I was very fortunate to send Mercury back to the owner I bought him from four years ago. They were very excited to see him, and he seemed happy to be home. He even gets to go out with his old pasture mate, and will get to just "be a horse" and go on trail rides for a bit. Julie is a very experienced rider, so I have high hopes she can figure out what weird thing was going on this month and cure it and turn Mercury back into a happy horse.
www.aspenfarmperformancehorses.com
I am, of course, going to miss him very much. He was a great horse for me, and just the horse I needed during the time I had him.
Charlie with the long sought after cooler
Spring NWEC 2013 Novice
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monolith's gas mileage
A distressingly low 9.8 mpg.
That is, however, on a warm day, towing the horse trailer (1/2 way with 1 horse), over one mountain pass and three "hills" (1-3000 feet each), averaging about 50 mph.
We went 339 miles that trip and used 34.6 gallons. Before we left, I fileld it (17 gallons). At $2.85/gal for biodiesel blend, not cheap. ($150!)
And next weekend I have to drive it mucho more miles.
That is, however, on a warm day, towing the horse trailer (1/2 way with 1 horse), over one mountain pass and three "hills" (1-3000 feet each), averaging about 50 mph.
We went 339 miles that trip and used 34.6 gallons. Before we left, I fileld it (17 gallons). At $2.85/gal for biodiesel blend, not cheap. ($150!)
And next weekend I have to drive it mucho more miles.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Willig at work on Sunday
Good news - he's making an effort.
Bad news - I'm fat and STILL - after all these years and a real effort not to - jumping ahead.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Mercury & Willig - I guess slow and steady will win the race
Merc update: I have been blissfully ignorant for the past fifteen years that there is a bad habit called "balking". That's exactly what Mercury is doing, and thanks to the internet, I've now done quite a bit of reading on it (and found it in some of my horse books too).
According to Cherry Hill, balking is "refusal to go forward often followed by violent temper if rider insists" and it is caused by "fear, heavy hands, stubbornness, extreme fatigue" and the treatment is "Curable. Review forward work with in-hand & longeing. Turn horse's head to untrack left or right. Strong driving aids with no conflicting restraining aids (no pull on bit). Do not try to force horse forward by pulling -you'll lose."
Many of them mentioned the "violent temper", but none of the causes apply, except, dreadfully, stubborness.
I talked to my friend J today, and she said that her horse does it too (but not "violently"), about 2-3 times in the 10 years she's been riding her, so she gets a wild hair, tests her authority with J, and then they go back to work. J says she gets off and lunges her until she's in a froth (what I've been doing! yay!) and if she's on her and can't get off, turns her head to spin her if she tries backing/sideways movements. She says it is NOT inappropriate to get off when they're being ridiculous becuase otherwise they are learning that they can indeed boss you around.
She suggested a week off, since Mercury has totally pushed my buttons and I'm pissed, with lots of lunging, and then just turn his head and lunge the bloody hell out of him if he tries it again as long as it takes.
She also thinks a month "with a cowboy" would do him some good, and that he could still find an appropriate home where he won't feel like he needs to test. I think it's going to be much more difficult now, but I'm feeling better.
Today Willig just got turn out on grass. At first he looked like he was frolicking and having fun, but I think it was actually more nerves.
Sigh.
Regardless, he cantered and bucked way off in the field, far away from the gate, and once I came back in (I had walked the dogs from the car to the adjacent turn-out and back, and with Odin, that takes forever), he went back to eating grass instead of running around. I actually consider that progress. He wasn't a wild man crazy.
The good news is that willig has NONE of the Cherry Hill "bad habits in horses" which include, in addition the dreadful balking, "barn sour/herd bound, biting, bolting when turned lose, bucking, can't catch, can't handle feet, halter pulling, head shy, jigging, kicking, rearing, running away/bolting, shying, striking, stumbling, tail wringing". That's pretty cool. And Merc's balking appears to be on the very mild end of the scale from the stuff I read on the internet. Still - how do I NOT know these things? I know basically nothing about horses.
I'm going, in the days that already don't have enough hours, to try to start doing yoga and some strength training at home. My legs are getting fat and I'm losing flexibility in my old 30's. (I also have GOT to find time to run and bike. I'm going crazy with the routine of work, sick dog, bad horses, try to keep house a tiny bit clean.)
