Where's the hay?

For the past month or so every time I thought I'd sit down and write a post I'd think: What should I write about today?

And the only answer I ever was able to come up with was rain and mud. And those posts, quite honestly, have been getting rather old and tedious. I'm tired of rain. I'm tired of mud and I'm tired of complaining about the rain and mud.

I'm ready for summer to truly be here and these torrential downpours and weeks and weeks and weeks of nonstop storms and rain to just slow down. Not stop, mind you, my pastures depend on the rain, but at least slow down enough so the mud pits have a chance to dry out a bit.

I have run into a problem I didn't anticipate. Going into winter I had plenty of hay to get me through to the first cutting of the season and I timed the number of bales with my ability to turn the horses out on pasture full time.

I didn't anticipate the massive, nonstop rain we've had. All the hay producers/sellers I know have empty barns and no one has been able to get out to bale. I haven't been able to turn the horses out much at all due to the swampy conditions of their pastures.

And I'm out of hay. I panicked. I made a gazillion calls and could find no hay. I found one hay producer who was contacting HIS clients trying to find hay to buy back so he could feed his cattle...he is in the same boat I am and I imagine there are more than a few of us.

I found some hay — two-year old rained-on craptacular hay/straw/weeds that is better suited as bedding than feed. I bought 10 bales just to give them something to keep them busy.

I haven't fed hay as an actual main staple in their diets for about a week now. Don't worry, I'm not starving my darlings, in all actuality they are probably consuming MORE calories now than when eating hay!

Beet pulp and hay/alfalfa cubes have been my lifesaver. Granted, I'm going through A LOT of it and it is more expensive than hay, but when in a pinch, you gotta do what you gotta do and they really don't seem to mind. They haven't been eating the craptacular hay, they pick at it, then pee on it and sometimes sleep on it. Guess they're telling me exactly what they think about that crap. The goats seem to like it though. Odd ducks they are.

Here's hoping, praying, begging, pleading for a good solid two weeks of dry, warm weather. I need to start re-stocking my hay shed and the horses sure would like to be back out on pasture ASAP! The grass is up to their bellies...nom nom nom!

Hit the books, find the bend

Don't you love those "ah ha!" breakthrough rides? The ones where whatever issue has been eluding you is well on it's way to being solved in an exhilerating moment when angels sing and relief washes over you.

Relief, oh, sweet relief to realize that I'm NOT such a miserable rider that I can't help my horse figure out what I'm asking. It was getting to the point where I was starting to really struggle with whether or not we could fix this shoulder popping, neck snaking, hips swinging WAY out issue on circles, especially tracking right. Struggling with questions about whether I even belonged in the saddle any more if I couldn't figure out this simple problem.

So, I did what I usually do, I hit the books. "Dressage Questions Answered," by Charles de Kunffy is an invaluable tool to help figure out issues. I also read an article called "The Magic of the Outside Rein," that really helped shine some light on our issue. I know the "inside leg to outside rein" concept, and I've achieved what it's supposed to do a time or two on dressage schoolmasters, but I've never been able to get it to work like it's supposed to on a green horse. The article "The Magic of the Outside Rein," really broke it down into why it works and offered a bit more advice on how to use it in a way I'd never considered before. I used the method and like magic, Gabe responded! It was a relief, it was like finally finding the key that fit the lock after groping through hundreds of them.

The bit of advice that brought it home for me was to use the WHOLE rein, not just as connection to the bit. Oooh, new concept for me! So I did just that. I used the rein against his neck to not only "push" him over when I tapped with the inside leg, but to keep that shoulder from popping out and the neck from overbending in. If he started to pop the shoulder I aimed my outside hand towards my center and took a bit of a stronger hold on it and the shoulder popping ceased. Wonder of wonders, it DOES work! Yee haw! Is he perfectly bending around circles yet? No way, but we have unlocked that door and are well on our way.

The second thing we worked on was his sluggishness to respond to the leg. He's not lightning quick off a cue, which is something I've written about before. So yesterday, we worked on increasing the timing of his responsiveness with quick, repetitive walk/trot, trot/walk transitions on the circle (bending nicely too!) and I really expected him to trot with strong, forward energy as soon as I asked, not when he got around to feeling like doing so. The constant "on the ball" expectation that he was going to be asked to respond to do something else very shortly also had him rounding his back and coming forward with his hind. Very, very nice!

I had noticed that with Gabe I've adopted a "defensive seat" instead of a more following, relaxed light seat. I was constantly prepared for him to do something nutty and due to that, I was tense and always at the ready. A suggestion I picked up from the de Kunffy book was to ride by thinking about keeping my legs millimeters off his body to force me to relax and ride with my seat instead of a gripping leg.

