BEE BATTLE AND BUTCH

I think poor Butch had enough of this human by the end of the lesson today.

A new, little, annoying bee showed up after our first cold spells. It hovers just like the bot fly but tends to cozy up to the human rather than the horse. Picky being that I am I want them out of our space.

There was one close to Butch’s head and I was focused on it as it flew between his head and the wall. I figured I could hit it with my cap and do it in if it got just a little closer to the hard surface. Conditions came together and I hit. WHACK!!!!

My strike was sudden and loud and accurate. Neither Butch nor Goober was impressed with my accuracy and let all of us know with a loud ‘snort’ and body pull back. Thankfully both horses only took one sudden step back then their attention came right back to the riders.

Well, one time to spook the horse apparently was not enough for me. We were at the arena and riding was going well when a bee started circling mom who was not riding.

Again, me to the rescue. Cap in hand I waited for the right moment. That happened just as Butch and his rider were passing about 3 feet from me. A mighty swing and - WHAP!!!! Butch sucked to the side saying, “I don’t think so”.

When I talked to the rider later I found out she was paying close attention to the environment. From across the arena she saw my body language change to ‘bee battle mode’ and had a pretty good idea of what was going on and could happen.

She was able to prepare in case something sudden happened and Butch didn’t like it. She was able to ride through the spook with no problem at all.

I have to brag on my girl because when this girl started with me she had been on a run away horse and ended her ride very scared. Today she showed huge progress. Not only did the horse spook but she was in the English saddle for the first time.

I have to brag on Butch because when he came to me if either bug swats would have happened, he would have left the barn and in the arena taken off with the rider.

SO PROUD OF BOTH OF THEM.

Dan continually lets the volunteers and me know about his ‘steel trap’ mind that never forgets anything. He is so good to point out what we forget so …. When there is a water puddle in this location the pony tank overflowed. The reason – someone forgot. Also, this is the first fill after installing the new faucet so fill time has gone to 15 minutes instead of 2 hours. Which did you forget son?

We Had A Dose of Fear Today

Jas was on her way to the pony pen as I stepped out of the house. She said ‘snake’, I said ‘where’ and she pointed a few feet from her. It was still and stretched out pointed toward the pony pen. Later I found out she walked by it with about 2” between her and the snake. I think the following was in her favor; she walks quietly, and the wind was blowing toward her away from the snake so that should have taken care of scent and possibly sound. It didn’t strike or move.

Midst the barks of Drifter I walked over (close but not too close) to check the identity and yup – it had the noisemaker section. (I check the back end first – forget checking the shape of the head – that end bites). First order of business was to put Drifter in the house and out of the way.

I gave Jas the job of keeping it in sight and “don’t go close” while I went to fetch the pistol that I keep loaded with bird shot. My previous attempts with the ‘real deal’ shot is another story for another time. Suffice it to say I can hit one this way.

By the time I returned, it had moved just inside the pony pen. I shot and hit it. I haven’t killed a rattler in several years so that was an interesting experience for both of us. Of course there are the lingering movements of the snake and as we were watching two ponies headed our way. (It was now wayyyy past their grain time.) Jas headed them off and shooed them back into their hay pen where she locked them in.

I think we may have looked like a comedy act with Jas jumping on the shovel while I held it to cut the snake’s head off. It is always recommended to do this and bury the head because the fangs contain poison and can inject it simply by brushing the fangs. This protects other animals from accidently being poisoned.

If any students are interested, the rattles are hanging on the cork board in the tack up area in the barn. It looked to me like it was 2 to 2 ½ feet long. I did not get a yardstick to check it out thank you.

As I was giving thanks that Drifter wasn’t struck I remembered that is why I have the dogs given rattlesnake vaccine each spring. Yes, there is a vaccine now to protect them.

COWGIRL UP broken arm

MOM - I CAN DO IT

YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU TRY

I think Butch is beginning to trust us some. He is not as flighty about being caught, he settles quicker in the barn and is looking relaxed by the time he is pre-ride walked. He is now walking off with the riders, coming down from the trot to the walk quickly and relaxing in the trot as well as offering a much softer trot (so I am told). I haven’t tried him. To this point, he has only had adults on him with very similar energy and skills.

Recently a rider (adult) asked if she could ride Butch bareback. As we talked, the conditions were supportive of trying; the weather was a little cool but reasonably calm. Of course, by the time we got to the arena, it changed. It got so bad it looked like a lengthy sand storm was going to ensue. No one had gotten on yet so I sent them back to the barn. Within about two minutes, it all subsided – no sand on the horizon. The riders agreed that they were here, ready to go and willing to try.

