MEAA day

So I did a MEAA event today with Kiko. I was very nervous, I always get nervous even though I am not in it to win it..the pressure for me is ON so I get anxiety and Kiko feels it. This is how our day went today broken down by obsticle. I have to say Kiko is a great sport! He tries his heart out for me even when I’m not being a great partner being all full of nerves and anxiousness about the course.

ONLINE: (I’m on the ground, Kiko is on my lead rope)

Obsticle 1:

Send your horse over the teeter totter bridge: Kiko said “No problem…hey! it moves…cool!!!

2: Back your horse down the shoot to the mailbox & Open n close the mailbox door: Kiko said “Whaaat? You want me to back in YOUR condition are you f*ckin kidding me? No, I will go sideways, I will go forward, I will try to turn around OH OKAY you pest….I will go back just really, really, really slowly. By the way, I hate the poles I keep running into with my feet….Mailbox? Who cares about the mailbox, what are you doing…did you know you are touching me with that…how annoying, I think I’ll lean into it and shut it for you.”

3: Send your horse over the three jumps at your gait: Kiko says Sweet! I get to JUMP! YE HAWW!

4: Go thru the arena gate and send your horse in a traveling circle at your gait to the next obsticle: Kiko says ” Gate shmate….send me thru but doing a circle…ha, ha, ha! I’m going to cheat and stop and change direction on you every time I get behind your back because I say trot shmot too bitch and it’s funny!”

5: Send your horse thru the trench ditch with the tarp: Kiko says, “I will go, I will go, I don’t like it but I will go…Okay I’m halfway thru and I see water on the top so I must JUMP out the side of the trench….twice”

6: Cross the tire bridge: Kiko says: “I like bridges, I like tires, I like wood planks, I like to go over them.” (singing in his head when he goes over it)

7: Send your horse thru the cowboy curtain: Kiko says: ” I LIKE NOODLES AND PLASTIC HANGY THINGS!”

8: Stand at the trailer at the cone and trailer load your horse: Kiko says: “Even though I trailer load like a champ, I ain’t goin in there cuz it smells funny….NOPE NO WAY NO HOW!!!”

RIDING COURSE:

Obsticle 1: Enter area, jump 3 jumps in a row at your gait: Kiko says “Yes please I love jumping but I want to do the first two at a standstill walk over….thanks, the last one I will LEAP like a magic Leprachon over….just to shake things up.”

2: Stop horse with front feet between cones: Kiko says: “Seriously, this is childsplay.”

3: Go over the teeter totter bridge: Kiko says ” Oh! This again…I love this frickin bridge, it’s so cool, it’s up, then it’s down….interesting!”

4: Pick up the windsock at the fence; Kiko says: “Ooooh pretty colors, put it on my face!!!”

5: Back in between rails to mail box, place windsock in mailbox: Kiko says: “Again with the backing in YOUR state….screw that and did I mention I don’t like these plastic poles around my FEET! Oh all right I’ll back, Oh! Your turning me around, I like that….the mailbox smells good….what are you doing….get that thing in there and lets go!”

6: Dismount and ground tie your horse in the cones and move the wheelbarrel around the square. Kiko says: What Stay? Really…..Um okay, oh! your distracted? Cool I’m going over there while you a messing with that thing to eat grass while everyone laughs at us.”

7: Open and close arena gate: Kiko says: Open? Sure, just lemme slam my shoulder into the rails first, ah shit…that didn’t get it open, swing it bitch! I’m not pushing it with my chest for crying out loud…..Okay we are out, ah closing it? No….I don’t have time for that kind of nonsense today.”

8: Go thru the ditch with the tarp: Kiko says: “Lets change this to dance around it, stare and snake my head at the ditch and we can call it completed K?…Oh sure, I can sidepass it while snorting..sure!”

9: Pick up the bag of cans on the first barrel, go over the three logs and place the bag of cans on the second barrel. Kiko says: “Um logs…um…Okay sure….oh! That thing makes noise, yes, lets carry it and place it on the next barrel!”

10: Sidepass your horse between the poles and the tires: Kiko says: “Sidepass no, but hold a bend and go in a diagnal but totally sideways? SURE!”

11: Ride thru the red spools into the ditch and out the other side: Kiko says: “What the hell have I told you about ditches woman? No, HELL to the no, that’s a big step down.”

