Never's home!

After our last lesson (I got to ride Never! YAY!) The trainer said Never had covered all of the basics, so she thought that unless we had a specific goal we were working toward (ie Sport Horse Nationals), Never would do well at home. He and I could work on the basics, get his balance figured out and work on some strength training.

He came home last Friday, and has now been turned out with Willow and Faith. He was a brat with the horses at the trainers place, picking 'fights' and trying to play, and he has the scrapes and scabs to prove it. I don't think Willow and Faith are going to let him do anything like that.

So now I really need to figure out a schedule, as I don't want him to forget everything. Plus, I need to put up the new pen (for my security as well as his), get a saddle that fits his surprisingly wide back, and I need to get in better shape. I rode him for maybe 20 minutes and my legs were like jelly. Plus, I must weight at least 60 pounds more than the trainer. So it's lots of water and veggies, rationed sweets and soda, and much more exercise. It'll be easy now, but more fun when winter comes around.

Never gets silly

Never shared his lesson yesterday with Indy, a 3 yr old grey Arabian, and everybody involved learned something.

Working with Indy is like flying a kite on a windy day: he goes right to the end of the rope, screaming and calling and bouncing around. You ask him to do something, and if he's paying attention he'll do it then lose focus and bounce and call. Never takes his lessons seriously. He'll get distracted by horses outside of the arena, but when you ask him do something or pay attention, for the most part he will.

Yesterday, they switched.

The trainer decided to work them both in the arena at the same time, off lead, as neither one had done anything like that before. We thought that after some running and goofing off, Never would decide to relax and learn, and Indy would keep doing laps around the arena. What actually happened was that Never started herding Indy around, and when Indy decided he had had enough and wanted to go to his handler, Never would cut him off and drive him away. He would move him around the arena, back and forth along the wall, even causing him to side pass!

Finally,after 45 minutes of this, Indy said enough and went to is handler and stood quiet. He was quiet and paid attention for the rest of his lesson. Never did laps for about 10 more minutes, and finally agreed that it was time for a lesson. Because of the incident last week, we worked on being near things that were dragging and making noise and desensitizing his hindquarters more. We didn't do any under saddle work, but the trainer has him going at a trot now.

He seems to be doing fine, his top-line looks good and his hindquarters are muscling up well. He's not really black anymore, more of a sunburned dark bay, but overall he's looking good and more mature.

Never's lesson in pictures

I took some pics of Never during his lesson last week. Not with my good camera like I should have, but with my cell phone, so the picture quality is truly awful. But they clearly show (okay, maybe not clearly) that his training is coming along very nicely.

Here we go...

Never picks up his feet, especially his hind feet, without kicking or shying




I tried to capture Never's reaction to the splint boots and bell boots, but the lag time on my phone is horrible. Suffice it to say that he could compete with Saddlebred for knee action!




I know, it's a ball. But it's on his back and he doesn't care!


The saddle went on without a problem, and she tightened the girth and he didn't seem bothered.


"Hey, you're on both sides at the same time!"


And she's up!

The trainer sat there for a couple of minutes, until he relaxed a bit, then she hopped down and did some ground driving. After a few rounds she hopped on again, worked on backing up, and then got back down for some more driving. At one point he pulled the rope from her grasp and started to run around the arena like a goofball. She caught him, but he spooked at the rope and took off, hit the gate at the other end of the arena, and nearly took it off the hinges. Then he took off down the path to the other barn.

The trainer seemed a little worried that he'd take off down the road, but I was pretty sure he'd just go to the gate and talk to the other horses. And that's where we found him, blowing and sweating and talking to the other horses.

The trainer caught him and calmed him down, then took him back to the arena. I tried to fix the gate, while she worked on getting Never's mind back in the game. I gave up and shut the door, and by the time I had finished and walked around the barn to the other entrance, Never was calm and paying attention.

The trainer did a little more work with him, ended the lesson on a good note, and handed him off to me to cool off and graze a little. It was nice to hang out with my boy, and especially nice that he had better manners than before. We grazed until he was dry, and then walked down the the pasture. His goofball buddies were waiting by the gate, but he let me open the gate, walk in, and then he politely walked in when I asked him to. It was a good end to a fun filled day.

