Memoirs: A Horse Girl Rides Tackless

There are few things in this world that I have loved as long or as unconditionally as I have horses and riding.  When I was in middle school, there was a period of time where I could not take lessons, so I improvised.  My Oma lived near two older, Arabian ponies, the very same ponies that I first touched and sat upon as a three-year-old child.  I brought my brushes and a lead line and (with permission) gave those old horses the grooming of their lives. After a couple visits, I grew tired of just brushing them.  Obviously, I wanted to ride, too.  I poked around the barn looking for a saddle or bridle, but there wasn't much to be found.  I vaguely remember a dusty, Western saddle, which I could never have lifted at the time, and a loose bit hanging on a hook, but this was far from workable gear. So I did what any determined, horse-crazy girl would do; I decided to ride without tack.

First, I tied my lead line to the gelding's halter.  I wanted to ride him, because he was the more feisty of the two.  I saved the mare, the sweet Littlebit, for my sister to ride, if the experiment went well with King.  King enjoyed being brushed and fed carrots, but he wasn't completely on board with the whole riding thing.  He probably hadn't been ridden in a good ten years and did not show signs of missing it.  It took some coaxing to get him to stand on the low part of a slope, so that I could climb on.  I had never mounted without a block or a stirrup, so my first attempts were very awkward and probably hilarious to a bystander.  I wonder if the owners could see me from their house?

Once on King's back, I was cautious.  I patted and talked to him, trying to show the old boy that I just wanted a little time on his back.  I must have gotten on him a dozen times and just stood there, content to just sit, but eventually I wanted more.  One day, I took the lead line-reins and turned King around. Then I gave him a little nudge with my heels.  Unsurprisingly, he wouldn't move.  I tried several times, each time more insistence.  King had obviously mastered the stubborn pony routine long ago and was not the least persuaded by my efforts.  After careful thought, I formulated a better plan.  I slid off his back and walked him by hand away from the paddock gate and the mare (who was actually his sister).  I positioned him on the low part of the hill, so that I could (more) easily hop onto his back.  I knew before I got on, that my plan was going to work.  Suddenly, there was life in the old horse's eyes and a new anxiousness.  He wanted to be back at the gate.  I grabbed mane flung my leg over and clucked.  My pony cantered up the hill eagerly and stopped at the mare.

Victory!

I had done it! I had ridden King without a saddle or a bridle and survived!

And so began many happy visits where I rode King up the hill to his sister.  I dare say, he grew to enjoy our short jaunts, because he became less and less ornery.  I was even able to ask him to wait for my signal to run up the hill and later on, I was able to steer him around the paddock in his halter. He did try to buck me off a couple times when I urged him to walk away from his sister, but thankfully my young legs were wrapped tightly around his barrel and my butt never left his back.  I always rewarded him with carrots when he was compliant and eventually I had my sister riding the mare, so walking away from her was no longer a problem.  I learned a lot from those short, bareback rides and I think of them fondly.

I was reminded of what it is like to ride in a halter a little while ago.  I had not sat on my horse in many, many weeks.  I looked at his blanketed back and the thick rope lead line.  I looked at Harley and asked, "Are you up for a walk? "

Thankfully, he was.  I felt like a kid riding my pony again, but without any anxiousness about how he might behave, because this was Harley, and I knew he would be a good boy.  We walked around the yard and the riding ring, paying visits to the other horses and just enjoying one another's company. Harley snorted with happiness and I felt that twinge of excitement at being on my horses back tackless.

Riding An Alpha Horse

And Why I Appreciate My Horse's Place In The Pecking Order

Somehow, I managed to squeeze in a short ride yesterday between work, dinner and an evening meeting.  I have been thinking a lot lately about how much I appreciate my horse.  He is right for me in so many ways, from his size to his personality and work ethic.  Yesterday, I thought of another reason why I love my horse: he is an alpha.

Harley is a leader of other horses.  Since I have owned him, he has gone from a somewhat delinquent horse who did not understand the basic physical cues of his paddock mates to a master of the equine language.  I have written a memoir documenting my observations of his transformation:

A Girl's Horse Learns the Horse Language

Even though my horse only has one paddock mate, he is very clearly the one in charge.  Harley is always first at the gate for meals and he gets first shot at the hay and water.  He can sniff his paddock mate freely and and will greet him when they have been apart.  He may choose to share piles of hay with his friend or chase him from a more desirable pile.  He can move his friend around the paddock with subtle gestures and corrects any overstepping of boundaries with an escalated response.  Sometimes he stands watch while his friend sleeps on the ground.  In addition to this, he will assert himself with other horses if necessary.  For example:

Harley will defend himself.  Harley is a great trail horse, but if the rider behind him allows his horse to repeatedly run up Harley's butt, he will kick the offending horse.  Interestingly, he has only had to do this twice and both horses were big-chested Fjords with poor brakes.  They each backed-off after my horse delivered his swift justice.  Harley also loves to lead on the trail (Most other horses are too slow for him, anyway.)

Harley will protect a timid horse.  I observed this interesting behavior, again, on the trail.  We used to ride with a nice paint horse that was well-matched with my horse in pace, but this horse had a nervous personality.  He seemed to get comfort from being in contact with Harley's backside when we were standing at a halt.  Unlike Harley's corrective response with pushy horses, my horse allowed the paint to rest his face against his hip.  He never made an attempt to correct this horse and showed no resentment toward him.  The support he was lending the nervous paint, became very clear on a fateful trail ride when a women's horse bolted dangerously through the woods and she fell off face-first.  She suffered some minor injuries and was extremely shaken up, which required that the entire group stop and wait.  Her horse was high-strung and nervous.  Harley remained stoic, almost indifferent to the wacky horse.  His demeanor was not influenced at all, which put me at ease (while I silently vowed never to ride with a wacky horse/rider combination again).  The nervous paint buried his face in my horse's flank for the entire time that we had to wait.  His rider was very grateful for this, as she felt must safer knowing that her horse was glued, almost literally, to mine.

Harley does not tolerate rudeness from other horses.  There have been a couple instances where my horse was grazing outside his paddock and another horse (in a paddock) said or did something rude.  The rude thing was either sniffing Harley without permission or saying something "explicit" in horse, which I did not understand and could not detect at the time.  In both cases, Harley sent one of his hind feet toward the face of the offending horse with lightning speed.  If you ever see how quickly horses can deliver a kick, you will realize how lucky we are that they are rarely aggressive toward humans.  One of these kicks sent the top fence board flying.  He drove it right off the nails without splitting the board.  In each situation, his muzzle never left the grass and he never missed a mouthful.  His hoof did not make contact with the rude horse, but the horse still backed away and left Harley to enjoy his grazing.

Harley knows when to ignore other horses.  I find this behavior to be particularly interesting.  There is one horse on the farm who is also an alpha of sorts.  He is much younger than Harley and has a very different style.  He can be pretty aggressive toward his paddock mates if they fall out of line and he has much less subtle gestures and tactics.  I kind of consider him a "poser".  I think that if he and Harley ever went head-to-head, my horse would be the victor, but I am NOT interested in testing this theory.  If I walk my horse by this horse's stall, the horse will bare his teeth and pin his ears.  He makes horrible dinosaur faces at Harley and on occasion kicks his stall door.  These gestures are very clearly directed at my horse, although they have never been paddock mates and rarely interact.  I expect my horse to retaliate against this very rude horse behavior, but Harley never does.  His response is to completely and utterly ignore the young horse.  He doesn't even flick an ear in the angry horse's direction and sometimes has a noticeably sweet look on his face.  It is difficult for me to tell exactly what is going on here.  Is my horse purposely insulting the aggressive horse by not responding to him and sending the message that his assertions are not important or is he so uninterested in the young horse's advances that they literally do not register?  This behavior is so intriguing and has led me to believe that the young horse is a "false alpha" attempting in vain to fool Harley into submission or fear.

