I spent the latter half of the week trying to fight back what started as a little cold, and quickly turned into some kind of nasty virus ( no, it’s wasn’t piggy flu but I did have to wonder!) . I could barely get out of bed Thursday and Friday. I spent both days downing decongestant, ibuprofen and sleeping. I had to get better by Saturday. It was supposed to be a beautiful weekend and I had riding to do. When a virus is coursing through your system, there isn’t much one can do but wait it out. When I tried to go halter up Rebel on Saturday and was winded simply by brushing him I decided to rethink my plan. The last thing I wanted was to extend my misery.. back to the house I went. By Saturday night I was feeling as though I was improving and decided to go ahead with my plans to meet a friend at Herron Park on Sunday for a ride, much to Tom's concern given my state! I loaded up Rebel , tissues, cough drops and water and headed out for the afternoon for a ride in the hills. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a lick of wind. FINALLY.
I wasn’t sure how crowded things would be at the park since there was a mini event that was going on but I lucked out. As I rolled in with my trailer, the last mini-eventer was rolling out. We had the whole place to ourselves practically. Herron Park is located just 5 miles west of town and easily accessible. It used to be the main location for the 3 day Event competitions for the area until another location was created a few years back. It’s a beautiful setting that continues to be used for practice and training by the local combined training group. It has 2 dressage arenas, a x-country course and then access to miles and miles of trails just behind it. It’s open to public use, including mountain bikers, hikers and dog walkers.
Brenda was already there and had Zera unloaded, her feisty Arabian mare. Rebel was more interested in the lush green grass so I let him graze while I saddled up. One nice thing about older geldings, they are completely driven by their stomach. I never have to worry about him wandering off too far as long as there is green grass to be had.
About a half hour later, we headed for the hills. We stayed at a slow pace since this was the first time I had Rebel out on hills at all. We headed off on one trail and it took us to a lookout… up we went, slowly climbing. We had to stop several times to let hikers and dogs or mountain bikers go by. Several times we had to stop for a break as Rebel was huffing and puffing. Once we made it to the top of the trail we were on, we stopped and I hopped off. Rebel was dripping wet with sweat. This was really the first warm day above 50 degrees we have had. Rebel is still shedding the last of his winter coat. Before I locked up the truck, the thermometer reading was 79 degrees. That was an hour ago and I was certain the temp had climbed since then. At the top , the breeze picked up and Rebel grazed a bit. Suddenly, swarms of mosquitoes were buzzing and drawing blood. Stupid me, obviously NOT in summer thinking yet, I didn’t even think to spray him or myself down with anything. Standing there , getting eaten alive was not an option so we decided to move on.
I was a little concerned with how sweaty Rebel was so I opted to stay on my own feet and walk him a ways. I could tell he probably had had enough so we turned to head back. After a little bit, he dried off so I hopped back on. We made our way onto one of the many two track dirt logging road that winds it’s way through the area to head back to the parking lot. The rest of the ride was flat or downhill. It would be an easy walk back to the trailer, but was a little longer following the road that winds around the mountain.
We got back to the trailer about an hour and a half later. Rebel was tired pup. He had tripped a few times. We had ridden for about 2.5 hours with over half of it being a steady uphill climb. Gheeezz. Guess I forgot that Rebel does have a few years on him. I guess it wouldn’t be fair to expect the old man to act like an 8 year old! It was a great ride just the same but I realized my expectations of Rebel getting fit for a 25 mile ride by the 2nd week in June may have been too high. We did about 9 miles we figured since most of the loop we rode is the loop commonly done on the poker rides, which are usually 9-10 miles.
The parking lot has access to running water so I filled a bucket and offered Rebel water but he wasn’t interested. I sponged him off really well and let him graze for a while longer while Brenda and I chit chatted about the Hooves and Company rides for the year. Atleast he could get some moisture from the grass. After about 15 minutes of grazing, Rebel stopped and just stood there, looking a bit listless. I got a little concerned and decided to load up and get him home. He had passed manure once on the trail but had’t peed. We loaded up and headed home. I turned him out in his paddock, where he promptly rolled and went to cleaning up his hay. I freshened up the water tank and he came over to take several good drinks. I think he was probably very tired and very thirsty, but otherwise okay.
When I finally got in the house, Tom asked how my ride went. My response?? Great and not so great. Great because I was out riding and it was a beautiful day , not so great because Rebel’s tripping issue plagued us. I mentioned earlier that Rebel had been tripping on the way back. No, the footing wasn’t bad, it was a fairly smooth dirt track.
Tripping has been an issue that has plagued us in the last few years with Rebel and has caused me a fair amount of trouble , not to mention anxiety. He has literally fallen down completely and landed on me in the past. For a while, we thought the tripping was caused when he got too long in the toe. While this does certainly exacerbate the tripping, this isn’t the issue most of the time. We keep him trimmed regularly. Then we thought it was something I was doing with my seat, getting in his way or something, but I have explored this with my dressage instructor…. He still trips even when my seat is correct. In fact he trips at liberty, on the lunge, etc. He trips with a saddle and without a saddle. It’s odd and it is .. well.. scary.
When we were riding, Brenda noticed that one time, Rebel stumbled when he actually was stepping so his right foot crossed in front of his left foot and tangling his front feet. Tangling his front feet? That seemed odd. One other time during the ride, he tripped because he stubbed his toe
Well, I have one theory; Rebel gets tense, it’s his nature. Always has been. I have heard of rope walking with horses which is a result of tension. Many horses do it, most go unnoticed to their rider. When Rebel gets tense, he hollows his back and his shoulders drop and instead of landing heel first , he starts landing toe first. I know this causes the tripping to get worse. Everytime we head out and turn to come home, he trips a lot more. It seems to be worse with his front right. But the part that has me totally confused is that sometimes, he trips when he doesn’t appear tense at all. He could be walking, relaxed, with his head low and he will still trip. So, my theory isn’t complete, obviously.
So what is it?? It is physical, mental, is it something anatomical? How do I fix it?? Honestly, I am not sure. I have tried various things, various suppling exercises. I have had the chiropractor out as well. Nothing seems to fix it permanently. The quest continues.
