Hay in Her Pockets

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I have read the book (which is the proper order to do things in anyway).  You can read my review of it at Horse Nation by clicking HERE.

Sometimes people tell me they think I am very patient.  This used to surprise me because I don’t think of myself as a patient person.  I have a hard time waiting for the things I want (then again, who doesn’t?).  But it turns out that I don’t mind explaining, and re-explaining, and re-explaining something if I think the horse or person I’m working with is trying.  It’s the try that is so important.

Case in point:  Last week I decided to practice trailer loading with Lindy.  It had been awhile since we’d gotten in the trailer and since she’s the stickiest loader of my three horses and I just happened to have the trailer all hitched up for our departure to the Bay Area the next morning, and there was a Horse Husband on hand to watch The Kid,  it seemed like a great time.   My plan was that as soon as Lindy got all four feet in the trailer and got some praise, I would just throw her back out in the pasture…  as in, Surprise!  Sometimes we just get in the moving box for kicks (not the literal kind)!

Except accomplishing my plan took two hours.

It involved a very sweaty horse.

And a very tired human (who was also a bit sweaty).

And a very curious neighbor, who looked over the hedges periodically to say things like:  ”Is that horse part mule?” (to which I said, “I’m starting to think so!”) and “Who’s going to win?” (“Me. I hope!”)

If Lindy had been scared, it would be one thing.  But really, she just didn’t want to get into the trailer.  I have to say, this was the first time she’s really tested my patience or resolve.  There were several points when I thought maybe I should just call it quits.  But I really wanted to make progress, and since very early on in our two hours (say, after 10 min.) Lindy had gotten her front two feet in the trailer, I felt very certain that I shouldn’t stop until I at least got back to that point.

The only modification I made to my usual technique (getting close to the trailer = rest, being away from the trailer = work) was that I started giving Lindy treats when she made a bigger effort to get into the trailer.  That’s because at a certain point, she just started getting right to the edge but then just wouldn’t step up.  I started to feel like she wasn’t trying any more, which made me think she just didn’t know what I wanted her to try.  That seems awfully dim-witted and she usually strikes me as pretty clever, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

So, I don’t know if my patience did the trick, or the treats.  I’m not sure I really care.

I just hope the next time we try trailer loading, it takes a lot less time.

This week’s book review (of  The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss)

is up at Horse Nation.  You can read it by clicking HERE!

You can find my rant about bell boots over here on Horse Nation.

Because doesn’t everyone hate bell boots as much as me?

Except for these.  These are the only bell boots I’ve ever loved:

I just wish they came in green, darn it.

Lindy wore the big girl pants the other weekend.

sort of.

She got in the trailer in less than 5 attempts on the way to the trail ride and on the second attempt on the way home.

She was calm upon unloading at the Bear Creek Rd. Staging area of Briones Regional Park.  She happily allowed herself to be ponied on unfamiliar trails, in the drizzle, for the longest trail ride of her life (OK, so 3 hours isn’t that long, but still!).

She did, um, kick a few horses though.  It was provoked the first two times.  After that, not so much.

So maybe she’ll be wearing a red ribbon in her tail instead if big girl pants…

I have a thing for Horse Encyclopedias.  And this might just be my favorite one ever!

You can read my review  for Horse Nation HERE!

I have a weekly horsey book review column on Horse Nation (which is a pretty entertaining website even without my help).

Here’s my first one about the novel Horseplay.

Look for a new review each Wednesday.

This week at the ranch has been plague week.  Witness:

hundreds (I’m not kidding) of yellow jackets drinking from the water fountain and hoses

swarms of ants searching for water in my grain buckets, in my water bottle in my truck….

who knows how many flies driving the horses crazy (their stomping sounded like a percussion section the other night)

but most amazingly, the INFESTATION of yet-to-be-named bugs crawling all over the roundpen fence, footing, and the dirt and weeds around the roundpen.  Seriously, it was MILLIONS!  I’ve never seen so many bugs in one place.

If they had been locusts we would have run away screaming in terror.

For the last year, I’ve been watching Lindy trot around at liberty and wondering what I have done by bringing home this horse who moves like a sewing machine needle when she gets excited– her legs going up and down faster and faster and faster.

Meanwhile, there would be Sadie, doing a lovely, floaty, balanced and fancy lengthening right next to Lindy.

I’d look at Lindy’s conformation and think that she looked nicely put together.  Put together a lot like Sadie, in fact.  And then I’d wonder why Lindy couldn’t move like Sadie.  Or I’d remind myself how the finer points of conformation analysis is just not my strong suit (while trying to draw hindquarter triangles on Lindy and Sadie, imagining plumb lines dropping through their forearm grooves, checking the slope of their humerus and assessing the height of their stifle bulges).