Never's Training Progress

Never has gone through some big changes in the past few weeks. The first week, the trainer could hardly get near him. He would hide behind other horses or just run off. When I came for my first 'lesson' (mostly just watching her train), we corralled him in a smaller paddock so she could work with him up close and personal. By the end of the lesson, he was following her around and would allow her to touch his face.

During his stay in the corral, the trainer would spend her spare time sitting with him, or would send her working students out with a book, just so he would get used to new and different people

The second lesson was so nice. He came up to the trainer after a few minutes and let himself be haltered. He was somewhat distracted, but he eventually let her pick up his feet without too much fuss. Yay!

Just a few days before the third lesson this past Wednesday, he relaxed enough to pick on the ponies he was in with, so back out with the herd he went. When we went to get him, he played hard to get for about five minutes. He went to show his dominance to a new horse to the herd, and when the new horse pinned his ears at him, he jumped straight in the air and ran to hide by the trainer. She was laughing so hard she could hardly fasten the halter!

We walked up to the arena, where they worked on different things: yielding front and hindquarters, desensitizing to different objects (he loved the big ball!), and finally, the saddle. He had had the saddle and pad on before, but never cinched up. She tossed the saddle and pad on him a few times, and he really didn't care. She attached the girth, and he flinched a little when the girth brushed his leg, but he stood still. She led him around a little then reached under, grabbed the girth, and carefully cinched him up. He didn't seem to care. The trainer walked him around a bit, then fully tightened the girth. She kept waiting for him to blow up, and he didn't. He did plod around like a zombie plow horse, though!

After some more walking, the trainer tried a couple of steps of trot, saying that he will most probably blow up when he feels the saddle bounce. She asked for a trot, he trotted for about three strides, then did his zombie walk again. Twice more they trotted, and twice more he just plodded along.

It was getting close to the end of the lesson, but the trainer decided to try one more thing because he was being so good. She stood at his side and bounced up and down. No real reaction. She did it again, and still nothing. So she stood on the mounting block, and then jumped up and down again. He looked at her, but didn't move.

Eventually she got to the point where she draped herself over his back. He seemed a little surprised that she was on both sides of him, but still didn't move. He did try and eat her shoes, so she called him to his other side and gave him a treat. He then went back to play with her shoes again! Once again she got his attention to his other side and gave him the last treat. I'm on the other side so I couldn't see, but I guess after the last treat he was so thankful that he gave her a big kiss!

Finally...

Never finally made it to the trainer's barn yesterday, but it wasn't as straightforward as I was hoping it would be.

The day started out well. I fed everyone and turned them out in the pasture and put Never in the round pen, which he was not happy about. Last Monday we had to load hay in the loft, and to do that I had to move Rho to the round pen to get him out of the way. That meant I had to turn Never out in the main pasture. I was afraid he would get dominant and pushy out there, but Cora kept chasing him away from the herd, so he spent most of his time grazing elsewhere.

Anyway, I expected the trainer to arrive at 10am, so I got some work done on the computer and did some cleaning around the house. 10 comes and goes, then 11. I went out to check on Never, give him hay, and put on a fly mask as the flies were really bothering his eyes. At noon I called the trainer, and after much discussion the problem was revealed. Apparently, my appointment had been lost and the directions to my house were accidentally deleted. We got it all worked out, and the trainer's assistant headed out with the trailer.

After a couple of calls and a wrong turn, she arrived around 2:30. We chatted for a minute, then went to catch Never and load him up. Unfortunately, he didn't want to be caught! He usually comes right to me, but he just kept avoiding me. I figured out what was wrong pretty quick: it was the first time he had ever worn a fly mask, and I don't think he really realized it was me! It took about 10 minutes to calm him down and catch him, 5 minutes to hop in the trailer (good boy!), and then I hopped in my truck and we were on our way.

I followed them back to the barn, and even with the window down I was sweating all the way (no AC in the truck, and the car is out of commission. Long story.). We get to the barn, I finish signing some papers, and then we unload Never and take him to the communal pasture where he'll be spending his training days. It seemed like he had to check out every pile of manure! The creepy thing is, it was so quiet. There was no squealing or neighing or anything! The assistant said that they put most of the squealers in the pastures near the barn, and the ones in this particular pasture were more mellow.

The first one to come up to greet Never and check him out was a Paint/Pinto named Joker, who apparently lives up to his name. Then a couple of Pasos came to see him, and then he went on a grand tour and I lost sight of him for a bit. I walked back to the barn with the assistant, and sat down with Holly the barn manager/secretary/ all around go to person to figure out when my lessons were, and to chat in general.

