Dublin Trots, and Another Rider Up

It's nice and hot today, so it seemed like a good time to push Dublin a little on his passenger lesson and get him trotting. I don't know why I think it needs to be hot, the horse hasn't made a wrong or impulsive move yet, so I don't think he needs warm weather to calm him down. Anyway, I let him meander around a bit with me aboard until he was bored and started rearranging the various toys we have in the arena (cones, jump standards, etc). Laura showed up about then and we decided to get him trotting. He was not as anxious to do that as we were, so we had Laura lead the way and got him to follow. Still took a big effort, lots and lots of clucking and leg pressure (no kicking, just squeezing!) and about the time Laura was ready to drop from heat exhaustion, he took a few trotting steps. After that it got easier and I actually could see what his trot was like. From the ground, the horse looks like he's floating when he trots, so it was oh so gratifying to find that it feels the same way from the saddle. Wow! I posted it, and it was just like dancing. Which is amazing since I can't really dance...but I guess this is what it's supposed to be like.

I could see Laura was on the verge of drooling, and since the horse is remarkably untraumatized by the whole riding thing, she was next on the horse. She also got him to trot and is in agreement. Laura has been riding her big buckskin mare, Lady, for around 10 years now, and she thinks the 5-year-old OTTB feels less likely to break into bucking at any moment than Lady does. I kind of feel the same way about Cowboy.

Dublin has had his fill of boring passenger lessons, so next ride it's time to give him some direction and start him on some riding patterns to give the ride purpose.

Dublin Before and After

No work for Dublin today as he was the subject of a photo shoot by Marcie Lewis. Almost all the pics were taken with him at liberty, and he performed beautifully, both in and out of the arena, showing off his moves. Can't wait to see! Marcie did send me this pic that she put together with one photo from his original photo shoot right after he went to NeighSavers, next to a pic taken today. My little boy is growing up! Nothing like a little grub, love and R&R to help a horse meet his potential! And maybe a little bit of difference between a 4-year-old horse and a 5-year-old horse. Dublin has really buffed up over the past few months.

Obviously he was not at liberty for this shot but for most of the pics he was. Laura and I mercilessly made him run around, which he generally enjoys, but he finally had had enough and came charging up to me asking what he had done to deserve this! And that is when it is time to call it quits and tell him what a good boy he is. He is so forgiving of us nutty humans! Marcie has dubbed him the Pocket Pony.

Cowboy got a few shots taken too. And I am giving away one of Marcie's secrets here, but if you want to get a horse to look attentive for a picture, have a ringtone on your phone of a horse neighing and set it off! Cowboy was not only attentive, he neighed back.

Ride 3 today! The lead rope came off and it was just me and Dublin, tearing around the arena at a slow crawl.

I had my phone conference with Julia this morning and we talked about strategies going forward. I changed his bit, using a thinner snaffle and reins with slobber straps--the idea is more motivation to yield to pressure, and the slobber straps help to relieve the pressure faster when I release the reins. The next three rides should be passenger lessons, and then I can start directing him, going immediately to working him in patterns--no aimless meandering. Also work on getting him to stand still for mounting. Up till now, Laura has been holding hm when I mount, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

But Dublin was a champ. He wasn't entirely sure about those slobber straps--I'm sure they didn't use anything like THAT at the track! As before, he mouthed the bit like crazy, and then settled down with a quiet mouth. He's had a lot of dental work since coming here, and I wonder if he's anticipating some mouth pain that no longer exists.

I got him lined up with the mounting block (no way I'm getting on this tall boy from the ground!), and he did a small amount of moving around, then stood still. I put my foot in the stirrup and did a couple false starts, then put a hip in the saddle and checked him out. Head down, standing still, looking bored. Next time I swung a leg over and settled in the saddle. Nothing.

I got him moving with very little trouble and then tried a passenger lesson. Basically, this means you just sit there, hand on the horse's neck with a loose rein, and let the horse do what he wants. Have to admit I was not quite that nonchalant about it but he was fine. The only problem with the passenger lesson was that he moved from the gate to one grassy patch to another grassy patch and then back to the gate. I did have to direct him a bit so we didn't spend all our time at his favorite places.

