Storytime: The Wagon Incident

At the ranch camp I worked at, a traditional Saturday was spent taking kids to and from a mud pit, so that they could indulge in the most kid-centric activity of all - a mud fight! I have many years of photos of myself, dripping in mud, and grass, (sometimes blood), smiling at a camera with mud caked teeth. Gross, but so fulfilling as a kid. (and, okay, once or twice as a teenager and adult haha) As a riding leader, you drove the flat bed wagons out, we had two teams - John and Luke, two big belgians, and two percherons, Charlie and Billy.

Charlie and Billy were my favourite, Billy - big, white, strong, and had the biggest most beautiful doe eyes you've ever seen. He had a long tangled mess of a forelock that he would peek out behind of. Charlie was big, black, and slightly nutso. However, I have a soft spot for percherons, I just adore them, and so I was pretty smitten with the two.

The morning of the wagon ride we would have to chase the "heavies" in from the field that they resided in through the week. This would, on paper, look like a seemingly easy ride. Push them out their field, past a small cattle guard and then straight up the road, through the river, and into the open corrals at the barn. In theory, it should take 5 minutes tops. However, the boys always had better ideas - and when I say the boys, I mean Charlie.

Charlie would generally circle around his field for ten to twenty minutes, at a full gallop, with me in hot pursuit, trying to deek and dive my way around him and push him out the gate so that he would join back up with his three bigger buddies. When he finally did, he would zoom off, generally charging past whoever was suppose to be helping me, and zip his big bum straight up a large hill that bordered the road. Generally one, or two, of the heavies would follow him, leaving one bewildered big horse confused and alone with us. Sigh.

It was at this point in the game that the "pursuit" would happen - I don't know how many times I've galloped screaming obscenities at that big black horse, but i'll tell you - you coulda sworn he smiled as you came wooshing after him. One of us would go up the hill after them, and the other would stay on the road and wait. On the top of the hill you would be lead through a forest, circle after circle, until Charlie decided where to go down - this was usually straight down a large rocky incline. From the road you would watch as two to three large draft horses barreled with all their might down a rocky cliff, one rider right behind them. All before your morning coffee.

From there Charlie would inevitably head for the "junk yard", an assortment of old cars and dishwashers, fool around in there for awhile, whilst I would be screaming and nervously keeping an eye out for any scrap metal that may impale me, or my horse. Then, Charlie would take his band of brothers through the river, the 3 - Luke, John and Billy would amicably saunter into the yard, while Charlie would try one more time to deek past you and fling himself back towards his field. Again, the whole time with a big, goofy, grin. I swear it.

For all the craziness, and swearing, that ensued during those chases, they are some of my most fondest memories. At one point the Rancher brought his Quad, and asked me to ride, while another guy was on his bike - he thought the odd menagerie of "vehicles" would freak Charlie out. Instead Charlie took it as a challenge - nearly trampling the man on the bike, and circling merrily at a full clip around the Rancher as he almost flipped his quad. It was laughable, it was erratic, and often, after all the swearing had died down, it was hilarious.

For all the insanity that was Charlie, Charlie and Billy were actually the most steadfast team we had, quiet, and easy-going, they knew their job and rarely strayed from their path, or even needed assistance. When I drove, the Rancher would plop himself beside me on the straw-bale captain's chair and soak up the sun, and chat with those on the wagon and we walked along the road. Being the youngest (very much the youngest), blondest, girl of the group I was always teased, and rarely trusted with the teams. "You're driving like a drunken sailor", "Look how far apart your legs are when you drive - you look like a.. well, I won't say it.. but...", I laughed it off - I liked the teams, I liked Billy and Charlie and I enjoyed spending time with the Rancher as he taught me how to harness and drive teams.
One day we headed out to the mud-hole as we would have any other day, Billy and Charlie ambled along - Charlie, always the lazier of the two, making Billy work more for both of their suppers. "C'mon Charlie, pick it up a bit" I'd call and he'd take a few quicker steps and then go back to his slow, meandering ways. This, the horse I had only a few hours earlier witnessed galloping like a freight train down a rock-cliff. Once at the mud-hole, the kids played and splashed, every so often we would have to call out "Hey! No running around the horses!" and they'd stop dead in their tracks, stare at the big boys, and pivot around and run the other way. You want a bombproof team? Screw parades - put them in the centre of a giant kid-filled mud-slingin' mess.