Showing posts with label Rebel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebel. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Ride season Reflections:
The other day I picked up the entry form I had printed out for Owyee Fandango ride that is coming up next weekend in Idaho. It was all filled out and ready to be mailed off. A few months back, I had planned to attend this ride with two fit horses, Rebel and JB, doing a limited distance on each day. Seeing that filled out entry form was a reminder of how things really took a different turn for my endurance plans this year. Just a few days from now, I would have begun the tedious process of packing up the truck and traile and overall driving poor Tom nuts with my pre trip anxiety. He would have been trying to slip me Valium while I raced around making lists. I guess the silver lining is that I won’t have to deal with all that anxiety, nervous stomach, etc but I know I am missing a great opportunity to not only have a lot of fun, learn a lot of stuff but to meet a lot of endurance people. *deep sigh* Guess there’s always next year.
For now, I am focusing on being ready for the Blacktail Mountain Classic right here in Kalispell that is being held the weekend of June 20. My plan is to ride Rebel for the limited Distance. JB is still on endurance hatius for the season. For Rebel to be ready for June 20th, that might be a challenge . We'll have to see how our conditioning goes. Due to a huge project I have been involved with at work, I haven’t been getting near enough time in the saddle. Working from 7:00 am to 7:00 p.m makes endurance conditioning difficult at best. In the last couple of weeks, that has lessened thankfully but I have run into other obstacles. Our less than cooperative weather seems to keep me from getting much done. It’s been very cold and worse than anything, we have been getting winds that are just hellacious. Not just strong wind, no , I am talking about gale force winds, along with driving rain , hail and thunder storms. I tried last week to go out a couple of times, only to be chased back home by fast approaching black clouds , angry with lightning, headed right for us. Rebel and I turned tail and raced for hom, barely making it back in time before the ground shook with thunder and we were pelted with hail stones. Rebel couldn’t get into his shed fast enough. Don’t get me wrong, I am not adverse to riding in some foul weather or wind but it seems like our weather has been extra severe this spring. I draw the line when wind gusts reach 50 mph…with steady winds 35-40 mph and riding in a thunderstorm is just never a good idea if you can avoid it. Ofcourse, like clockwork, as soon as we got home, unsaddled, and got in the house to dry off, within a half hour, the clouds would part, the sun would shine and the wind would lessen. By then , it was after 8:00 p.m. Too late to head back out to do anything. So, it's been frustrating.
This weekend we are supposed to receive some 70-80 degree weather. You can bet I will be hitting the trail. Rebel has seemed to really enjoy getting back to having a job. He does 6 miles like nothing, which isn't saying a lot but for a 17 year old horse that has been semi retired for a few years , I would say that is pretty good.
For now, I am focusing on being ready for the Blacktail Mountain Classic right here in Kalispell that is being held the weekend of June 20. My plan is to ride Rebel for the limited Distance. JB is still on endurance hatius for the season. For Rebel to be ready for June 20th, that might be a challenge . We'll have to see how our conditioning goes. Due to a huge project I have been involved with at work, I haven’t been getting near enough time in the saddle. Working from 7:00 am to 7:00 p.m makes endurance conditioning difficult at best. In the last couple of weeks, that has lessened thankfully but I have run into other obstacles. Our less than cooperative weather seems to keep me from getting much done. It’s been very cold and worse than anything, we have been getting winds that are just hellacious. Not just strong wind, no , I am talking about gale force winds, along with driving rain , hail and thunder storms. I tried last week to go out a couple of times, only to be chased back home by fast approaching black clouds , angry with lightning, headed right for us. Rebel and I turned tail and raced for hom, barely making it back in time before the ground shook with thunder and we were pelted with hail stones. Rebel couldn’t get into his shed fast enough. Don’t get me wrong, I am not adverse to riding in some foul weather or wind but it seems like our weather has been extra severe this spring. I draw the line when wind gusts reach 50 mph…with steady winds 35-40 mph and riding in a thunderstorm is just never a good idea if you can avoid it. Ofcourse, like clockwork, as soon as we got home, unsaddled, and got in the house to dry off, within a half hour, the clouds would part, the sun would shine and the wind would lessen. By then , it was after 8:00 p.m. Too late to head back out to do anything. So, it's been frustrating.
This weekend we are supposed to receive some 70-80 degree weather. You can bet I will be hitting the trail. Rebel has seemed to really enjoy getting back to having a job. He does 6 miles like nothing, which isn't saying a lot but for a 17 year old horse that has been semi retired for a few years , I would say that is pretty good.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Finally out on the Trail
This weekend, Tom and I finally got out on the trail for some trail time and an opportunity to really put the easy boots to the test for JB. For the last several weeks, I have been slowly limbering Rebel and JB up in the arena, both physically and mentally. We have done a lot of ground work, a lot of work on laterals, bending, flexing, garrocha, ground poles, etc.
To start the weekend, I did a short 4 .5 mile ride on Saturday from home with Rebel, which went really well, but on Sunday we headed out to the State land for some real mileage with Rebel and JB . I lost the dime toss on who got to ride JB , so I rode Rebel which was fine. Rebel and I have done many miles over the years on some less than safe rugged mountain trails. He is an excellent trail horse, and it was nice to be on my old standby ! We hit several hills along the way and then got off the trail into some thick timber. This was where I was really glad to be riding Rebel. JB hasn’t completely sorted out the idea of slowing down in tricky footing, like blown down timber, to pick his way through. He kind of stumbles and trips his way, trying to rush. Tom let him trip and stumble until eventually, JB started to figure it out. Eventually a horse will get tired of whacking his cannon bone and tripping in most cases. Pretty soon, JB was paying a little better attention and was actually looking at where he was placing his feet instead of just rushing through everything. Tom is much more patient with this process than me. I tend to try to help the horse too much, which in this case, doesn’t solving anything. The horse has to be allowed the opportunity to figure this kind of thing out on their own if they are to ever be good on the trail. After about a half hour of riding through this tricky footing, along with snow, we found our way back onto a 2 track trail. I think the horse were just as relieved as we were to be done bush whacking. Good experience for the horses but not always fun for the rider. The rest of the ride went pretty well for both horses. JB actually walked out ahead of Rebel for most of the ride, which is a notable improvement. I was rather impressed with JB’s energy level through out the ride. In many cases, we stopped to let the horses rest for a minute and JB would paw, anxious to keep going. He was looking out ahead on the trail, setting the healthy pace. JB’s is showing a lot of improvement in his willingness to move out now that his feet are feeling better, however, we have been trying to sort out a newly developed overreaching issue over the last few weeks.
