Category Archives: horse training journal

As the Pacific Northwet is doing its best to live up to its nickname these days, of course the moods seem to be matching it, horse and human alike.  Quirky, grumbly, but still good for a work session.

When I got to the barn, once again Mocha was standing there with her tail in the bucket.  Nice and relaxed, but her tail was living in her water bucket.  Walked off as calm as could be, even when the wet tail hit her legs.  There was a certain flicker of sarcastic amusement in her eyes when I opened the stall door.  Clearly it’s meant to be some sort of horse joke.  The expression is too much like that in the eyes of a middle school prankster.  However, being a mere human, I’ve not the faintest clue what the joke is about.

We’ve run short on doing works over the past two weeks due to scheduling stuff, and it shows under saddle.  She resisted softening up and coming onto the bit for the longest time, even though she was eager for the initial stretching.  Well, heck, she’s probably a little stiff and achy with all this rain.  I am too.  So I kept pushing, kept asking for the bend at a walk, did two-track, half-halts, whoa-back, and finally we broke through the Wall O’ Stiffness.  Suddenly she wasn’t fighting the rein but softly carrying the bit.  A little bit at the walk, and I started asking for it at the trot, which was quite nice.  She’s gone from “dear God this trot sucks” to having a quite nice sitting working trot.

But the nicest part of this afternoon’s session was moving from lightly collected lope to hand gallop and then back to it.  I’ve been schooling this for the past few weeks and had the chance to try it while riding through a lesson.  G had two little intermediate level kids who were working at all three gaits.  Mocha and I did several circuits of collected lope and then we had to pick up the pace to squeeze out of a tight spot.  I asked her for the gallop and she gave it.  We continued round, then I asked her to come back into the collected lope without breaking.

She did it.  Yay!  Mocha gets pretty wound up at the gallop, especially after a lot of collected work and when working at that speed around other horses, but this afternoon she was very rateable and soft in the hand.  I was very pleased with this state of affairs and we did it several times, quite nicely.

Not quite done with snaffle work at the moment.  I am so very pleased with schooling in the latigo leather reins.  The feel is more secure and when I have to take hold of Mocha’s mouth to lift a shoulder or correct her position, it’s steadier and much, much more effective.  I’m able to use less pressure with the stiffer rein and I really do think it’s a better feel.  In return, she seems to like these reins better now, and responds more effectively, with fewer objections or annoyed reactions.  She just feels happier in my hand.

I do need to borrow G’s mullen mouth curb, though.  I think she’s ready to move on from that correction curb, and it’s different enough that I think she could like it.  If she does, then the trick is finding another one like it.  It’s an Arab bit in size and weight, but she’s got an Arab-sized mouth with Arab-sensitivity to it.  Could mean I spend a lot of time in tack shops checking out bit weights and balances over the next few months….

I continue to be astonished at the differences between Mocha in the snaffle using the English strap goods/saddle and the Western strap goods/saddle.  Once again today, I had a really good session that was nothing at all like the sessions we’ve had in the Collegiate, and I don’t think it’s all the saddle.

To wit: while today she was stiff (in heat, not wanting to bend well on the right rein), all the same she was soft, maintaining a steady contact that is nothing at all like the contact we had in English, and elevated. Now some of the time I thought she was trying to emulate those Saddlebreds again, but really….

But I don’t think it’s all the saddle.  To some extent, I think it’s the lack of the second noseband (the one on the English headstall never fit her that well).  The Western dropped noseband is lower, goes over the bit and headstall, and allows her to move her jaw a little bit better.  I also think it is those 1″ seven foot latigo leather reins.  There’s a little bit more weight to them, because of the way they connect to the bit they hang more like her romal rein on the curb, and I find that it’s actually a much more secure grip than the web reins.

Whatever it is, so far she takes up the contact differently from the English strap goods.  There’s more relaxation–and, as a result, better movement.