So what do these things have to do with riding an alpha horse?  Based on my observations and experiences with my horse, I have concluded that his alpha status contributes to his reliability under saddle.  He is not upset by other horses who are upset and he does not imitate the behavior of other horses.  When horses in the paddock immediately adjacent to the riding ring play and run, sometimes at a dead gallop, he carries on with our ride, as if they are not there exploding with energy.  He ignored a fiery mare on the Turkey Trot a few years ago, who was so unpredictable that she reared several times in the company of strangers (As an aside, I think her helmet-less rider should not have brought her to a public trail ride.).  Harley considers himself the one who gives direction, not the one who receives it, at least as far as other horses are concerned, and I see this as an asset in a riding horse.

Despite his alpha status, my horse is far from dominant or disobedient towards humans.  Harley likes taking direction from me and wants to communicate.  He is not timid, nervous, or dull (passive aggressive) under saddle, which I think a horse lower in the pecking order may be.  The only downside to his alpha status that I can think of is that he will anticipate movements (but I can even use this to my advantage).  He is also opinionated and will object if I "do it wrong".  For example, if I put my legs too far back when traveling forward he may stop ("You're blocking me.") and if use too much leg in asking for the canter he will leap or bound into the gait ("Don't shout at me!") to remind me to whisper my aids.  On the upside, he seems to know what I am thinking and will often begin moving sideways, changing gear, or changing his bend before I physically change my aids.  I attribute these qualities to the confidence and free-thinking that is required of the lead horse.

My Barefoot Horse: Stages of Trimming

Last weekend, I trimmed Harley's feet.  I worked on his front feet on Saturday and his hind feet on Sunday.  This is still a doable activity for me and also still very rewarding.  I am more grateful than ever for the hoof stand and the new, sharp rasp that my husband got me for Christmas.  I can take down excess hoof wall very quickly with that tool (a standard length rasp with handle covers on both ends).  I still need the shorter, Ladies' Rasp for the bevel.

Leaning over is not my friend right now, but squatting is fine and an excellent exercise for my body.  I squatted as much as possible while trimming Harley's feet and this protected my back and made my job a lot easier.  I switched from the left foot to the right foot periodically, to give both of us a rest.  I like to work each of my horse's feet in stages back and forth until both front feet are finished.  Then I move on to the hinds or trim them on a different day.

The Stages of My Hoof Trimming Process
(Please see the Disclaimer at the bottom of this webpage.):

Pre-Inspection: Look at all of my horse's feet and legs while he is standing in the aisle.  His limbs should be straight above each foot.  Note any flare at ground level or bulging hairlines at the coronet, if present.  In my experience with my own horse, a balanced foot that is trimmed often enough should not have flare or a bulging hairline.

Stage one: Take down excess hoof wall that is standing "proud" of the sole.  This includes the heels.

Stage two: Bring the toe back to the white line with a strong bevel*.  I use the foot as a guide rather than measure angles, but the rasp is at about forty-five degrees, if you are curious.

Stage three: Continue beveling the hoof wall from the toe to the quarters.  The bevel should be strong enough that no outer hoof wall (dark pigmentation in Harley) will touch the ground and most of the inner hoof wall (unpigmented hoof wall, also called the "water line") is also off the ground*. 

Stage four: Address the height of the heels in relation to the entire foot.  Carefully rasp away more hoof wall if the heels are standing above the live sole in the buttresses.  This used to also require that I scrape chalky, dead sole out of the buttresses, but I have not had to the that for quite some time now.  Bring the heels back so that there is a large surface area to distribute weight upon landing.  Bevel the dark, outer hoof wall at the heels and join this continuous bevel with the bevel at the quarters.  This is the newest addition to my trimming process.

Stage five: Inspect each foot and touch up any missed areas.  Smooth and round the edge of the bevel all the way around the hoof.  This can be down while viewing the bottom of the foot or by bringing the foot forward on a stand.  Excess flare at the quarters can also be removed in this way, but that has not been required in Harley's trims since I have started continuing the bevel all the way around the foot.

Stage six: Double or triple check the heels for balance in relation to the entire foot.  In general, the heels of the same foot should both have been brought back to the same point and the height of the heels should be the same as viewed from the back of the foot, looking across the entire foot as if you were viewing the lip of a drinking glass.

Stage seven: Trim the bars flush with the sole and any excess bar material next to the frog.  Treat the frogs, if necessary.  The constant wet and mud is not kind to frogs this time of year.

Post-Inspection: Repeat the pre-inspection.  My horse should be weighting his entire foot, back to front, and no outer hoof wall should be touching the ground.  Ideally, he is standing square and dispersing his weight evenly laterally and from back to front.  I take a step back and inspect the entire foot, limb, and horse periodically throughout the trimming process.  It only takes a second and keeps the whole horse in my mind, because each foot does not exist as an entity in and of itself!

*If there is any separation of the hoof wall from the laminae (white line), then I bevel to the white line.  This happens at the quarters in periods of fast growth when I am not trimming often enough to keep up with his need to weather hoof wall.  I try my best to avoid this by trimming more often in the spring and summer than I do in the fall or winter.

I did not take many pictures this time around, because I wanted to limit the number of times that I had to lean over.  I would have left my camera in the bag completely, but the heels on his front feet made me cheer with glee so I had to snap a picture.

Right front: Large weight-bearing surface at each heel.  This and the next photo were taken after "stage one".

Left front: The heel surfaces appear to have become larger since I started continuing the bevel all the way to the heels.

Left front, post-trim (oops! blurry)

Right front, post-trim

Put carrots here as needed (Harley encourages liberal, frequent applications).  Well-timed carrots foster good behavior and cooperation from your equine partner.  I will give a carrot during a break after he has stood nicely and waited for me to put his foot down.  If he is fidgety or takes his foot away, he does not get a carrot.  He is allowed to ask to put his foot down to adjust his stance.  I oblige him.  Sometimes he moves his foot a bit to show me that he wants it in a different spot (move the stand back, for example).  I am more than happy to work with him so we can both be as comfortable as possible.  For me, trimming is a lengthy process at about 15 minutes per foot working back and forth between the left and right.

Buddy Update: Harley and his paddock mate are back together again.  The mud has persisted, but the separation of friends has not.  I am very happy for both of them, even if they are making a terrible mess slopping around together in the mud.  Apparently, they were running and playing quite a lot.

Where Art Thou, Friend?

Harley has a dilemma.  The dilemma has become his indirectly, but I am sure that in his mind, the problem is 100% his to deal with.

