Unexpected

I love those days, when you get to the barn with no expectations. Maybe you have a tentative plan, an idea for training. When you drive up to the barn feeling meh, and then you leave with a huge smile on your face.

Today was one of those days. Lately, I've been teaching Avalon how to stay calm enough to warm up and carry herself properly on a circle. I'm about to switch focus soon, because circles aren't good for young horse joints. However, for now I am cuing her into a working walk by clucking consistently with her inside hind leg. At first this made her want to trot, but today she was really getting it! She was exhibiting a good, forward working walk - stepping under herself and lowering her head. I even introduced the concept a little at the trot.

On top of this, another boarder was out with his gelding, a four year old Rocky Mountain Horse. Ava was distracted, but came back to me when I asked her to focus. It was nice to see that even for all of Avalon's problem areas, she has come a long way in a few months. It's so easy for me to miss all of her little improvements!

I'm so thankful for my little filly.

Girl's Night!

More of a girl's afternoon I guess. 

What do you do when you only have half an hour to spend at the barn with your filly?

Braids!

I know that there are proper ways to braid a horse's mane. There are supposed to be an odd number of braids . . . or maybe an even number? Either way, I didn't pay any attention to the rules. I believe you are also supposed to alter the size/number of braids in order to accentuate the horse's neck. Again, I didn't put any effort into the rules of braiding. I just wanted to have some fun fooling around with my mare's (glorious!) mane. I love how thick and long Ava's mane is, especially for a three year old. Since I bought her, the ends have sun-bleached from black to a bright coppery color. I certainly do not love it any less! 

Braiding Avalon's mane did serve a few practical training purposes. First, it gave me an excuse to spend time with my horse just hanging out. I believe it is really important to be around horses without riding them, or expecting them to work. Gambler and I spent two years on the ground before I started riding him. Our training benefited from that relationship. I have already ridden Ava a couple times, but I want to take time over this winter season to build that bond with her. When things get dicey, I want to have a sense of trust between us to fall back on (not literally I hope). Second, braiding requires Avalon to stand quietly. When I bought her, this was one of the things that I knew we would have to work on. She has improved over the last few months, but still needs a lot of practice. I purchased a tie ring a few months ago that has been helpful. I'll be posting about it in the future. 

The forelock braid ended up sideways. I blame the impatient youngster for moving her head around so much.

I decided to leave the braids in for a night, mostly out of curiosity. Avalon was a little spooked by them at first. When I let her back out into the pasture, she cantered around shaking her head to get them off. Eventually, she realized they weren't going anywhere. I was glad to see her calm down so quickly. In a minute or two, she went from trying to buck the braids off to yawning over and over as she released tension. She really is a level-headed baby horse.

Spooky Month

In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned that Avalon is not nearly as spooky as Gamby was. I may have spoken too soon. Now that October's windy, leave-blown weather has arrived, Avalon is displaying some spooky behavior. There is some construction next door as well, which just gives her another excuse to get emotional. 

Of course, she isn't crazy. Avalon is displaying healthy, normal baby horse behavior. She is young, and while she has benefited from consistent handling her whole life, she hasn't had very much asked of her. She received basic training (saddling, bridling, ground manners) before I bought her, but she hasn't been ridden. For the most part, she hasn't been expected to control her emotions. Horses tend to become spooky in windy weather because they can't always smell or hear potential predators. Experienced horses know they can trust their human, but many green horses have to learn that trust. 

Thanks to Gambler, I am familiar and comfortable with spooky Arabians. Many of Avalon's reactions are the same: rearing, bolting, and blowing off my directions. For the most part, I just ignore the bad behavior and redirect the energy into something I want her to do. 