The kids headed down to the river to wash up and I rolled the wagon closer so that their towels and clothes were near-by. The river was freezing cold, and you could hear their anguished screams as they were forced to wash all the mud off their little bodies. A few kids had opted out of the mud-fight, and stayed back on the wagon with us - two older girls were suntanning, and a younger kid was hanging out near them reading a book.

I made a joking motion as if I was going to race the teams chariot style, and as soon as I touched the lines, I felt the wagon lurch forward. "Woah boys" I called out as I turned my attention back on Billy and Charlie, it was too late, all of a sudden my team was galloping like bats out of hell (there is no better description) making massive circles around the field. The Rancher started to yell "WOAH" and grabbed the lines, I still had the lines aswell, we were both hauling back and yelling as hard as we could - it washed out the screams of the kids still on the wagon. Thankfully, those older girls had some sense and grabbed the younger one and placed her inbetween the two of them. They got themselves right in the centre of the wagon and wrapped their arms over her and around eachother. I was pretty impressed.

We just kept circling and circling, by this time both the Rancher and I were laid flat back on the wagon, legs on the straw bale still hauling and yelling as fast as I could. Kids were emerging from the river now, and I could see the counsellors motioning the kids quickly back into the forest. Shit. I thought. Shit Shit Shit.

"The Bridle!" The Rancher roared in my ear, "It's the goddamn bridle!"Sure enough, Charlie's bit was hanging lopsided out of his mouth - the leather had snapped. All we needed was for Billy to gain some sense and stop his out of control partner, but Billy was clearly just as nervous as we were. We were going Mach 10 right towards a treed area and then a barbed wire fence, my stomach was in a big ball and I looked back at the screaming, crying kids. Once again "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." passed through my mind.

Finally... Finally... Billy put on the breaks right before the trees, he had, had enough of this non-sense too. "Get Off, Grab Charlie!" The Rancher yelled as he attempted to clamber up. As I jumped off the wagon I yelled at the kids to do the same. I sunk knee-deep in mud and bog-slime and rushed as fast as I could toward the boys. By this point Counsellors were running towards us, towels and other belongings were scattered throughout the large field like the aftermath of a battle. The Rancher had heart problems, I'm sure an out of control wagon is not good for one's heart.

Billy's big doe eyes were sorrowful and sorry, I couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was foam-covered and breathing heavy, he was not a happy camper. I rushed past him and got to Charlie, grabbing his thick head between both my hands. I looked him dead on, scowl on my face I grimaced, "You big idiot".

He looked right back at me, I coulda sworn he was smiling...

Charlie, Billy, Luke & John.

Riding Diary: 48 - Cutting

Time: 1 hr

Horse: John Wayne!

Ride: Was definitely itching to ride again, and he had an opening for me on Monday so I jumped at the chance!

Got to the barn and was told I could ride John Wayne again, yipeee - he has the cutest face, i'll have to snap a photo one of these days. He's also a bit of a personality - very mouthy, haha, as I was taking off his halter I had to wrestle it out of his mouth, and, it turns out, he is a bit of a pest and not too fond of other horses around him - nor were the other horses fond of him. Silly boy.

We warmed up as Coach worked a couple horses on the flag. The more lessons I get the more I can see the subtleties that go into flag work. Back in the day when I watched people work horses on the flag I couldn't really "tell" what they were doing, now I can see the bumps through turns, the back-ups, etc. Plus, Coach was riding a roan that was in for re-training, so I could really see the issues there and watch what he did to correct and try to teach the horse how to be less bracey, and to stop better. He also talked me through some of what he was doing. The horses main problem was that, when heading left up the wall, when the flag stopped he immediately tried to shoot outwards/forward - away from the flag, Coach would completely lose his left shoulder, and the horse would lose the "arc" in his body you want when your working a flag. Coach said this was because whoever had originally trained him, most likely would pull his head sharply around through turns, teaching him to brace, and run away on the stops.