According to Cherry Hill, balking is "refusal to go forward often followed by violent temper if rider insists" and it is caused by "fear, heavy hands, stubbornness, extreme fatigue" and the treatment is "Curable. Review forward work with in-hand & longeing. Turn horse's head to untrack left or right. Strong driving aids with no conflicting restraining aids (no pull on bit). Do not try to force horse forward by pulling -you'll lose."
Many of them mentioned the "violent temper", but none of the causes apply, except, dreadfully, stubborness.
I talked to my friend J today, and she said that her horse does it too (but not "violently"), about 2-3 times in the 10 years she's been riding her, so she gets a wild hair, tests her authority with J, and then they go back to work. J says she gets off and lunges her until she's in a froth (what I've been doing! yay!) and if she's on her and can't get off, turns her head to spin her if she tries backing/sideways movements. She says it is NOT inappropriate to get off when they're being ridiculous becuase otherwise they are learning that they can indeed boss you around.
She suggested a week off, since Mercury has totally pushed my buttons and I'm pissed, with lots of lunging, and then just turn his head and lunge the bloody hell out of him if he tries it again as long as it takes.
She also thinks a month "with a cowboy" would do him some good, and that he could still find an appropriate home where he won't feel like he needs to test. I think it's going to be much more difficult now, but I'm feeling better.
Today Willig just got turn out on grass. At first he looked like he was frolicking and having fun, but I think it was actually more nerves.
Sigh.
Regardless, he cantered and bucked way off in the field, far away from the gate, and once I came back in (I had walked the dogs from the car to the adjacent turn-out and back, and with Odin, that takes forever), he went back to eating grass instead of running around. I actually consider that progress. He wasn't a wild man crazy.
The good news is that willig has NONE of the Cherry Hill "bad habits in horses" which include, in addition the dreadful balking, "barn sour/herd bound, biting, bolting when turned lose, bucking, can't catch, can't handle feet, halter pulling, head shy, jigging, kicking, rearing, running away/bolting, shying, striking, stumbling, tail wringing". That's pretty cool. And Merc's balking appears to be on the very mild end of the scale from the stuff I read on the internet. Still - how do I NOT know these things? I know basically nothing about horses.
I'm going, in the days that already don't have enough hours, to try to start doing yoga and some strength training at home. My legs are getting fat and I'm losing flexibility in my old 30's. (I also have GOT to find time to run and bike. I'm going crazy with the routine of work, sick dog, bad horses, try to keep house a tiny bit clean.)
Quote
This came from Real Simple, but I thought it was amazingly apropos for riding:
"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony."
—Thomas Merton
"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony."
—Thomas Merton
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Lessons with Mike are completely amazing
Unfortunately, today's lesson and all I learned has been overshadowed by the problems I had with Mercury right after the lesson (blog post below).
We started with me describing the jumping problem at AF derby, and my theory - that it stems from me doing something wrong on the flat because I also have problems getting him to pay attention to me other times (at home, for example - the "easiest" place to pay attention).
We started with my position, and Mike gave me several homework assignments:
- First we did jump position. Again, a total miracle. There is a spot - god knows how I've made it this far in my life without ever feeling it - where your balance is just - absolute. It is the back arched, butt pushed back over the saddle, and legs - to me - forward. The alignment is like the stars aligning, and all of a sudden it is a spot you could be in forever. It's totally solid and I have never, I swear, ridden in it, because I would have remembered it.
It's also very, very hard to find on my own. Even with Mike's guidance, I would get it, feel it, and lose it.
- Next we worked on my seat and hips. This was kind of agonizing. It was different muscles than I usually ride with (not that my riding muscles are all that strong right now anyway, which is probably a blessing), and required some hip opening that I don't have, so it's back to the yoga mat for me.
Ok, so from the bottom up:
Heels go down. Down, down, down. But they go down by thinking "toes up" and what helps with "toes up" if I think "open knee" and open knee means "push your leg forward". Now, of course, it doesn't. You don't ride like a chair to have an open knee, which makes your leg long, which puts it underneath you, which helps you drop your heel. But that's what I had to think to make my leg do it.
