How Not to Die

I guess I forgot to mention in my last few posts that Walker is sound.  Well, from my quick walks of him down the concrete hall, he is at least sound at the walk.  I've decided to give him a week or so just to be on the safe side so I've been hand walking him instead.

This has turned out to be wildly dangerous, and he has turned out to be as high as a kite.  I don't blame him, of course.  He's at a brand new barn, where he has never been turned out but in the indoor arena that I walk him in, and he hasn't been worked or ridden in three months.  Besides a couple of days where he got turned out while sick, he has been cooped up.

I love this picture because he looks so unimpressed with me,
which is an accurate portrayal of our day

That being said, it's not that fun to have your horse throw his head up and rear in front of you when you dare to ask him to jog beside you.

The vet has said that I shouldn't lunge him excessively, and in my opinion, excessively means anything that would be a little too wild.  Well, I know my pony, and the minute he hits that lunge line, he's going to go crazy.  So no lunging excessively means no lunging.

The barn manager (and one of the trainers) thinks that we shouldn't turn him out until he has been ridden for all the same reasons.  He's going to go crazy in a field with or without other horses and potentially hurt himself.

This leaves poor ol' me trying to devise the safest way to ride my horse without lunging him or turning him out after three months on stall rest.  Needless to say, the words "tranquilize" have come up in conversation with my barn owner.

Tranquilizing Walker doesn't really bother me in principal, but for some reason, I just don't think it'll help.  First of all, it's not solving anything; it's just doping him up long enough for me to get on him.  Once we stop doing it, he'll still be wild even if I've ridden him a couple times by then.  I know my pony very well at this point, and when he's hyper, he just needs to get it out of his system.

So I've emailed the vet and asked her for her advice on the three issues: turnout, lunging, and tranquilizing.  In my ideal world, I would like to be allowed to turn him out for a week (this week preferably) before I try to ride him.  I would also like to lunge him before I ride him for obvious reasons.  Whether or not we tranquilize won't matter to me as much if I can do those things, but I threw the idea into my email just in case.

No matter what, bringing him back to work isn't going to be simple, and it might just be a matter of getting a professional to help me if it turns out to be too much to handle.  I don't necessarily think it will go that far.  I think it will simply be a matter of getting the first few rides in, and then we'll go back to our lovely ask/fight relationship.

"The Program"

Everyone at the barn is on "The Program".

They talk about it like I should instinctively know what this program is.  One lady I met has her thoroughbred in for training.  I asked what she was training her for since the mare isn't exactly green broke and I, the fool, assumed she was working towards some particular discipline.  She said, "Oh, I'm just putting her through The Program" as though I should already know that.

What they mean, of course, is the Clinton Anderson program, and they talk about it like there are no other programs out there, like it is the be-all end-all of training.

I have always been rather fascinated with Clinton Anderson.  But I've also been fascinated with Buck Brannaman and Jane Savoie and anyone else with good ideas and wonderful horsemanship.  I believe that almost every program has its merits, and in fact, I subscribe to the piecemeal approach of horseback riding, or rather the "borrow from every program until you find what works" method of riding my horse.  It works for me just as I'm sure some programs work better for others.

Unfortunately, The Program is not so much suggested at my barn as it is mandatory.  Someone once used the word "strict" when describing my barn owner's philosophy, and I have to say that I balked at the word.

There's a reason I work in the profession that I do, and that's simply because I don't always like to be told what to do.  Don't get me wrong.  When I'm interested in something, you don't have to tell me.  I'll be ALL OVER it.  But the minute someone tries to force me to do what I'm interested in doing, I fight against it.  Walker and I have that in common.

I once whipped Walker in the face with a lead line by accident.
That didn't phase him and I doubt this stick thing will either.

I have no intentions of making waves.  I like my barn and I like my barn owner.  I think Clinton Anderson's program is useful, especially because of its emphasis on groundwork which I've often been too lazy in the past to do with Walker in any substantial amount.

But I'm also hoping that I can get across my own philosophy - the one where I don't necessarily believe that buying certain products will make me a better horsewoman or subscribing exclusively to a method, especially if it doesn't work as well as another method, just because it's the thing to do.

I'll do whatever it takes to be a better overall rider, and I'll try anything once.  But if that doesn't work, well, I'll be back to the good ol' Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-Your-Pants Program (FBTSOYPP for short).

Here's hoping they can make me a believer.

Good horses happen in every breed and good trainers in every country.  In fact, it is really important to avoid "equestrian religion" of this-and-that brand and remember that all correct methods, regardless of their apparent "flavours", result in active, straight, obedient horses that are light to the aids.   - J.P. Giacomini

How to Bathe a Horse

Or more appropriately: How to Bathe a Horse Who Has Been On Stall Rest

Step 1: Get yourself super excited that it is a warm enough day and that you actually have the day off, and you will finally get to use that super cool Showsheen Try-Pak that you won over at SheMovedToTexas (especially since you never win anything).

Step 2: Wake the sweet looking pony up from his pony nap and take him for a test walk down the hall to check his soundness.  Be super excited that he appears relatively sound, even if it might be the bute talking.

Step 3: Bring him to the wash stall where you've never washed a horse before and frankly aren't clear on the pony's reaction.  Be sure to walk him past the door to the outside world where he knows all his friends are so that he'll be super pissed when he realizes you just tricked him into a bath.

Step 4: Soak, suds, rinse, repeat.  Use Shampoo/Conditioner and  Stain Remover.  Ignore directions and don't leave stain remover on long enough to remove stains.

His white socks post freak-out
I wish I could have given a review on the stain remover but...