You see, Harley's friend has a foot problem called navicular (shiver).  Navicular is a condition which scares me the way laminitis and colic scare me.  His friend has been barefoot for years and improved dramatically when his shoes where removed, but recently (the past 12 months) his comfort has decreased.  His owner is very caring and dedicated.  She has been giving him special (read: expensive) supplements to make his feet feel better and hopefully offer some healing.  She also employs body and energy work techniques and booted him with feverish regularity for the better part of a year.  When his comfort could not be improved enough with these tactics, she recently decided to take the plunge and have glue-on shoes installed on his front tooties.  He is now sporting Epona shoes, which I find very curious, but unfortunately I cannot examine them and satisfy my curiousity, because his glue-on shoes are covered with cast material.

Why the double duty (shoes and casts) you ask?  The answer is simple:

MUD

We have lots of it right now in southern New Jersey.  The mud is thick and deep and sticky.  It is especially bad at the entrance to Harley's shed.  Harley visible despises walking through it and will actually balk when I ask him to leave the shed and follow me.  This is very un-Harley-like, but the expression on his face when he squishes through the ankle deep mud says it all:

This sucks.

And what it really sucks at is shoes.  Mud especially loves EXPENSIVE shoes.  The more expensive the better.  Harley's buddy is sporting some champs right now and the good news is that they have finally made him comfortable.  His owner reports that her horse was trying to entice Harley to play with him using the "nip and run" strategy shortly after the installation of his new flats.  Harley loves to run around, but she said that he actually looked surprised and a little confused since his docile friend does not usually initiate such games.  I was very happy for all three of them.

But now, the mud is threatening to rip off the precious hoofware that is making Harley's friend so happy, which would make him an unhappy pony and his owner very, very unhappy (Did I mention that the shoes are expensive?).

When I visited Harley yesterday, I found that his friend was no longer in the same paddock as Harley.  Harley's friend is temporarily hanging out in the riding ring, because the sand is doing a much better job of draining the water.  His shoes should be much safer in those conditions, but it is sad that they are also temporarily separated.  Their living arrangements are right next to each other and they can definitely see each other and even stand within thirty feet of each other if they want to, but they are still apart until the mud subsides.

I thought about moving Harley over there with his friend, but I really do not want to do that.  The riding ring is adjacent to another horse paddock and the horses tend to fraterinize over the fence.  This is unsafe and a horse management no-no in my book.  Harley's friend will probably be fine, but Harley is an alpha.  I do not want him fighting with another alpha over the fence.  I have never seen Harley fight with another horse, but I do not want to give him a 24/7 opportunity to give it a try, so separated they must stay for the time being.

As an aside, it was so windy that his mane was completely flipped to the other side of his neck in the next photos.

There was some heavy nickering going on here.

Don't worry guys!  It's only temporary.

Memoirs: A Horse Girl & An Unquiet Horse

As a therapeutic riding instructor, I have worked with a fair number of donated or nearly donated (reduced-price) horses.  I have also test ridden and handled potential therapeutic mounts.  All of these horses had something in common: an owner or seller who described the horse as quiet and easy to handle.  I learned with time to take the opinion of owners and sellers of potential therapeutic horses or any sale horse with a grain of salt.  I do not mind if the horse has a quirk, one thing that really bothers him, or needs some remedial training.  What I do mind is the horse of an owner/seller who misrepresents their animal to the potential harm of others.  Such misrepresentation may not be intentional, but ignorance can cause just as many problems as outright deception.

For example, many years ago I test rode a horse who was outwardly quiet.  He stood quietly for grooming and tacking up.  The apparent trainer of the horse confessed that he liked the horse and found him easy to handle, but that his girlfriend let the horse get too nosy.  I made a note of this comment and said nothing.  The horse was taken out to a large round pen with high solid walls, the kind that you cannot see over.  The trainer worked the horse in the round pen, demonstrating the horse's obedience in all three gaits and both directions.  Then the trainer got on the horse and rode him around the round pen.  The horse never missed a step and moved on a loose rein like a good, Western mount.  The guy also stood upright on the horse's back demonstrating that the horse would stand reliably.  This was very impressive.

After observing the horse safely handled and ridden, it was my turn to handle him and to get on.  After some basic leading, I mounted the horse and he stood quietly.  I tested his "whoa" after taking a few steps forward and repeated the test several times using different degrees of rein pressure, seat, and my voice to see how sensitive the horse's brakes were.  Then we moved up a gear and I rode the horse in all three gaits in both directions.  The horse went just as easily for me as it had for the trainer and I rode him entirely on a loose rein, as I had seen the trainer ride him.  My employer and I were wise to the fact that horses may behave differently in different settings, so we asked to ride the horse in a fenced-in arena instead of the round pen.  The trainer obliged and we walked the horse to an outdoor riding ring.

The horse was mostly the same fellow in the new ring, except for a new discovery: he had no interest in rein contact.  Now, I do not expect a future therapeutic horse to be a dressage horse, but acceptance of the bit and contact with the bit is basic training for the ridden horse.  This horse was mildly rude about the contact if I shortened the reins.  This told me that the horse had some holes in his training and possibly some leadership issues.  Since his reaction to rein pressure was not huge, we considered that he was just not used to any sort of riding except that on a long, loose rein.  A horse that goes on a loose rein is desirable for therapeutic riding and considering his apparent good manners, we decided to take the horse on trial.  Our usual trial period was thirty days.

After getting the horse back to the farm, I made plans to work with him right away.  This was our typical procedure, as we wanted to see what the horse was like in an unfamiliar setting.  Once again, the horse stood nicely for grooming and demonstrated basically good manners.  We usually have to train more stringent rules about personal space and leading into therapeutic horses, but this horse seemed to be equipped with a reasonable foundation.  I took the horse into the indoor arena, with plans to work him at liberty, before tacking him up and riding.  I had watched the trainer work the horse at liberty and had a reasonable idea of what to expect from the new horse.  Or at least I thought that I had a reasonable idea...

Once in the indoor, I made my first mistake and this was most definitely my mistake.  I took the horse's halter off and turned my back on him to shut the gate.  The horse immediately followed me to the gate, intruding on my space and possibly thinking about walking out of the open door.  I suppose working with so many compliant horses that had been trained to stand and wait had made me complacent.  I forgot that I was dealing with a horse that may not have any of the understanding that I expected him to have, despite the obedience that I had observed the day before at the horse's home.

I noticed very quickly that the horse was following me, so I turned around and "got big".  This means that I made myself look physically taller by throwing up my arms.  I was telling the horse to back off.  This is a technique that I had employed many, many times to stop a horse in its tracks or deter a horse from entering my space.  Before I could move or react, the horse spun around and kicked into the air with both hind legs. 

It is difficult to appreciate how fast horses can move, until you see them in real space and time.  The kick was aimed at my head and, no doubt, would have made contact if the horse had really wanted to hit me.  The horse trotted off a few feet and stopped.  I stood in front of the open gate, shocked by what had almost happened, but physically unharmed.  I never in a million years expected that horse to react so violently.

Now the gig was up.  I knew there was more to this horse then we had originally been led to believe.  If this situation were to repeat itself in the same manner today, I would walk away right then and call the owner to come pick up the horse.   

Of course, I demonstrated less than swift learning skills in this story as the horse had clearly warned me with the resistance to contact and the double-barreled threat to my face, but I eventually did learn my lesson and will never make the mistake to "get big" to a foreign horse or work a horse initially at liberty again.  That was a lesson learned by the skin of my teeth.