This is out of order, but when we finished working without stirrups, when Mike said to pick them up, I picked up my legs, put them in the wrong place again and plonked my feet into the stirrup. So another homework assignment is to drop the stirrups, then pick them up by lifting my toes into them, instead of lifting my foot and dropping it down into the stirrup.
Toes also go IN, thinking pigeon toed, which actually just makes them only slightly out. I had to imagine keeping spurs off his sides to even get my legs close to pointed straight forward. Interestingly, for the brief moments I could hold the proper leg position, it felt really good and solid.
My leg goes back. Like I am pushing down against his stride and pulling back at the same time. My leg is way too far forward on the saddle. This was a really interesting feel. We did some sitting trot, and I held onto the pommel with one hand and thought about pushing my legs down into him instead of him pushing me up, and then tried to do loose hips. It turns out I can only hold about 3 new instructions in my head at any one time.
Mike said work 5-10 minutes every day without stirrups to work on this - the feel and loosening my hips and the sitting trot.
- Ok, then canter. It was similar to sitting trot, only I am bad about letting him run into it (his trot should not get quicker!), and I slouch in and collapse my chest. I am thinking about posture with a book on my head and consistency from him, and we tried how slow can I trot and then ask for canter. It is also thinking "leg back" but only my leg moving.
The canter movement is the same - pushing down with my legs and back and thinking of that pommel feeling, but it was harder for Willig with me shifting around, he kept breaking to trot and I kept not catching it in time to keep him going.
- We have a whole lot to work on in transitions.
- In general, Mike says lunging without side reins is not a good use of time. I am going to dig mine out and start using them again, but we'll start the next lesson with them to make sure I'm doing it right. He also said he thinks we're about "three chapters" away from jumping, and that he thinks a lot of the problems we fix with me will help Willig over the fences, but that it's likely he'll always be an insecure horse. Mike can help me with some baby jumps, and we'll work up to it - a pole, then 6", then cross rails. But first we are fixing me and the flat work.
And it felt great - there is so much to work on and it was so wonderful to be able to feel the difference and have something to strive for in between the lessons.
What was actually quite incredible was neglected Willig, while I've been dealing with Mercury, was really good (for him). He didn't do anything wild, and while our circles when I had one hand were more like amoebas, and he doesn't like it when I ride him inconsistently, it actually helps me know that I'm doing it wrong - he tells me. It's a nice way of looking at it - he's helping me improve.
I really like Mike's style. I had considered doing my lesson on Mercury since he was having problems, but then he was so good Tuesday I figured I didn't need it. I was wrong. Post-vet, I'm going to try to do an extra lesson with Merc if Mike has time as my first step towards what to do next with him.
We started with me describing the jumping problem at AF derby, and my theory - that it stems from me doing something wrong on the flat because I also have problems getting him to pay attention to me other times (at home, for example - the "easiest" place to pay attention).
We started with my position, and Mike gave me several homework assignments:
- First we did jump position. Again, a total miracle. There is a spot - god knows how I've made it this far in my life without ever feeling it - where your balance is just - absolute. It is the back arched, butt pushed back over the saddle, and legs - to me - forward. The alignment is like the stars aligning, and all of a sudden it is a spot you could be in forever. It's totally solid and I have never, I swear, ridden in it, because I would have remembered it.
It's also very, very hard to find on my own. Even with Mike's guidance, I would get it, feel it, and lose it.
- Next we worked on my seat and hips. This was kind of agonizing. It was different muscles than I usually ride with (not that my riding muscles are all that strong right now anyway, which is probably a blessing), and required some hip opening that I don't have, so it's back to the yoga mat for me.
Ok, so from the bottom up:
Heels go down. Down, down, down. But they go down by thinking "toes up" and what helps with "toes up" if I think "open knee" and open knee means "push your leg forward". Now, of course, it doesn't. You don't ride like a chair to have an open knee, which makes your leg long, which puts it underneath you, which helps you drop your heel. But that's what I had to think to make my leg do it.
This is out of order, but when we finished working without stirrups, when Mike said to pick them up, I picked up my legs, put them in the wrong place again and plonked my feet into the stirrup. So another homework assignment is to drop the stirrups, then pick them up by lifting my toes into them, instead of lifting my foot and dropping it down into the stirrup.