For that last year I’ve been telling myself that it’s just that Lindy didn’t have the strength or balance to move like Sadie (but then I’d think about how warmbloods are born moving that way, how Sadie came to me moving like that, and I’d wonder if I was kidding myself).

Even when Lindy started being able to balance herself a bit better and slow her rhythm, there still wasn’t a lot of suspension.  But at least it was improvement and I figured if that was the best Lindy could do, that would be OK.  I really got her to be a lesson pony, not my next show pony.

But yesterday, being a crazed loon in the roundpen, suddenly Lindy pulled off a trot lengthening that had some float, some cadence, some fancy-pants-ness.

Hallelujah!

This past weekend, Lindy made her road-trip debut.

Which is to say, I put her in the horse trailer for the first time since I brought her home a little over a year ago.  But what made Sunday special was that after she got in the trailer, we headed over to my friend Mariah’s house and we went for a trail ride!  And this, my friends, was marvelous.  And so marvelously grown up for a little pony (actually, I measured her the other day, and she is now officially 15 hands– not quite so tiny as she used to be).

Lindy wasn’t totally sure she wanted to get into the moving box at first, which seems reasonable.  I mean really, why would a prey animal want to get into an enclosed box and head down the freeway?   But she was very calm about the whole enterprise, and once she figured out that yes, indeed, I wanted her to get in that thing, she was pretty game to try (see my post from Thursday describing my trailer loading technique).  She hauled well (despite a bit of pawing when we stopped to get gas), and even better, she got out of the trailer, looked around Mariah’s yard, and decided to try eating the lawn.  Now, that I like!

After letting Lindy cruise around Mariah’s yard, meeting Mariah’s horses and the neighbor’s horses and eating grass (I had to make good on my promise to Lindy that it was gonna be a fun road trip!), Mariah and I saddled up and went for a ride out in the fields around Mariah’s house.

Lindy was a star!  About 10 minutes into our ride, she settled into her usual mellow walk, happy to let Mariah and Kanan cruise well ahead of her.  She was a little worried about some of the weird things dumped out in the fields (old bathtubs, old propane tanks…), but really, who wouldn’t be concerned about those things?  And even better, she just stopped, looked, and figured it would be more fun to follow Kanan (who obviously had not been devoured by said weird object) than continue staring.

The real purpose of our ride was to work on cantering though.  Since cantering in the roundpen or arena has proven tricky, Mariah suggested trying to canter out on the trail, where Lindy could follow another horse’s lead and learn the aids for cantering in the process (and get stronger carrying a rider at the canter without having to worry about turning).

When we got to a nice relatively level straight-away, we trotted uneventfully.  So we decided it was time to canter (at this point, I should say that I like to call Mariah “The Instigator” and thus I use the term “we” here loosely.  Really what happened is Mariah insisted that we were going to canter.  I was already so happy with the outcome of the whole trip that left to my own devices, I might have called it a day… although I would have gone home slightly disappointed with myself for wimping out).

As discussed ahead of time, Mariah cantered away on Kanan.  The idea was that Lindy would see Kanan cantering and would want to canter with him.  The reality was that she just trotted happily along, letting Kanan get farther and farther away.  Yeah, I guess now we know why she didn’t last at the track (and oddly, Sadie is exactly the same way).  I will admit here that I didn’t really urge her to canter.  I just wanted to see what she’d do.  I will also admit that I kind of liked that she didn’t just canter off and get all competitive (have I mentioned I’m a little wimpy?  or that I always have time faults going cross country?).

So then we tried plan B, which was that we started trotting with Lindy in front.  Mariah and Kanan then passed us by at the canter, at which point, Lindy was supposed to canter.  Only she didn’t.  This time I urged her to canter and lo and behold, we got it!  A nice, smooth, easy canter.  Not an amazing, Clue-worthy canter, but a very, very nice canter.  We cantered for awhile and then turned around and cantered back.  Just like at the trot, Lindy was happy to stay at her own speed, regardless of how far away Kanan got.

The only “trouble” we had was that every time there was a little downhill slope, Lindy would trot.  I’m not sure if this is because I couldn’t help myself and subconsciously half-halted to try to help her balance or if she was trying to balance herself by trotting.  My guess is that it was my doing.  Next time I’m going to channel my inner eventer and just kick on!  Especially now that I’m fairly certain Lindy isn’t going to trip and fall and kill us both.