Snow! White and flakey snow!

Although I am aware most of you commuters are likely cursing the stuff, I love how white and crisp this dusting of flakes has given the farm! It makes night chores much easier with it being so much brighter out! Also no mud!

Kitten is not impressed by both the cold stuff on the ground, and the fact the barn doors are kept closed. Charlie is also already going a little crazy from being confined to the barn...so be on the watch when riding!

This week in lessons, we will be continuing to work on looking and using the eyes and upper body appropriately to prepare our horse for an upcoming turn or obstacle. This time instead of pylons though, I think there will be jumps. Tricky jumps. Riders who felt benefit from having their stirrups tied can once again enjoy the assistance that bondage can bring. Limiting the range of motion available to your feet has two main benefits; it keeps your body more stable, and it forces riders to be more insistent  that their horse listens to correct and subtle aids.

I would also like to remind boarders that this Wednesday is the end of the month, so board is due! If you haven't already paid me the $20 for deworming please do. The fall is a tricky month as we tend to stock up on hay and shavings for the winter, so we would really appreciate prompt payment (as always!).

Finally, I want to remind riders of the TTeam clinic coming up on Dec 1 and 2. There are riding and non riding spots still available. If the clinic is not filled internally by November 10, I will be opening it up to outside riders/haul ins, so if you are planning to attend, please don't wait until the last minute to let me know!

Karen

Ahh classic kijiji!

"willing to lease my horse for breeding. She produces beautiful fools you do not want to miss out on her.

text or call for info"

Then there is this silly person who forgot to put the bridle on her horse for the second photo:
Jumping horse

Power was out at the farm for over 2 hours. BRRR..derailed my ambition to be productive this afternoon so took a nap with the cats.

Lessons this week;

As promised, there will be some tying of stirrups to girths to help remind riders where their leg should be, and to let you feel when it leaves that zone. This also makes riders use their leg properly, and then use a crop if needed rather than bring heels up or get kicky.

I am also working on some exercises to work on getting riders to use their eyes better. Main issue is with people wanting to look down when thinking. It really helps if you can look where you are going through a tricky transition or over a jump!

As I am going to try to work on a sales video for Gody, I will have some fancier than usual jumps set too; a line that looks like real hunter jumps with fill, some jumper stuff...it will be great!

Karen

We're back!

Not particularly thrilled about it...but Rob and I are back from vacation!

It was nice to get away for a few days. The weather could have been better, but the Island was desperate for rain, so we took some solace in that.

We stayed at the Ocean Front Suites in Cowichan Bay and I would both love to go back, and recommend it to others as a nice place to stay! The hotel was meant to be condos, but with the shut down of the lumber mills and most of the fisheries, the economy just could not support it, so they are now hotel suites...which meant we had a complete kitchen and living room which was definitely nice! The view of the marina from our the bedroom and living room didn't hurt either. It was entertaining to be woken up by the funny sounds the gulls make, and to be able to watch the boats bobbing in the ocean from bed.

The rainy weather didn't stop us from going out on a boat to tour the bays, and we had a good time with Night Hawk Tours and the sun even came out for part of the trip. The ship captain seemed surprise and a little reluctant to go out given the wind warnings and rain, and his call to his wife "yes, they still want to go out in this weather..." didn't fill me with the greatest of confidence, but the trip was nice, and the Cowichan and Maple bays are lovely, as are many of the ocean front houses!

We also were able to have dinner with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin who live in Victoria/Saanich. I last saw my Aunt/Uncle at dad's funeral, but I hadn't seen my cousin in about 30 years, so that was interesting! Had a great time, and really noticed some changes to the island; number one was the deer fence everywhere; apparently the island is over run with deer, and if you want a garden you have to have really good fencing.

Aside from that we spent much time walking through marinas, some time in the spas, and had many good meals that inspired me to do more cooking this winter (baby shrimp on an English muffin, covered in a light layer of cheese and Hollendais  sauce...YUM).

We got back around dinner time last night, and it wasn't clear if Ginger wanted to come home or stay at Rob's parents house...I am thinking she was doted on! Once home I went to visit the horses, and got a good talking to from Charlie...did nobody pet him while I was away? Seriously needy cat last night and again while trying to do stalls! Also noticed Kitten grew up over the weekend...I have to stop calling her kitten!

The barn looks great and very clean! Thanks to all who helped look after the horses and who surprise me with the extra clean tack room and entrance way....perhaps I need to go away more often!

I am trying my best to get back into work mode, but it isn't easy...hopefully I will find some inspiration by lessons tonight!