12: Cross the tire bridge: Kiko says: “I like bridges, I like tires, I like wood planks, I like to go over them.” (singing in his head when he goes over it)

13: Ride thu the cowboy curtain at your levels gait: ” I LIKE NOODLES AND PLASTIC HANGY THINGS!…..but I’m walkin, not trotting loser.”

14: Dismount at the cone and trailer load your horse: Kiko says: “I already told you….No, oh all right, I’ll put two feet in and let you pat my ass.”

All in all he did really great! Considering how anxious I was, we didn’t get everything done but we did what we could and we worked pretty good together….after everything, the BEST part of the day happened.

While dropping off my friends horse, we tied Kiko to the trailer. He’s really efficient at getting ropes lose, even when you tie them to tighten if the horse pulls on it, Kiko will losen it at the other end to get more line. He did this, then right when I looked over at him he craned his neck over inside the trailer and got his halter twisted in one of the hooks on the side of the trailer. His first reaction was to pull back and he rocked the trailer. I initially had my hands fly up but stopped…..and he stopped too, I walked forward, stuffing all my panic down and I could tell he was doing the same, I started crooning “Gooooood Booooy!” in a low voice and he was just frozen….a little worried but NOT reacting. My buddy Kelly at the same time came up and untied where the lead rope was on the trailer as I reached my fingers in the halter and un hooked him. The entire time Kiko stood totally still and when three people came to “save” him he was calm. He lifted his head and looked around like “AH, thanks….I was in a jam there.”

I have known a lot of stories about similar instances, horses getting caught, horses losing eyes, horses falling down or breaking things in the same situations and I accredit this all to Kiko being SUCH A THINKER….that he didn’t freak out even though he wanted to….wheeeeew…..what a good boy! Crisis averted because of his ability to think his way out of it. I also have to give credit to my friend Kelly who has had trailer loading problems like her mare taking her eye out and her baby getting stuck on her old trailer….even with those scary instances under her belt, she didn’t get scared, she just untied him and kept very quiet and calm for Kiko, enhancing his calm. I was most proud of that moment. For Kiko, for Kelly, for Stefanie and for me. Getting out of a problem like this is what all this training, obsticle running, desensitization and everything we do is for. It’s fun and I think we just proved it’s 100% worth it.

 

 

 

Equine Dentist visit

I had to get Kiko hauled over to our old barn today for a dental appointment with Gregg McKee, the equine dentist. I got a ride from a really nice lady I thought I had never met before from a close barn. She got there and I realized I just saw her at Jack Lieser’s most recent Western Dressage event. She was like “Oh! your Jenny, I didn’t know it was you, the colt start girl who says colt starting changed your life!”

Hahaha, that made me giggle. I was suprised she remembered what I said about it on the lunch break on the second day of the Western dressage event but they asked Jack about colt start and asked how much knoweldge you needed to do it. Jack asked me to tell everyone my experiance since I’ve only been back into horses for a few years now.  I told them, yes, under Jack’s easy instruction and careful eye; I felt completly safe and it’s changed my life, what you learn about yourself and what it does to your horsemanship is immeasurable. I was happy that she remembered.

Anyway, back to today…she got there early just in case Kiko wouldn’t load right away. However, Kiko is a pro at loading, he got in, backed out then went right back in and started eating hay. It took all but a minute in a half I think.

At Lakeview, they dosed my horse up, I am always amazed at how fast it starts to work, he was wobbly in a few seconds. Gregg opened his mouth, checked him out for a few minutes and had me stick my hands in his mouth both top and bottom to feel his teeth. They were suprisingly sharp and felt uneaven. Gregg was personable and funny and even when working can hold an engaging conversation. I liked him immediatly.

He not only told me but showed me exactly where Kiko had problem spots, explained what he was going to do and how he would balance him and answered every one of my questions honestly like when I asked him “So are his teeth wearing eavenly?” Gregg said with a smile and a laugh ”No! not at all, that’s what I’m fixing.” Okay so now I trusted him, he’s going to tell me like it is, people like that don’t usually have time for B.S.

Kiko kind of woke up halfway thru the visit so Gregg called for the vet to administer another 1/2 dose of seditive. I asked what he was doing and he said “Chewing on my arm” and right then Kiko decided he was going to walk out the stall even with the speculum and Greggs arm in his mouth LOL. He finished the work and had me feel again, WHAT A DIFFERENCE! It was so smooth and even. I could feel how this was going to be much more comfortable for him.

