Desensitizing

Just some winter ponderings...

A riding buddy and I were chatting the other day and contemplating some winter and spring events. Our trail challenge courses seem to be a thing quite a few people enjoy, and there are one or two clinicians that enough people like that we can make a go of booking them and combining that with a fun trail challenge day (sadly, my favorite coach is "english" and therefore not one of them ;) )

Although I do have to say, low level eventing kind of equals a trail challenge, no? 

Like all events and clinics, there are goals and things people want to accomplish. And we have a lot of fun. BUT, being kind of an outsider to the western world, some of the extreme/spooky trail and desensitizing stuff raises questions for me. Honestly some of the opinions and personalities make me a bit uncomfortable. I'm not sure I have the words or my thoughts in enough order to make this concise, but here we go:

I don't think it's fair for me (or anyone) to TRY to push until there is a reaction. I'm good with stuff being there that's potentially scary. I'm not a fan of things like people waving tarps and plastic bags around trying to get a reaction...I'm pretty sure my horse is smart enough to tell the difference between me scaring/annoying her on purpose vs a random event or person doing so without a focus on her. Taking it a step further, if I ever did approach a horse with that much intent, energy and noise, I kind of want and expect them to be aware of it, not tuning me out.

Unless it's Bridget. Then do whatever you gotta do to make her put her ears up for a photo :D

I 100% believe our horses can easily read our intention. I want to be reliable and trusted as far as the relationship with my horses go. They don't scare or annoy me on purpose, why would I scare or annoy them on purpose? We don't avoid new or scary things, but they're never the focus of the day, either. If something unexpected happens, we trust each other and figure it out. I think that's a fair deal.

I had an interesting chat on this very subject with a clinician after people asked me why he didn't push Sophie further. (They've seen her react and spook and I get the feeling that they think a lot less of us for it and that clinician should 'fix it' and help me more) The short answer is what you'd expect: always ends on a good note, give the horse confidence and quit while you're ahead.

Master of the pool noodles. They're just like navigating a narrow, bushy trail, right?

Then he added quite a bit more to his answer that I thought was interesting. As always, please take this with a grain of salt as I'm paraphrasing my understanding.

A lot of people fall into a trap of desensitizing and doing ground work to death, because "that's what you do". He mentioned learned helplessness, and was quite vocal about keeping things fun for the horses, while still giving the people confidence.

He also mentioned that there are lots of horses out there that won't be a good fit for a program. In his younger days, he would have worked harder and made it happen. Now, though, he's much more likely to leave it be and suggest a change in job or rider to suit the horse better. His advice now is that if you want or need a brave and bombproof horse, buy one with the mind to be trained to be so. He likes a thinking, reactive horse, and for the riding he does, that's what he needs. He can encourage whatever aspect of their personality he needs, but when it comes down to it, there are always going to be jobs some horses aren't mentally suited for and shouldn't be pushed in to.

Baby Bridget had zero issues with water

or bridges. She just naturally didn't care too much. But the times I picked a fight about doing it 'faster' didn't work out well for me.

In the nicest possible way, he was telling me Sophie is probably not going to be the dead quiet horse walking through the trail challenge. And that's really OK, we don't need her to be! She needs to trust me and do the thing, but she's allowed to look and think and ask me questions about it, too.

For my purposes, his input was that I don't ever want to "dull" my horses down and he'd actually prefer them to be a bit more reactive and quick thinking than I am currently allowing (Sophie wants to be super sensitive to my cues and that's a gift, I need to have the confidence to use it) so my thoughts and questions aren't out in left field for my dressage goals and (average) riding ability. Cool.

So that all seems very common sense. But also very much at odds with other clinicians, when you think about it. There seem to be a whole lot of them that will fix anything and advocate for you as the rider being the boss and the horse doing whatever you say without question.

Anyway, it's a grey, windy, and rainy day out there, and I need to take my horses for an outing.  I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and trust my horses are OK. Enjoy the weekend!

Fall Fair

Our little club put on a concentrated effort to really show up to the local Fall Fair this year, as past attendance has been a little lackluster and it's been a bit of a wasted opportunity to be seen in the community given the equestrian club grounds are on the same site as the fair grounds. This year turned out fantastic, I feel like we probably had record numbers of riders and fair attendance.