We finally stopped at the fence to talk to Laura, and he decided to explore this slobber strap business a bit by tossing his head up and down to see what they would do--which was to swing back and forth. He thought it was more interesting than distressing. This guy is every bit as level-headed as I had hoped. He may wind up being steadier and easier than Cowboy. Don't tell Cowboy.

So now that milestone is out of the way--we have ventured around the arena without the safety net of someone holding on to a lead rope. This is a way more cautious approach than I would have taken years ago, but that was a few concussions and bruises ago. I'll stick with slow and steady.

Dublin's getting off easy again--too much work and I'm trying to tame the jungle that my garden has become. But today I did make him carry the saddle over to Laura's trailer to get ready for our ride tomorrow (on Cowboy, not ready to hit the trails with Dublin just yet). And to confirm my suspicions, I just swung the saddle up on him with no fuss and he was completely nonchalant about it. Message received. "I do not require desensitization to the saddle, I am already just fine with it."

On a side note, the black horse has now completely shed his winter coat and he has large patches of dark chocolate brown in several places. Hmmm. I think the black horse is actually a dark bay. No matter, I love him anyway. Who wouldn't love a chocolate horse?

End of 31 Days of Dublin

The 31 days are officially over and we ended it with Dublin getting a day off to bask in his glory. I had hoped to ride him today independent of anyone leading him but life interfered and I had to work all day. That's OK --a day off for Dublin seems like a nice ending to the 31-day project, and we did achieve our goal of getting on the horse.

Dublin and Cowboy got out on grass today and Dublin was very cuddly coming back home. He is SUCH A GOOD BOY! Thanks so much to Neigh Savers for making this adventure possible, and for the good work they do securing second lives for ex-race-horses.

Second Ride!

Second ride today! This time I put a snaffle bridle on Dublin for the first time. Probably the first time in a year he's had a bit in his mouth. He wasn't particularly charmed by the idea but he settled down and had a very nice quiet mouth after a few minutes. I tested out his responsiveness to the bit, which was quite nice, then did a bit of ground work, and finally got on. No issues. This time I had Laura walk alongside rather than lead him to get him used to taking direction from someone on his back, and he did fine. I know he's been ridden but I'm not that familiar with track protocol--all I've ever seen is the horses being ponied to the starting gate and then just running full tilt once the gate opens. Not a reassuring scenario for someone looking for a nice quiet ride! Especially since he's tall and I'm, um, not as young as I used to be. But he was great, relaxed and cooperative, so I think next time the lead rope comes off and after 2 or 3 more rides with an observer present, I can start actually working on a few things with him.

He does still need a little work with the saddling process. He's very protective of his back and sides and I get a lot of teeth heading at me when I try saddling, even though I do it in stages and do a few trial swings with the saddle. He actually get more defensive each time and I'm beginning to think the better approach would to just confidently swing the saddle up on his back rather than doing all the pre-saddling work, which really just seems to get him more upset. Once the saddle is up he's fine, and doesn't mind being girthed. So I think it's all the fussing around in the name of desensitization that bothers him. This may be desensitization in reverse, just getting him saddled uneventfully and confidently, and once he sees that isn't a big deal, then get him used to some presaddling activity. It's all such a puzzle.

Dublin got a day off and Cowboy got to celebrate his 17th birthday (Happy Birthday, Cowboy!) by going for a ride at Pt Reyes. I'm sure he was thinking "Now that you've been on the black horse, why am I having to work on my birthday?" I don't think Dublin is ready to hit the trail just yet.