The few rides I have actually taken JB on since he has started wearing boots have been limited to the busy gravel roads around our place. Every time we tried to trot, he would clip the buckle on the hind with his front hoof and it would come undone. The issue seemed to be worse on the right side. I even tried Cotter pins and those ended up getting broken every time. As a result, our rides had to be cut short because I spent more time stopping to rebuckle and readjust the hind boots than anything else. Wearing the boots was now creating it’s own unique set of challenges for us. The overreaching issue damaged the back of the front boots to the point that I now have to get new gaiters for the fronts. The over reaching was making JB alter his gait to avoid the contact and that was the last thing I wanted him to do. About a week ago, I had hind shoes with pads put on JB in an effort to resolve this new dilemna. My farrier that I use for special issues thought this should do the trick.. I had nothing to lose at this point.
Sundays ride was really the first time we had taken JB out on a real trail with the boots on the front and the hinds in shoes and pads. It seems he is still over reaching and tearing up the back of his front boots, although it is less. If we can’t sort this out, I may have to put JB in shoes and pads on the front as well and then he’ll have to wear bell boots to protect the bulbs of his heels.
We arrived back at the trailer after a little over 2.0 hrs of steady riding, half of it being up and down hills or over difficult footing. Tom stated that JB felt, energy wise, that he could easily do another couple hours. That was music to my ears. JB looked like he felt pretty good as well. He had barely worked up a sweat. Over reaching asside, JB was still looking fresh. Rebel, on the other hand was whipped. He was rather lathered up and was obviously tired. Ofcourse, he is older and completely out of shape. His heart rate came down within about 10 minutes. I expect conditioning with him will be a different process.
With all of the hurdles we have endured with JB over the winter and to now be presented with yet another challenge , I have had to rethink some things. I have to take a step back, or sideways rather, with JB for the season. We have made some great improvement in getting JB’s feet feeling better, no doubt, but with the emergence of yet another issue ( over reaching) I have to wonder if development is causing some of this. Although JB is 7 years old this year, it seems as though JB has just now, this year, reached a level of physical maturity that now defines him as a full grown horse as opposed to a colt. JB looks mature this year whereas last year he still looked coltish. I was comparing some photos and it was only last summer that JB noticeably increased his bone. As the breeder at Quien Sabe warned me, these horses are slow to mature. I may have underestimated just how slow.
As much as I want to do endurance on JB, I have to think about his well being. If he is just coming together, a time to refocus might be the best thing in the world for him right now and will set the foundation for a stronger endurance prospect later on. My plan is to work mostly on various dressage excercises, do a little jumping, let Tom work on horseback archery with him, and of course continue to take a trail ride or two a week as a break from the arena , with no actual goal of training for a race this season.
Depending on what JB shows me over the next several weeks , maybe we can do a limited distance later in the season co but I will let his progress make that determination. There’s always next year and with any luck, he will come out better, stonger and much more ready to handle the strains of conditioning for endurance next spring.
So that begs the question? What will I do for endurance prospect? JB will still take up a lot of my time but for the rest of it, I will focus my energy on getting Rebel ready for the June Blacktail Mountain Classic ride. From there, we'll see what happens. I mentioned in an earlier post about finally following through on a promise I made to myself and Rebel many years ago. I told you I planned to make good on that promise. Looks like 2009 might just be Rebels year to shine.
To start the weekend, I did a short 4 .5 mile ride on Saturday from home with Rebel, which went really well, but on Sunday we headed out to the State land for some real mileage with Rebel and JB . I lost the dime toss on who got to ride JB , so I rode Rebel which was fine. Rebel and I have done many miles over the years on some less than safe rugged mountain trails. He is an excellent trail horse, and it was nice to be on my old standby ! We hit several hills along the way and then got off the trail into some thick timber. This was where I was really glad to be riding Rebel. JB hasn’t completely sorted out the idea of slowing down in tricky footing, like blown down timber, to pick his way through. He kind of stumbles and trips his way, trying to rush. Tom let him trip and stumble until eventually, JB started to figure it out. Eventually a horse will get tired of whacking his cannon bone and tripping in most cases. Pretty soon, JB was paying a little better attention and was actually looking at where he was placing his feet instead of just rushing through everything. Tom is much more patient with this process than me. I tend to try to help the horse too much, which in this case, doesn’t solving anything. The horse has to be allowed the opportunity to figure this kind of thing out on their own if they are to ever be good on the trail. After about a half hour of riding through this tricky footing, along with snow, we found our way back onto a 2 track trail. I think the horse were just as relieved as we were to be done bush whacking. Good experience for the horses but not always fun for the rider. The rest of the ride went pretty well for both horses. JB actually walked out ahead of Rebel for most of the ride, which is a notable improvement. I was rather impressed with JB’s energy level through out the ride. In many cases, we stopped to let the horses rest for a minute and JB would paw, anxious to keep going. He was looking out ahead on the trail, setting the healthy pace. JB’s is showing a lot of improvement in his willingness to move out now that his feet are feeling better, however, we have been trying to sort out a newly developed overreaching issue over the last few weeks.
The few rides I have actually taken JB on since he has started wearing boots have been limited to the busy gravel roads around our place. Every time we tried to trot, he would clip the buckle on the hind with his front hoof and it would come undone. The issue seemed to be worse on the right side. I even tried Cotter pins and those ended up getting broken every time. As a result, our rides had to be cut short because I spent more time stopping to rebuckle and readjust the hind boots than anything else. Wearing the boots was now creating it’s own unique set of challenges for us. The overreaching issue damaged the back of the front boots to the point that I now have to get new gaiters for the fronts. The over reaching was making JB alter his gait to avoid the contact and that was the last thing I wanted him to do. About a week ago, I had hind shoes with pads put on JB in an effort to resolve this new dilemna. My farrier that I use for special issues thought this should do the trick.. I had nothing to lose at this point.