At the time, I was not sure if the behavior was a true indicator of the horse's nature or a fluke that I caused by surprising the horse.  He had ridden and handled so easily the day before that I decided to continue my plan to work him at liberty in the indoor.  Truthfully, the horse had been so much fun to ride that I was really looking forward to riding him again and this pushed me to overlook the undeniable act of defiance.

Sometimes humans have thick skulls.  I am no exception.

I walked out into the arena with a lunge whip (at least I was not so stupid as to forget that) and asked the horse to start moving.  The horse reluctantly walked forward and stopped.  I swished the whip again, assertively, but careful not to surprise him this time.  The horse stared at me.  I asked him to move again, but he just stared and did not budge.  I increased my demands, swishing the whip with more energy and strength, clucking, and telling the horse to "walk" while walking closer to this very strange animal that was behaving less and less like the horse I had met the day before.  Finally, I was so close to the horse that I had no choice, but to give up or press the issue.  I was a fool for doing so, but the trainer in me was roaring.  I decided to press.  I whacked the horse smartly on the butt with the whip.

You would think the horse would have reacted more aggressively, but he only tossed his head and started trotting.  Feeling that I had called his bluff and asserted that my will was just as strong as his, I gained confidence.  I kept the horse trotting all around the indoor ring, swishing my whip and clucking if he showed signs of slowing down.  I value fairness, so I tried to forget any ill feelings that I had toward the horse for his previous behavior and praised him for moving out at my request.  I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that I had the situation under control.

And then the horse threw me for another loop.  This horse picked up the canter and dropped his head and neck all the way to the ground.  At first I thought that he was showing signs of submission and stretching, but once he reached the next corner of the ring, he turned and headed straight for me at the ring's center.  His teeth were bared, his ears were flat against his head, and his eyes were looking directly into mine.  His expression said one thing and he said it clearly:

"I want to kill you."

The gelding ran at me with his snake mouth open and his eyes as red as the sun.  All assertiveness left me.  I had the whip in my hand, but I forgot it was there.  Every cell in my body screamed,

"RUN!"

I dodged around a barrel, trying to create a barrier between my person and the wild animal in pursuit of my flesh.  The horse skidded to a halt, spun around, and came after me again.  This time I ran for the open fence at the front of the arena.  I could hear the horse behind me, but I didn't dare turn around.  I dove between the rails of the fence like a swimmer entering the water.  Dust and arena footing flew against the fencing as the horse stopped and spun again taking off, but this time away from me.  My friend and fellow instructor had walked in to see the monster's final attempt to savage me.  We stared at each other in utter disbelief.  My heart pounded in my ears and I felt light-headed knowing what had almost happened.  That horse had the shortest trial period in the history of trial horses.

For some reason, I had to convince my boss that the horse was truly dangerous.  My friend and I relayed the story, but it just sounded too crazy and she had seen the horse go so obediently the day before.  My employer had never seen a horse behave as I had described and frankly, before that day, neither had I.  I was worried that another staff member at the farm might attempt to work with the trial horse, which was common practice.  I was even more worried that another person might jump at the challenge to try and "tame" the animal that chased me.  I knew that type of person well and that no story would suffice in discouraging a determined personality.  My own mistake at ignoring the horse's dangerous initial behavior was proof of that.  I offered to show my boss exactly what the horse was capable of.  Let's just say that I am a fast runner and I feared for another person's safety enough to risk going head to head with that horse one more time.

True to the story, the horse came after me again with very little provoking while my boss was standing at the fence.  I had planned a path of escape this time and weaved a line around barrels before exiting swiftly between the rails.  My employer's face was priceless.  I do not think that she believed her own eyes at first.  This was a horse recommended by its owner/seller to be used for compromised riders and handled by volunteers.  We will never know for sure why the horse behaved so much differently at its home base or if the seller and trainer were aware of the horse's extremely aggressive tendencies.  That was one quiet horse that I was happy to never see again.

Keeping Promises

I have been trying to keep my end of the bargain and visit Harley more often even if there is not enough time left before dinner to ride.  Yesterday, I went to visit him after work with about fifteen minutes of daylight to spare.  His buddy was already in the barn, so Harley was waiting at the gate of his paddock incredulous that he was still outside (my horse lives out 24/7 but eats meals in his stall).  Like most horses, Harley has a very strong internal clock.  He usually hangs by the gate when meal time grows near and raises his head to full height in order to see up the driveway, looking for movement at the house.  The sound of the gator starting up alerts the entire farm and is usually followed by a chorus of whinnies and nickering.  Meal truck!

The "meal truck" hadn't moved yet, but Harley saw me walking out of the barn and greeted me with enthusiastic neighing.  I am not naive about my horse's priorities.  I know that he is really excited about dinner and the possibility that I might be giving serving it to him, but I still like to think that he also happy to see me.  As excited as he was, when I approached the gate, Harley backed up politely, allowing me to enter and they dropped his head so I could slip his halter over his ears.  These are the behaviors that make me think my horse is a smart guy.  His stomach is telling him dinner, but he doesn't forget his manners or the fact that dinner will come faster if he makes the gate-opening and haltering process easier.  I appreciate these little things about him.

Once through the gate, Harley's enthusiasm was bubbling over.  He walked next to me, but he had so much pep in his step that his back muscles rippled on either side of his spine and his long, uncombed mane bounced against his neck.  I love how he walks straight and not on top of me, like some horses when they forget that their human is there.  I know that he would have also loved to walk even faster to the barn, but he stayed next to me even with a drape in the lead line.  His spunk made me laugh out loud.  Someone was very happy to be coming inside.

Once in the barn, I prepared his snack of hay cubes.  His actual dinner was fast approaching, but the nice thing about forage is that you can give it anytime and it helps keep horses warm in the winter.  I broke the cubes into small sections and poured them into his trough.  Then I added Harley to the stall and joined him with the my brush.

Harley was in complete heaven.  He munched his cubes industriously as I knocked the dry mud from his coat.  I fluffed and preened his thick, winter fur and worked at the mud stuck to the long hairs on his legs.  I marveled at how gentle my giant pet can be.  While I was brushing a foot that had some stubborn dirt at the hair line of his hoof, he wanted to move over to reach some food at the far end of his trough.  Rather then raise the foot I was working on, he leaned over to the food and kept the toe of the foot I was working on touching the ground like a dancer.  He did not want to move it away from me until I was finished.  Was this an act of respect?  Obedience?  Was it in appreciation for the cleaning I was doing?  Either way it was very sweet.  His gentleness was contrasted by his obvious strength and power when he shoved his feed trough over with a push of his nose.  That trough is pretty heavy as I have trouble carrying it by myself.  Apparently my horse can be careful with the position of his foot at the same time that he violently shoves his foot bin.  This was interesting to me.

Needless to say, I was very happy that I made the time to visit Harley yesterday, even if riding was not possible.  I enjoyed spending the time with him and in that short time he managed to make me laugh and to make me think.

Rider Confessions

I have only been riding once a week lately...

...and my horse has noticed.

It is not like I usually ride six or seven days a week, but I do like to ride more than once.  Four is a gift, two is tolerable, and three is ideal during the school year.  I definitely ride more during the summer, but that is only a few months out of the year.  I know that three times a week is not a lot by many people's standards, but it works for me and my horse and doesn't keep me away from home and other obligations.  Gone are the days when I could lollygag at the barn for hours on end.