During my warm ups, I have been asking Avalon to improve the quality of her walk. The first way I've been doing this is by counting her strides to encourage her to hold a steady rhythm. The second way is by introducing her to different frames at the walk. By clucking as she swings her inside hind forward, I encourage her to step underneath herself and bend while lengthening her stride. After that, I squeeze or gently shake the lead in time with that hind leg to simulate a half-halt, which encourages her to hold back some of that energy and shorten the stride. All of this should help prepare her for work under saddle in the spring.

I Captured a Moment

To truly appreciate this photo, we will have to travel back in time to the first month that I owned Avalon. We were still sorting through our groundwork and learning about each other. One day I wandered out into the pasture to find Avalon laying down. To my surprise she didn't get up as I approach. She continued to graze (while laying down mind you) as if I wasn't there. On impulse, I leaned on her back a little. When she ignored me, I sat on her back (sideways in case she stood up). Avalon kept grazing like nothing was happening. Certainly made my day! The pictures are horrible quality, but I'm glad to have that moment captured forever.

Remind anyone of another horse?

Experimenting (originally posted 8/26/18)

My tentative plan for Avalon this year was to set a solid foundation. When I bought her, she had been handled since a foal; bridled, saddled, and introduced to some basic groundwork. However, she was completely unfamiliar with natural horsemanship and had not actually been ridden. I planned to introduce her to my methods of groundwork and put a couple low-key rides on her. Then next spring/summer I wanted to start her in earnest, teaching her to properly carry herself and a rider at all three gaits.

So far I have followed the plan. Avalon is learning the seven games. She understands the rider's cues to walk on, stop, turn, and yield her hindquarters. Whether or not she follows that direction. . .typical dominant baby behavior. She stands, takes a few steps, stops. Once she laid down while I was in the saddle. I jumped off (would have preferred to stay on but didn't realize what she was doing at first) smacked her butt until she got up, and got back on. Just a baby testing her boundaries. She hasn't tried it again. 

I have shifted my attention back to groundwork and communication. Riding is for another day when I have a solid seat and my horse has solid knees. I'll probably put a couple more very chill rides at the walk during the fall and winter, but nothing past walk, stop, turn, back up. 

In the meanwhile, I am focusing on ground manners and emotional maturity. Avalon is nowhere near as spooky as Gamby was. She does seem to be getting herd bound. When she realizes her friends aren't around and she is in an unfamiliar situation she goes back to blowing me off and rearing. Definitely something to work on. I've also been experimenting with clicker training, but that is another post for another day.

Dreams and Endeavors (originally posted 8/14/18)

I refer to Gambler as my dream come true. For years I told myself that I would never have a horse. I watched friends owning and riding horses, showing, jumping; always having what I wanted and never believed I could have. Gambler changed that. He opened up possibilities. I could ride, jump, train, show just like I had wanted to. When Gambler died, those possibilities disappeared again. 

Grief brings on many negative thinking patterns. I used to repeat over and over to myself "we never got to . . ." I remembered all of the things that I thought I might like to do someday. And then someday was gone. 

Avalon isn't Gambler. She isn't my magical dream come true. Gambler happened to me; I was passive. Avalon is the endeavor that I sought out. Together we are going to start checking off the list of things that I think I might like to do someday. Someday is today.

Obstacles (originally posted 8/1018)

I brought Avalon home mid-May. Since I debated creating this blog for months, I will have to provide a summary of our experiences between then and now. One way to measure progress is by obstacles overcome. 

The first obstacle I ran into with Avalon was her response to pressure. Pressure equals running forward. Cue to stop? Run. Cue to turn in? Run. Cue to back up? Run! The second obstacle  was very similar. Every time I asked her to change direction my sassy lil filly threw a fit. The tantrum ranged from a head toss (see photo above) to rearing or even charging me with her shoulder. Both of these obstacles resolved themselves with time and consistency - an irreplaceable staple in every baby horse's diet. 

