Do your job

This is where it starts to get fun and the depths of stupidity is mind numbing and just, well, 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

At feeding time one night, the trainer approaches me to ask me about the mare. "Miss Izzy, what is the deal with this horse??? I had her in long lines the one day and she went full blown NFR on me. I was afraid to get on her." 

Yeah let that last line sink in for a bit. The trainer is afraid to get on the horse the owner has no problems riding. 🚩

She then proceeds to untie the mare and jump around in front of her, expecting her to spook. Which apparently  the mare learned to do now too. She jumps and lands in a pose with her feet apart, arms wide and in the air.... well Duh! The horse is going to jump. You go from normal size to BIG! What kind of stupidity is that??? 👀😲 

How many times in the wild do we see horses, let alone herd leaders do that shit? Zero. Nadia. Zip. None. All of the Above...  🚩 She is not a herd leader.  When you do stupid shit and don't give the horse a reason to trust you? They're Not going to trust you. 

So I'm messing with the horse and rubbing her neck and shoulders. Explain again that I had No problem with the mare and start to show new trainer (poser) some of the amount of stiffness and tightness in the mare.  I also do some of the stretches with the horse to release the tension and anxiety she's feeling because of the other trainer. 

When I get back in the car to leave I tell a friend of mine about all of this. The trainer is afraid to get on the horse and the horse is jumpy around her, but as I was doing all of the stretches and relaxation work on the mare - I was wearing Flip Flops! 

I also explained to my friend and then to the owner that the "trainer" should be able to figure this all out on her own. I didn't have anybody else to go ask. She's a trainer - figure it out 🤷‍♀️ This is all part of the evaluation part at the beginning. 

Daily Facts

Yep! That about sums it up! 

Trainer things

One of the few issues I discovered with the horse? She was super tight thru her neck and shoulders. When asking her to bend and give to the left she wasn't too bad. Bending and giving to the right? Not so much. 

Out in the pasture one day I was checking her to see just how sore and tight she was. Right side not too bad, which explains why giving to the left was okay. Left side- she reached around to bite me. That explains the resistance giving to the right.  Alrighty then!

Because she's stiff and sore, let's do some stretches and relaxation techniques to soften her up. No big deal, help the horse out. I always try to rule out pain first, fear next and then if the behavior doesn't change? Then Maybe the horse is misbehaving thru learned behavior that has worked in the past. Gotta go with what ya know! 

Still the mare never bucked. Not on the lunge line, not in long lines and not under saddle. Apparently with the other "trainer" she bucks in all three scenarios. Which makes me ask - What the hell is this "trainer" doing???

Backstory

The horse in the previous post is a younger mare. Probably around 6-9 from the vet.... supposedly 10 from the seller and still a solid, quiet little mare. She's definitely broke to ride and can be a little stubborn at times but doesn't do anything dumb. 

The owner is and intermediate level rider. They prefer a quiet horse that isn't going to push their buttons, but also isn't dead sided and ignores them. 

We have both ridden the horse in the arena and out on the trails. Never a single buck was offered ...

Texting the owner I had to remind her that bits do not cause the bucking. The bucking is a symptom of something else. 

When she said the trainer told her she didn't think the horse was very well broke I about laughed my ass off. Told her the horse was pretty damn broke for however old she actually is and again reminded her We never had these problems..... But she still went with this trainer and good for her.

When You Know.....

 IYKYK - If You Know, You Know

WYKYK- When You Know, You Know

When you know your shit and everyone comes to you for answers.... Lol 

There's another couple "trainers" at the barm where I board. In quotes because, well, yeah..... 

Now I'm Not trying to be cocky or anything, but Dayum the stupidity is a bit mindnuming and can be unconscionable at times. 

I was working with a horse at the barn and his owner. Got busy with life and other things.... She went with this other so called trainer. I get it. No big deal really, but this is where things get Fun! Lmao 

So the owner sends me a text one day. Her horse is now Bucking. "Trainer" doesn't think he likes the bit and "He isn't very broke". What! The! FUCK!?!?!? 

🤷🏼🤦🏼🤣🤣🤣

Trust the Process

A while back I got pics of Miss Mazy doing her thing as well as her being ridden. What I seen in the pics, wasn't exactly her on her best day. She wasn't "Killin' It!" and there was something needing to be fixed. 

I tried this, tried that, gave something else a shot, tried something else and still kept missing the mark in fixing it. So I reached out to another trainer I know and respect and asked if I could pick his brain. I'm having a problem with my ponies and since it's Both of them with the same issue.... His response? What's the matter? Aren't they fast enough??? 😂😂😂😂 He knows me well.... 🤷🏼🤦🏼

I described the issue, sent a few pics showing what was going on and all the different things I've done to try to fix it....  The bit we use, the different one's I've tried. All the things! And there have been a Lot of things! 

Mazy is more prominent with the issue, Casey not so much, but at the canter, they arent so much lifting their shoulders and moving off their hind end like they should. See the pic

That front hoof? It should Not be on the ground, but rather still be in the air like the inside hind. There's plenty of room between the hind legs as she reaches up under herself. Plenty of room between the front legs as she reaches out with them as well, but the distance between the hind leg and the front legs should be about the same, not scrunched together like in this photo.

I had tried everything, except one. Or two actually. Bitting them up and using a German martingale. I figured I would start with Mazy and bitting her up. After having a major DUH! moment and a blonde moment (or three) in our conversation, I remembered all the times before, bitting the horse up to lunge them and let them learn to elevate and lift on their shoulders all on their own. 

The pic above is towards the end of the workout and she's starting to improve. Its not a one time thing and may take a few more times doing this, but I need to trust the process and let the horses sort their shit out on their own. 

To bit the horse up, it's best to use a simple snaffle bit and split reins. If saddled, run the reins down between the front legs and up o the rigging D's on the saddle. Some people just run the rein through the D and leave it that way while others tie it off.

Clearly I prefer to tie mine off since there needs to be some resistance when they pull against it. 

Mazy worked well enough like this and we need to do this a lot more, but like the title of this post, its a process... And sometimes I lose my patience in the process. Not losing my patience with the horse, but more with myself and wanting to see the improvements Now without having to wait for it.  🤦🏼

Whew!

 Its been a while, I know.... Pic's, lots of pics to come. 

A friend of mine and I got together and hosted a driving clinic. Maybe hosted isn't the right word, but more like presented it. Another friend of mine hosted it and let us use her facility. 

Loved her movement in the pic above so I had to zoom in on Miss Mazy doin' her thing. 

It was a weekend of learning and Fun!  We talked about harnesses, carts, carriages, showing, pleasure driving for Funsies and focused on Safety. 

Loved this shot too even though a lot of it is blocked by the rail and the carriage.... Lol

We worked on ground driving and long line work, being in control of the horse without the cart and all the things leading up to hitching them to the cart or carriage. 

Then we moved on to actually driving. After working Mazy for a bit and putting her thru her paces, a couple of the participants got to take the reins and drive. This lady had a blast on the back of the carriage and even more fun up in the drivers seat. 

A big shout out to Revolution Sporthorses for hosting the event and CeCe's Horsemanship for helping to present it. We're looking forward to the next one!