Sundays ride was really the first time we had taken JB out on a real trail with the boots on the front and the hinds in shoes and pads. It seems he is still over reaching and tearing up the back of his front boots, although it is less. If we can’t sort this out, I may have to put JB in shoes and pads on the front as well and then he’ll have to wear bell boots to protect the bulbs of his heels.
We arrived back at the trailer after a little over 2.0 hrs of steady riding, half of it being up and down hills or over difficult footing. Tom stated that JB felt, energy wise, that he could easily do another couple hours. That was music to my ears. JB looked like he felt pretty good as well. He had barely worked up a sweat. Over reaching asside, JB was still looking fresh. Rebel, on the other hand was whipped. He was rather lathered up and was obviously tired. Ofcourse, he is older and completely out of shape. His heart rate came down within about 10 minutes. I expect conditioning with him will be a different process.
With all of the hurdles we have endured with JB over the winter and to now be presented with yet another challenge , I have had to rethink some things. I have to take a step back, or sideways rather, with JB for the season. We have made some great improvement in getting JB’s feet feeling better, no doubt, but with the emergence of yet another issue ( over reaching) I have to wonder if development is causing some of this. Although JB is 7 years old this year, it seems as though JB has just now, this year, reached a level of physical maturity that now defines him as a full grown horse as opposed to a colt. JB looks mature this year whereas last year he still looked coltish. I was comparing some photos and it was only last summer that JB noticeably increased his bone. As the breeder at Quien Sabe warned me, these horses are slow to mature. I may have underestimated just how slow.
As much as I want to do endurance on JB, I have to think about his well being. If he is just coming together, a time to refocus might be the best thing in the world for him right now and will set the foundation for a stronger endurance prospect later on. My plan is to work mostly on various dressage excercises, do a little jumping, let Tom work on horseback archery with him, and of course continue to take a trail ride or two a week as a break from the arena , with no actual goal of training for a race this season.
Depending on what JB shows me over the next several weeks , maybe we can do a limited distance later in the season co but I will let his progress make that determination. There’s always next year and with any luck, he will come out better, stonger and much more ready to handle the strains of conditioning for endurance next spring.
So that begs the question? What will I do for endurance prospect? JB will still take up a lot of my time but for the rest of it, I will focus my energy on getting Rebel ready for the June Blacktail Mountain Classic ride. From there, we'll see what happens. I mentioned in an earlier post about finally following through on a promise I made to myself and Rebel many years ago. I told you I planned to make good on that promise. Looks like 2009 might just be Rebels year to shine.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Garrocha
I got an email the other day from my dressage instructor . She is trying to coordinate a few lessons for her students in this area (she travels here from another area once a month). I really need to get with her as it’s been a while since I have had a lesson but in addition to the scheduling, she was asking about my goals for the year and what I have been focusing on. It was perfect timing because for the last week or more, I have stayed close to home with JB, working primarily in our outdoor arena or in our pasture. In the course of doing some initial refresher work in the arena a few weeks back (in the snow) JB ever so kindly reminded me that we have much work to do on a few key things that he didn’t think he had quite down yet. I had to agree with him, he did need a little more work on some things, as did I. If I ever have any hope of doing flying lead changes with JB, I guess I better nip this in the bud and continue to work on getting the lateral work more concrete. If I can get conditioning in alongside of the classroom time, so much the better but we may have to forego the May ride. We’ll see how he progresses. To me it’s more important at this point that JB gets better about suppleness and engagement of the hindquarters = a better ride on the trail later. That I can live with, a horse traveling around on his forehand? Not so much….
Since I find that arena work can become painfully boring I wanted to spice it up a bit. You might have noticed on the sidebar that I have Garrocha listed under JB’s 2009 conditioning schedule. I have decided begin to implement the use of the Garrocha with JB. I was introduced to this last year at Alice Trindle’s clinic when she did a quick demo for us, using Tom’s horse Cassidy, of her newly found skills in the Doma Vaquero traditions and the Garrocha. Being partial to Spanish horses myself, and the traditions that go along with them, I found the Garrocha quite fascinating. In Spain, the Doma Vaquero uses the Garrocha, a 13 ft wooden pole to work the Spanish bulls, but there is a lot more than meets the eye. Leg-yields, half passes, counter canter, rollbacks, stops, flying leads changes , canter pirouette, etc are all elements that are required to master the working the bulls. Hmm, sounds like all the same stuff we are all trying to accomplish with our horses doesn’t it? There are several YouTube videos out there that have some great footage of the “Garrachista” performing in competition if your curious. You will see that they do this with no reins and the horse is cued with only seat, leg and the communication that is required between horse and rider is a wonderful display of horsemanship.
While I don’t think I would ever get to the level of those performing, I found that the Garrocha work offered some key things that would be really helpful in the training with JB and any other horse for that matter. One of the first things that jump out at me is Rhythm, as you work around the garrocha, you can see that the rider and the horse are performing a dance , leg yields become effortless in time; Bending; the pole gives horse and rider something visual to bend around; Timing, you have to be in sync with your horse with your cues as you work around the pole and your horse has to be paying attention to your cues as you turn around and under the pole, the rider even comes into better balance and better posture and lastly but maybe most important is Purpose. The pole suddenly tied the bending exercises to an actual job, something I find really helps keep JB’s mind with me. All of these things are right in line with getting a horse lighter and more responsive.It also seems to force the rider to properly apply seat and leg aids instead of relying on your reins. As a secondary gain, the cues much more clear. It seems to keep the lesson much more interesting than just using barrels or standing objects to turn around. Besides when first learning, it offers a great entertainment source to any bystanders as I fumbled and dropped the pole.