Perfect weather at Pt Reyes. We rode from Five Brooks up Stewart Trail, went down Lake Trail for a bit, and then came down Bolema trail. That's the biggest workout they've had this year. Lots of hills. Cowboy was blisfully happy and moving out. He may have overdone coming down the hill. He really likes to charge downhill, but at his advanced age it may have been a little too much for the feet and joints, and halfway down he started acting uncomfortable again. Hard to pin down exactly what hurts, but something does. So I got to do a bit of walking until we hit the flat part at the bottom. He's out eating grass now and looks none the worse for wear. He will get a foot soak tonight before dinner.

Tomorrow, plan to get on Dublin again and this time try riding him without him being led. I didn't think that was going to be an issue, but he was definitely a bit confused when Laura quit leading him yesterday, so we'll ease him gradually into the concept of his instructions coming from above and behind. And the instruction is not to go as fast as possible, please!

Rider Up!

It was a big day today! Finally, finally, after months of preparation, it was time for the first ride on Dublin! I suspect Dublin was ready for this a long time before I was. But today my Inner Adult looked my Inner Child square in the eye and said "Fercryingoutloud, get on the horse already!"

I did a full Pre-Ride Checkup with him, which he found boring. Circle both ways at all 3 gaits with the saddle on. Go over a jump. Flip the rope over his head and hindquarters. Flip the rope onto his other side and guide it over his hindquarters to have him do a 360 . Big yawn.

Laura was standing by as this was essentially going to be a pony ride. He got the hackamore on and I clambered aboard. Dublin stood rock still with his head down and relaxed. Then we headed off with Laura leading and Dublin following quite happily along. We did a couple laps around the arena, got some pictures, and I dismounted uneventfully. We like "uneventful" around here.

As you can see by the pictures, I'm pretty happy and Dublin is pretty bored. The tongue sticking out in the second photo speaks volumes.

Dublin seems to be saying "gag me!"

So that threshold has been crossed and now we can enter the next stage. It only took 5 1/2 months to get here, which was probably a lot longer than necessary, but I am glad we took the time to build trust and establish leadership. The trust we've been working on up til now has mostly been about Dublin learning to trust me, but I think this next stage will be more about me learning to trust him. In the very short ride today, I discovered that if I keep my hands down and the reins loose, Dublin will keep his head down and stay relaxed. If I lifted my hands or got brace-y, he got uneasy. He also got uneasy when Laura stopped leading him and walked away to get the camera. At which point I also got uneasy and lifted my hands, shortened the reins and braced in the stirrups. And he let me know he did not like it and it made him insecure. So I'm going to have to learn to trust him, stay loose, and let him move his feet if he needs to.

A very short video clip of the first ride:

One Week to Go!

One week to go with the "31 Days of Dublin" project and I am woefully behind schedule. It's amazing how life can get in the way of the best intentions. This week it has been Mother's Day, which I host here at my house, getting that article written for the Horse Journal, and then yesterday I played hooky to go riding at Pt Reyes. And of course, there is always that work thing.

But Dublin did get some focused work on Saturday, including getting the saddle on. He really doesn't mind the saddle, but the saddle is heavy and the horse is tall, so it is does add a layer of complexity that doesn't exist if I just work him on line. Since time was short, as usual, I worked him in my pasture rather than taking him and the saddle over to Laura's arena. While Dublin is showing no signs of lameness any more, he does still have a tendency to trip over his own feet, so the rough ground in the pasture made me really think twice about pushing him. He was also a bit cranky because I turned Cowboy out to eat grass while I worked him. Unfair, I admit. Also distracting. So I did not make him canter, but we did get a lot of trotting in, with direction changes and gait changes. We also worked on sidestepping and he is finally getting it! Dublin is a forward-thinking kind of guy, and the idea of moving sideways just doesn't click with him. But he has finally obliged to move sideways, whether he can see the logic of it or not. I have been trying to follow Julia's directions about really paying attention to the details and refining how I work with Dublin. It's a lot of work but like all things, the more attention you pay to it, the easier and more natural it becomes.