As soon as she got to the barn, I started teaching Avalon the ABC's of natural horsemanship. Parelli calls it the seven games, Clinton calls it the fundamentals, other trainers call them by other names. Basically, I asked Avalon to 1) think instead of react, 2) yield to direct and indirect pressure, and 3) allow me to direct her feet. She is not a fan of pressure. In fact, she would return the pressure (opposition reflex) until we were leaning on each other with our whole weight. If one of us moved, the other would topple over like in a children's comic. 

Many of the issues that initially concerned me faded after the first month. Avalon's general demeanor shifted from a high energy horse that ran through pressure to the kind of horse that would typically be referred to as "lazy" or "dull." To be clear, she is not either of those things! She is a left-brain introvert. Parelli-speak which means she is a horse that prefers to think rather than react. An intelligent, dominant horse that prefers to lead, rather than be led. A challenge, but I love a challenge. 

This leads into our next obstacle:

I have put a few rides on Avalon in the last month. She doesn't mind a human on her back, but she does not appreciate being told what to do. All of the correct buttons are there. She will back up, turn, and yield the hindquarters. Our obstacle at the moment is "go." 

Like all other young horses, Avalon didn't understand leg and seat pressure. I added a voice cue and a tap with the stick to teach her to move forward. She understands what it means now, but will only move a few feet before stopping. Part of her resistance is due to her personality, but part is also due to a lack of leadership on my part. I lack the confidence in the saddle that I have on the ground. It's an obstacle, but soon we will overcome it and move on to the next. 

Introductions (originally posted 8/2/18)

Avalon (Dalia at the time), before I brought her home - winter fuzz and all!

I spent months scouring craigslist ads looking for the right horse; wondering if I should even get a new horse. I found a green Arabian gelding, but he was older than I thought. I visited a (gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous) quarter horse filly, but she was too well bred for me. Everything about her screamed that she needed to compete and I don't even ride western. By April, I began to think I might not find the horse I needed.

Only a week or so later, I came back into contact with an old friend who told me she had a  arabian/warmblood mix for sale. The timing was coincidental. I had to check it out. Enter Avalon (then Dalia), a three year old filly. I knew both of her parents when I worked at Galloping Hills back in 2013. Sometimes I can see bits of their conformation or personality in her.  I actually met young Dalia when she was only a few months old. At the time I had no idea that we would come back into each other's lives like this. 

When I tried the other horses it was awkward.Partially because it's hard to try out an unbroken or extremely green horse. If you can't ride them, you have to find other ways to judge their level of willingness. Another reason is that I wasn't familiar with most of the owners, so they didn't know I use natural horsemanship methods. Avalon's owner has known me for some time. The first thing she did was let us both loose in a round pen. We clicked. Avalon didn't have any experience with Parelli or natural horsemanship which resulted in some miscommunication. Despite that, I had more fun with her than I'd had since Gamby died. I knew instinctively that she was the horse I was looking for. 

Grey Arabian Question Mark (originally posted 6/20/18)

Anyone who entered the equestrian world through riding lessons, especially at a young age, holds fond memories of a lesson horse or two. For me, it was Mars. I don't know much about him. Just that he was a grey Arabian gelding and he made me feel safe. I've loved horses since I was eight, but I was terrified of them for many years. Something about Mars felt safe--like we were on the same team. 

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Tycer (Or Ticer maybe? I never saw it in writing) was another childhood favorite. He wasn't a lesson horse; he belonged to a family friend. I wasn't taking lessons at the time, just cruising around the fields bareback. Tycer was probably the horse that taught me how to ride. 
And there was Tango who belonged to the same family as Tycer. 
And Sam (who may not have been Arabian but was certainly grey).
And Gambler, my own half-Arabian dream come true. 

What do all of those horses have in common? They were all grey Arabian geldings. Most of them are dead now. Mars died in a tragic trail riding accident, Tycer died of old age, Gambler colicked. For some time I have been searching for a new horse. I knew what I wanted. Something young, unstarted or very green, and full of attitude. 

I might have a thing for grey Arabians.
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