I could see the first thing I had to do before I could teach JB was to teach my self and become somewhat comfortable with managing a 13 foot pole, and at the same time directing my horse and trying not to drop the pole or hit myself or the horse with it.. I am not the most coordinated individual so Tom had a few good laughs as I fumbled around with it. He was kind enough to offer Cassidy to me to start on, since good ol Cass already knew the ropes. I could focus less on my horse and more on me. He was very patient. Tom was nice enough to even snap some photos of our fumbling…
Since I find that arena work can become painfully boring I wanted to spice it up a bit. You might have noticed on the sidebar that I have Garrocha listed under JB’s 2009 conditioning schedule. I have decided begin to implement the use of the Garrocha with JB. I was introduced to this last year at Alice Trindle’s clinic when she did a quick demo for us, using Tom’s horse Cassidy, of her newly found skills in the Doma Vaquero traditions and the Garrocha. Being partial to Spanish horses myself, and the traditions that go along with them, I found the Garrocha quite fascinating. In Spain, the Doma Vaquero uses the Garrocha, a 13 ft wooden pole to work the Spanish bulls, but there is a lot more than meets the eye. Leg-yields, half passes, counter canter, rollbacks, stops, flying leads changes , canter pirouette, etc are all elements that are required to master the working the bulls. Hmm, sounds like all the same stuff we are all trying to accomplish with our horses doesn’t it? There are several YouTube videos out there that have some great footage of the “Garrachista” performing in competition if your curious. You will see that they do this with no reins and the horse is cued with only seat, leg and the communication that is required between horse and rider is a wonderful display of horsemanship.
While I don’t think I would ever get to the level of those performing, I found that the Garrocha work offered some key things that would be really helpful in the training with JB and any other horse for that matter. One of the first things that jump out at me is Rhythm, as you work around the garrocha, you can see that the rider and the horse are performing a dance , leg yields become effortless in time; Bending; the pole gives horse and rider something visual to bend around; Timing, you have to be in sync with your horse with your cues as you work around the pole and your horse has to be paying attention to your cues as you turn around and under the pole, the rider even comes into better balance and better posture and lastly but maybe most important is Purpose. The pole suddenly tied the bending exercises to an actual job, something I find really helps keep JB’s mind with me. All of these things are right in line with getting a horse lighter and more responsive.It also seems to force the rider to properly apply seat and leg aids instead of relying on your reins. As a secondary gain, the cues much more clear. It seems to keep the lesson much more interesting than just using barrels or standing objects to turn around. Besides when first learning, it offers a great entertainment source to any bystanders as I fumbled and dropped the pole.
I could see the first thing I had to do before I could teach JB was to teach my self and become somewhat comfortable with managing a 13 foot pole, and at the same time directing my horse and trying not to drop the pole or hit myself or the horse with it.. I am not the most coordinated individual so Tom had a few good laughs as I fumbled around with it. He was kind enough to offer Cassidy to me to start on, since good ol Cass already knew the ropes. I could focus less on my horse and more on me. He was very patient. Tom was nice enough to even snap some photos of our fumbling…
Then I moved on to Rebel. I felt like I was starting to get it….maybe.. There were glimmers of moments where I found myself and my horse in the correct place and balance together. Here we were kind of falling out of sync but when we had it right...What a thrill to feel lightness, willingness and harmony. For glimmers of moments it all came together just right.. Guess we will keep practicing!
This photo was our first attempt at turning back under the pole and change direction.
So, now that I sort of have a sense of what I am doing... JB, may I have this dance?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Rebel Update and other News
Just a quick update. Yesterday afternoon things were still kind of on the wire with Rebel. He wasn't improving as I had hoped but he wasn't getting worse either. He was still eating relatively well but lethargic and not really perking up. He passed two small manure piles yesterday , both of which were dry. I decided, against my vets advice (which I didn't understand her reasoning behind anyways) to go ahead and whip up a batch of sloppy beet pulp because he clearly wasn't drinking enough.
By 7:00 last night, more manure and another round of beet pulp, this time with electrolytes. By 10:00 last night he has two really good sized piles of manure , not near as dry and I saw him take a big sip of water.
FINALLY!
This morning, more beet pulp with electrolytes to encourage a thirst response.
I think by this evening he can go back to the other pasture and I won't have to monitor so closely.
The other news is related to the Easy Care Gloves. I did an earlier post on this that you can find here. I had ordered the Easy Care Fit Kit and was patiently (maybe not so!) for the shipment to arrive that apparently was delayed on the slow boat from China. Well I received a call on Wednesday that the fit kits ship out today. WOOHOO!!
Now, hopefully they will work with JB's feet and with any liuck the size JB needs won't be on back order for 6 more weeks!
By 7:00 last night, more manure and another round of beet pulp, this time with electrolytes. By 10:00 last night he has two really good sized piles of manure , not near as dry and I saw him take a big sip of water.
FINALLY!
This morning, more beet pulp with electrolytes to encourage a thirst response.
I think by this evening he can go back to the other pasture and I won't have to monitor so closely.
The other news is related to the Easy Care Gloves. I did an earlier post on this that you can find here. I had ordered the Easy Care Fit Kit and was patiently (maybe not so!) for the shipment to arrive that apparently was delayed on the slow boat from China. Well I received a call on Wednesday that the fit kits ship out today. WOOHOO!!
Now, hopefully they will work with JB's feet and with any liuck the size JB needs won't be on back order for 6 more weeks!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Colic Strikes
It all started with a simple trip to the vet on Tuesday to have Rebels sheath cleaned. He had developed some swelling and with the temperature being on the cold side, I didn’t want him to suffer through me trying to clean him up without the use of a warm room. Little did I know that 24 hours later, when I arrived home from work, we would be rushing back to the vet with him .
Over the last 14 years of owning Rebe , I think he was sick once. Rebel is my tough guy horse and doesn't typically have any health issues. I knew when he came trotting up to the fence with a look of worry on his face something was off. When I threw feed at him and the other horses and he stood away from the pile pawing with his nose on the ground, I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. Rebel never turns away food. Seeing the "glazed over in pain" look in his eyes confirmed my suspicions.
When it comes to colic, Tom calls me the pro. I don't know if that's a good thing because unfortunately the only way to get good at recognizing colic typically only happens when you have had past bad experience.