I put Kiko in an adjacent stall to recover and I spent a good hour grooming him, I brushed him really well, cowboy magic’d his mane and tail until the brush ran smooth thru his curly hair and put on some equispot since I’m so freaked out about ticks this year. Kristi Kelly-Raverty was there and agreed to check out Kiko’s gelding scar, just like Cynthia the barefoot trimmer my friend Kelly mentors under said, he had some mobility limitations due to some Fascia she took care of for him. She’s amazing also, she knew right where the problem was and losened him all up in less than 10 minutes and really the only reason it took that long is because he was moving around. After Kristi was done he didn’t move while I was grooming, just had his head pressed up against the stall breathing funny thru his squished nose. Then he suddenly woke up and was investigating the stall sluggishly. Someone commented “There must be some mustang in that horse. He doesn’t stay sedated for long!” We walked around for a bit then put him in the trailer which he loaded again perfectly.

Judy said he was shaking in the trailer so we maybe should have waited longer but he was fine when we pulled him out. A little sweaty and stressed, but seemed to recover just fine because I put him in the pasture and he said a very quick goodbye to me and cantered off to find his girls while screaming for them, even jumping over a mound of dirt so I think he was fine

I hope he likes his new teeth and can’t wait to go back on Sunday and help him stretch out his new muscles.

Horses playing in the pond

Followed a horse trail thru the woods in the pasture and came upon this pond, A bunch of horses were playing in this little pond so I took some pictures and video of it.

http://youtu.be/RPKskLqPrpk

http://youtu.be/FP7cx5ewmb4

Integration into the new herd

Last night I was lucky enough to run into the barn manager who was just about to move the three horses who are finally done with isolation, into the outdoor arena so they could meet the herd when the herd came back up from grazing.

Cool! I told her I would help. She took Coco and I took Twilight.

I told her I would be interested to see Kiko’s reaction when we took the two mares out of the enclosure since they all seem to have formed a pretty tight bond.

As expected, he was not happy, running around, calling to them, looking beautiful all tensed up and really really really TALL.

Twilight wasn’t happy moving as quickly as we did but she was handling it pretty well. I get the impression from her; Although she is reactive and sensitive, I think she can process things faster then other horses like her. We got Coco and Twilight into the outdoor arena and I went back for Kiko.

He was waiting for me, nostrils wide and his face looked like a carved statue. I got his halter on while he was leaning into me like he was telling me, Cmon, Hurry up now!!!

Got him into the arena, let him loose and he and Twilight tore off to trot the arena. Coco was already calmly eating in the middle of the arena totally un concerened where she remained the entire time I was there.

The other horses in the pasture were then drivin back up to the paddock.

Twilight and Kiko were trotting again, tails raised like white tailed deer….even Kiko’s!

Here’s the funny thing though, the horses in the paddock were really interested in greeting our three but Twilight was heading Kiko off, she let him touch noses a few times but would then push him off or tear away and he would follow.

I found that very interesting. I know with Stallion behavior, that would be normal but was totally unaware that lead Mare’s did this as well. I really look forward to watching her in this new herd. My inexperiance with Mare’s and mare activity is something I am eager to study in this new mixed herd.  I’m very interested in seeing how they form into this group of horses.

Coco seems to not even be interested in filling out an application for lead mare, she used to run a herd of 60 horses but being 21 and having Twilight around I think she’s perfectly happy just being around Kiko…She used to act like she didn’t really like him, but now she’s been in heat for the past two weeks and screams for him when he’s out with me, nickers at him when he comes back. Today Kelly went out and said he would not leave them alone, he wanted to be glued to Coco’s side even though they were out with all the other horses eating grass at that point. I’m glad he’s got a girlfriend even if she is 11 years his senior.

It will be fun to see where Kiko places in this herd. It’s big! He loves other horses but he is a social retard so they don’t always love him back. He’s probably the closest dometic horse I know that acts like a Nokota. He’s constantly testing and playing and trying to get other horses to engage him which is why he gets all the bites and kick marks on him because he ends up annoying other domestics. His best buddy is a Nokota and he’s used to that so they became awesome friends. So with so many horses to play with I will be interested to see where he places, if he has friends AND if Coco will tolerate his antics when she’s not in heat.

Going out Friday for observation of the integration.

Clumsy

I’ve realized recently my posts have been very poor quality.

