Week of June 1st-7th - Trail Riding in Hitchcock Woods

Phil was hauled to Hitchcock Woods (Aiken, SC, Home of the Aiken Hounds) for a group trail ride. Phil loaded and unloaded on to an unfamiliar trailer with unfamiliar horses without any fuss. We had a very relaxed (on the buckle) and enjoyable trail ride. Phil crossed water and wooden bridges. He was a little excited with the new surroundings and new horses, but I did a little bit of ground work before mounting and when he focused on me I mounted. I asked for lateral flexion until Phil was super soft and then headed out for the trails.

One Rein Stop. Last week Phil and I worked on the emergency dismount. This week I want to talk about the controversial one rein stop. There are two philosophies about the one rein stop. The first one is if you teach your horse to immediately stop and soften every time you pick up one rein, you have a better chance of gaining control if your horse suddenly spooks or takes off. This would be his “warm, soft, cozy place of comfort.” The other philosophy is that the one rein stop can be dangerous. By unbalancing your horse while he is moving could result in your horse running into an obstacle such as a tree or fence at a high speed or worse flipping over on you. Both of these situations have happened to me. I have built the one rein stop into Phil from day one by teaching flexing and softening every time I pick up the lead or reins. I have not necessarily used this technique to stop Phil, so this week I will put our work to the test. Phil was responsive to the one rein stop at a walk, but was unbalanced at the trot and had a hard time disengaging his hindend. Phil is not built like my QHs, so I have to work more on tight circles which would improve his balance. I am also going to start working on modified roll backs to improve his balance and build up muscle in his hindquarters. I do not expect him to dig in and roll over his hocks, but I do want him to lift his front feet over and across. He already does this when I ground drive him in the pen. I rode in the round pen for this exercise. Phil smacked his head a lot on the panels, but finally figured out how to clumsily roll over his hocks and get his nose out of the way. I used my weight as a pre cue to signal I was going to ask for a chance of direction. I also used a gracious direct rein that Phil could visualize to guide him. When doing this exercise you have to have your horse really moving his feet and be prepared for a feeling of a mini rear as your horse rolls over and back. Stay relaxed, stay out of your horse’s mouth, and only use your legs as a directional guide, or your horse will rear to release the pressure. Although, I am not crazy about this as an emergency brake, I do like the exercise because it incorporates a lot of little lessons into one and improves the rider’s balance and timing. It also works on lateral flexion. Remember lateral flexion is the key to vertical flexion, not martingales, tie downs, or harsh bits (in my opinion).

I do want to mention that I took a video of my daughter riding Phil in her lesson. Phil did not travel with his nose in the air and a hollow back like he did when he first started with me. The video shows Phil traveling in a more relaxed way and even working on the bit for a few strides. My daughter did not ask Phil to school on the bit, he did this on his own. I wish I had video of Phil when he first arrived and traveled with his nose to the sky. The difference is remarkable and he has only had 30 days under saddle with me. I really want to stress that I DID NOT use any restraining devices (martingales, side reins, tie downs, flex/neck stretch reins, harsh bits). Our horses can learn to relax, round, track up, and work on the bit without those band aids. Lateral flexion is the secret, plain and simple.

Phil is enjoying farm life. It is only the first week of June and here in South Carolina we have already hit 98 degrees. The kids and I wear our bathing suits for afternoon chores. My daughter’s job is to fill up all the water tanks. She particularly likes to spray the horses with the hose and horses really appreciate the cool shower. I was really surprised to see Paige spraying Phil as he presented his front, sides, and rear for a nice hose down. Phil promptly rolled and stood up caked with mud; at least he’ll have clean pores. It was so nice to see him really enjoy himself. He is slowly emerging from his shell and a fun-loving horse is coming forth.

Another horse show!
Southern Hospitality Mini-Circuit. Phil loaded on the trailer like a professional. He was well behaved at the show. Phil brought home more ribbons in Hunter In Hand, Equitation, and Open English Pleasure. Phil and I even tried a pattern class! In the Equitation class I had to drop my irons. The irons were tapping Phil on his sides and he did not let those irons bother him one bit.

Week of May 25th – I have a funny story to tell about Phil this week. I am back teaching this summer semester, so Dan is feeding again in the mornings I teach. Dan told me that he poured Phil’s feed and headed to the gate without giving Phil the ritual head rub. Dan said Phil kept dancing around in front of him as he headed to the gate. He thought Phil was acting really strange until it dawned on him Phil was looking for his head rub. Dan rubbed Phil’s head and Phil trotted off to his feed.

Like many OTTBs our horses thrive on a constant routine.
We must always hold up our end of the bargain.

Emergency dismount. This week I worked on the emergency dismount. If you ride, you are going to have a fall. It happens to everyone, eventually. A fall doesn’t have to be scary or dangerous if you have taught yourself and your horse what to do in such a situation. You may be jolted out of your seat by a few rough strides, your horse may trip, you may have a sudden sliding stop due to a terrifying, horse-eating monster (possibly a rabbit or a bird, or a flapping plastic bag). The last thing I want to do is scare Phil, have Phil trample me, or have to go catch him after a jolting fall. So, I am going to give myself a plan and desensitize Phil to me jumping off his back. Ultimately, I am going to teach him to stop if I ever fall off.