Of course I didn't take any pics of the actual event...it was seriously hectic trying to get there on time and bring all the things to keep Bridget and I happy for an afternoon away from home. You'd never know it given this pre ride shot of B :) Never fear, there are supposedly photos coming!

In the theme of me feeling overwhelmed by my schedule yet still wanting to do all the things, I just signed up for the second day of the fair, which happened to be the gymkhana portion.

I broke out the tiara for B. The little kids especially loved that she was wearing 'diamonds'.

And another new Amazon sale $20 saddle pad. We went for the black and silver sparkly vampire look ;)

I hate this, but I was that person - the one that hadn't ridden for two weeks then pulled my horse out of the field. I had a weekend in Vancouver, then a death plague some extra work, all while keeping a definite focus on meeting some training goals with Sophie. The next thing you know riding had been off the schedule for quite a number of days! Luckily for me Bridget was pretty generous about it, but I need to do better if I want to continue signing her up for things. It's unfair for us both to be heading out to things with marginal fitness.

It's OK Bridget, I brought us both water and granola bars. We can do this.

With that in mind, I thought we'd just make an appearance, support the club, and sign out whenever Bridget said she was done.

Thankfully, it looks like pasture fitness is a thing, and while not exactly brimming with energy, Bridget was game to keep playing most of the afternoon. I made sure she got plenty of hand grazing breaks and skipped out for an hour mid afternoon.

Because she's starving, obviously.

How did we do, you ask? Bridget won some things! She was first in the keyhole, second in poles and the scurry, we won the ride a buck event, and I'm not sure about the rest. At the end of the day we were called as tied for high point! Very surprising for my not so fast pony. I think she edges in to placing because she's small and very maneuverable but has a huge stride, because trust me she's not very fast!

We won some brushes and a set of shipping boots, which was really great...the items I was gifted were all things I either needed or need to replace. Thank you sponsors, and thank you Bridget!

In other good news, I may have found someone to come hang out with me and ride Bridget while I work with Sophie. In a perfect world I'd have time for exercising both and G would have time to come hang out so I'm not backing a baby alone at the arena, but that's not been the case this summer despite everyone's best efforts. So, this feels like a win-win, given she doesn't have a horse,  Bridget could use some exercise, and I could use a spotter!

I'm slightly regretful I didn't get Sophie down to the fair this year - it would have been really great exposure! That said, I think I would have needed to have been able to keep a closer eye on her or have someone watch her - the way it's set up is open corral type stalls and everyone and their dogs and kids can access them and that made me a little nervous given I would expect her to be a bit 'up' and looking around and maybe not being overly respectful of space. I saw a few parents letting their kids climb on and through the fence rails, which honestly is why I only brought Bridget for a half a day. She is super with kids and random weird things, but I don't think the whole nearly a petting zoo thing is really her cup of tea, either.

Another random sunset picture for you. The ferry to get me home from work leaves later now so I've been getting take out and eating dinner at any park or beach I haven't visited before while  I wait to go home. 

Onward we go. This year has been really tough so I am extra grateful for Midge being so easy and game for whatever I throw at her. She used to be fairly difficult and resentful of working, so I'd like to think she's so easy now because she's happy and having fun being a backyard pony of all trades.

Days 23&24: Running On A String

Title courtesy of my husband who recently stated with all seriousness that Sophie is getting pretty good at "running on a string" :) I love him, and let's be real, his terminology probably makes more sense than "longeing" to anyone non horsey.

Sophie got back down to the arena x2. Once to practice longeing/running on a string, once to go back through the parts of the trail course from the weekend that we left out.

We're both making equal mare faces, lol

I did the longeing last night. She's getting pretty good, but I do need to keep focused as she's not all that brave in some parts of the arena and would really rather not trot around out there all by herself....it's much more fun and safe feeling to be closer to me, don't you know. The forward button remains a little stickier than I'd like, but it's improving each time - we're getting closer to her offering  a consistent tempo more often than not and sharper "up" transitions are coming. She's not at all fussed by the longe whip and honestly a bit wanting to hang back if you let her so it's tempting to nag at her. I need to resist that temptation and enforce that go means go NOW until I say stop, because I do want her to be sharp under saddle!