Step 5: Take horse back to stall.  Be surprised when he seems overly eager to get in his stall.  Watch while recently lame horse has a freak attack and starts bucking and rearing in his stall.  Remove head before it gets kicked.  Yell "stop" a few times, but watch while horse rolls in the bedding and almost puts a foot through the  wall.

Step 6: Text barn manager to say, "Hey.  Maybe tomorrow should be the last day we give him bute instead of today."  Leave part out about foot almost going through wall.  Act normal.

Step 7: Leave defeated.

Wordless Wednesday: Naptime Edition

Western Dressage

I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but the AQHA has recently added Western Dressage to their roster of classes.  Yes, folks, that is actually a thing.  In fact, I have often heard of reining as being a similar skill as dressage because of the emphasis on using the body appropriately and the light movements needed.

The point of my story is that quarter horses are a particularly versatile breed, and the Western disciplines are not all about lazy lopers and chasing cows.  The emphasis with all riding is (and in my opinion, should be) teaching the horse to use himself to the best of his ability in order to function in the discipline in which he performs.

And that's where dressage comes in - English or Western.

When I bought Jane Savoie's book, I bought it for particularly that reason - to teach Walker to use himself.  It just so happens that now we are going to focus on it even more than originally planned.

Do I need my pony to do Grand Prix dressage movements?  No.  Do you?  Probably not (unless that's your thing of course).  Because frankly, you can drop a substantial amount of money and still end up with a horse that won't take you to the top.  You can't buy drive, and you can't buy talent.

I get myself caught up a lot - caught up in what I don't have.  And really I should be ashamed of myself because I talk sometimes like I have no faith in Walker's abilities.  I have taken my natural inclination to underestimate myself to underestimate my pony, and that's not fair.  How can you ever expect your horse to do something if you don't believe in them?

Maybe we'll excel at dressage.  Maybe not.  Maybe we'll do Western Dressage instead.  Maybe not.

But most importantly, we'll never stop dreaming, never stop working, never stop having faith.

I mean, who am I kidding.  We have SO MANY options.

And every day is just about the ride.

If I had...

If I had $5000...

I would take lessons.  LOTS of lessons.  On different horses, Walker included.  But I would also take lessons on other horses so that at least I had some exposure to horses with an affinity for disciplines we can't do - jumping, dressage, reining, cutting, etc.  Plus, it never hurts to put some miles on different horses.

If I had $10,000...

I would lease a second horse.  This would be the best of both worlds.  I wouldn't feel bad about taking Walker back to Western Pleasure because I would have the second horse to do some of the other things I want to try.  I could have my cake and eat it too - get to keep the love of my life AND get to try (and dare I dream to say "excel at") a discipline I would better enjoy.

If I had $15,000 $20,000+...

I would buy a second horse.  Same as leasing a second horse only Walker gets a brother.  I imagine that this will be the plan eventually.  It just depends on how long "eventually" is.

If I had $1,000,000...

I would have Walker and however many lovely ponies I want.  I would have a nice big ol' farm house with a beautiful barn and lots of fields.  While I would probably keep my ponies at a place where I could continue to learn and have another watchful set of eyes, I could retire my ponies to my backyard or even keep a few there for the extensive trails I will obviously have.  If I had $1,000,000, I would probably spend the ENTIRE thing on horses (after I paid off my debt and gave some to my parents, of course).

But instead I have $0...

So I will make the best of life.  I will not complain that I am poor nor make excuses for not having the fanciest toy.  I will be thankful that I have a healthy, goofy pony who tries harder for me than many horses would.  I will work hard because at the end of the day, you get what you want by working hard, not by spending money.

New Direction - no, not the boy band

Ships arriving for our Tall Ships Festival

When I got Walker's diagnosis, I was so happy that it wasn't founder/laminitis that I didn't care as much about the navicular. Don't get me wrong, I cared that he had minor changes, but I didn't care that it meant we could no longer jump. I've since learned that my vet would like to take additional X-rays to better understand the extent of the changes, but she suggested that it was simply because the X-rays she took were to determine the farrier's approach to shoeing him and she would like them for reference. Frankly, after three months of vet bills, I'm a little strapped for cash, and since she doesn't think they're urgent, I intend to wait for a little while - maybe until at least he's back into work.

It's finally starting to hit me like a brick that we can't jump anymore. It's not like we (he and I both) were very good at it, but it was something I was interested in doing - not to show at any high level or anything, just to do for us.

I've been saving up my money for a new saddle to replace my cheap English one. I was pretty determined that I was going to buy a jumping saddle but obviously there's no need for that now. Now I'm pretty sure we're going to try dressage, but for all the same reasons that he wouldn't make a good jumper, he's never going to excel at dressage. This was ok when I thought we could play with jumping AND dressage, but now that we just have the latter, there's seriously no point dropping that kind of money on a saddle for a discipline we won't be good at and thus won't show in.

Maybe I'll just stow away on board this

As always, this circles me back to Western. Except Walker wouldn't make a good barrel racer, penner or reiner either. Surprise, surprise. This brings me back to Western Pleasure, while no means an easy discipline and by far Walker's greatest potential to show at a "higher" level, is SO boring to devote my daily attentions to. I can't work on dressage one day and expect Walker to reel himself back to WP the next. It's an all or nothing adventure.

I feel quite lost. Believe it or not, but my little Quarter Horse actually has a beautiful extended trot that he pulls out to show off for the mares in the field or when he's really hot with me under saddle. My only hope is to somehow channel that energy and then maybe I can justify a little dressage saddle and some schooling shows. 

Otherwise, folks, I've got myself the cutest little trail pony there ever was.