He rode the horse twice on the flag, the first time the horse was exceptionally bracey and was pretty.. well... rude. haha I thought to myself, "Coach sure has a good seat". By the time the flag work was over the horse was drenched in sweat, and making the arena a foggy mess... he had only been worked on the flag for 10 minutes tops. Coach let his assistant walk him out and calm him down, she rode in just a halter, and even got off and walked him a lot until he dried - this took about a half an hour, to 45 minutes. Then Coach rode him on the flag again, he was much calmer this time, you could tell they were just working together better. The horse started to really stop and listen to what Coach was asking on a nice loose rein, it was pretty cool to see them both come together, when an hour and a half ago I had witnessed a horse definitely seeing Coach as an adversary, not a partner.

Anyways, more about "me" :)

Warm-up was good, I feel like i'm getting closer to really achieving that more relaxed position that Coach is looking for, I still need to remind myself to meld more in the saddle, and sitting such an extended trot is still a bit on the trickier side for me, but i'm figuring it out. My body doesn't hurt half as much as it has after the last two lessons so that must be a sign i'm loosening up and relaxing!

We did dry-work before flag work, working on nice stops, Coach really got me thinking about my stop. Sometimes it's hard to do nice, slow, collected stops because the horses work SO WELL off your body that the second I "sit down", I don't have a second to think before J.W. is already parking it in the dirt. We worked on backing, stopping and roll backs some more - the constant reminder was: relax. be more relaxed. relax. Thankfully, Coach is one of those guys that actually inspires relaxation. I've had trainers in the past scream "RELAX" at you and it's like, "oh, okay, let me just freak the f- out while I 'relax'"

Our flag work wasn't as harmonious and pretty as last time but that's okay because that means I get to learn how to work better, and it gets to last a bit longer :) Coach talked to me about where the flag should be, and when I should be asking J.W. to back and when he's in the right position. A couple times Coach had me bump J.W. with both my legs to help him "snap" better through the turn. Sometimes I found that J.W. was really rushing as the flag went one way. Coach said that although sometimes speed is important he would rather have his horses long trotting back and forth and not "rushing" the flag, because, when translated into actual live-cow work that can cause the cow to try to rush off and this isn't cow horse people! haha.

I had to remind myself to relax quite a few times - as did he, it's easy to get pretty amped up doing this stuff. All in all really good lesson, once again Coach told me I was doing a really good job, and I was beaming ear to ear.

For Next Time: More work on that position, reeeeeeelax, and figure out when to let the horse do his job, and when to intervene (i.e. bumping through turns, backing, slowing them down, etc.)

Riding Diary: 47 - Cutting

Time: 2 hr

Horse: John Wayne

Ride: Finally I got another lesson with the cutting horse trainer, who for the purpose of this blog, I call Coach. I forgot how much I love riding with than man haha, he is so nice, encouraging and soft spoken - I truly appreciate his training style with both horses and humans :)

When I got to the arena, he asked me if I knew "John Wayne"... Uhm, I kind of stammered, "the cowboy?". He laughed at me, the horse I was going to ride is named John Wayne. Did you guys know I dislike human names for horses? This horse has two first human names as it's name! C'mon universe!

We began to warm-up, I fell into the rhythm of sitting an extended trot a little bit better than last time but I still really need to work on relaxing and not being so rigid. I felt like I was doing better at keeping my hand on J.W.'s neck and only using my reins when I really needed to. I also made my stirrups shorter than I usually do, this way my stirrups weren't feeling jostled around as a sat such a big trot.

Coach reminded me on how he wants me to sit during these warm ups - nice and relaxed, a bit of a curve in the back, legs loose, etc. He suggested that I even look "down", as in tuck my chin, and perhaps that will help get a more curve, relaxed back. He asked me to bump J.W. to get him to extend even more and really work and then we did a bit of dry work.