We did experience some pretty nasty times in the arena due to heavy gusts of wind which picked up dirt and dropping temperatures. (This was the Sunday just prior to the snowstorm coming in.) Butch was willing to put some trust in the rider. I didn’t see him grab and jump one time with her. All they did was walk but he was willing to keep walking and every time I looked, he appeared relaxed. I am so proud of  my rider. She still gets a bit anxious but is getting herself under control so the horse can be comfortable. I love it.

A week later I decided to try one of my kids on Butch. This boy has his energy in the right place and is following instructions. It was a cool morning but nice. My rider did everything he was supposed to and was talking to Butch as I wanted him to. He was a little slower than the others in prepping so was the last one to the arena. After giving my rider the list of dos and don’ts he mounted. He started off fairly well. In a little bit Butch began trotting with him when he wasn’t asked so we worked on shutting him down.

As my rider came through the instructor’s corner (also known as the quit corner), both his mom and another parent yelled at him about keeping his legs off the horse. I saw him raise both his legs straight out to the side. When he did this, I think Butch thought he was going to wham him with the legs so he bolted to the trot. Of course this made the rider bounce which didn’t help Butch’s frame of mind. It finally got to the point that Butch wouldn’t walk. I crossed the arena and was able to intercept them and get Butch to focus on me and my body language message and we got him stopped.

As antsy as he was, I had to be careful since I was on his right side (he is still much  more reactive on this side). I carefully walked to the left and got a hand on the reins then talked to my rider. Bless him, he was in tears. I talked him through and told him I was not at all disappointed in him. Their energies just weren’t meshing today not his fault and not Butch’s fault. I led them to the quit corner and had the rider dismount and we talked some more.

When we went into the barn, my rider started humming to Butch and both of them got to a relaxed state. When he was brushing him out on the right side I was looking elsewhere. All of a sudden, I became aware of Butch jumping to t he side. My rider was on the floor in tears saying’ “It was an accident”. I asked if he was okay and then what happened. Apparently when he went to step down off the stool he stepped wrong and fell. That spooked Butch and my rider both. I told him everything was all right and he finished putting him up.

As he was putting his things away he commented that he had a rough morning. I agreed.

When we talked about his ride he made a very insightful comment about Butch, which was that he didn’t think Butch could help the way he was acting. I agree – the sensory stimulus was more than Butch could overcome and my rider wasn’t able to be the leader he needed.

My take away on Butch was that, although he is coming along, he couldn’t handle the sensation of someone bouncing in the saddle. His rider needs to be able to sit quietly down in the saddle for him to feel confident. The good news is that he didn’t take off trotting as vigorously as he did when he first arrived and I saw him looking for leadership. He is still a rough ride although the regular riders say he is getting better. The roughness will make it tougher for the kids though.

This is on the same day. A week earlier another rider and I had talked about riding Butch this week for her first time. After the early ride, my thought process bounced back and forth between ‘should I let her ride him or not’. This was to be her first ride on him and there have been confidence issues with this person. I decided there was enough break between this morning and her ride for Butch to totally reset his mind. We gave it a go and she did really well on him – Butch walked and trotted at her request.

She came in to have me check the saddle and I found the cinch about an inch and a half loose. She had been trotting and done just fine. Obviously her balance is getting good. I also believe it is easier for a rider with some weight on the bones to keep their rear end in the saddle where the kids are light weight and sometimes tend to become a little air borne.

KEEPING A SCHOOL HORSE FRESH

Shag has soured out a bit with the students. This means he doesn’t want to work for them and he is not going to listen. He and the student get into a tug of war resistance and he wins (only a 900# advantage in most cases).

I stopped using him for students a few weeks ago and I rode him. I rode bareback just walking for several rides so he could ‘tell’ me what the problems were.

The biggest was that people were relying on the reins for communication instead of taking their time to ask for what they wanted in the proper sequence. He let me know that if we will use words, sound and body for communication he is not only willing to listen but happy to give us what we ask.

This week I put a student on him for the first time and shared what I found. The last time she rode him it was the tug of war. This time, with the new approach, she was in high spirits. He became a willing partner for her and she learned so much about her responsibilities as a rider. All they did was walk but this a powerful lesson.

The rider enjoyed bareback because she felt she received so much more information from Shag than when she rides with a saddle.

 

Cow Girl Up - A Really Cold Day

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



NRG - Change of Attitude

REMINDER – A HORSE IS A HORSE

When I brought Lil to the pen gate to go out, her head went up, eyes went wide, body went tense and she produced ‘roller snorts’. When I looked around, the only thing I could see that changed was a puddle in Teefa’s pen and that was definitely what caught her eye.

