Ride no 43 - ride in arena & Fly-By-Night

Thurs 9th December 2010

I think I've mentioned before that I love Thursdays!! Had a great one this day. But, before I get into that, a few things have really got me thinking in the past week (dangerous, I know!!)

Firstly - and I know this is a bit of an admission but I bet loads of grown-up horsey girls do it - I re-read one of my kids' pony books; "Fly-By-Night" by KM Peyton. Here is what Amazon says about the book:

"Fly-by-Night" was not the best choice for an eleven-year-old girl who had never ridden before; but as soon as Ruth Hollis saw the sturdy, lively pony, she knew that he was the one she wanted. All her life Ruth had longed to own a pony and now that her family had moved from London to a new housing estate in East Anglia, she had persuaded her father to let her spend her savings on a pony. But having taken possession of Fly-by-Night, Ruth found that her troubles had only just begun.

The reason I picked this book up is because Edmund had pulled it out of the bookshelf. I had forgotten that Fly-By-Night is an unbroken New Forest Pony who was bought at the New Forest Sales prior to our heroine, Ruth, buying him for £40. Our own Duncan, also a NF pony, shares a similar history, having gone through the NF sales before being bought by Sharon for £50!

Once I had recalled that fact by reading a chapter in the middle, I decided to go back to the beginning! The "troubles" described in the book are basically all those to be expected (actually less than might be expected) when a novice rider buys a spirited unbroken pony! A lot of careering about on a wildly excited mount. Poor Ruth Hollis is constantly afraid but (I will get to the point in a minute!) she does not let this deter her from pursuing her dreams........So what did the book say to me?

It reminded me that you must expect "troubles" with young horses, even with the best foundation. New experiences generally cause great excitement! It's how you react that defines how long it takes your horse to become accustomed to them. The first show I ever took my previous (RBE) horse, Ollie, to, he was positively wild! Six months later, he was positively relaxed!

Now, this probably sounds foolishly obvious, but the book reminded me that you really do need a bit of mettle with a young or inexperienced horse and - Blimey - if 11 yr old Ruth Hollis can do it - so can I!!!

So, to our arena experience....I spent the best part of an hour helping P to dig out a track in the snow round the arena. Duncs was waiting happily in a stable (despite having no hay!). When I bought him out, P was trying to walk her black horse round but she got so excited by Duncs' presence that I took him back in until P had finished. Duncan himself was great. Although he kinked his tail right up in the air, he did not snort or cavort but kept looking at me expectantly for his treat (bit of apple) - a reward for paying attention to me. What a great pattern that is! Can't say how delighted I am about that one. I was also delighted that my adrenalin didn't go up at all either!

P then had to pick up the kids so I took Duncs back into the arena by myself. Got to do a lot on the ground including circling which we'd not done for ages (not too bad). I was then at the point where I thought he was ready to ride. I had a moment when I thought "Is this wise...I'm here by myself...perhaps I should ride in here once more with Pippa before I go it alone?" All sensible and valid thoughts but, with my new-found determination, I decided to seize the moment. It was just a case of finding a bit of mettle.

So, I took Duncs to a gate to mount (block was in the yard). He was absolutely fine, so we were off. What was really nice was that I was able to practice my Parelli moves, which of course I wouldn't have done if I was receiving instruction. We walked, stopped, backed up, flexed, disengaged the HQs, turn on the haunches and half circle changes of rein. Duncs was really chilled. I did err on the side of caution by not trotting, ground was very hard too, but I'm sure Duncs would probably have been fine. I was just delighted that he was obviously feeling really good about what we were doing. Of course, I am completely in my comfort zone doing schooling. I Love it! I tried Linda's game of contact with regard to the horse bending the "wrong" way - "Let me help you with that" - and it really does work!! Looking forward to trying it out further.

Re contact; I kept Duncs on a contact but towards the end, when he was really tuned in to my seat, I let the contact get longer and he maintained his confidence. That felt pretty exciting as I actually thought, for the first time, "I can see us going bridleless one day". As soon as he is consistently confident on a loose rein, I will go back to the hackamore and carrot stick. I am also excited by how comfortable I am in the bareback pad. I used to feel quite vulnerable but now realise that that was just because I was quite vulnerable!! At the time, I blamed it on my crappy seat. I still have the same crappy seat but I'm not worrying about it now because Duncan feels so different! Not sure how I'll feel about cantering on it, mind you!