Sloppy, not the right wording, dull and well…very clumsy. And my spelling sucks which I know….but whatever, I’m not a writer, I’m just a someone that likes writing about my experiances.

I really want to focus on changing that but sometimes the random thoughts that come as fast as they do I try to get it down just as fast. I have to realize I have time…time to think, time to reflect and time to think about what I want to say.

It’s kind of like my experiances riding. Everything comes so fast! Kiko’s reactions, the Colt’s reactions, things people say and do..it gets jumbled. There are so many times I think

” I could live in this moment forever”

but I don’t explain that because it was just a thought, just a fleeting feeling in one of a thousand wonderful moments. I fail to explain it adequately.

It’s the moment Kiko leaps up into a canter, It’s a perfect trot or transition, It’s a funny reaction he has, It’s a wow that was kinda scary but also FUN moment. It’s every second I get to spend with him, It’s the moment a colt ‘gets’ what I’m saying, the feeling of being accepted into a wild group, it’s a light bulb going off, the instant connection happens, the times I put pressure into my saddle and my horse moves away from it, the point the horse tells you it’s okay,  it’s the feeling…the awareness of anything & everything.

Everything is important. I hope to capture that from now on.

Gateway fun day 2

So yesterday I took Kiko out on our second ride on the Gateway trail.

This time we had our friends Kelly and Coco along for the ride. It was a beautiful night and Kiko was in a mood. We started out at a crawl until we finally had to pick up some of our saddle leathers and the horses realized they could be used as makeshift crops….well after about two minutes of that, we didn’t need them again. The horses found the proper motivation to keep moving.

Then Kiko decided if he couldn’t eat then he really wanted to be moving so we did a lot of trot walk transitions….and complete stops. THAT was fun.

Soon that wasn’t enough, he wanted to “accidently” run Coco off the trail…this is one of his go to moves when he’s not real interested in anything else around him and is getting bored. So I wouldn’t let him do that and he was irritated. I could tell by the one hard tail swish I got every time I told him he couldn’t railroad her off the trail.

Very shortly after that he decided it was more fun to freak out at everyone coming up behind us. Especially when they were coming fast on bikes or rollerblades. He was almost laughing at me while dropping strait down like a dog wanting to play. Oooh he was having fun. I could tell he wasn’t really scared, but was having a blast occupying his time by toying with me.

Yes, sometimes it gets annoying and I tell him to knock it off but generally I like to leave the lines of communication open with him and I think it’s funny. He’s a goofball, he loves to play…this is how he treats other horses so I think it’s kinda cool he want’s to have fun with me. When it counts, if I tell him to stop he does. So I’m not worried about him having fun on the trail, that’s what it’s all about right? So I’m not the ONLY one having fun on the trail. I don’t see this as a crime, I encourage his personality coming out and I feel honored he feels safe enough to be himself around me.

At one point he did get worried. We decided to canter in a nice spot but there were two people on rollerblades with ski poles coming up behind us, so the whole time we were cantering he’s looking backwards, first over one shoulder, then the other, then he’d switch again, the whole time me squealing as he’s squirming doing flying lead changes. I was laughing the whole time. I also thought it was ironic because my trainer’s horse did the same thing one clinic we attended together, her horse was doing flying lead changes because he didn’t want to go strait so he was squirming to get out of it….I said to myself Wow! That looks so fun to ride. Well now I know what she was feeling….and why she was laughing. He was really afraid, he thought they were going to eat him but he handles his fear so well that as soon as they passed he was fine and continued cantering.

We arrived at a tunnel Coco was ahead of us and she stops and snorts at a dead mouse laying right at the mouth of the tunnel. Kiko and I went thru one just like this the other day just fine so I take front and we gingerly make our way thru the tunnel. This was our turning back spot for the day since the sun was starting to go down so after viewing the map we went back thru the tunnel, again with Coco in the front. Suddenly Coco Stops, snorts and backs up, first into Kiko’s chest then into my leg which I had to lift up in order to not get pulled out of my saddle. I can hear Kelly behind me “Oh great, your going to go retarded again over the tunnel.” She explained to me that Coco sometimes has a problem getting close to the walls for some reason. I was like well she only has one eye, it’s probably really scary for her! LOL The poor girl. We go ahead of them again and because of Coco’s reaction Kiko thought the tunnel was extra scary now so we Tip toe thru arching the neck and snorting but make it alright. Coco and Kelly stayed in the tunnel until Coco relaxed a bit, sniffed the wall and was able to walk out calmly. I learn so much from those two!