Karen

Deworming

I think the last two nights count as a hard frost, so it is time to deworm for tapeworms and bots...yeah!

I have enough Quest Plus to do the barn, with the charge to deworm your horse being $20.00. If you wish to deworm your own horse with something suitable, just let me know and I will leave them for you to do.

This winter (January likely) I would like to do fecal exams (or rather pay the vet to do them) so we can deworm horses more appropriately. Some horses tend to carry more worms than others and need to be dewormed more often, while others may be fine being done twice a year. I think the cost of the fecal is $15.00 and will be interesting (I think), and if your horse is one of the low worm load horses, it means less money spent on dewormers and less toxins being pumped into their body.

I am hoping the two big bays turn out to be low worm load horses as they are SOOO much fun to deworm!

Also, I have the vet out next Wednesday if anyone needs anything done.

Karen

Ah horse shopping...

I love the people who say they "must sell!" but can't seem to respond to an email, or only respond to one of three questions. I know, I should just call, but emailing means I have what they said in writing which I prefer.

Today I went to look at two more chestnut horses; a mare and a gelding at the same location, but different sellers. The mare was VERY cute, but sent up some red flags right away; she had nasty sores from having to have her halter left on (hard to catch), and her hoof wear was suspicious...wore more at the toe than at the heel. Add that to the very short standing and the waterford bit, and I was a little concerned...but she seemed sweet so we headed to the arena to watch her go. Wow. Sore. To be fair the seller warned me she tripped on hard ground, but I wasn't expecting a horse that minced at the walk on decent footing. She looked lame at least on both fronts...possibly behind as well.

Again, to be fair, it can be hard to tell when a horse is equally lame on both fronts, but this horse didn't even come close to tracking up (hind feet reaching where fronts left) and almost fell down a few times. And she is ridden everyday like that. No wonder she is hard to catch.

Sadly she was a gift to the person who had her...a very unsuitable gift, and the person who gave her the horse didn't do a very check. Hopefully the horse ends up at a home that will put shoes on her at least.

The other horse was a good looking gelding. Nice and big. Quiet. Stocked up legs and horrid hooves though! And not horrid as in neglected; his owner looked like they were trying with 4 shoes and he wasn't that overdue, just very shelly feet apparently, and I was told his previous owner completely neglected getting his feet done. Not sure if the swollen legs were related to the bad feet, and the swelling did go down after I rode. His training seemed maybe more western, and we didn't communicate the greatest, but I think he has potential and he was kind and really a nice looking boy...I just don't know if I want those hooves in my barn...I think my farrier would quit! If someone else wants a nice sized and kind gelding though, and is ok with big farrier bills, let me know and I will pass his info along. This horse looked like he would clean up at open shows and could likely do ok as a hunter as well.

Karen

finally!

I was finally able to go see Zander's sister today. It was going to be a rushed visit, but the owner was ok with that, and I talked to her about having her tacked up and ready for my arrival...but instead she was unbrushed in a stall and not tacked.

She is absolutely beautiful! However she was shorter than her 5'1" seller...maybe 5'2" with her boots on, so not a chance she was 15.3 hands which was disappointing. But wide enough that I thought maybe...So running out of time we put tack on her, but it was like Goldilocks and the three bears for the seller to find a girth to fit her, then they went to put the thinnest snaffle possible in her mouth...ouch!

So I lead her into the ring, and right away she notices a plastic bag in the middle of the ring and starts to set back a bit..so the seller moves the bag out of site, but mare just kept staring at the far end with a shell shocked expression. By this point I was doubting her suitability, but still decided to try riding...and then found this horse does NOT stand to be mounted. Like at all. Apparently they school it by backing her the length of the arena and jerking down on her bit. Made me sad.

Despite how lovely she was, I didn't bother even getting on. Glad I went to see her, but sad she didn't look like she would work out given her lack of height, and quirks. She would make a good horse for an agile kid who has the time to find out why she doesn't want to be mounted (thinking saddle fit?), so hopefully she finds a good home.

From there, it was a rush to get on the other side of the highway...to pick up Lindsay's new horse! The new horse is a chubby bay mare with a very good blaze. The seller had to leave about 5 minutes after we got there, so we had to load by ourselves...which took a while! I think she is just used to sitting in her field and was just fine with that lifestyle. Her donkey neighbour brayed sadly as we worked to load maresy into the trailer. Kind mare, but she acts like she is expecting to be smacked every time we moved.

Before you ask, she does not have a name. And I don't mean Lindsay just hasn't come up with a name she prefers, I mean this horse has never had a name. Not registered, and they just referred to her as the bay mare. Kind of sad, but I am sure Lindsay with her naming skills will come up with something soon!