Unfortunately, the combination of needing to get things done at work and the shortened days has seriously cut into my barn time.  The work has to get done sometime and usually now is a better option than later and I cannot control the sun.  I am not shy about riding under lights, which we do have at the barn, but once the sun goes down it gets pretty cold.  Also, and more significantly, my barn feeds much earlier when the daylight hours are short.  Sure, I could ride and then feed Harley myself.  He really doesn't make much of a fuss, although years ago he used to throw a bit of a fit.  After many, many repetitions of continuing to ride while the feed was being dumped and making the work more challenging if he continued to carry-on, he eventually resigned himself to the idea that I would decide when dinnertime would begin for him.  Once we crossed that Rubicon, he was quite tolerable of the fact that he may have to continue working even when the other horses were enjoying their food.  But even so, I do not like to work him hard just before he eats grain, so dinner does hamper our routine and nine times out ten, I will end my ride early out of convenience.  Standing around in the cold waiting for Harley to finish eating is even less fun (and much colder) than riding in the cold, so I prefer that he eats with the group.  I also do not want his paddock mate to get a head-start on the hay they share.

I do not usually get overwhelmed by guilt when I haven't seen my horse in several days.  I figure that as long as his bodily needs are in place (food, water, shelter, a friend and more food), he is okay, but I do miss him and he is one of my most reliable forms of stress management.  Working more tends to create more stress, so not seeing my horse as a result is more than an unfortunate side effect.  It is actually detrimental to the balance that I try to keep in my life.  Stress is very unhealthy and, for me, it accumulates just by being around people all the time.  I am definitely introverted and need time to recharge my batteries.  Being with my husband or my horse makes them recharge all that much faster.

So you can imagine the sudden rush of mixed emotions that I felt when my barn owner called and told me that Harley was not finishing his grain and had been leaving more and more each day.  Of course this was reason for alarm, but she did assure me that he seemed normal and not in the least sick.  He would just eat a certain amount of grain and then decide that he was done and ready to go outside.  I drove out to see him in the dark, ready to check his vitals and armed with allergy meds in case he was having an episode. 

I found Harley munching hay happily with his buddy in the shed.  He greeted me immediately by sniffing my hand and he touched my hand with his muzzle several times as I checked him from top to bottom.  Not wanting to find anything, but also not wanting to miss anything, I looked for some sign of distress.  His breathing was normal.  His attitude was normal.  His gut sounds were normal and audible just standing next to him, which is always the case with Harley.  I also found a fresh pile of manure in his stall before I walked out to the paddock.  His appetite, at least for hay, was clearly normal, as he continually stuffed his face the entire time that I was with him, only leaving his hay with a mouthful as he checked on me checking him out.  He didn't mind that I was there, but he definitely knew that it was not typical for me to visit him in the dark of night.  I left him, feeling better that he was most likely okay, but also realizing that I needed to make a point not to stay late at work tomorrow.  Harley needed to go back to the top of the priority list.

The very next day, I made it to the barn in time for a group trail ride.  We went for a nice walk in the woods, staying close to home, because the sun was setting.  Riding in the dusk is a neat experience.  The fresh air and the twilight atmosphere did wonders for my mind.  Harley led the way with pricked ears and a pep in his step.  It was a simple ride at no more than walk, but it was plain to me that he was happy.

Once back at the barn, I fed him, because I wanted to see him eating his grain.  The dentist is coming out next week, so our thoughts were that he was due for a float and this was making it uncomfortable to eat grain.  We gave him a little less than usual, so as not to waste his expensive food, and I stood with my barn friends outside his stall, talking and hanging out while my horse ate. 

Fifteen minutes later, I look in his trough and it is empty.  Harley is standing at his stall door bright-eyed and curious.  I put my hand up to his muzzle and he sniffs it in the way he always does when we hang together.  I start to wonder that maybe he just hasn't been expending enough energy lately to require as much of his high calorie food.  I never like that he has to eat so much of it to maintain his weight, which actually looks very good right now.  This makes total sense.

And then, one of my barn friends comments that she thinks he ate it all, because I am there.

Oh dear.  I think my horse missed me.

I promised him that we would go for a "real ride" the next day and we did.  He was wonderful, full of energy, but listening at every moment.  He ate a snack of hay cubes and was eager for his after ride treats.  Then I did feel guilty that I hadn't been forcing myself out to see him more often during the week.  I need our time together, too.  Even if it is just to groom or lunge, I am going to make a point to get out there more than once a week.

Message received, Harley, and thanks.

Memoirs: A Girl and Her Horse, Six Years

On December 9, 2006, Harley and I were officially a horse-owner pair.  An informal contract on notebook paper and the exchange of payment sealed the deal.  His previous owner was happy, because he felt that he had found the right person for a horse whom he had loved and cared for since he was a two-year-old and I was happy, because, well, no words can suffice to explain the incredible feeling of finally purchasing my own horse.  I had been waiting for Harley since I was three years old, when I first sat on Littlebit.  I had wished for him at every birthday and before every Christmas, even looking out the window into the backyard on Christmas mornings and for a split second allowing myself to believe that a pony with a ribbon would be standing there, staring back at me through the window.  I guess I liked to torture myself with that one!

On the other side of the coin, Harley had been waiting for me since March of 1998, which was just a few months before I graduated High School.  He was too young to know that he was waiting for me, but now that we have each other, I am sure that if he could look back on his life, he would realize that he is a very lucky horse.  Since horses live in the present, I am content with him being happy right now and, as far as I can tell, he is.
 

From the first moment that I saw Harley, I knew he was a project.  He was eight years old and had spent an unknown number of years as a pasture ornament.  He did not have other horses for companionship and although his owner loved him and paid him attention, I got the impression that he was more of a big dog than a riding horse.  I have since met a nice woman who was Harley's neighbor before he moved here to live with me.  She said that Harley and her dog were friends and that she saw him when he went out for walks.  I think she meant that Harley was the one going for walks and I also think she might mean that he was being walked on a lead just like a dog.  That is kind of cute.  I could see my social horse enjoying his (hopefully) daily walk and making friends with neighboring humans, dogs, and whoever would sniff noses with him.

My new horse on December 17, 2006: See how eager he was!

Project horses can be many things and they always have their own unique set of challenges.  Harley was no different.  He had a great mind and a great engine with a healthy dose of enthusiasm for activity, but his under saddle training could be summed up in three words: stop and GO.  He knew "stop" and he really knew "GO", but without any nuance.  He would turn and he was willing, but it was obvious that he had never been directed around a circle or corner under saddle.  In this blog, I write a lot about the awesome stuff that Harley can do and how easy it is to cue him.  I also boast about his balance and ability to collect or go on the bit for me.  What you must understand is that Harley was introduced by this blog as an experienced riding horse with a lot of miles under his "girth" and lots (and lots and lots) of time spent with me developing our communication.  He did not start out that way.  This story is about the original Harley and it is one of my barn owner's favorites.

I think that those of you who ride a horse who is very green or has some challenging training issues may appreciate reading about this side of my dear horse.

The Original Harley

Rewind to late December 2006/early January...