Of course, to go out the gate meant we had to go closer to it. I made sure I did my job correctly going through the gate so as not to become ‘road kill’ when she spooked at it – and spook she did. We worked about 90 seconds on the scary thing then she decided it wouldn’t bite. She was fine from that point on.

This incident brought back memories of a similar situation in which I didn’t listen to the horse and do what I should have for them (not any I have today). The end result on that was the horse knocked me down and out.

This is just a reminder that all of us dealing with horse need to remember ‘Given the right circumstances, any horse will act like a horse’. We are the ones that have to insure our own safety.

I took the picture just as soon as I tied Lil up so we can ‘see through her eyes’ how it looked. We had lots of shadows (always do this time of day) and reflections from the water (new to this location).  

BUTCH MAKES ME APPRECIATE WHAT MY HORSES PUT UP WITH ..

Having had the herd of horses that I do for as long as I have, I take them for granted a lot of the time. They have become pretty mellow about the stupid things that we humans do. Butch makes me remember, he is the new kid and not so mellow.

 

The colder weather is causing Butch to stay in the reactive side of his brain more and, if not there, go to it quickly. We may or may not know why he does.

 I planned on grabbing Butch and riding him bareback in a lesson.

 

When I went into his pen to catch him he looked quite nervous then turned away from me. He headed toward the barn end of the pen and I went after him. He again was quite reactive – head up, body tense. I reached to pet him and his body felt knotted. He whirled away from me again and took off. I had left the gate (stupid me) a little open and he found the opening and ran out.

Two riders were already in the arena holding their horses. Thankfully the Big Boss was in charge and neither one had gotten on. Butch left his pen at a trot and I was afraid he was just going to run off the place. He didn’t. He saw the horses in the arena and turned in the gate. I closed the outside lane gate before I left his pen and the other gate up to the barn. Then I went through the end pen to the arena, which meant getting down on the ground to go under the rail – that reminded me the body doesn’t bend much anymore. I managed to straighten my feet out and pulled up on the fence.

I closed the arena gate penning him inside and then walked over to Butch and pulled the gate open where I wanted him to go. He stepped away from me and I tried to carefully shush him into the opening. In his pen it was ‘get away from me’ and now it was ‘duh’. He didn’t move but his stance showed he was ready to take off if I did the least little thing wrong. I was slow and careful. He did walk off and of course missed the opening. I was able to steer him back and this time he found the way through.

I stepped through the gate behind him into the alley then closed the gate. He was now captured but not yet penned. Next I herded him toward his pen. Naturally he went into the one across the way from his. He came right out and found his open gate. I locked him in then went to the arena. By this time I was a little peeved at him for his behavior. As I was cleaning up the bridle and reins that I didn’t use I found a whip on the ground.
 

I realized that I stuck the whip in my back pocket before I went in to catch Butch. I was taking it because my rider forgot it for Lil. That was sticking up behind me when I went in to get Butch and he doesn’t accept that kind of thing. I had forgotten that it was there so that accelerated his anxiety and started the whole fiasco. (Sure does make me appreciate my old gang – they put up with a lot and do it gracefully).

 

Later I did go into his pen again after I threw in the hay just to make sure we quit the day on a ‘together’ note. Thank goodness he is not one who is out to get you. He was still a little reactive but his body was reasonably relaxed. 

 

Three days later a long-term teen-age student rode Butch bareback. It was a cool morning and there was a pretty strong wind blowing. She did a good job with him even trotting him with things appearing to be fairly under control. As he trotted along the south side of the arena he would dodge to the middle when he reached the electric pole and teen-ager had to gather up reins and get him back on the original course. I asked her to transition him down to a walk and walk him down that side. When she did he didn’t dodge to the middle.

 

At the end of the lesson, she brought him in to dismount. She stopped then lay down on his neck a minute before getting off. After she dismounted, I took the reins to hold him while she put on her boots. (They slip off when riding bareback so she rides barefoot, even on cold days.) All of a sudden Butch spooked, pulled away from  me and ran across the arena. I walked after him saying ‘whoa’ which he finally did. I walked up to him  and caught him.

 

When I picked up the reins he raised his head and rocked back on his feet – keeping them in place. The thought ran through my mind that he has been whipped when he ran off  in the past. I stepped up and rubbed a moment before turning him over to teen-ager.

 

I am sure glad the Big Boss was looking after things. Teen-ager was off Butch with her feet firmly on the ground before he went stupid. Had she been  mounted at the time he would have unloaded her with the jump/turn he took.

Teen-ager, grandmother and I all discussed what possibly caused the ruckus and did not identify a cause; all we could do was speculate.

It looks like Butch and I have some work to do on this particular subject.

WEATHER MAKES IT TOUGH...

SHE GOT BACK ON

COWGIRL UP - ONE TOUGH COOKIE

MELTDOWN

Six weeks earlier ……..