The dry work consisted mostly of stops and rollbacks, he asked me to really sit down when I asked for a "woah", and only draw up my hand if I really needed to. Coach said that with his cutting horses he wants everything done slow and fluidly, so if I ask for a turn my hand should come out to the side slowly and fluidly so that they aren't jarred into a turn - same with a woah, and a back-up, everything should be calm and relaxed so that the horse isn't knocked into doing something right away. I think that's a really good foundation for horses to be started and trained with - slow, calm, steady, makes for a way less brace-y horse. I'm dealing with so many bracing problems with Jingle that I could for sure feel how fluid and easy J.W. was to ride.

From the dry work we moved onto flag work. Coach had me ride J.W. up to the flag really slow and calculated, almost a step for every deep breathe I took. Then I stopped square and we began to work the flag. It felt wicked, J.W. was where I wanted him to be every.single.time, it was honestly amazing. The only thing I really had to "do" was keep him a little straighter, and not let him drift from the flag a few times, so I kept my left leg on him as he was chasing the flag on his right side. A couple times I had to bump to assist him through a turn, but honestly, I didn't do much.

Coach told me I had done a really amazing job. He said that he has trained J.W. from a baby and has shown him pretty limited, but will be amping up his showing this year. He said that I had ridden him really well and that we both were "hooked onto eachother". Finally he finished by saying he was really impressed with my riding, and that my position on the flag was really natural, and that we looked like I was about to show J.W. tomorrow. Pretty awesome praise. His only "criticism" was that he wished I could sit the warmup like a sit during flag-work haha. I think the flag work clicks in my mind as a different kind of riding, and so I can get down and into that cutting position, where as when I'm warming up - walking, trotting, etc, my mind drifts back into "pleasure riding", and my back goes right up and back, shoulders back, heels way down, etc. etc. He wants me to be way more fluid, natural and day I say it "slumped" haha ;)

As per usual, our flag work was done way faster than I had wanted it to be, and I cooled J.W. out. Then I watched him work a couple clients horses, and his stud. Then he let me cool down his stud - a dual rey roan that is one hunk of handsome, let me tell ya. Also, he is a real sweetie.

It was awesome. awesome. awesome.

For Next Time: Keep working on that relaxed, fluid, "different" cutting position during the warm up.

Riding Diary: 46

Time: 2 hr

Ride: You know those rides that you just... don't want to talk about? I had one of those rides on Monday. I really don't even want to post about it, but i've never not posted about my rides... sigh. It was potentially the worst lesson I have ever had on Jingle.

haha, I think I have mentally blocked on the scene-by-scene details, as i'm having a hard time recollecting some of it. We started off a bit rough and rocky, and for awhile my trainer has been commenting that perhaps we should try a bit again. I am, at this point, pretty anti-bit when it comes to my horse. It's tough, because his bit-issues are all behavioural/mental, and for two years he was ridden exlusively in a bit, and although it wasn't hard work - he went well. So I waver back and forth on whether or not to include a bit in his training schedule every once and awhile. However, what happens when we add a bit into the combination is a complete and utter stress-ball underneath of me. He becomes worried, anxious, and worst of all - the epitome of pissy, he's almost vindictive (I know i'm placing human emotions on a horse, bad me, but that's honestly the best way to describe how he acts).
So, my trainer was saying let's try a bit again, and I was gently saying "uhm, I don't really know, I'm not super comfor..." and then my horse started to completely and utterly stop moving. Of course today was the day I figured he'd be fine if I rode in my short loop reins. Generally, if I'm riding in split reins I can give him a tiny flick of the rein towards the hip and he's back to normal, I don't even really have to touch him. My loop reins don't provide that luxury. I asked for a crop. One would think that a small crop would be the same as a tiny brush of a rein... nope... Jingle loosssessss it when a crop is introduced. Monday was no different, except for the fact that the second I touched his hip with the crop (please note - I don't even smack him, I literally just move the crop from infront of my knee to my hip so he can see it) he went ballistic. I had a run away on my hands. Not good. My trainer was headed for the door to grab a bridle before I even had a chance to think.