Harley is an American-bred quarter horse and based on his papers, he was bred from barrel racing stock.  I do not know much about barrel racing, but I believe that this is why his build is rather light and to my eye, resembles a small thoroughbred in some ways, although his cute face is decidedly quarter horse, as is his cute behind.  I know that his previous owner took him on trails for at least some point in the time that he owned him and the only other thing that I know about is that someone tried to race him around barrels.  I do not know if they were successful or how much "training" was involved, but two western saddles were gifted to me when I bought Harley and one had beautifully tooled leather indicating that it was a prize won at a barrel competition.  The implication was that someone (not his owner) won that saddle on Harley.  What Harley told me after beginning to ride him was that he strongly preferred cantering on the left lead and he had no concept of a leg cue to pick up his leads.  He was willing to canter, but he sort of rocketed into it from a fast trot and his back was so rigid that I could not sit on it.  You may be wondering why a dressage rider would choose such a horse for a project.  His mind and raw eagerness made him a joy to work with, but these things did not magically transform him into a made horse in sixty days or six months.

One of my first training goals was to teach Harley the leg cue to canter and to convince him that he could canter on the right lead.  I had cantered him in both directions for the prepurchase exam, but this was mostly a fluke as he picked up the right lead by accident going left and we went with it.  He was sound as an instrument, but he didn't play like one yet!  Harley learned that a "kiss" meant canter, from me repeating the sound each time he picked up the canter from a fast trot.  He learned the word "can-ter" with a distinct raising of tone in the second syllable and I used these two verbal commands to teach him the leg cue.  He caught on to the pattern very quickly, but the left lead remained his favorite.  He understand what I meant by "canter", but he did not understand that I might want him to pick up a specific lead.  He was more comfortable with a rider going on the left lead, even if he used both leads freely at liberty.  Carrying a rider changes everything.  Teaching an eight-year-old horse to accept a new balance is no small thing, but I was not inclined to give up.  After all, I finally had my own horse.

During one of our earliest rides, the barn owner and a few spectators were standing outside the big ring interested in watching "the new horse" be put through his paces.  I had warmed Harley up and decided that it was time to work on that right lead canter.  He picked up the left lead obediently, if not smoothly, and then I changed direction and proceeded to gently coax him into picking up the right lead.  I positioned my seat and legs as clearly as I could and used my voice to help him understand that I wanted him to move up a gear from trot.  Each time he obediently picked up the left lead, even though we were traveling right.  I did not praise him and gently brought him back to trot.  I tried asking in the corner.  I tried asking along the long and short sides.  I tried asking from a slow trot and from a fast trot.  I tried placing his nose a little to the inside and a little to the outside, but nothing was clicking.  I decided that I was just going to have to gently repeat the exercise until "luck" gave us the right lead and then I could praise him like crazy and hopefully his smarts would allow him to realize the lesson. 

Before too long, luck came through for us.  Harley advanced his right hip and shoulder and picked up the right lead canter.  The transition came through like an explosion.  It was so rough that I lost my seat for a moment and one of my stirrups.  I regained my balance quickly, but unfortunately my horse did not.  Harley was cantering so quickly that I had to assume the jockey position and this was in a bare-bones dressage saddle with no extra padding or knee rolls.  His back felt like a jackhammer and his neck shot forward and back like a piston in an engine.  Thankfully, the big ring is large enough to accommodate turns at speed, because we ripped around each corner in a very precarious fashion.  My stirrup flapped in the breeze, but I didn't dare move my foot to find it.  I was perched on my new horse's neck, with one stirrup and moving at break-neck speed.  The barn owner and bystanders looked on.  I couldn't see their faces, but I know their jaws had dropped.

"Mayday, mayday,"  I squeezed the reins, but my horse did not respond.
"Mayday, do you come in?", I used my voice to encourage him to slow or stop.  Harley's ears flicked back to me, but he continued forward, picking up speed with each long side.

At that point, I realized something.  My horse was green and untrained, but he was not a bad horse and he was not trying to kill me.  My horse was not being disobedient and I would not even call what he was doing a "dead bolt".  My horse was not slowing down, because he did not know how.  This is a scary realization.  I did not dare try to turn him as I was sure this would tip him over.  The dressage rider's most useful rebalancing tool, the half halt, was a silly notion in this situation.  Jerking on the reins or even a pulley stop were useless, because it would not explain to him what to do with his feet or his balance to stop the train.  I tried to sit back, but this seemed to make him hollow out and run more.  I felt at that moment, that the safest thing for both of us was to wait it out.  My horse had to stop eventually and he was moving straight ahead like a racehorse following the fence line, so I could stay with his predictable flight and even though I was perched on his back with one stirrup, I preferred this to bailing out.  I kept the reins short enough that I could feel his mouth and pressed my knuckles into his neck and mane.  The Black Stallion, my favorite horse story, flashed through my mind and I was Alec on a diluted black stallion.  The expression "be careful what you wish for" applied nicely.

Around and around we went.  During one pass by the barn owner, she asked if I was okay or if I needed help.  I said that I was okay and we continued by.  I am not sure what could have been done to help me.  Maybe a human wall could have persuaded my horse to find his brakes, but, honestly, I think we would have just plowed through them.  So I remained there, close to my horse's neck, sponging the reins gently and telling him "teee-rroottt" as the wind roared in my ears.

After what felt like an eternity and probably a good ten circuits around the large ring, my horse finally figured out where to put his feet.  He broke into a trot, at last, and I patted his neck with a ridiculously huge grin on my face that must be blamed on adrenaline.  It was still coursing through the both of us, as was the feeling of elation that we had survived in one piece.
 

An early canter picture: How is all that hind leg going to fit under his body?

My favorite early riding photo together

Harley never took off like that again, but I am not going to tell you that his canter leads were perfected a few weeks later or that it didn't take years for him to learn to remain balanced in the downward transition to trot.  I am also not going to tell you that I wasn't battling fear the very next time that I asked him to canter.  I hated the idea of being afraid of my own horse and that is probably why I forced myself to canter him again on the right lead after we caught our breath that very same ride.  Improving his canter (and the trot afterward) has been a long, slow process that has taken years.  Even today, his inclination is to speed up down a long side and in the trot afterward, so I still have to remind him to keep his tempo or allow him a few mistakes in the warm-up so he can find his balance again.

The good news is, six years later, he has a lovely, smooth canter that is easy to ride and his most enjoyable gait.  He is equally confident on both leads, but guess which one is his favorite?  The right!  He can collect his right lead more easily and dramatically than the left and he prefers to flying change and jump from this lead.

Harley has taught me so much over the past six years.  Learning how to ride a horse who has a "strong" canter was one of his important lessons.  We practiced every canter exercise in the book and then made up some of our own to improve his way of going.  I left the canter alone for weeks at a time and improved his balance in the trot and lateral exercises in a effort to help his most challenging gait.  I incorporated jumping later on and I entered clinics, watched dressage DVDs, and took lessons to improve my seat and my riding.  The most important ingredients to the improvement of his canter were time and creativity.  We didn't waste time and we didn't just let time pass, but I did allow time for all the various exercises to take hold.  I celebrated small improvements, but kept the image of the ideal canter firmly in my mind.  I tried many different training exercises and I incorporated those that worked and rejected those that didn't.  One of my favorites was leg yield in trot to canter on a circle.  My least favorites were "round-penning" and a dressage classic: trot-canter-trot transitions on a circle.  Both of these exercises played to Harley's tendency to anticipate and made him crazy and incredibly tense.  The most surprising exercise that worked was cantering him around the ring (circles and going large) without stopping.  This seemed to change his mindset.  If cantering is a marathon instead of a sprint, then you better conserve your energy and slow down!