Toes also go IN, thinking pigeon toed, which actually just makes them only slightly out. I had to imagine keeping spurs off his sides to even get my legs close to pointed straight forward. Interestingly, for the brief moments I could hold the proper leg position, it felt really good and solid.
My leg goes back. Like I am pushing down against his stride and pulling back at the same time. My leg is way too far forward on the saddle. This was a really interesting feel. We did some sitting trot, and I held onto the pommel with one hand and thought about pushing my legs down into him instead of him pushing me up, and then tried to do loose hips. It turns out I can only hold about 3 new instructions in my head at any one time.
Mike said work 5-10 minutes every day without stirrups to work on this - the feel and loosening my hips and the sitting trot.
- Ok, then canter. It was similar to sitting trot, only I am bad about letting him run into it (his trot should not get quicker!), and I slouch in and collapse my chest. I am thinking about posture with a book on my head and consistency from him, and we tried how slow can I trot and then ask for canter. It is also thinking "leg back" but only my leg moving.
The canter movement is the same - pushing down with my legs and back and thinking of that pommel feeling, but it was harder for Willig with me shifting around, he kept breaking to trot and I kept not catching it in time to keep him going.
- We have a whole lot to work on in transitions.
- In general, Mike says lunging without side reins is not a good use of time. I am going to dig mine out and start using them again, but we'll start the next lesson with them to make sure I'm doing it right. He also said he thinks we're about "three chapters" away from jumping, and that he thinks a lot of the problems we fix with me will help Willig over the fences, but that it's likely he'll always be an insecure horse. Mike can help me with some baby jumps, and we'll work up to it - a pole, then 6", then cross rails. But first we are fixing me and the flat work.
And it felt great - there is so much to work on and it was so wonderful to be able to feel the difference and have something to strive for in between the lessons.
What was actually quite incredible was neglected Willig, while I've been dealing with Mercury, was really good (for him). He didn't do anything wild, and while our circles when I had one hand were more like amoebas, and he doesn't like it when I ride him inconsistently, it actually helps me know that I'm doing it wrong - he tells me. It's a nice way of looking at it - he's helping me improve.
I really like Mike's style. I had considered doing my lesson on Mercury since he was having problems, but then he was so good Tuesday I figured I didn't need it. I was wrong. Post-vet, I'm going to try to do an extra lesson with Merc if Mike has time as my first step towards what to do next with him.
Now we have a Mercury problem - help!
Ok, Merc went up for sale, and after lots of emails, a few people wanted to come ride him. Because of my schedule, it took a few weekends until I was in town.
I wasn't riding him much, and a couple days before the first rider, I lunged him, the next day rode him, and he was his naughtiest ever.
The first rider came out, and although she had a nice calm demeanor, he was really unpleasantly naughty with her too. (I'll define naughty in a minute.) When they left, I lunged him, and he worked himself into a lather, and I had noticed he was chubby when someone else was riding him (his first chubby ever in 4 years!), and so I cut back his grain and hay, figuring he was just hot.
Unfortunately, I couldn't ride for three days, so three days later (this Monday), I lunged him (he lunged himself into a foamy lather), then rode him, and he was great until I asked for lateral work, then he was naughty, but we worked through it and ended fine.
Tuesday he was mellow on the lunge line, mellow under saddle, not very resistant for the lateral work, and we even popped a couple fences.
He got Wednesday off because of my pesky job.
Tonight he was the worst horse I've ever ridden.
He made me so scared I was sweating.
He deliberately tried to buck me off twice, which wasn't the worst.
He was erratic and difficult - throwing his head in the air, balking, jigging, running sideways, trying to back into the wall, trying to slam my leg into the wall, doing some half-rear things that weren't quite rears but were definitely front end oriented.
Usually, when I ask him to go on the bit, I squeeze the reins like a sponge. He would just throw his head up in the air and open his mouth and nothing I could do would get his head back down. He'd also run backwards.
He's actually quite athletic.
A smack on the whip would usually result in running sideways or backwards. The light leg tapping working up to leg slamming was just ignored.
And this is - I would ask him to walk and then stop and then walk again. EASY stuff.
We were fighting almost two hours. He had been mellow on the lunge, did one quick head toss when I first started riding, and then was good all the way through trot (with lots of serpentines and bends), and right lead canter. When I changed direction to do left lead, all this nonsense started, and he just went downhill.