Today, G coached us while giving a lesson.  He commented several times on how nice her lope was (well, it was…much better than her trot today).  It is more relaxed, more elevated, and I’m able to bend her and flex her better.  I’m also finding my best position ever, and half halts?  Oh baby, let me tell you about half halts, I can still feel them in my abs.

I also feel bad because it’s clear the curb has been pinching her for a few weeks.  Not long–I’d like to think I’d have noticed that wiggling in the port–but long enough.  It’s going to take a little while to get a replacement, and I may talk to G about borrowing his mullen mouth curb to see how she goes in it.  We shall see.

All in all, a nice riding day.  Probably the best part of my spring break.

Sigh.  Enough horse post, must get back to household chores and education article.  Sigh.

I really, really like using the KK Ultra with the Western headstall, dropped noseband and latigo reins.  The headstall is sturdier leather (also latigo leather) and of a better quality than the English headstall, and the latigo leather splits make me keep my hands upright rather than sneak into puppy dog paws or twist them around or whatever the heck else I keep wanting to do instead of keeping them in a correct snaffle rein position.  Interestingly, too, I feel like I was getting a better quality of schooling today in the Western saddle than I have in snaffle work of late in the English saddle.  Just easier to sit more upright and sink my heels down hard.

I suppose that means if I ever get another English saddle I should be looking at dressage saddles instead, or a medium tree rather than a wide tree.  As it were, I found myself using my core more effectively and doing more without that bracing feeling we had the last time I did snaffle, in English.  Lots more half-halts.  Lots more support from the saddle itself.  The Crates does have that little sweet spot that you can lock into which is similar but not quite the same as a dressage saddle thigh block.

And we won’t talk about how much more effective it is to go two-handed in a snaffle rather than a curb.  Oh hey, I guess we are.  Even with a correction curb, it’s not the same, and I’m always backing off because, well, hey, it’s a curb.  But there’s not that same feel that I had in the single-jointed snaffle, either.  With the KK I can pick her up a little bit more effectively and she’s not getting pissy about the joint bumping her in the mouth, either.

I have this sneaking hunch that the Collegiate was grabbing her in the shoulders whenever I started half-halting/working from my core/lower back, especially at the trot and canter, because now her reaction is totally different from when I was doing this in the Collegiate and the KK.  Instead of getting pissy or backing off, she’s rounding up, taking herself forward–and the withers are coming up.  I’m getting a stronger, more elevated trot and a rounder collected canter without the fits and starts and stalling out.

Plus much more effective two-track work at the trot.

So interesting work.  We’ll see where it goes from here.

Mocha loves to be groomed.  It’s part of her whole Princess Pony persona.  After a good hard workout, her clear idea of a perfect post-ride primping is a good, solid roll in the arena followed by a thorough brushing.

She’s one of those horses who makes a science out of rolling.  Never rolls all the way over but once, but that’s after she’s thoroughly scratched and itched everything on that one side, which means several half-rolls.  If she can do it in soft arena dirt then she’ll work her face over and over until she’s satisfied.  Footing is a big deal.  She won’t roll if the ground is frozen and hard, and she’s a lot less enthusiastic about rolling on a firm surface.  After the roll, she stands by the gate with a relaxed, blissful expression on her face; eyes, ears and lips relaxed.  But that’s just the beginning of the post-ride groom.

On hot days, she gets less grooming and a solid rinse instead.  She clearly likes doing that and at liberty will turn right into the wash stall without being prompted.  On cold days, as I progress through the ritual of soft curry, stiff brush, soft brush, she’ll relax and drop her head, leaning into the brush a little bit when I hit an itchy spot.  During shedding season, like right now, I’ll lead out with the shedding blade and that gets the blissed-out, relaxed mare right away.

Last night she was funny about it.  We’d had a good work, including a long session with a very nice working trot.  Not at all Western, think of it as a good seated trot in dressage, only with Western curb and saddle.  No jog about it at all, but she was round, elevated, and soft.  Just…faster than will get you pinned in any Western rail class. I had to sit up, breathe deep, tighten my abs and soften my back to follow and sustain this big, energetic trot as a sitting trot.  But it was definitely different from posting trot as well as Western jog.  The more I softened my back and sat up and back, the bigger and more elevated she got.