The week before:

On 2 occasions prior to my arena ride, I'd played with Duncs. The first time, we went down the lane and I got on coming back - but very near to home due to ice and not having anything to stand on! Gave up trying to vault on last year after ripping my shoulder muscles really badly! Hey, why don't I teach D to lower his head for me, great idea!

Anyway, I dropped my rope shortly after getting on and had to turn back and get it. Duncs was sticky but, happily did go back after I waited and whip-wopped a bit. He then went past his home entrance and up to J's to look over their fence.

The second time, I walked up to the main road and then went across the pinneger paddock to Duncan's own (resting) back field which was deep in snow. Oh Boy! Did he get excited. He wanted to run about and play so badly and was biting at me with frustration. I was just (so I thought) calming him down with a squeeze game through the open gate when he spotted a huge digger coming our way. He reared up, kicked out, spun round and plunged all over the place. At one point, I thought I was going to have to shut the gate and let him go free lest I get hurt (foolishly only had 12' line on him).

In the event, I was able to keep hold of him whilst he cavorted back across the resting field (away from the advancing digger!) to Moet. It was a bit hairy to say the least but we survived and, instead of thinking "Help!", I was actually thinking "I wish I had a longer line on him!" Yes, I can definitely say, I've got a bit more mettle these days - not quite Ruth Hollis yet though!

Moving on and catching up

A lot has happened since I last blogged, lots of emotional stuff, the upshot of which is that my time with Duncs may now be limited.

So, what I really need to focus on now is continuing to transfer the trust he has developed with me on the ground to when I'm riding. Then I'll feel I've really accomplished something for him - and with him. Thankfully, this is already happening in a big way.

Strangely, there's no mystery formula to achieving trust. It's all recorded for you somewhere. It's the finding out for yourself which is the hard bit! For me, the most dramatic changes have started since:
a) Starting zone 5 driving (long-lining)
b) Understanding how to deal with thresholds

Now, I have to admit I recently found myself wondering, "If I'd just long-lined from the beginning, could I have got to this place a year ago? After all, that's what happens in traditional horse breaking" but No! Without the understanding of thresholds (previous entry of 14th Oct refers), I would have just ended up driving - or trying to drive - Duncan through them.

It's been the combination of both and probably more the second because, when you're behind a horse, you have more thresholds to deal with and less "control" which means if you don't have trust and rapport, it falls apart (which is why I went back to one-line driving!)

Fascinating stuff which I'm now able to apply to Rosie, a very interesting mare, I'm getting to play with once a week or so. Also, all the knowledge I've gained through hours of (extreme) friendly game with Duncs are helping me with a gorgeous foal too (LOVING that, I could really get into foals, so inquisitive!!) So, it's all good for the future.

I didn't write about my first lesson, and it's a few weeks back now, but you could tell I had a blast! That was on a Thursday. The following Monday, Duncan had a massage which brought lots of things up, including saddle fitting problems. He had to have a few days off afterwards so I didn't do anything until the Friday when I took him into the woods and then rode back up the road afterwards. His right shoulder was very stiff but he felt better behind.

Monday 29th Nov 2010

S took Duncan to a local private yard on foot and with the help of Amy along the main road. I met them there with my saddle as I had to drop Ed off at pre-school. None of the saddles presented fitted Duncan, including mine which was too narrow and slipped forwards. No use adjusting the headplate either as Karen (saddler) thought it would then be too long for Duncs. She pointed out that he has a very small area in which to put the saddle and we'd be looking at a 16.5 extra wide. That was disappointing for the long term but I was actually looking forward to riding in the bareback pad again in the short term!

Duncan was a star going there and back. He loved being out and doing something different and was very well behaved. Even coming back, he was calmer than last time coming back through the woods (been getting better).

Tues 30th Nov 2010 - SNOW!!!

I could not get to the field for a week. My car is not good in snow and we have a hill at each end of the road. Luckily, S has a 4WD so the horses didn't go hungry!