I finally - after a huge struggle - got enough of a walk that I felt I could get off (without rewarding him for being bad), put him on the lunge line, and he was already - from fighting me, pouring sweat. And he lunged himself into a lather, I got back on, and then we had intermittent success. He'd walk a couple laps, on the bit, no problem, and then I'd ask for a halt and he'd just start running around sideways. Or we'd walk, no problem, I'd ask for a halt, get it, and then when I asked for the walk again he'd run around sideways.
It was absolutely terrible.
I have no idea why he's doing this if he's not hot, why he hasn't done anything like this before in the 4 years I've had him, or what to do about it. I'm not comfortable riding him alone if this is how he's going to act, and I certainly can't sell him like this.
I'm going to have the vet out next week to check for soreness and check his teeth, but he's not the least bit sore, gimpy, or sensitive, and he's not the kind of horse to stoically hide it.
He has a completely different personality. The only other thing I could think of was that I'm asking him for more because I'm learning more with Willig. But over the past 4 years, we've been on a slow and steady up, and he's never fought me - even when I ask something he doesn't know - he doesn't fight it.
Any thoughts? Suggestions? I am at a complete loss.
I wasn't riding him much, and a couple days before the first rider, I lunged him, the next day rode him, and he was his naughtiest ever.
The first rider came out, and although she had a nice calm demeanor, he was really unpleasantly naughty with her too. (I'll define naughty in a minute.) When they left, I lunged him, and he worked himself into a lather, and I had noticed he was chubby when someone else was riding him (his first chubby ever in 4 years!), and so I cut back his grain and hay, figuring he was just hot.
Unfortunately, I couldn't ride for three days, so three days later (this Monday), I lunged him (he lunged himself into a foamy lather), then rode him, and he was great until I asked for lateral work, then he was naughty, but we worked through it and ended fine.
Tuesday he was mellow on the lunge line, mellow under saddle, not very resistant for the lateral work, and we even popped a couple fences.
He got Wednesday off because of my pesky job.
Tonight he was the worst horse I've ever ridden.
He made me so scared I was sweating.
He deliberately tried to buck me off twice, which wasn't the worst.
He was erratic and difficult - throwing his head in the air, balking, jigging, running sideways, trying to back into the wall, trying to slam my leg into the wall, doing some half-rear things that weren't quite rears but were definitely front end oriented.
Usually, when I ask him to go on the bit, I squeeze the reins like a sponge. He would just throw his head up in the air and open his mouth and nothing I could do would get his head back down. He'd also run backwards.
He's actually quite athletic.
A smack on the whip would usually result in running sideways or backwards. The light leg tapping working up to leg slamming was just ignored.
And this is - I would ask him to walk and then stop and then walk again. EASY stuff.
We were fighting almost two hours. He had been mellow on the lunge, did one quick head toss when I first started riding, and then was good all the way through trot (with lots of serpentines and bends), and right lead canter. When I changed direction to do left lead, all this nonsense started, and he just went downhill.
I finally - after a huge struggle - got enough of a walk that I felt I could get off (without rewarding him for being bad), put him on the lunge line, and he was already - from fighting me, pouring sweat. And he lunged himself into a lather, I got back on, and then we had intermittent success. He'd walk a couple laps, on the bit, no problem, and then I'd ask for a halt and he'd just start running around sideways. Or we'd walk, no problem, I'd ask for a halt, get it, and then when I asked for the walk again he'd run around sideways.
It was absolutely terrible.
I have no idea why he's doing this if he's not hot, why he hasn't done anything like this before in the 4 years I've had him, or what to do about it. I'm not comfortable riding him alone if this is how he's going to act, and I certainly can't sell him like this.
I'm going to have the vet out next week to check for soreness and check his teeth, but he's not the least bit sore, gimpy, or sensitive, and he's not the kind of horse to stoically hide it.
He has a completely different personality. The only other thing I could think of was that I'm asking him for more because I'm learning more with Willig. But over the past 4 years, we've been on a slow and steady up, and he's never fought me - even when I ask something he doesn't know - he doesn't fight it.
Any thoughts? Suggestions? I am at a complete loss.
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