Safety First. There are several safety measures you can take, to minimize the effect of any fall. You always must wear a helmet; you don’t know when you are going to fall, and you don’t have enough time to zip over to the tack room and grab your helmet on the way down. You may feel dorky wearing a helmet, but think how much more dorky it would feel to wear a wheelchair. I will tell you I was once bucked off so hard by a youngster that my helmet cracked when I hit the soft grass. Food for thought.

This lesson was to benefit the both of us. I wanted to teach Phil that if I ever fell off he is to stop. It was also important to desensitize Phil to me coming out of the saddle. Starting with ground work I asked Phil if he was ready and his ear on me and quick responses to my requests told me he was ready to get to work. Using the haltermore (I didn’t want to risk pulling at his mouth) and riding bareback I practiced a dismount off the right and left sides at a stand still. Phil doesn’t seem bothered by this. I dismounted at a walk and then a trot. Phil was somewhat bothered by me swinging off at the trot on the right side. This may be because I was uncoordinated dismounting off the right side. I need more practice; Phil was fine. Each time I dismounted I said “Whoa.” I used the mecate that was tucked in my belt loop to back him once I was on the ground if he didn’t come to a complete halt. Once he halted he immediately got a release.

Leading without a halter or lead rope. Phil is now leading to and from his pasture and the barn without a halter or lead rope. I am looping the lead around his neck, but will eventually not even use the lead. Phil will eagerly follow me without me holding on to the lead. The lead is just a prop. Watch a herd follow the Alpha mare and you will see them follow her without asking any questions.

More ground work. I introduced Phil to a new ground work exercise. I put the lead rope around his hips. I pulled the rope until it disengaged his hindquarters and Phil moved around 180 degrees facing me. He was very worried about the rope behind him. I observed this “hole” and went back a few lessons to desensitize him to the rope behind his hocks and hips. This is a good example of how I started with a planned lesson on disengaging the hindquarters and ended up going back a few lessons to basic desensitizing based on Phil’s behavior. This is what I call student directed learning. Phil told me he was not ready to move on and needed a refresher on rope desensitizing. I reviewed our previous lessons of tossing the rope over his back, shoulder, and head. I ended the lesson when Phil stood relaxed with a cocked hind foot. It was a good confidence builder for him.

Riding lesson. My 10 year old daughter, Paige, rode Phil in a lesson this week (see pictures) She walked, trotted, cantered, and jumped some 18” crossrails during her lesson. Phil took both his leads correctly for Paige. I was impressed.

Another show this weekend!

Phil was muscle sore in his shoulder area on Monday. He has been in a larger pasture and playing a bit wreckless. I thought it would be fun to teach Phil some tricks such as bowing and shaking. In this lesson, ground manners (my space/your space, no eating grass, lateral flexion 2 oz. of pressure) and head down cue were reinforced. Chiropractic stretching was accomplished along with teaching to bow. It was a win-win situation. It was fun for both of us.

Phil recovered from his muscle soreness by Tuesday. The remainder of the week I worked him on the ground in the round pen until he was soft and responsive before riding. This week we were working on the left lead. Phil will pick up the right lead every time from a walk or trot. I choose to teach the canter in the 60ft round pen because I don’t have to worry about keeping Phil in a circle. I can concentrate on rewarding him for picking the correct lead and not worry about Phil scooting off in another direction to avoid my leg. It also gives Phil a visual/ physical guide to circling and bending. Phil knows the pre cue to a canter as a “kiss”, so I only have to use a little leg for support.

I am starting to see a completely different horse. Phil is now trying to please me. We are starting to communicate.

This past weekend Phil participated in another show. He brought home ribbons in Halter, Showmanship, Equitation and even tried out pole bending and cloverleaf barrels. He was a gentleman the entire day.

The ground work is reinforced every day whether it is actual moving Phil’s feet in the round pen or by simply leading him from pasture to barn. I try to be creative and my have him serpentine or walk backwards while going from barn to pasture.

In the arena I have been focusing on softening and lateral flexion at walk and trot. Phil and I have been bending around the barrels, trees and every single corner in the arena. Tuesday Phil did have a mini meltdown and wanted to drift to the gate. I held him steady and just kept riding. When Phil became ugly I shouted a firm” NO” and kept the outside leg pressure on until he figured out his own release. As long as I had control of his nose and feet he could not rear, buck, or bolt. He did briefly think about rearing and I kept him to task. Contrary to popular belief if your horse is giving you a warning (they always do) instead of stopping their motion, push them into the motion by switching directions every two-three steps, ask for a roll back, drive them into a tight circle, etc . Remember stopping their feet is a reward. By stopping them you are allowing them to collect and thus have more power to buck, rear, bolt, etc. Instead, get control of their nose using the built in foundation of lateral flexion, keep the head up, and disengage the hindquarters. A horse cannot buck if his hindend is disengaged. A horse cannot rear if his feet are in motion. A horse cannot bolt if you control his nose. These are just basic theories of physics. I let Phil work through his mini tantrum while continuing to bend around the barrels until he softened in my hands. I released the reins and let him rest. After the meltdown, Phil was a soft, relaxed horse and I even had to check him with halt halts every once in a while. His work ethic was renewed.