Amazing how much he relaxes and swings his back when my tense body isn't inhibiting him.

Towards the end of our 45 minute ride he was responding so much quicker, was very relaxed (a couple of swinging, stretchy, chewy circles proved that) and a few times, at the end of our session, he would trot as soon as I thought about trotting and tensed my calf. Amazing how that works!

I can see plenty of more doors on this journey with Gabe, but I'm adding more keys to my dressage keychain that I'm sure will help me swing them open wide.

Lineage

Gabe looks just like his daddy!

My big guy is one of the last foal crops from Runaway Groom, who was euthanized on June 8, 2007 at 28 years old. He stayed active in the breeding shed until February 2007 when his handlers noticed he was becoming more and more uncomfortable in his old age. When medication and therapy failed to keep him comfortable, he was put down.


What a handsome man he was. Aside from a less-refined head than Gabe's, they look nearly identical.


I've never been a huge fan of flea-bitten grays, but I have a feeling that's what Gabe will be. It's a good thing no good horse is a bad color. Check out the bone, the well-conformed, made-to-last build on this solid Canadian-bred stallion. This is a horse that was bred for strength and stamina, not at all resembling the narrow, wispy, wasp-waisted, delicate-looking Thoroughbreds that are being bred in the U.S. today. The horses bred to run but not bred to last.

I'm so glad Gabe got his old-style Thoroughbred conformation from the Canadian side of his line.

A video of Runaway Groom at his Lexington retirement home. It's almost like looking into the future of what Gabe might look like as he ages and gets whiter and whiter.

The little bay mare

The girl child informed me last night that she does not want me to sell the mare.

"I want to ride her," I am informed. "I don't want you to sell her. She's so sweet and so good and I really like her."

Oh, dilemma, dilemma. I've been wanting to and trying to sell Calypso. I don't ride her enough to justify feeding her, and honestly, she's just not my "type." She's a good mare, don't get me wrong. She's a fabulous little quarter horse: Willing, able, quiet and good-tempered. I can put anyone on her and she is a gem. She can be a little quick at the beginning of a ride, not trotting or crazy, just fast-walking, but she settles down into a slower pace about 15 minutes into the ride, drops her head, relaxes and just goes along for whatever is asked.

She goes English, Western, trail rides, does some jumping, longes, has enviable ground manners, ground ties, comes when called, is an easy-keeper, is very surefooted on the trails and is one of those horses that does what is asked without question. You can aim her down a cliff and she'll ask "how fast?" not "How come?" Her conformation sucks: Very straight, upright shoulder and pasterns and she's built downhill rather than uphill. Her trot is like riding a pogo stick and impossible to sit without your teeth getting rattled out of your head. Her canter is quite nice, if you can keep her off her forehand.

I estimate Chief, at 25 years old now, has another good 4-5 years in him, if we can keep the arthritis in check and keep him comfortable. That's 4-5 years of non-strenuous work. He can't be jumped, due to not wanting to put any kind of additional stress on those arthritic joints, and we don't ask him to canter on any kind of circle, again, the arthritic joints. I made a promise to Chief that he'll be with me until he dies or until I have to have him put to sleep. He won't be sold, period.

Kayleigh has gotten to the point in her riding confidence that she wants to canter and jump and do all the crazy horse things I did at her age. She can do that on Calypso...she can't do a lot of that on Chief. Calypso is 10, so she has another good 15 years, barring any major injuries or accidents.

One of the reasons I've been trying to sell Calypso is because she's basically been just another mouth to feed: Useless to me beyond a pasture pony. I know, that sounds terrible, but when you're on a limited budget, another "useless" mouth to feed isn't an option. I've been feeding her for this long, so keeping her really doesn't add to the feed/upkeep/vet/farrier expenses, it just maintains them. I was looking to decrease those expenses. But if Kayleigh is willing and able to ride her (often, not just once or twice a month!) then I'll keep her around for as long as she is useful in that respect.

So, I told the kid she gets this summer to show me that she'll ride Calypso regularly, that she CAN ride Calypso, and that she enjoys riding the little bay mare. All while making sure she keeps giving plenty of attention to Chief. Kayleigh is Chief's kid, and I worry he'll be heartbroken if he gets dumped and ignored for the mare.

If not, she'll go back on the market.

Classical wisdom

I've been trying to catch up on my blog reading and I'm currently reading through several posts by Calm, Forward, Straight about classical dressage and the current popular (and very wrong, in my opinion) method of riding a horse consistently behind the vertical. This post (which is a reposting of a series of articles from the Dressage and CT magazine no longer in publication), struck me as particularly relevant for me right now.


