Keeping it real - Part 1

*Note: These events happened back in October and I started writing this post a few weeks ago... I have been tempted to just post cute horse and cat pictures and not talk about the not-so-good things that have been going on...

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I haven’t been posting as much lately because I’ve been in a bit of slump. I find I really have a hard time when it gets dark so early – I have about 45 minutes of “daylight” left by the time I get home. Also, Spencer and I are having some minor issues. I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about it, but haven’t had much luck. Today I just decided to try typing it out and see what happens...

When I bought Spencer, the only negative thing the owner and coach had to say about him was that he sometimes had a bit of attitude with new people. They said that with new people he would get a bit bossy and sometimes do a little cow kick, but if you nipped it in the bud it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t really think anything of it, as he was really good for my rides and the following six weeks after I got him home.

Our first six weeks were great – he was easy to handle and I felt very comfortable riding him. He didn’t seem outwardly stressed about being turned out alone at all. After the six week mark, I noticed one day he was tense and a little difficult to handle. He cow-kicked a couple of times in the cross ties, but I gave him a little smack and he stopped. I continued on with my day/week and didn’t think much else of it.

A couple of weeks later, I was longing him instead of riding since it was really windy. After about 10 minutes on the longe line, he started cow-kicking and stopping to face me. He wasn’t acting dangerous or anything, you could just tell he was frustrated and didn’t want to work. I was able to get him going again, but then stopped the longe session because it just didn’t seem to be worth it to push him, as I was getting angry and frustrated with the whole situation.

I have kept in contact with his previous owner and emailed her once the behaviour started showing up. She was really helpful and said that it was just him being a bit dominant and grumpy and he would work through it. She explained that she was a bit nervous as well when she first bought Spencer and he really helped her become a confident leader. She told me that he had never been aggressive or dangerous in his behaviour. She mentioned that she thought he might have had ulcer issues in the past, but never had a vet confirm it. He wasn’t acting like a horse with ulcers to me and I had a chiro check him over, so I was fairly certain there weren’t any obvious pain issues.

At this point, I was able to see that there were several small problems brewing:

• Spencer was alone and to me seemed a tiny bit anxious all the time
• I was spending less time out at the barn since it was getting dark so early and I was nervous
• I was becoming more and more nervous of his behaviour and didn’t want to do something to make it worse
• Since I struggle with confidence issues, I was sure that I was a big part of the problem – I didn’t have the confidence to be a good or consistent leader, so Spencer was trying to take control

To be completely honest, there were a few weeks where I was really questioning horse ownership. I felt that I was ruining a good horse and that I didn’t deserve to have horses. I had this nice little property and would only be able to have a quiet old horse that wouldn’t be as much fun to ride, etc. etc. I even contemplated asking Spencer’s previous owner if they wanted him back. The only thing that stopped me was that I was sure that if I just had the right knowledge, I could turn things around, as I really like Spencer.

To be continued...

Naughty, naughty horse!

I've decided to try and make an effort to write more on this poor neglected blog. I was sitting at my desk pondering what I could write about, when I saw something interesting from my office window.

Exhibit A:

Can you see the problem?

I decided to keep an eye on the situation and a few hours later I was rewarded with more evidence:

Naughty!

 I yelled at him from the deck and he popped his head up to look over at me and then proceeded to go right back to trying to eat grass over the fence.

I wasn't doing anything...

Now, it is important to note that he had hay in not one, but two locations, one being inside his nice dry shelter. He chose to stand out in the rain and try to get grass (which is admittedly greener and more plentiful on the other side of the fence).  I am also aware that he is on the chubby side, so that is why I started restricting him to his smaller paddock.  He was not impressed.

Up until yesterday, my fence still wasn't fixed. I had asked my friend John to help out, but being an old farmer (his words, not mine!) he had forgot about the repair. I called him yesterday, begging for him to come over.  He made it out about an hour before we lost all daylight and made the repairs and he got the fence working.  I feel fairly confident that I could do repairs on my own now, after bugging John with lots of questions!

John working on repairing the cut wire...

After I'd asked my questions, I left John to finish his work. An amazing sunset was lighting up the sky, so I took a few pictures.

Spencer enjoying the last evening in the big field

We are getting some amazing sunsets this time of year...

I gave Spencer one last night and morning in the big field before shutting the gate until the ground freezes up. I may let him out there when the snow hits, just to give him more space to wander around.

I plugged the fence in this morning and did a few tests with my tester and it looked like the current was good and strong.  I was a bit surprised that the cats touched the fence a couple of times and didn't get a shock. I decided to just wait and see if Spencer would test it for me.

Sure enough, after a couple of hours, he decided to try for some grass. He bumped the top wire with his  chest and must've got a little jolt. He then stuck his muzzle right onto the top wire and got a really big zap!  He took off bucking and snorting. I cheered with delight, as that means that the fence is working well.

He spent the next couple of hours eyeing the fence suspiciously, but hasn't tested it again.  Success!!  :-)

Finally, a post!

Man, it has been over 6 weeks since I posted anything here.  Oops!  :-S  I always feel like I should write more but never get around to finishing any posts.  I'm going to try and get caught up on the past few weeks. Nothing exciting has happened, but why not document it for posterity?

I was able to fit in two riding lessons at my place in October. My old instructor came over to have a look at Spencer and put us through our paces. She just lives one road over from me now, so it is nice to have her close by. (She is also a vet...)  

After two lessons,  I have long list of things to work on:

• Keeping my lower leg steady (not too far forward or backward)
• Asking for him to move off my leg with pulsing pressure instead of a solid leg-on squeeze (we found this worked better with him)
• Keeping my hands steady (sometimes my hands are all over the place trying to steer)
• Keeping my head up and looking where I’m going. I have a tendency to look down and to the left
• Riding one handed – keep my shoulders straight

In addition to all of the above, she had me work on transitions and steering with lots of poles and cones. These exercises often frustrate me as we start working on them and then they click later on.

I even made a little graphic of the tricky one we worked on.  I was working on walk-canter transitions and after the first two or three upward transitions, Spencer was anticipating and was trying to canter all the time.  So, we would do one transition, then go around the pattern so he couldn't anticipate as much.  I worked on steering and speed control (maintaining the jog) as I weaved through the cones instead of cantering.  (see lovely drawing below!)  The poles are just there to define the riding area (my ring is 170+ feet long, so we just shortened it up a bit) and work on square corners at the walk and jog.

Nice graphic...lol

I was to enter the cones at the top right corner, weave down and back up, then continue on to the right.

The first time through the cones I went the wrong way at the end.  I was gently corrected and told to try it again. The second time through, I went the wrong way yet again.  After a few mumbled bad words, I smiled and reminded the instructor that I was really bad at geometry. The third time through I still went the wrong way!  I may have said a really bad word out loud...  My instructor chuckled and said that she often found that adult riders often have a hard time working on more complex patterns after spending the day at work. I was able to get it by the 4^th time through!  Lol  

I rode again a few days later and practiced the exercise again.  I was able to get it a bit easier the second time!  

I don’t have a ton of riding time left at my place, seeing as how my ring is grass and it has been raining a fair bit.  And it gets dark super early.  *sigh* Late fall and early winter here are tough to take sometimes!  I’m planning on continuing lessons with this instructor at her place over the winter. I think it will help me to keep that going. Spencer will get a nice holiday once the deep snow and crappy weather hit us full on.