I meant to focus on the horse...but I kind of like it anyway

Today, we revisited some of the trail challenge obstacles. I practiced sending her over and through things I know she's fine with (poles, a bridge) and surprisingly, she wasn't that confident. That actually makes sense, since I wasn't there beside her leading her, rather she was on the end of a line and "all by herself". She quickly gained confidence though and aced it.

Throwback to Bridget showing us the car wash of doom.

 I did have to get a bit more assertive when it came to the car wash, and a longer discussion was had about going forward where I ask, but it was the right call - she eventually just sighed and walked right on through and wasn't really worried about it. She just would have preferred to say no and not try it, I think. I had her hang out under the tarp while I scratched her and told her she was the best and bravest pony and pretended she hadn't just been testing boundaries. That made her quite happy and proud of herself and she stepped up after that and was a total star. I'm appreciative she's so interested in making me happy, it really does help make things easy!

That 80's rocker hair, tho :/

I'm away for work for a couple of days again, unfortunately. I'm absolutely loving having a youngster again so along with me liking to say hi to Bridget every day, my enthusiasm for barn time is pretty high right now! It's a small bit of torture to not be able to go to the barn every day. I'm considering a pay cut/career change so I can work locally and be home all week, but we'll see. That's a big decision best thought out thoroughly.

5 Days Of Riding: Western Games Day

I've got to admit, I was kind of nervous Saturday morning. I knew it was a pretty informal fun day and that I'd most likely enjoy myself, but lurking in the back of my mind were all the what if's, given this was a new thing to try and especially given Bridget's recent rambunctious behaviour. Confidence issues stink...my mind had taken a few "exciting" rides and turned it into a thing where galloping Bridget felt like it might not be safe anymore.

So cute, though.

I had to give myself a little pep talk, especially once I hopped on and B was once again spooking, scooting and generally looky and generally not steering and stopping as well as you might hope. These cobs are fun, but they're also quite quick and very powerful feeling when they're "on".

Scurry race. B was feeling ambitious.

And, it all worked out just fine. Better than fine, actually. Bridget actually won the keyhole and scurry races, which was more than slightly shocking given she's not what I'd call fast! I guess she does have a big stride though, and is pretty quick through turns.

Winner winner

A riding acquaintance wasn't having as much fun as me and needed to hop back on and finish on a good note, so I took the opportunity to call it a day and head for a quiet trail ride with her. I felt a little bad leaving halfway through because I appreciated the organization that went on to coordinate the event, but I think we've all been the person having a not so great experience and trail rides are always fun too.

This trail always makes me feel like I'm in some fantasy movie. The trees are huge and gorgeous and it's very peaceful.

We got back just in time for the first aid and wrapping clinic. Poor B was still not tired out and had a bit of a tough time standing for 2.5 hours of demos and talks, so I'm actually starting to wonder about her. We were out from 9am to 5pm, with about 4 hours of saddle time and she still was impatient and jumpy and spooky all the way home. Very, very unlike her.

Learning how to do a hock wrap.

At any rate, the wrapping clinic was good. I didn't do pony club or any kind of organized learning as a kid, so I often feel like there are gaps in my knowledge. Most of the things demo'd were familiar to me, but it was cool adding some additional tips and tricks from a pro groom. I tend to use boots for everything, so it was good practice to do shipping wraps and polos and have someone super experienced check them.

 All in all, it was a super long, but enjoyable day. It felt a little unreal to still have two more days of adventures planned before I had to return to work!

This Could Be Interesting

I've signed Bridget and I up for a western games day this weekend. Given her recent energy levels and my current lack of appropriate tack, this could be a completely disastrous and hilarious mistake. Fingers crossed, we will stay on the fun side of exciting. Certainly, it will be interesting, as it's a first for her, and a first for me in many, many years. I'm going to have to review patterns tonight, I think.

Skeptical pony. 

You may be pleased to know the games run from 10-2, then we have an equine first aid  and bandaging clinic next door at 2:30. Seems like a well planned day to me - at the very worst, I will have at least 5 people on standby with vet wrap and other first aid supplies should I require help recovering from my adventure into western games ;)