(I am thinking about selling my English saddle because I am now consistently getting good elevation in the Western saddle.  But that’s another post)

Anyway, it was a long, conditioning work rather than any pattern work.  She came out cool with only the slightest bit of wetness after.  So she had a good roll, and then I got to work on the winter coat with the shedding blade.  I got the equivalent of a Standard Rex in hair off of her, and she was relaxed and drowsy before I was even done with the shedding blade.  A bit of precise scritching with the stiff brush under her mane earned an appreciative lean into the brush with happy horse nose wiggles while I addressed the itch.

A good night, both under saddle and grooming.  More food for thought about where I’m going with tack and riding.  Simplifying sounds pretty good.

Let’s just start with a cute Mocha picture because, after all, she was the star of the whole shindig and I swear she made this face for DH on purpose!  After some other things she did at the show, yeah, she’s that smart a horse.  She also was very focused, serious and intent about doing her show work job.

Right off–no, we didn’t win any ribbons.  Yes, it was a schooling show but it was a big, slow schooling show.  Twenty to thirty horses in some classes, and we went in four walk-jog classes and then bugged out because it was getting late.  Walk-jog or any big rail class of that ilk is not something Mocha will necessarily stand out in.  It’s not what she’s bred to do, so this was basically a show to put miles on her.  And that we did.

She didn’t scream at this show.  Rather, she was alert, curious and aware.  Despite the funny photo above, the below pic was a more accurate reflection of her attitude:

She knew at some point she’d be coming out of her stall and so she was eager to go.  Interestingly, when I first braided her forelock at the barn, she wouldn’t stand still.  In the show stall?  She stood like a rock, intently focused on me.  Note to self: probably best to plan on braiding at the show, if possible.  Seems to fit her mood best.

Mocha got a bit pissy about the crowds, especially with some aggressive pros cutting it close to her.  But once we got out into the big arena, she relaxed.

Funny thing was, she remembered from her first show that there was a spot in the warmup arena where she could look in the big arena that was now blocked up.  She spent a lot of time in the warmup arena trying to figure that out, and getting anxious because she couldn’t see it.  Nonetheless, a note for the future is that I need to find a quieter spot to let her stretch out and gallop, because she got tense with the crowds and tight confines of the warmup arena.  As a result, it took her a while to relax and soften in the rail classes.

A good moment.

Tense and Having Discussions.

Getting coaching from trainer G.

Finally softening and relaxing.  It didn’t help that I kept bracing my back, either.  Still sore in the back and three hours in the saddle didn’t help.

What nailed us was consistency, especially at the jog.  She’d get pissy about being asked to bend and soften and would drop into a walk for just one stride, and that’s something we need to work on.  Also, she’s still a bit of a looky-loo girl, and while her focus was better, it was still an issue of Big! Show! Excitement! and that was enough to rattle her a little bit.

But there were all sorts of good moments, and in the next-to-the-last class, I got about ten strides of a nice, soft, elevated jog with impulsion that reminded me of riding the Western Pleasure two-time world champion in lessons, where G said I was getting his championship jog.  She’s got it in her, it’s just getting it consistently.  And, notice she ain’t dragging her nose.  When she does drag her nose, she ain’t going slow.

I just love it when she gets all round and soft, though.  It’s very reminiscent of the videos I see of her sire, Chocolate Chic Olena (whose roundness shows up even racing around at liberty).  It’s hard for me to determine just who she takes after most, sire or dam, most of the time, but when she softens and goes round, she’s definitely daddy’s daughter.

G.’s wife told me I looked like an equitation rider out there, which was good.  One trick I hadn’t realized was helpful was the use of my Justin work boots as my everyday riding boot, and my Lucchese’s as my show boots.  There’s about a 3/4 inch difference in sole thickness, which means it’s easier to extend my leg and drop my heel at the show…but I think that as much as fatigue led to me stiffening my back.