I finally left around 6pm. I debated stopping at the mall complex on the way, as I'm out of yellow printer ink, but I decided I was beat and just went straight home. I got back about 8, hung up Never's halter and lead (they use their own equipment for training), did chores, and watched Super Troopers before heading to bed. It was a lovely day, even if it had a few bumps in it.

Up to date

The vet came out on Thursday to float Gem and Jul's teeth and to give Alex and Never their booster shots. Jul's teeth look incredible, just a little grining to get some of the points off and a rotting molar had to be pulled, but really good otherwise. Not bad for a 36 year old mare. Her son Gem wasn't as lucky, though. Dr Esser said that if I had to prioritize floatings in the future, to put him low on the list as he didn't have much to work with anymore. She did the best she could with him, though, and he seems to be dribbling less, so I call it a job well done.

Then it was on to booster shots. Alex was a little skittish, but he stood pretty well and took the shot like a trooper. I wish I could say the same for Never. *sigh* It took forever just to sedate him. Dr. Esser tried to inject directly into the vein so he would sedate quicker, but he was just not having it. CJ, the vet assistant, wrestled with him for about 10 minutes before the good doctor finally was able to inject in the muscle instead. Then we had to wait for 20 minutes. I was so embarrased, I wanted to hide.

After the wait, he was sleepy, but not so sleepy that he couldn't put up a fuss about the vaccinations. We took the opportunity to trim his feet while he was sedated, and while he was bratty and we still had to fight with him, we managed to get his front feet trimmed. His hind feet still look okay, and that's good because he kicked Ken when he checked the left hind!

Still, they're done and trainer will be picking him up on the 10th. Thank goodness. I just don't know what happened to him. He was so good before he was gelded, it's like his brains were in his balls or something. Everything he learned before seems to be gone.

I hope Jessica can help him to be an equine good citizen.

Trainer time

I got back from visiting with the trainer that I'm thinking about sending Never to, and I have to say that I like her. It's an hour and a half drive to get to the barn, but I'd only need to be there once a week for the lesson, so it's not so bad.

She took me on a tour of the farm, introduced me to the horses and told me about their training, and also about her methods. She's into natural horsemanship, but also classical dressage, and she's pretty nice and easy to talk with as well. I watched part of a lesson with a beginner, and she explained everything clearly and didn't lose patience or get frustrated with the student. I was very impressed.

She charges $275 a month for training, and the barn charges $200 a month for pasture board, a total of $475 that I have to come up with for 1 to 3 months, depending on how well he does and how trained I want him right off the bat. He also needs his Coggins test and vaccinations updated, so that's another $100 up front. It'll be worth it, though, to have a nice, calm gelding that understands what I want him to do.

Spring has sprun, the grass is riz...

I've been pretty negligent about posting to my blogs, or doing much of anything with the computer besides my daily morning ritual of comics, forums, networking sites, and mail, which usually takes about an hour, more or less. So since the lawn has been mown and the gardens tended, today I'm going to play a little catch-up.

The past few weeks have been busy. I've been working with Never, trying to get him used to having his feet worked with so they can be trimmed and doctored, but he's been fighting me all the way. He's developed a lovely case of thrush, and every time I try to clean and doctor his hooves he tries to jerk away, prances, and even rears a little. He's just not learning to give, and it's very frustrating. So I'm looking even harder for a good trainer. Someone close by would be nice, but I'll consider anyone within a 3 hour drive if they're good enough. Bonus points if they train dressage.

My aunt Astrid's memorial was on May 4th, and it was the first time in a while that I've seen some of my relatives. My cousin Eric, who was born the day before my 1st birthday, was back from Portland, Oregon, and his sister Laurie was in from Chicago. We had a pretty good time talking and catching up, and I have a place to stay if I'm ever in Portland.

I went to Rolex on April 22 and came back on the 27. It was a lovely working vacation, just me and my camera. I did what I wanted for the most part, met up with some old friends and made some new ones, and mostly just relaxed. I did a lot of driving, and thus a lot of thinking (I think my best thoughts while I'm driving), and made some decisions. Some were things I already knew and just needed to make them a priority, others were things that I put off and didn't want to think about.