On the way back, Kiko knew it meant going home so he wanted to trot most of the time. My knee was killing me after a while so posting was becoming clumsy and my ass was so sore from two days ago that sitting the trot was almost impossible too. So we ended up in a half sit, half post trot with my hand pushing up on my saddle to lift me UP. I was sure it was throwing him off balance but he didn’t seem to have any problems dealing with my sprawling gimpyness on top of him.

We went up a hill and all of a sudden I was being tossed out of my saddle into the air in this trot I have never felt from him before. Giggling I asked Kelly, what the hell was that? She said “Wow, that was really climby, very spanish looking!” I didn’t even know he COULD trot like that. She also said he was very underneith himself the whole time, his back foot tracking at least a hoof and a half beyond his front. I said “YEAH! That’s what I’ve been trying to work on the whole time I’ve had him!” When I first got him he was so front end heavy, undertracked and didn’t seem to utilize his extreamly strong hindquarters when working with a human. To know that we changed this for him made me really happy.

Even though we are both out of shape for long trails yet this season he did very well and still had a ton of pep at the end of the trail. He went into this beautiful jog then a very smooth canter, Oh it was lovely, then he decided he wanted to jump a tiny stick just for the hell of it…he was having so much fun! We got to the gravel road and cantered up to the barn.

I have such a hard time describing how much I love this horse and how perfect I feel that he is. He’s as scatter brained, air headed, can get bored, fun loving, adventurous, irrational but at the same time as logical thinking as I am but for some reason we work as good together as peanut butter and jelly. When I’m being stupid he pulls me out of it, when he’s doing it, I do the same…we litterally work together. He is the perfect partner for me. It was fate we ended up together. For some, he would be too much, for others he’d be a horse they needed to whip into shape and he would hate them but for us, the match is perfect.

I can’t wait for the next trail ride. I say that every time and every time I mean it.

 

Riding Kiko down the Gateway Trail

So I did something I have always wanted to do with my horse today.

I have always wanted to trail ride my horse on a trail alone, just the two of us on a totally foreign, new trail so we discover it together…just us, no other horse to lead or follow, no safety in numbers. Just the two of us on an exploration.

I KNOW it’s not the smartest thing to do alone but it was something I wanted us to experiance together as partners. I don’t want him to carry me down a trail he knows well and I don’t want to yank him down one he doesn’t want to go down. I wanted to explore something together, make it join us as partners on a trek better then any arena or practice can do, I wanted to feel free, just me and my horse. Depending on eachother to deal with anything that comes our way.

That’s exactly what it felt like.

We did really good together, I was giving him more of what he wanted. When he gets nervous, he likes to move his feet so we trotted a lot as long as he kept his head, when he would lose it, I’d half halt him until he was thinking again which doesn’t take much these days. He would get back to thinking which is what I wanted and he would get to move his feet which is what he wanted. When we cantered, even galloped as long as he kept his head I let him out, go ahead! “Wheeee~” no, really….I actually said “Wheeee!” when we were really going to keep the energy up. I matched him, only shut him down twice but he wasn’t afraid, he was bracy. We got rid of the brace and continued.

We rode the trails for two hours, it was a very fun time. We were not seperate units, I guided him more with my seat then I did with my hands, I really put the trust into him that he would get it and we both did. We stayed relaxed, loose and the entire ride was one big conversation. I can honestly say I think this was our most sucessful ride ever. It was nice and long but we didn’t tune eachother out. We handled everything like a team. At one point he even told me he’s more comfortable with me looking every which way including up at the sky rather then just focusing on the trail ahead. Like he wanted me to look out for cougars and wolves instead of just directing where we went. It was very interesting seeing him physiclly and mentally calm down when he felt I was looking in all directions. He stopped looking in all directions when I started doing that and he focused on the trail ahead. Almost like he was saying, Okay…now that you are the look out, I will just focus on where my feet go. LOL

We rode next to the highway behind the guardrail and even ended up stopped next to a school bus waiting for the kids to run across the street to the awaiting cars picking them up.

We got back to the barn both pretty tired and sweaty. Put him in with his two girls in the pasture and all he wanted to do was stand next to me and snuggle his head into my jacket.

Can’t wait for Wed. where we go out to the gateway again but this time with Kelly and Coco.