I had a TB mare that I dealt with colic on a routine basis, atleast 3 times a year or more. I even put the mare through surgery, only to find out when the vet opened her up, that at some point in time, some previous owner had already put this mare through atleast one other colic surgery. Regardless, she came out of the surgery relatively well and I nursed her back to health , only to lose her to colic in the long run anyways. For four years I dealt with the ups and downs of a horse prone to colic. You never rest when you have a horse like that and you are always worried. Over the years, I got pretty good at picking up on the slightest cue that a colicky horse may give off. Granted , each horse can display their symptoms different but there is a look that horses get in their eye that is telling.
With Rebel, off his feed , pawing at the ground and stretching is enough for me…Having been gone all day , I didn’t know how long he may have been having trouble. Tom was home earlier in the day and noticed he was laying down but so were the other horses. It wasn’t really a red flag for him. At the same time , Rebel doesn’t usually lay down much. he is the one that stands guard typically when the other lay down.
It had been several years that I have had to deal with a colicky horse but just the same, my mind kicked into gear the well known routine. I grabbed the stethoscope and starting listening for gut sounds. Pretty quiet all the way around. This isn’t good. Rebel continuedd to stretch and paw at the ground. I grabbed his halter and started walking him. In the meantime, Tom put a call into the vet emergency response line and within about a half hour, we were get ting the truck and trailer hooked up to head to the vet.
Thanks to Toms excellent ability to back a trailer into a tight spot, I had about a 3 foot patch of ground that wasn't a sheet of ice, that I could safely load Rebel into the trailer from. The next challenge was the roads. The snow was coming down pretty good and the roads were slicker than snail snot. To top it off, our trailer lights decided to not work consistently on the trip there, (note to self, new plug in for the trailer) so it looked like we had our flashers on, which was fine. Kinda looked like a horse ambulance winding our way up the hills! We made it there safely, only barely missing a herd of deer who decided to have a rendezvous in the middle of the icey roads on a blind corner.. STUPID DEER! For a moment, I thought that we were going to be loading up a wounded deer to bring to the vet as well but we lucked out and they were all able to scramble out of the way in just a moments time.
To my delight, when we arrived, Rebel had passed two good sized piles of manure, a bit on the dry side but manure nonetheless. That meant there was some movement in his gut. A small sigh of relief. A trailer ride will almost always help a colicky horse, unless you have a twisted gut on your hands.
We unloaded him and the initial rectal exam revealed no indication of a twist and much more dry manure in his colon. Gut sounds were quiet in the upper quadrants but improved in the lower from when I had listened before. We gave him a dose of banamine for some pain relief from the obvious spasms he was having and tubed him with warm water in his gut to get some added motility. His temp and pulse were within normal range.. second sign of relief . He also didn't seem to be dehydrated and his CRT was good. Then, we waited... and waited...
We waited to see if the tubing was going to make any changes and while we waited; we discussed what happened. As with any colic, the question of why? What changed? What caused this. As most of you know, the person that could answer that question in regards to colic would be a rich person.
I was pretty certain that this episode of colic was not his diet. Could he have gotten some moldy hay? Doubtful and he shares hay with 3 other horses. They all play musical hay piles and no one else had any symptoms..I felt pretty positive that I could rule out feed as a culprit. He does not receive grain.
Since his manure was relatively dry, that indicated lack of water. The vet mentioned that sometimes when a horse has been given Ace as a tranquilizer, (from his sheath cleaning) they don’t always drink enough when they are coming out of it. That could have been it. Not enough water. Will I ever know for sure? probably not ; but when nothing else changed and I rule out everything that is left, it seemed like the lack of water consumption was the most likely explanation. I also double checked the tank heaters to make sure they were sending off a trickle charge, keeping the horses from drinking… the heaters were fine.
20 minutes after tubing him with about 1 gallon of water, I heard a belly rumble from across the room. AHA!! the water was starting to move things . Then Rebel let out a big groan. Vet said he noticed when he put the tube into his stomach, there was quite a bit of gas so it was likely that Rebel might feel some discomfort over the next several hours as the gas worked through his intestine. We checked vitals once more and all seemed normal. We decided we could probably take him home. He looked a lot brighter and it sounded like the gut was moving again.
I knew I might be in for a long night. When we got him home, we isolated him in a corral by himself so I could watch for manure and water intake. Every couple of hours I was up, keeping a watchful eye. At one point I became concerned because he was down again and was laying flat out. I could also tell had been rolling judging from the snow on the blanket I had on him. The vet said he would probably display some signs of ongoing discomfort because of the gas and spasms . I was glad he mentioned this because I almost called again but decided to watch for a bit first. Luckily, after about 10 minutes of being down, Rebel got up and started picking through the snow looking for leftover hay. I wouldn’t be able to feed him until morning but this was a good sign.
So far, he hasn't laid down again, hasn't rolled and hasn't stretched out or pawed at the ground. He ate a small helping of hay and at 9:00 this morning he passed a small pile of dry manure. Still no interest in water however. I called the vet and she did not want me to give him any soaked beet pulp, which I was surprised by. Most of the morning he has been munching on his hay but certainly doesn't have the gusto of his regular appetite. Nonetheless he is eating. His gut sounds appear to be active. All good signs that we are headed in the right direction.
So, today will be spent watching him and making sure he doesn't slip backwards. I may opt to give the beet pulp regardless if he doesn't drink soon. That will atleast keep some water in the gut. With my mare that I mentioned earlier, as soon as she was interested in eating after an episode of colic, the vet wanted her to have beet pulp.
Sometimes, with colic, it can seem like all systems are go and then right before your eyes, they can take a downward spiral in a heartbeat. Keep your fingers crossed for us!! And I will keep you posted on his progress.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Dashing through the Snow.....
Other than Christmas Day, our weekend was filled with many hours of being on ladders and scaffolding 20 feet in the air. Not my idea of fun since I am a major chicken when it comes to heights! Nevertheless,the work had to get done.
We are placing tongue and groove on our ceiling as part of the final repairs left remaining from our lightning strike last March . With school not back in session until the 5th , this was Tom’s one opportunity to get it completed before summer. Thanks to some very dedicated friends, we completed one side of the ceiling Saturday night at 8:30. It took 33.75 hours total and we were all exhausted. One more side to go.
While there was much work to do, I did manage to sneak out of the house for a few moments Saturday afternoon. The sun poked out and there was a break in the snow. I needed a horse fix. We have been getting plummeted with storm after storm, leaving no opportunity to ride.