After we wrapped up, I turned him out in Laura's pasture while Laura and I enjoyed a little arena riding on Cowboy and Dexter. When it was time to head home, I brilliantly decided to try to catch Dublin while riding Cowboy (with a bareback pad, after having had a beer). Dublin was pretty cagey about it and led us a merry (but slow) chase. Finally he got tired of it and took off. Cowboy, who by now was in the spirit of the whole thing, took off after him. I was fumbling with Dublin's halter and not paying attention, so when Cowboy headed left after Dublin, I headed right toward the ground. I'm not sure if the beer was a help or a hindrance--it's possible I would have stuck with the horse without it, but I was nice and relaxed by the time I hit the ground, undoubtedly saving me from some serious injury. As it was, the back of helmet (which hit the ground with a pretty good thud, relaxed or not) got quite scuffed up. Which is why I wear a helmet. Could have been my head that got scuffed up. Lesson: if you are going to drink beer while riding a horse, wear a helmet. And remember that if it you have a nagging thought that your brilliant idea may not be all that brilliant, you are probably right.

Anyway, Dublin got 2 days off for Mother's Day and the Pt Reyes ride (that's Cowboy's job), but today he got saddled and worked in Laura's arena. This time it included a fair amount of cantering and a bit of jumping with the saddle on. No problem. He looks great. I can drive him while walking next to him and he yields his front and hind quarters. So although I haven't worked with him as much as I planned at the start of the 31 days, I may still be on track to get on him. He has passed all tests with flying colors. So stay tuned!

Dublin got off scott-free again today due to time constraints. Although I did make him go through his "manners" paces on the way to being turned out to pasture. I did watch Parelli on RFDTV this morning which was airing a very educational program featuring Kallie Krickenburg working a horse at Libery. So I think I met the 30-minute requirement of the 31-day program. Then I did a phone interview for an article I'm writing for the Horse Council Horse Journal with Sandy Bonelli, a local cutting horse trainer and competitor and a genuine horse lover. That was such a great conversation that I'm counting it as horsemanship development as well. Can't wait to get the article written.

Just a few minutes to work with Dublin today. I had hoped to get the saddle on him but he was a little cranky and nippy. If I had more time, it wouldn't have been an issue, but given the time constraints, I just worked him on line and got him over his crankiness and then played with the saddle pad on him, which he was fine with. There will be no time tomorrow but I'm hoping for a real session on Thursday.

That's One Fancy Turkey..

It's possible we have found the cause of Dublin's distress yesterday. This showed up in the pasture today:

Just when he was getting accustomed to the turkeys, and decided that a large plain brown bird was nothing to be scared of, this gets thrown into the mix.

Dublin may just be jealous. He can be a bit of a peacock himself.

Deal With the Horse that Shows Up!

Today's lesson: Deal with the horse that shows up!

My intent was to continue with saddling work today, using the 22' line and getting Dublin relaxed at the canter while carrying the saddle.

We've had a big weather change. Lately it's been in the 90s every day. Today it switched to windy, cloudy and chilly. I spent the day house shopping with a friend and didn't get home until mid-afternoon, and with the weather not being all that inviting, I wasn't that anxious to get started with horses. Finally dragged myself out to turn Cowboy out on grass and to work Dublin. As I led him toward the saddling area, I noticed he was a bit "up". It seemed to have something to do with the neighbor's pasture, where the local wild turkeys were apparently staging a love-in. Now Dublin was not fond of the turkeys when they showed up after their winter hiatus, but he has gotten accustomed to them to the point where he will chase them a bit for fun. But with the wind and colder weather, it seems he was not up to tolerating a full-fledged turkey orgy in plain view. He was, shall we say, disturbed. And when he is disturbed, the 16-hand Thoroughbred has the ability to grow at least another 2 hands. That's intimidating. It is nice to know that he sees me as a source of comfort, but that comfort does not extend to having him leap into my arms, and that is what he wanted to do.