So.  Things to work on–softening and consistency of the jog.  She’s good at walk and canter.  Softening my back.  Otherwise, just getting her out and getting her past some of the attitude stuff, exposure is good.  I feel pretty good about this show because there were a number of pros riding in the same classes, as well as high school equestrian team types.  Pretty competitive, overall.  Wish we could have gone in a pattern class, but better not to go into those with an aching back and after a long day already spent (slow-moving classes).

At the end of it all, we took the horses out on the other side of the barn from where we came in.  The minute we went outside, Mocha raised her head, located where the horse trailer was, locked on, and briskly picked up a bold walk toward the trailer.   This was even though we’d come in the arena from a different side, in daylight, and it was dark and a different side.  She knew that was her trailer, and she started nickering at it as soon as we got close.  Then she started nickering–a soft little talky nicker–at G to hurry up.  G’s wife, with the other horse, started laughing and told him Mocha was telling him to hurry up.  She’s not a talker, so it was a big, big thing.  DH also told me this morning that their horse got fussy while Mocha was in the arena and they had to bring him down to settle.  Once he saw Mocha, he was happy (even though there were twenty other horses).

Got back to the barn and turned both horses out to run and roll.   Mocha marched right to her home arena and did her thing, then was ready to go back to her own stall and relax.

Funny little mare.  And, obviously, smart little mare.  I need to think about the implications this has for her visual/spatial processing, because she’s obviously wired that way.

The plan is, at the moment, to go to a horse show next week.  Just a little schooling show at the Mt. Hood Equestrian Center and only do Western (I don’t think my back will hold up to English right now).  A couple of walk-trot classes, a couple of Horsemanship (pattern) classes, maybe some pleasure classes.  The show is a fund-raiser for a local horsewoman who needs hip surgery.  Nothing big.

Miss Mocha is getting back into shape and a bit on the muscle.  My back held up well today for some lead change hijinks.  But she was ready to go, especially after I booted her up front and back.  Putting the boots on gets more intense work out of her, especially anything involving stops.  I think they’re more comfortable for her to go fast and then stop in.  She also two-tracks better in them.

We did the gate from the left side, opening and closing.  Not a foot wrong, calm and quiet.  We’ll continue practicing just to make sure….

Whatever it was, we finished up with a loop around the round pen and a hard run down to the wall for a fenced stop. Twice.   She turned the afterburners on higher both times, faster than I’ve ever gone on a horse that wasn’t running away with me.

By then the rain showers had faded so I took her outside.  The guy who hauls off the manure had left his flatbed trailer that he hauled the tractor to load his truck on out in the parking lot, and she got all excited about that, both coming and going.  It’s interesting when she gets in the investigatory mode.  Head high, has to move sideways instead of forward at first, but once she gets up close to it she has to snoop all around it.

On the return trip she saw it and wanted to trot toward it.   And she Most Definitely wanted to sniff it all over.  Interesting, again.

Full of go today.  Lots of energy.  Could be interesting next weekend.

I’ve been cautiously watching the development of the Western Dressage association here in the US (unfortunately, I was sick the day that my state association had its official introductory meeting, so I’m out of the loop there).  I can tell it’s having some impact because I’ve already encountered one dressagista online sneering about “Wessage” and how one Just. Can’t. Do. It. in Western tack and call it “dressage” (with the predictable caveat that yes, of course, dressage=training but trying to do dressage tests in Western tack?  Horrors!  Abomination!  Obviously she’d never done a clinic with Jean-Claude Racinet.  I had the privilege of auditing a Racinet clinic and hearing him say he’d like to see someone do just that with a reiner.  My biggest regret is that I never was able to get Mocha to a Racinet clinic.  I think he would have liked The Girl).