While my good conscious told me to just go out for a short break to pet on a couple of horses , my bad conscious won out and I grabbed for a halter, caught up Rebel and climbed on bareback. My heart jumped with joy and I headed out along the pasture fence line for a trot around. As I rode along, Brego , Cass and Roman followed up behind like a parade wondering where we were going but not wanting to be left out.
Just my luck, I happened upon some fairly deep drifts out in the arena and couldn’t resist. Rebel willingly responded to my suggestion for a little more speed as we bounded through the drift, the snow sent flying, glistening in the sunlight and biting at my cheeks as it danced and sparkled all around me.
The other horses seemed to sense the new energy in the air and decided to make their own game of it as they ran around the pasture racing each other through the snow , jumping through the drifts. It almost seemed they were relieved for some excitement to arrive after being hunkered down with bad weather for the last several days.
There is nothing like bounding through a snow drift on a horse, and just for a moment I remembered what it felt like to be a child again, uninhibited exuberance to be riding bareback , invigorated by the cold air on my face and warmth of my horses neck against my hands, leaving me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
( unfortunately, no pics were taken since I snuck away leaving Tom to the work!)
We are placing tongue and groove on our ceiling as part of the final repairs left remaining from our lightning strike last March . With school not back in session until the 5th , this was Tom’s one opportunity to get it completed before summer. Thanks to some very dedicated friends, we completed one side of the ceiling Saturday night at 8:30. It took 33.75 hours total and we were all exhausted. One more side to go.
While there was much work to do, I did manage to sneak out of the house for a few moments Saturday afternoon. The sun poked out and there was a break in the snow. I needed a horse fix. We have been getting plummeted with storm after storm, leaving no opportunity to ride.
While my good conscious told me to just go out for a short break to pet on a couple of horses , my bad conscious won out and I grabbed for a halter, caught up Rebel and climbed on bareback. My heart jumped with joy and I headed out along the pasture fence line for a trot around. As I rode along, Brego , Cass and Roman followed up behind like a parade wondering where we were going but not wanting to be left out.
Just my luck, I happened upon some fairly deep drifts out in the arena and couldn’t resist. Rebel willingly responded to my suggestion for a little more speed as we bounded through the drift, the snow sent flying, glistening in the sunlight and biting at my cheeks as it danced and sparkled all around me.
The other horses seemed to sense the new energy in the air and decided to make their own game of it as they ran around the pasture racing each other through the snow , jumping through the drifts. It almost seemed they were relieved for some excitement to arrive after being hunkered down with bad weather for the last several days.
There is nothing like bounding through a snow drift on a horse, and just for a moment I remembered what it felt like to be a child again, uninhibited exuberance to be riding bareback , invigorated by the cold air on my face and warmth of my horses neck against my hands, leaving me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
( unfortunately, no pics were taken since I snuck away leaving Tom to the work!)
Monday, November 17, 2008
New Year, New Goals....
Settling into a season of less ride time, (forced due to darkness and weather), I shift focus a bit to thoughts about the upcoming ride season. I have been thinking about goals next season. Obviously I would like to stat next year off with completing a LD ride with JB early in the season .That’s a big one for me. It eluded me for the 2008 year due to JB’s bruised sole. I don’t intend to let it pass by for 2009.
Before I look ahead to far, I had to ponder where I have been. Ok 2008 was a rough year…not going to dwell on that.
Where did this desire to do endurance come from anyways? Why, more than anything has it motivated me ? When was the first time the thought of riding a horse for 50 or 100 miles over varied terrain begin to sound like fun????
It’s been hiding there in the back of my mind for a long time and it started with a special horse named Rebel. I can remember as clear as day the first time the idea of competing in endurance first entered my thoughts. It was during the first year I owned Rebel , after we sorted out some of his behavior issues he had. Rebel came to me as a rescue from an abuse situation. He had been mistreated and as a result , built in some pretty good defense mechanisms. I was told that all he knew how to do was rear or back up when a rider was on him. I had been warned that he was a renegade and I had better be careful.
At the time, I was about 17 years old and pretty much fearless. I hadn’t even heard of Natural horsemanship yet. But this was my first “horse of my own” that I had. It wasn’t a lesson horse, he wasn’t my sisters horse, he was mine. I had to make this horse right.
The first few rides out were a little rough. He had a couple of blow ups with me that included the aforementioned rearing and backing up. He bolted, he spooked, he tried to run away. He threw it all at me. Somehow, I managed to stay in the saddle during all of this , and maintained my composure (young and fearless) and just kept on about our ride.
Looking back on how I handled that, I never really got after Rebel for reacting like he was. At the time, knowing his past history of abuse, I was so fearful of doing anything he might perceive as me hurting him. I just went along with it and hoped for the best. I wanted him to realize that no matter what he did, I was still going to be right there with him. I didn’t really know what else to do. Just coming off of the last 8 years of riding Thoroughbreds retired from the track, over cross country courses, I was used to runaways.
Of course, when a horse rears like Trigger from the famed Roy Rogers show, I naturally threw the reins forward, clung to his neck and prayed to the heavens above we wouldn’t go over.
I just hoped that eventually he would realize I wasn’t going to try to hurt him and that he would eventually decide he didn’t need to do all those things. It must have worked.
After some time, I must have gained his trust on some level. He proved to be a decent riding horse. He was always a bit of a spooky, hot headed mount but over time it did lessen. THe rearing, bolting episodes lessened with each ride out and I got to see some great country atop his back as he swiftly carried us for miles and miles along the back roads of Stevensville, MT and into the Sapphire hills that shadowed the east side of the Bitterroot valley. On these rides, he astounded me with his ability for speed and it seemed I never could tire him. I rode with various people on various trail rides and ultimately would end up riding alone. No one could keep up with him. Rebel was my only riding horse for several years. I can’t tell you how many Montana sunsets I saw atop Rebels back.
… Thus the beginning of my quest to someday compete in endurance.