I look forward to many more years of cantering with Harley and I hope that this story gives you some hope if you are near the beginning of the journey with your project horse.

October 2012: Six years later, Harley is still listening!

June 2012: Right lead canter

 

A fiery picture of Harley's strong canter

Can Horses Reason?

The post title is a question, but I have heard this philosophy repeated numerous times as a statement:

"Horses cannot reason."

The first person that I heard make this statement was a local trainer who has been in the business about twice as long as I have been alive.  Disagreeing with an individual who has that much experience seems foolish, but this statement always bothers me.  I have noticed that people who work with this trainer repeat this statement almost like a mantra.  I think I understand the sentiment, but it strikes me as being too black and white.

Horses do not have the ability to think into the future like people do, but horses do understand consequences.  If I offer my horse as much food as he wants, he may eat himself sick or at least become obese.  He doesn't know that eating too much will hurt him later on.  I get that.  BUT if my horse steps on his lead rope while he is grazing, he knows that he must raise the foot on the lead rope when he feels the tug on his halter.  I know that some horses respond differently to this situation, but I never taught him to pick up his foot, at least not intentionally.  He has figured out that he can tether himself and free himself with his foot.

The trainer who makes the blunt assertion that horses cannot reason, would probably justify my horse's response as a "learned pattern", but it wasn't a pattern the first time it happened.

The same trainer likes to explain just about every behavior that horses exhibit as a result of "muscle memory".  Muscle memory and habits definitely go hand in hand, and these are definitely barriers when the muscle memory "installed" is not the one you want!

However...

I still feel like this is not indicative of so many horses that I have observed.  For example, take the lesson horse who "realizes" that he can get a break during the lesson by stopping to poop and not actually pooping.  I have worked with some very smart lesson horses and the smartest ones figure this out.  The horse stops, plants his feet, and raises his tail, but nothing happens.  The group of volunteers, rider, and instructor wait politely as the horse feigns the call of nature.  I am not talking about a horse who is having some type of intestinal distress or physical problem.  I am talking about a real life faker.  I have seen it, more than once, and the worst offenders save a few gems for each "break", so that you will be even more reluctant to hurry them along.

(I know that many people do not allow their lesson horses to stop for the call of nature, but I gave up on this a long time ago.)

Part of reasoning is judgment.  Horses definitely cannot make judgments, right? 

Although there was that time, that I rode Harley in his old western saddle and he ran away from me the next time that I went to get him in the paddock (the saddle did not fit).  He has never done this before or since.  He also pinned his ears at the special shimmed pad that I bought for him when we were between saddles.  He loved that pad until I tried using it under his new (used) well-fitting, comfy saddle.  Was this just a response to pain/discomfort or was he passing judgment on gear that was not working for him?

Am I going too far?  I do not consider myself the equestrian equivalent of a hippie and I am absolutely not one of those people who buys into animal communicators or magic, unless you consider a really great dressage ride "magic", that is.

What is your answer to the question? 

Wracking Up The Stars

Harley is on a roll.  He has collected many stars in the past two weeks.

Star number 1: A body condition score of 5+ and clean blood work

Star number 2: Super floaty trot (Dare I say, cadence?!)

Star number 3: A smooth, flying change from left to right

Star number 4: Being a model ambassador for the horse

Star number 5: Lungeing through a deep puddle of water

I just can't keep up, but I am loving it.  

The fall vet visit was a blast, because we did not have to have the conversation about how to improve his weight.  I also had blood work run to ensure that he does not have an infection hiding in there.  When you have a horse with allergies who periodically coughs, you have to be careful that the allergy symptoms are not covering up another illness.  His blood work came back absolutely perfect.  He is healthy as, well, a horse!

Harley has had two sets of children visit with him in the past two weeks.  He stood like a champ for both visits, waiting patiently while little hands patted him, brushed dirt off his coat, and laughed at his funny faces.  Little children inevitably forget that they are not supposed to walk behind the horse.  Harley is a good first-horse for children to be around, because he is very forgiving of those types of mistakes.  He stands solid and, even with his sensitive nature, is not bothered at all by the excitement and unpredictability that accompanies little kids.  I was so proud of him and it was a lot of fun to introduce little children to a big horse.  Parents and grandparents alike commented on what a nice horse he was.  They were preaching to the choir, but I still liked hearing those compliments.

I rode him during afternoon lessons last week, so we had a little audience.  Harley was moving out so beautifully.  I could feel the energy traveling from his hind legs to my seat, up to my elbows and down my lower arms to the bit.  There was no break or kink in the lines.  I could adjust the tempo or stride length and the connection remained, true and powerful.  At some point, I could see and feel his shoulders coming up and swinging freely.  I almost called out to the barn visitors,

"Are you seeing this?"

But, this would have been in vain, because they were not riders and would not have been able to see what I was feeling.  I kind of laughed to myself at that thought.  I would have to enjoy it alone. 

Harley was floating. 

I have been working on myself a lot lately.  I keep imagining that there is room from his hind legs to keep traveling forward through my seat and waist each time we make a transition or while we are moving forward.  This is keeping me more upright and reminding me to keep my core fully engaged.  I have discovered that I have a bad habit of collapsing my waist and opening the back of my seat.  I think the image of his hind legs stepping forward has made me aware of this.  It is almost like his hind legs step forward and tip my seat forward out of alignment if I am not thinking about keeping my seat closed and receiving that energy.  I did not realize that I was doing that and quite a lot, especially in the canter.  My position must be better as indicated by that floaty trot and he gave me some of the absolute best walk-canter-walk he has ever done on the same ride:  relaxed, balanced transitions with barely anything in the reins.  He was listening so closely, I could feel him in my mind.  Please allow me to remind you that I am a very scientific person, but that was how tuned in he felt.  I could hardly believe it, because walk to canter is very challenging to his relaxation and canter to walk is very challenging to his balance.  Improving the rider's position is such an effective way to improve the horse.  It was like all the static was gone.  I love relearning that over and over again.   

And to think, when I started years ago, I thought that dressage was more about the horse.  
I was so wrong.

The clean, smooth, gorgeous flying change in his more challenging direction arrived on a previous ride after lots of circle work, tempo changes, and more walk-canter-walk transitions.  Harley felt very through and connected along the inside of his body.  This is work continued from a previous post where I described how I have been using the inside rein more.  That's right.  The inside rein.  I have been neglecting it for a long time, with the feeling that using it was bad.  I guess I had "inside-rein-guilt-issues".  They are dissolving quickly and as a result, I believe that Harley's suppleness, throughness, and relaxation have improved, with his balance following closely behind.  Having the inside rein improve his balance is so counter-intuitive to me.  I see use of the inside rein as something that sets a horse off balance, but this has not been the case.  I guess that I should acknowledge that the inside rein is not working in a vacuum.  All of my aids are present.  I must just be learning how to let the inside play its part more effectively.