Karen

Why the yelling?

At the show on the weekend, I ran into an old riding buddy who I hadn't seen in a while, and who had stopped riding for years, only getting back into it this year as she missed it, and makes a very good income, so can afford the types of horses and lessons she could not in her youth. She had a very lovely, but young horse at the show, and she had only owned him for a month.

I commented to her how it was too bad she went off course in her hunter class, but that her horse was lovely. She was embarrassed about going off course, and explained why; her horse had picked up the wrong lead, and the only thought that filled her head as that her trainer was going to yell at her for doing something as basic as picking up the wrong lead.

I thought she was joking/exaggerating, so I replied something to the effect "Well I am sure your trainer's reputation and income isn't riding on your hunter round, so probably not a big deal". Only she wasn't joking, she was truly worried about getting yelled at by her trainer to the point she wasn't able to think straight, and so aimed at the wrong jump.

There are lessons to take from this;
- Yelling is useful for correcting certain behaviours, but is not useful for correcting behaviours that require thinking to come up with an alternate behavior/action. So for example, yelling at someone for riding bareback, without a helmet, in a paddock of loose horses (mentioning no names...), and then more quietly explaining why the behaviour is against barn rules, works, as it is a dangerous activity, and the person being yelled at just needs to know to NOT DO IT AGAIN. They don't have to think it through.

Keep in mind that what is said does matter; raising a voice and offering constructive or encouraging advice can help boost a rider's energy level and/or confidence and help make a possitive lesson stick, so when I refer to yelling, I am talking about negative messages being yelled.

This can also apply to horses who are doing a dangerous behaviour that just needs to stop and doesn't need to be replaced with a different action such as a horse that thinks biting your hat is a good idea while putting blankets on (Magnus...), With a horse though, you have to make sure the yell/strong punishment is times so it is directly associated with the behaviour, as with a horse you cannot go back and explain what it was they did wrong and why.

A tap to wake a horse up on the other hand, can help the horse perk up and pay attention in a positive way.

- Yelling is NOT useful for correcting behaviours that require thought. So as in my initial story, the rider needed to be able to think about correcting the lead and getting to the jump. She needed to know being on the wrong lead was wrong, but needed to move beyond that and come up with a Plan B to correct the lead and still continue on the course...which she could not do as she was  so worried about the harsh consequence of her perceived failure. When a person is yelled at, it puts them in reaction/fight or flight mode, and rational thought is lost to instinct. When in a true danger situation, reacting without thinking can save your life as it increases reaction time, but I hope we can agree being on the wrong lead should not be in the category of life threatening!

This is also applicable to horses. Let me use the example of a horse stopping at a jump. Some trainers wallop horses for doing this regardless of the cause, which can help make the horse learn to jump regardless...but there are times when the horse SHOULD stop, or at least make adjustments, and when the horse is jumping out of FEAR, it is more likely to take unnecessary risk and jump from dangerous distances.

Example; rider gets in crooked with a weak canter and has lost their stirrup. At this point I WANT my horse to either stop gently, or be able to balance up and jump quietly if the jump is small enough. A horse that is afraid it is going to be walloped though, is likely to panic and rush the jump blindly, knowing that it is likely to hit the fence, and wanting to just get it over with. These are the horses that end up flipping over jumps, or learn to bolt past jumps that they feel they just cannot do. If instead the rider takes responsibility for getting the horse correctly to the jump, and uses balancing and encouraging (but NOT punishing) aids, the horse is more likely to be able to think rationally, and be adjustable right to the base to make a tricky approach possible...and sometimes the stop IS the safest option!

The other thing that happens both with people that are often yelled at and with horses that are harshly punished, is that the transition to flight or fight mode is closer to the top and that adrenal response happens with very little provocation, so a student that gets yelled at in lessons just needs a look to have the same feeling they get when actually being yelled at, or the horse just has to sense its rider's displeasure.

The sad thing is that this reaction pattern can begin to be association with the activity, so the rider gets nervous/anxious when jumping/showing with ANY coach, or the horse gets fearful/upset when ridden by any rider.

So...given that most people don't LIKE getting yelled at, and that yelling is NOT useful in a learning environment and not conducive to being able to adapt and think rationally, WHY do adults allow their riding coaches to treat them in this way? Coaches that they PAY to teach them? Makes zero sense to me, but hang around the horse shows enough, and you will see it is not that uncommon a technique. Maybe Clare or Christine should do a psychology study on that....

Karen