And while that particular blogger came highly recommended, that put me right off of her.  See, it’s been my experience that anyone marching around sneering at Other People’s Tack not only has a monster ego, but can’t ride worth a shit.  Sorry.  But I’ve had lessons from some BHS-certified folks on the humble side of things whose flat basics didn’t differ significantly from the basics my AQHA high-level trainer/clinician/judge teaches.  And when I mentioned his name, they nodded knowingly.

Conversely, I’ve had some hair-raising, godawful, yank-and-kick lessons from folks like the aforementioned dressagista.  Without exception that ilk sneers at the mere hint of Western tack and Western riding.  So when someone gets tack snooty around me, I basically write them off.  But that’s the way I am.  Different tack has different uses, and I like being able to do both English and Western on the same horse.  And that means if I want to school movements in Western tack, then by golly, I’m gonna do it.  There’s nothing magical about a dressage saddle, and, quite frankly, I find the Western saddle easier to fit to a horse and more comfortable to my butt.  Period.

Anyway, so much for that rant.  What brought this one on was a bit of schooling Mocha and I have been doing.  Riding session before last night, on Saturday, I started mixing some things up to engage The Girl’s brain.  She was being a bit pissy so I started asking for small tight canter circles with lead changes in unexpected places.  At first she thought I was full of it.  We Had Discussions.  Then the light came on, and she started doing it.  Once she got the rhythm, we stopped schooling and went for a long cool-down ride.

Well, same thing happened last night, except that the tight small circles with changes in different sites became a necessity.  G was schooling a new horse who was green, opinionated, and a bit sparky.  His wife was schooling their show gelding, and a couple of advanced beginners were also schooling in the ring.  Mocha was full of herself, so she needed something other than rail work.  That meant small tight canter circles, with changes.

OMG.  She picked up on that work.  Lovely withers elevation.  Working back on her haunches.  And after a few sequences of quick changes in small circles, she started offering up changes with the slightest shift of weight and rein.  I’m pretty sure we had a few three-tempi changes and at least one two-tempi change.  I could feel the light starting to come on–“hey, this feels like a pretty fun thing to do!  YEEHAW!”

Which, with Mocha, is a key step toward getting her to buy into doing something.  See, I could school her from now until forever in the Approved Straight Line and she’d be grouchy about it.  But doing tight circles and changing leads in unexpected places, or swapping leads while dodging other horses?  Makes sense to The Girl.  And once she gets the feel for something like that, she likes to do it.

So yeah, redneck dressage moves.  Lots of fun.  She enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and we’re progressing toward a goal I wanted, which is to be able to do tempi changes.  Won’t take much to straighten out those circles into a line.  Probably not the Approved Training Method, but hey, we’re doing this for fun.

And with a horse like Mocha, fun is key.

The other thing we schooled was gate work.  Mocha has no problems with opening and closing gates from her right side.  But ask her to do it from her left…sigh, temper tantrums galore, and she tries to switch around to do it from the right hand side.  I put my foot down last night and we schooled the gate.  It wasn’t that she couldn’t do it.  Away from the gate, she’d move away readily to the left from my right leg.  The cues didn’t change because of the gate.  She’d just chose to move into pressure to try and turn around to close the gate the other direction.

What finally broke the pattern was when I pinned her by pulling the gate with us so she couldn’t turn.  That got us locked against the wall in a tiny chute.  I could see the wheels spinning in her brain at that point–not a place she wanted to be.  She sighed, yielded, and I got her to sidepass off of my right leg while I pushed the gate with my left.  Step, release pressure and stand for a moment.  Step, release pressure and stand for a moment.  Lather, rinse, repeat, until the gate was closed and she stood by it.  I got someone else to latch it and we went on.  Later, we came back.  I unlatched the gate, had her step sideways two steps to open slightly.  Pause.  Step back to close.  Pause.  Repeat.

We never went over three steps on that one, but we took it slow and easy, and by the end she’d done it a couple of times with no resistance.  At that point I left it off and we cooled out.

Horses.  Gotta love ’em sometimes, especially these smart ones.