I was stressed. My horse was stressed. & now we were introducing something that makes us fall apart. Well, long story short, it kind of helped, but in the end, i'm still on the "no-bit-for-my-psycho-horse" side. I understand where my trainer is coming from; my horse was acting pretty dangerous, not just naughty, and she can't have me running down children in the arena. However, she's not the one on his back, I am, and I can feel every bit of fried muscle running through him. She also kind of got after me for letting him get away with things, and I was a little hurt. I'm not letting him get away with things - he's a fricken disastor mess, and I'm trying my absolute hardest to make sure we don't kill anyone. The thing is, i've ridden horses that i've had to discipline, they shake their heads, you bump them with your legs, they figure out the pressure, they quit. With Jingle, everything is tied into this big emotional wrecking ball, and so I'll bump him with my legs, he will absolute melt into a puddle, and i'll lose him for the rest of the ride. It's frusterating to say the least.

Anyways, by the time my lesson was over, my horse was jogging really nicely, but it was all fake, and it was all done with aids, and I was pissed at him, and at myself.


For Next Time:
So, what am I going to do about it?

Well, I have a game plan.

First - I need to talk to my trainer about taking a step back. It's just not working. We have to re-evaluate, and figure out a different path that works better for my emotionally-damaged horse.

Second - no bits. I'm done. I don't want to use something that already causes my horse anxiety just to punish him with it.

Third - "Intensive". I have not been riding enough, I've been riding twice a week, maybe. Generally, on my other ride of the week, I fool around, or bring friends out. This is because all my friends have been home for reading week, etc. I'm not getting anything done. I'm not working on anything. So, what happens is my horse gets 6 days off to f-around, even when I do ride, and then Mondays come and I ask him to do a shit-ton. No wonder he wants to murder me. So, this week I'm trying a week-long intensive. I'm going to ride everyday except today (Wednesday), that's 6 days straight, we're going to work on transitions and stops, we're not going to canter a lot, when we do, it'll be our right lead - the one he's more uncomfortable and unbalanced on, and we're going to figure.it.out. Wish us luck. :)

& Finally, things to look forward too... I cannot wait until school is done, so I can ride without feeling this guilt cloud of papers and exams strangling me. However, March is going to be a good (although, very expensive, and very busy) month - we have a better fitting saddle, we're figuring out tack, I have a Chiro/Massage coming March 7, Jingle will have his feet and teeth done and finally, super exciting news - we'll be going to our first sorting!!! - we're gonna get it together, it's just going to take a lot of time and patience, and a total re-working of, "the plan."

Lil' Life Update

I've been pretty scattered lately. I feel like I'm rushing around, so busy all the time, and then all of a sudden I stop and look around, and realize I haven't accomplished much. Gotta step my game up. However, this last week was reading week, and I did get to spend some time with good friends :)

I visited some great friends that are living in Canada, and originally from England. I met them at a ranch I worked at in Nanton, and they are now working at Warner's in Banff, a trail and outfitting place. Banff is pretty spectacular, and riding in those mountains?! Well... that's something I want to check off the list this year!

None of their string was in, but all their drafts were because they still do sleigh rides throughout the winter... I am such a sucker for a draft horse.

This big guy was named Crocket, I really liked him.

Then I met Boone! It was love at first sight. Look at his forelock! I know Jingle wants a long-haired, bigger brother to hang out with. Oh man, did I love this big, slow drafty. He was just so adorable.

My friends think both Boone and Crocket are partially Ardennes, a breed I had never heard of before, so ya learn something new everyday. Catching up with old friends was just what I needed to put a big smile on my face. I have to remember to spend more time with those that I love, but that aren't always as close as I wish.

Then, my friend, Jess, (Hi Jess - I know you'll be reading this!), and her 5 month old babyyy boy stopped by the barn. Of course, my baby (ponyboy) had to meet her baby! Both weren't too sure of eachother...

Jingle: "Mahm, what iz this thing?!"

Baby B: "Mom?! What IS that thing?"

Sidenote - my mother saw this photo and exclaimed, "Hey, he actually doesn't have crazy eyes for once, maybe he likes babies!", thank you for your insight Wanda.

From there I showed my friends a new way I've been stretching out my sore back lately...

Jingle-yoga!

My horse thinks i'm a nut job. He's probably right.