And finally, I lunged Harley yesterday.  He walked.  He trotted.  He cantered.  He stretched his neck and back, all in a plain halter.  No extra gear necessary.  We practiced transitions and then I drew the line in to decrease the circle.  He trotted smaller circles around me with beautiful bend and balance, as if he had an invisible rider.  Then I asked him to trot through a big, deep puddle at one end of the arena.  I let him enter the water and do whatever felt natural to him.  I fully expected him to walk or stop, but he didn't.  Harley kept trotting and picked his feet up as he pranced through the water.  He did try to drift to the side a little, but the puddle was so wide that there was no going around it, so with a couple repetitions he was marching straight through.  He started dropping his neck, in stretchy circle fashion, and dragging his mouth through the water, coming up with water dripping from his cheeks and jaw as he continued to trot around me.  Tons of praise and "Good Boy's" were in order after that!

Harley.
You are a five out of five!

Stars sound delicious.  More, please.

Health Report: Hardkeeper Woes

First, Harley's allergies seem to be under control again.  I hope that he does not have another flare up, or at least not in the near future.  I definitely like to error on the side of caution, so the coughing he experienced was not like the horrible video clip that I have seen online of a horse wheezing with heaving sides.  Not even close, but I also do not want him to get anywhere near that scary situation

Second, fall shots and body condition evaluations are on the horizon.  I realized this when I looked at my horse and then looked at the large, new horse in our barn.  I think he looks like he weighs 1500 lbs, but the barn owner thinks he is closer to 1200.  We are going to have a little guessing contest and then tape him.  I do not think that tape is very accurate, but it will be interesting to find out.  I guess that I look at the new horse and figure that he could easily have 500 lbs on Harley, whom I think is around 1000 lbs, or, perhaps more accurately, he should be around 1000 lbs.

I think my horse is going to get a "4" on the body condition scale again.  Maybe a "4+", but that is probably wishful thinking.  I feel like I have made a huge effort to get him up to a body condition score of "5" this year, and we did accomplished it coming off the winter, of all times, but now he is looking boney again.  He is muscular and relatively fit, considering his coughing problem, but this horse will not build up fat stores.  He is even being ridden less since school started, but has not gained weight to show it.

Early October 2011: He looks particularly thin here.

September 2012: Not very good photos for comparison, but now I think that he actually looks better than last year.

Here are some things that should have improved his body condition since last year:

1. More calories from grain: Last year he was eating 1 scoop Ultium and 1 scoop beet pulp at each meal.  Now he eats 1 3/4 scoops Ultium at each meal.  That is a lot of food!  I do not like giving him that much grain, but it is the only thing that has seemed to add some pounds.
2. Prebiotics/Probiotics daily: We tried the SmartPak SmartGut supplement, but recently switched back to my trainer's recommended ABC's Plus, which contains less ingredients and costs less.
3. He was blanketed during the winter, which we will do again this year.
4. He gets extra hay at each feeding, which I pay for dearly.
5. He is brought in before all of the other horses so that he has time to finish his meal without getting distracted or excited about barn routine.
6. As always, he is on a regular worming schedule.

 Here are some things that do NOT help his body condition, but I cannot control them:

1. He has a serious overbite, which makes him a very, very slow eater, especially with hay.  His dentist is awesome, but only so much can be done to correct the uncorrectable.
2. His buddy is a very efficient eater and can mow down hay in record time.  They share hay.
3. Only two meals a day
4. Only two hay feedings a day
5. We are at the edge of what he is willing and able to consume at each meal.
6. He is a social horse and a busy body.  He does not like to be left in the barn after everyone else is put outside.  This can cause him to quit eating if he is not finished.
7. Irregular feeding schedule and feeders: Since we are giving lessons several afternoons a week at our barn, Harley's nighttime feeding schedule becomes disrupted.  I also suspect that this affects the quantities that he receives and late feedings cause him to pace at the gate.  His buddy is usually busy in lessons which leaves him alone.

Here are some things that I could control, but may not be viable options:

1. Alfalfa pellets: He ate them for less than three weeks and then refused to eat them, wet or dry.
2. Beet pulp: He ate wet beet pulp for years, but I never saw an improvement in his weight.  He also started refusing it.
3. Equine Senior: Harley is fourteen and has a dental "imperfection", so senior feed may be easier for him to eat, but his energy requirements demand that he eat obscene amounts of Senior to stay at a "4".  Forget about gaining on Senior.  I tried it for years and it didn't work.
4. Hay net: Tried it.  Epic Fail.  He dropped below "4", because he could not eat effectively out of a net with 1.5" holes.  His buddy had no trouble and gained weight.
5. I could wet his grain to make it easier to eat, but this makes a big, unhealthy mess, because he drops wet feed all over the floor of his stall.  He also started refusing wet feed this year.  He wants and needs to chew to produce saliva and buffer gastric acid.
6. I pay for extra hay, but his buddy eat its.  Hay quantities also change do to differences in flake size and weight.
7. Harley needs a slow-eating paddock buddy, but he loves his friend.  He would be miserable is we kept out alone.
8. Harley would probably benefit from a softer, leafier hay, but I cannot control which hay is purchased.  I already ask that the hay not contain fescue and rye, because he is allergic to them.  A boarder can only make so many demands, if you know what I mean.
9. Harley is a mover and a shaker and he likes to investigate and keep up with barn activities.  He has great work ethic under saddle and I love riding him.  He is exercised 2-5 hours per week and has 24/7 turnout.  These things make him a fast calorie-burner even though the workload is pretty light.

What is left to try?

1. Move my horse.  I do not want to move and there is no guarantee that another barn will benefit his condition, in fact, the stress of change could makes things worse.  I do not think that I could possibly find a barn that would cater to his needs the way my current barn does.  They basically treat him like their own horse and they love him.  I am very, very lucky.
2. Put him by himself and pay for constant hay in front of him.  This is not really realistic due to space, finances, and his need to socialize.  Having his face in a hay pile all day will probably not help his allergies and he may be so lonely and upset that he will not eat.  In addition, my vet thinks that he may not get adequate nutrition from hay alone, due to his teeth.
3. Bring him in and put him in his stall early on lesson days so that he can eat early and not stress out.  (I tried this and it does help in some ways, but a horse with allergies should not linger in his stall.  Usually the aisle is also swept between lessons which will make him cough.  No good.)
4. One new recommendation I received this year was to reduce Harley's grain meal and add a 30% protein ration balancer.  I understand the creative thinking and the good intentions, but decided that this was not something I wanted to try.
5. Hay cubes?

I am thinking about the last option.  They are expensive.  I am concerned about quality control.  He would still have to consume them in his stall separately from his paddock buddy and during meals.  I am not sure how much time he will need to eat them.  I do not want to wet them for stall hygiene reasons.  There is no room to increase his meal size, so I would have to cut back his grain to accomodate some hay cubes.  If the cubes can do what the grain is doing at least as well, I would prefer that he have more forage over more grain, but...

...but, that is another change.  Change is tough on him and I do not want to upset his eating if he is doing well.  Or annoy the barn owners.  Or try to find room for the hay cubes in the feed room.  I mean I want to do those things, but there have been so many attempts and reverts back to the original plan in the past that I am sort of feeling like staying in the same place is better.

...BUT, I want my horse to be as healthy as possible and live to be thirty or beyond.

Maybe we have hit the ceiling and I should just accept that.  Or maybe, I just haven't quite found the right combination.  Should I try hay cubes?