seem worth it. We found the herd in a line against the windblock. I wish we'd have taken a photo. It was hilarious. Sometimes new boarders comment on the windblock and its overall ugliness and seem to wish it would be removed, but a...