I decided that I needed to really push my photography this year: advertise, upgrade equipment, advertise, take more classes, and advertise. I need to design a logo, make a brochure, update my website and portfolio, send said portfolio to magazines and websites, work on my business and people skills, and make new business cards. All this means I need to sit in front of the computer more, buckle down and do things. It's been so nice out lately that I've been doing more outside, but it's past time that I get to work and get something done.

I also decided that I need to put Tassel down as well as Sparky. Both of them have arthritis, Tassel's mostly in her front legs while Sparky has stiffness in her hips and hocks. Tassel is 31 this year and has had a charmed life, most of it spent with the herd she was born into. She's been a great teacher, easy going on trails, had two foals, and got along with most horses. She's in pain, and I think she's ready to go on to greener pastures. Sparky is 28, and is laying down more because of the pain and stiffness in her hind end. She has also spent most of her life with her herd, had a brief stint as a 4-H show horse, and had a foal. Like Tassel, I think she's ready to move on.

My other big decision was a back up plan or 'Plan B', if you will. Ken and I are getting a divorce, and Mom is panicked that Ken will screw me over, or that we'll have to sell the farm as part of the settlement. Ken wouldn't (that would take too much effort on his part) and we won't need to, but she did make me realize that I do need to think about 'what if...'. So I thought about what I would do if I didn't have the farm anymore. I needed to think about where the horses would go, where I would live, what I would do. I discussed it with Mom and Dad on separate occasions, and I think I've got a pretty good contingency plan. Dad would rather buy a place closer to where they are, so I told him I need to have at least 15-20 acres, and I'd be willing to share a house with John, my younger brother. Rumor has it that he's looking into a place between his house and Jay's farm that has 100 acres, a couple of barns and a very run down house. I would get the buildings and some acreage, and Jay would get to farm the balance. Plan B also includes going back to school, or at least taking some classes (probably graphic and computer arts focus), getting at least a part time job, and still working toward the goal.

Yes, even if I 'give up' on my current life and start over, I still want to rescue, rehabilitate, and retire horses. The current plan would transfer over to a new farm without too much difficulty, and SE Wisconsin may even be a better area for it. I would probably have to start by boarding a few horses, and make improvements and friends as time goes on.

So that's pretty much it, a basic synopsis of my life to date. There's other things that have happened (we got more chicks, I've caught up on bills, I'm looking to fix up the house...) but that's all stuff that I can put in later posts. Right now I have to go out and buy a staple gun so I can build custom scratching and climbing posts for the cats. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about how it goes.

"I totally lost it when..."

The topic of one of my favorite blogs Behind the Bit yesterday was "times when you totally lost it", your emotions went totally out of your control. The first story that came to mind was from when I was around 10 years old, and colored my view of trainers for years.

Shady was my first horse, born just 6 months before I was. She was true black 7/8 Arabian mare with a blaze and a mischievous personality, mostly because the other 1/8 of her genetics was Shetland pony. She was curious and smart and somewhat of an escape artist, but she was mine and I loved her dearly.

When I was old enough for the 4-H horse project, Mom sent Shady to an Arab breeder friend of hers who's son was a trainer. After he had put about a month or two of work into her (I think, I don't quite remember) he had me in for a lesson.

I knew something was off about her, as she would hug the wall of the dim indoor arena while going counter clockwise, but when she went clockwise she stayed about six feet from the wall. I mentioned my concerns, but the trainer just said she was being stubborn and I was letting her get away with being naughty. He had me get off, then hopped on and proceeded to beat the crap out of my mare with a whip RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I so mad and frustrated I was crying, and kept trying to convince him that something must be wrong with her eyes. Mom was horrified by the whole scene, and pulled Shady out of there soon after. I never forgot or forgave that jerk.

As a result of that lesson, I kept a close eye on Shady and her reactions to things: sticking close while I led her, rearing in a halter class when the judge came around the back, going though a fence at dusk. It was about 5 or 6 years after the trainer incident when the vet determined she had glaucoma in one eye, the one on the side she had issues with. I felt vindicated, in a way, but sad and upset too. She lived for a few more years in comfort, but we decided to have her put down when she continually broke through the fence. She was 21, and so was I.

I have another 'lost it' story about a trainer, but I think I'll save it for another day. Remembering this took more out of me than I thought it would, I'm pissed off all over again!