Since those early days, Rebel ended up having to be a bit of road warrior for me. While I floundered around through my twenties, Rebel made several moves with me from Stevensville, MT to Kalispell, MT to Helena, MT , back to Kalispell and a variety of moves around the Flathead valley at various boarding stables. It wasn’t until Tom and I married that Rebel was in any one place for any length of time. And yet, he was the one constant in a period of my life that seemed to be always changing.
In the last few years, Rebel has not been used very much. That has been eating on me. It’s easy to use his age and some of his quirks as an excuse to leave him behind as I drive off doing things with JB or any of the others at Acer Farm. It seems that there is always a youngster to work or some other project I have taken on. For a long time, I fooled myself into believing that Rebel was happier being ridden only once in a while and otherwise left to his own devices, grazing and loafing in the pasture but in my heart, I know better. Rebel has always loved getting out on the trail This past summer, I was so concerned about Rebel’s state of mind from not getting much use that Tom started him in Horseback archery, which he took too fairly quickly but if there is one thing Rebel loves to do, that is go…. and go fast.
All those years ago when it was just Rebel and I enjoying a Montana sunset, I promised him that someday we would make use of his speed and compete in an endurance ride together.
For the 2009 ride season, I intend to make good on that promise once and for all. Albeit, 14 years later and Rebel is approx 18 years old now. I might not consider it if he wasn’t in such good condition. I don’t think it’s too much to ask but it’s never too late to atleast try, right?
I realize he is older and maybe he won’t be quite as fast. Maybe I won’t find the fire he once had and I have to live with having missed making good on a promise, but my heart tells me that he has been patiently waiting all these years for me to finally give him a chance. After all, if it weren’t for Rebel, I likely would have never had the endurance bug.
Wouldn’t it be something if, after all this time, we finally get to accomplish what we intended to so many years ago?
Before I look ahead to far, I had to ponder where I have been. Ok 2008 was a rough year…not going to dwell on that.
Where did this desire to do endurance come from anyways? Why, more than anything has it motivated me ? When was the first time the thought of riding a horse for 50 or 100 miles over varied terrain begin to sound like fun????
It’s been hiding there in the back of my mind for a long time and it started with a special horse named Rebel. I can remember as clear as day the first time the idea of competing in endurance first entered my thoughts. It was during the first year I owned Rebel , after we sorted out some of his behavior issues he had. Rebel came to me as a rescue from an abuse situation. He had been mistreated and as a result , built in some pretty good defense mechanisms. I was told that all he knew how to do was rear or back up when a rider was on him. I had been warned that he was a renegade and I had better be careful.
At the time, I was about 17 years old and pretty much fearless. I hadn’t even heard of Natural horsemanship yet. But this was my first “horse of my own” that I had. It wasn’t a lesson horse, he wasn’t my sisters horse, he was mine. I had to make this horse right.
The first few rides out were a little rough. He had a couple of blow ups with me that included the aforementioned rearing and backing up. He bolted, he spooked, he tried to run away. He threw it all at me. Somehow, I managed to stay in the saddle during all of this , and maintained my composure (young and fearless) and just kept on about our ride.
Looking back on how I handled that, I never really got after Rebel for reacting like he was. At the time, knowing his past history of abuse, I was so fearful of doing anything he might perceive as me hurting him. I just went along with it and hoped for the best. I wanted him to realize that no matter what he did, I was still going to be right there with him. I didn’t really know what else to do. Just coming off of the last 8 years of riding Thoroughbreds retired from the track, over cross country courses, I was used to runaways.
Of course, when a horse rears like Trigger from the famed Roy Rogers show, I naturally threw the reins forward, clung to his neck and prayed to the heavens above we wouldn’t go over.
I just hoped that eventually he would realize I wasn’t going to try to hurt him and that he would eventually decide he didn’t need to do all those things. It must have worked.
After some time, I must have gained his trust on some level. He proved to be a decent riding horse. He was always a bit of a spooky, hot headed mount but over time it did lessen. THe rearing, bolting episodes lessened with each ride out and I got to see some great country atop his back as he swiftly carried us for miles and miles along the back roads of Stevensville, MT and into the Sapphire hills that shadowed the east side of the Bitterroot valley. On these rides, he astounded me with his ability for speed and it seemed I never could tire him. I rode with various people on various trail rides and ultimately would end up riding alone. No one could keep up with him. Rebel was my only riding horse for several years. I can’t tell you how many Montana sunsets I saw atop Rebels back.
… Thus the beginning of my quest to someday compete in endurance.
Since those early days, Rebel ended up having to be a bit of road warrior for me. While I floundered around through my twenties, Rebel made several moves with me from Stevensville, MT to Kalispell, MT to Helena, MT , back to Kalispell and a variety of moves around the Flathead valley at various boarding stables. It wasn’t until Tom and I married that Rebel was in any one place for any length of time. And yet, he was the one constant in a period of my life that seemed to be always changing.
In the last few years, Rebel has not been used very much. That has been eating on me. It’s easy to use his age and some of his quirks as an excuse to leave him behind as I drive off doing things with JB or any of the others at Acer Farm. It seems that there is always a youngster to work or some other project I have taken on. For a long time, I fooled myself into believing that Rebel was happier being ridden only once in a while and otherwise left to his own devices, grazing and loafing in the pasture but in my heart, I know better. Rebel has always loved getting out on the trail This past summer, I was so concerned about Rebel’s state of mind from not getting much use that Tom started him in Horseback archery, which he took too fairly quickly but if there is one thing Rebel loves to do, that is go…. and go fast.
All those years ago when it was just Rebel and I enjoying a Montana sunset, I promised him that someday we would make use of his speed and compete in an endurance ride together.
For the 2009 ride season, I intend to make good on that promise once and for all. Albeit, 14 years later and Rebel is approx 18 years old now. I might not consider it if he wasn’t in such good condition. I don’t think it’s too much to ask but it’s never too late to atleast try, right?
I realize he is older and maybe he won’t be quite as fast. Maybe I won’t find the fire he once had and I have to live with having missed making good on a promise, but my heart tells me that he has been patiently waiting all these years for me to finally give him a chance. After all, if it weren’t for Rebel, I likely would have never had the endurance bug.
Wouldn’t it be something if, after all this time, we finally get to accomplish what we intended to so many years ago?
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