Son arrived for his lesson in his usual slow motion, whiny mood. He didn’t want to come and his mother promised him ice cream if he rode. Key words “if he rode”. And, the horse of the day was Lil (for those who know her the story doesn’t have to be told). Son’s attitude did not get any better by the time he finished tacking up and we got to the arena where he got on. Of course Lil pushed all his buttons by not working which made him more and more frustrated and mad.

He finally shut down, crying and arguing. I told him he had a choice to either get down or stop the crying and ride. It got so bad I told him he was going to have to get down if he couldn’t manage his energy. He said he couldn’t get off. If he did, he wouldn’t get the ice cream that had been promised. I tried again to get him to choose to ride and try, which he didn’t. I then told him I was making the choice for him and he would get down.

He did dismount and it was literally kicking and screaming. I had other riders besides him so mom took son and the horse to the barn. After they were there a few minutes I became aware of his resistance and complaining getting louder and louder with mom telling him to not come into the horse area.

I finally walked to the barn, stepped in where the boy was, looked at him and told him to come with me. We walked back to the arena where I told him to go sit on the bleachers. He did and then began to justify his behavior and continue to whine and cry. I didn’t release him until mom was done with the horse and joined us.

 She and I talked and she did say that this has happened before with activities. When it did, they stopped the activity. I told her I wasn’t trying to tell her how to raise her child but I could see beyond this tantrum. He wasn’t the first to pull one and some others had been just as bad. I told her that if she thought it was worth it, we could hang in there and keep giving him the opportunity to get himself under control.

After giving it a week’s thought, she decided to continue. And now, two and a half months later … the rest of the story.

A side note – prior to this next ride, the last 4 have been good as far as his energy and attitude.

 

Today ……….

 

Son arrived in excellent ‘horse energy’. He was focused, calm and in good spirits. The good spirits stayed even after he found out his horse assignment was Lil. The set up of equipment went well as did tack up. Before he got on, I told him that I was very pleased to see the energy he was demonstrating and if he could keep it during the ride it would be a good one.

He listened to and followed all directions. He kept himself in good horse energy the entire ride although Lil (mistress of push frustration and anger buttons of riders) did her usual of not cooperating. He was able to get her going when she stopped and even began to keep her going and not let her stop.

 

After the ride I asked him if everything had gone smooth. He said yes. I asked if the adults with him (his mom and me) were happy. He said yes. His mom asked if the horse was happy today and he said yes. I asked him if he was happy and the answer was yes. I then asked if he knew why everyone was happy and he said his energy. I answered yes and asked him how it felt to control the energy of those around him. He thought it was pretty good. I reminded him that if he wanted good happening to him he needed to demonstrate those energies so they could come back to him.

Mom had mentioned to me that she thought it would be cool to take son to the bull riding BUT did not mention it to Son before the lesson. That way, he could concentrate on the lesson. They are both getting regarding this thing called ‘try’ and setting up to succeed.

 
Mom mentioned today that she is seeing a new maturity in him (right on). She also admitted she needs to do some letting go and that is hard – but – that is a mom’s job, to keep her eye on the goal and raise a man or a woman, not a child. So proud of them both.

YOU’RE LOOKING AT A CONSEQUENCE

In the picture you see a young man receiving a consequence.

An hour and a half earlier, when he arrived for his lesson, he and mom didn’t make it into the barn like they usually do. I finally went over to the car to see what was going on. When I got there a very low energy boy disembarked, leaned on mom and with long face and slow words informed me that he was tired. I asked him what the point was. He wasn’t sure about riding. My next question was to ask him if I needed to go catch Pepper (who is one of his favorites). His energy began to change, interest coming to his face and he told me to go catch him.

By the time he started tacking up his energy was where I like to see it and he was focused and in a fairly good mood. A few minutes into his ride Pepper shook with him – he grabbed and stayed on and didn’t get scared – in fact he looked pretty pleased because not long ago Pepper shook a rider off. His ride was a good one and mom and I talked about kids, character, life lessons and the ability to control one’s energy. We also talked about consequences, positive as well as negative and that all behavior produces one or the other.

As he was untacking I talked to him about consequences and asked if he knew what they were. He said yes and his first example was of negative. I asked if he had experienced positive consequences too. He said yes. I then told him I thought he needed to experience a consequence for his behavior today. At this point, he looked a bit worried.  I told him I was pleased with the way he got his energy into positive mode and had a good ride. I then told him I thought he needed to go with me on the ATV to put Pepper away – that was his consequence. His face lit up and he thought that was a pretty good consequence.

By the way, do you like my red-neck horse transport?

Thank you Kerianne for the photo.  10/29/12