Change of plan. Forget saddling. Let's work on keeping the giant horse out of my personal space. The trick is to appear to be bigger and scarier than he is. I'm a pretty mild-mannered person, but when a whole bunch of agitated horse is headed straight toward me, I can summon up a lot of attitude. Get those feet moving in some sort of organized fashion, preferably away from me. Circle one way. Circle the other. Go touch the saddle with your nose. More circles and direction changes. Look at me! Forget the turkeys! I'm at least as scary as they are.

Finally, the head came down and I got some blowing and a sense that the equine brain had reconnected with the giant equine body. Truly a comforting feeling. I put on the 22' line and we went out of the paddock and did some work in and out of the ditch, over poles, and sidestepping.

So no saddle work today but still a worthwhile exercise. I called it quits and put him out to pasture for some grazing.

When grazing time was over, I went to fetch him and got my reward. Dublin is not all that receptive to being taken off pasture. It's really a game of catch. But tonight when I went to bring him in, he saw me at the gate, whinnied, and cantered directly up to me and put his head down for the halter. Truly a "Lassie" moment! Now if only I could get that on video.

Derby Day report

Not much horse activity the last couple days as I've been trying to clear out the massive stack of paperwork in my office. I took on way too many projects! But today is Saturday (Derby Day, no less) and while I did do some office work, I spent most of the day working in the garden and then played with horses. I rode Cowboy a little first to see how he's doing--a little stiff but much improved over the last few months. Then I ponied Dublin while riding Cowboy to see how that went. I've done that, but Dublin is getting a little more full of himself, and before I try ponying him on the trail, I want to make sure we're under control! We still have some work to do. Dublin seems to think he should be in the lead. Kind of surprising, considering his race track record. I had to get quite insistent with him that he stay submissively in the rear. Cowboy, as usual, was a prince, even when Dublin managed to get his rope stuck under Cowboy's tail. I do love my little brown horse! Wouldn't say he was happy about Dublin being in his space but he tolerated it. Dublin himself has a pretty big "bubble" but he doesn't seem to think anyone else should have one.

Cowboy was rewarded for his efforts by getting turned out on grass with Dexter, and Dublin and I continued on with groundwork. He is getting better about yielding his forequarters and I actually got him to sidestep over a pole. It took a long time and I wouldn't call it a linear process, but we did accomplish the task. Then we worked with the dreaded plastic bag on a stick. He's not terrible about it but is just edgy around it--keeps an ear cocked toward it and moves away from it. Finally I managed to touch him on the withers and even give him a little backrub with it. And then he was fine. I rubbed him all over with it, even down his legs.

Then it was saddling time. I followed Julia's suggestion and saddled from the right side--easier to manage the girths since you don't have to swing them over his back. He was fine about being rubbed all over with the pad, including over his ears and head, and down the tail, and didn't mind me swinging the saddle around him, but he did take exception when the saddle actually went on his back--he swung his head around and threatened to bite. That was a pretty common occurrence when he first arrived but he's largely given it up. So obviously something about this makes him uncomfortable. The saddle itself seems to fit well but he may have some lingering back issues, or he may just be a little claustrophobic about it.

I forgot my 22-foot rope so wasn't able to canter him online with the saddle--he's just too big to canter a circle around me on a 12-foot rope! He did some trotting, including over poles, and was fine with that. I'm starting to drive him from next to the saddle to get him used to receiving directions from that position. Hardest part is to keep him moving! I'm trying to get him to go forward when I cluck.

Tomorrow I need to remember that 22-foot line so I can give him a more thorough pre-ride checkup.

I was going to try to get Derby Day photos of both boys wearing roses and maybe hats, but it just took too darned long to try to figure out how to do it and I thought my time would have been better spent actually working with the horses. I'm sure they would have looked stunning, though, and I think they both deserve a blanket of roses.

My personal fitness program has made some stumbling progress. The yoga video and even the Pilates video have been put to some use. I'm trying to also watch how I sit, both at my desk and on the horse, to keep my spine aligned properly. I tend to lean forward and crane my neck, and not surprisingly, I've been getting some back and neck issues. It's easier to sit properly on the horse, to be honest, as I don't have the added challenge of trying to work with a white cat in my lap!