Is anyone else experiencing shedding yet? Jingle is in major-shed mode, I can't wait until that winter coat just starts dumping off. Okay... I can wait... frick I hate horse hair in my nose. But, better to get it over with - QUICK.

That's a clump of neck-hair my friends!

Finally, to sum it up.. a couple of pictures :)

One of my absolute favourite APHA ads,

aside from having a draft brother, Jingle would also like a "little" paint brother - I have baby horse fever, it's just that time of the year! :)

(Jingle would like me to inform you all that I am lying, and, to repeat - a nut job)

Words to live by.

Have a great start to the week!

Riding Diary: 45

Time: 1.5 hr

Ride: My horse, and his many facets of personality. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - how does one deal with a pissy horse... all.the.time? It's draining. I think ponyboy and I are both drained by dealing with eachother, and that's just no fun. I can't wait for the ice to thaw so I can start venturing outside of the indoor arena, I think we both need some fresh air to blow out all the cobwebs from our brains.

Anyways, the ride started out good, we had a beautiful, slow, workable lope to begin with, and then the zoom-ey side of my horse flung himself about for awhile. Jingle has a rub mark from one of his side-pull's on his nose (even though it's wrapped in vet wrap), I had changed up his sidepull to a softer rope one (Crystal! The one you so wonderfully gave me - I keep meaning to take a photo of him in it! haha), but it was still agitating the rub mark on his nose. So, halfway through the ride, I jumped off and wrapped that sucker in vet wrap too, but, the damage was done, and my poor pony with his slightly ouchy nose wasn't having any of it. (I know I shouldn't judge him, I certainly dont like running with a blister on my heel, but the rub mark is probably the size of pinky finger nail... and he's using it as an excuse to basically fling him self upside down and wail "NO MOM, PLEASE GOD NO")
So, vet wrap in hand, we went back to work. Our stops were lackluster, as they generally are, and my trainer was basically confused. She mentioned that he always looks like he's going to give me a nice big stop, he tucks end her hindend, he gets ready, and then at the last moment he just leaks through it, and attempts to run off. She tried to get me to think about giving him a release before pulling him down into a stop - which, obviously I should be doing, but one does need a reminder sometimes when your horse really doesn't love the whole concept of "stop, and stand here quietly". So, we tried that, bigger release before pulling him down if he doesn't listen, and then moved in to a very, very long time of transition work.

Basically, we just worked on a small circle and every 5-10 strides I'd throw a bit of slack, ask for a big "WOAH", wait a step, and then pull him down into a stop from a slow jog. It seemed to kinda, sorta work... our stop is definitely something to work on. It's frusterating because on the ground during leading exercises he knows how to stop - he'll stop the second I say "woah", and then all of a sudden i'm on his back, and he sprouts his dragon-wings and blows fire in my direction everytime I ask for a stop... even if i'm in a paper bag dress, begging for forgiveness, and asking ever so kindly.

My horse hates me.

Afterwards I gave him his standard Monday grooming sesh (one day I WILL blog about the insanity that is my grooming routine with Jingle). His braids come out of his tail and mane, I brush both out with spray-in conditioner, he get's re-braided, and then I rub MTG into the base of his tail, the start of his mane, as well as underneath. I generally trim everything, just a smidge, every couple of weeks. Then, because I love my horse even though he hates me, I rubbed a ton of Arnica salve on his jaw, cheeks, and poll area, to reduce any inflamation and tension he may be feeling. I like the arnica salve I have because it's thicker than my alternative (Apple Cidar Vinegar), so it's easier to use, and apply with your hands, but it is a mess. It's too thick, and so it globs on to his face, and of course he is shedding, so half of his facial hair come off onto my hands and clothing... sigh. He seemed to like his mini massage though. Then we did a couple stretches with the aided help of cookies, I applied some vetricyn to his nose rub, in an effort to get it to scab over quicker, and he was then allowed to mosey on over to his bed.

My horse likes me...

just not when I ride him.

For Next Time: Traaaaansitttiooooonsssss

What's on my mind tonight...

Deworming Schedules...

Whereas I should be very much buried in a mountain of studying related to the Civil War and the History of Anthropology...

More to come.. ;)