Face Behind the Vertical
A "modern" deviation from the classical ideal.
Part Three

by Erik V. Herbermann

Modern trainers claim that horses "give" better in their backs when they are ridden behind the vertical. But as we have seen earlier form Fillis and Baucher, the only advantage to this way of working is that the horse cannot as easily resist the rider. Now, our instant gut reaction might be that this is exactly what we want, but for true horsemanship, this is only "Fool's Gold," because where poor riding makes the horse unable to resist, good riding strives to give the horse no reason to resist.

Not only does the artificial "face behind the vertical" way of ridding the horse of its ability to resist not lead to a true state of "lack of resistance" (which can only originate from honest, forward-going work), but it actually blocks off the very avenue though which such correct influences might come into play at all. This blockage occurs on both the psychological and physical planes.

Psychologically: if we rob the horse of its "say" by shutting off its ability to resist, we inevitably also shut off its willingness to contribute, and with that evaporates the potential for achieving the "playful ease and beauty" of the performances. Those coveted fruits of riding, which can only unfold from an honest, trusting, and harmonious partnership have thus been forfeited. The dialogue has ceased. Only the rider's willful monologue remains.

Physically and technically: by riding the horse behind the vertical, with curled-up "empty" necks, we rob them of the proper use of the major locomotive muscles in their backs, which are anchored in the neck. The hind legs are hindered from "jumping freely into the poll," which would ordinarily cause the horse to carry its head with the poll as the highest point. And since the energy is therefore not properly focused out of the hindquarters and reaching forward to the bit, the horses are not honestly stretched in their spines. The connection between the hindquarter and the bit, which is indispensable to correct work, has not been solidly established. Instead of beiong supple and energetic, such a hindquarter is restricted and stiff and cannot develop the appropriate carrying and thrusting energy that leads to correct balance.

The correct balance in the horse should be "held" by the perpendicular balance of the rider's spine, resting partially on the crotch and mainly on both seat bones. If, however, it is held with the hands, such as it often is when the horse is ridden with its face behind the vertical, either the horses barge like locomotives against the bit, up to which they have been forced, or they are artificially light in hand (behind the bit) and are not truly going forward. This is one of the central reasons for the artificial quality of the gaits we so often see.

For our horsemanship to be valid, its critical that we tirelessly strive to maintain the highest quality of the gaits. This is reflected in the absolute purity of the footfall, which is the medium ---the very lifeblood--- of good horsemanship. It is therefore imperative for us to understand the inseparable correlation between the head and neck position of the horse, how this position has been achieved, and the direct effects these elements have on the quality of the gaits.

In a well known book of ethical guidelines, the Master says, "By their fruits will you know them. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" We can rightfully draw an analogy and conclude that good work produces pure, beautiful gaits. Poor work produces warping and distortions. So judging by its unmistakable ruinous effects on the gaits, "face behind the vertical" should have no part in our horsemanship if we are at all sincere about following the classical way. "Face behind the vertical" is a tip-of-the-iceberg phenomenon in which the basic mathematics is wrong --- how can the equations built on it help but fail?

Throwing out the baby birds

As much as I hate taking months off my riding due to snow and absolutely foul weather, in some cases, it can be a major advantage in the whole training scheme of things.

I had my second ride on Gabe last night after about a three month hiatus. With him it usually takes 2-3 rides to get his brain back on track and into "work" mode. He was surprisingly wonderful for both rides. Aside from a few "damn I'm feeling GOOD!" moments, he was responsive and eager. I might even venture to say he was happy to be back to work!

And I accidentally discovered something about him that may make moving forward in our training much easier.

I will admit right here (and you'll never hear me admit it again!), that getting back on a horse (especially one as big, powerful and unpredictable as Gabe) that has been out of work for months honestly scares the shit out of me. I get nervous, my stomach turns queasy and I imagine all kinds of things that could go terribly, terribly wrong. That log over there? Pretty sure I'll land on it and break my back. The fence post we're walking by? Although it's capped and we're 10 feet away from it, I'm darn certain my horse is going to spook, chuck me 10 feet through the air and I'll be impaled on it. The slight slope on the other side of the arena? Yup, I just know he's going to spook sideways and we'll trip and ass over ears down it and I'll be crushed irreparably beneath him. Irrational, yes, but that's the way my brain works. Once I get on and get moving, my brain calms down and my stomach settles about 15 minutes into the ride and I just laugh at myself for being such a crazy person.

Anyway...all this irrational crap was running through my head, and, as a result, I had a stronger than usual hold on the reins. Usually I like to handle the reins as if they were delicate, easily-broken threads, I prefer to have a light, soft, giving touch of my horse's mouth.

Something amazing happened.

Gabe seemed to ENJOY the stronger connection, even welcome it. I'm not talking about him leaning on the bit, he wasn't. He took the connection I gave him and he accepted it like a firm, friendly handshake. I'm not talking a death grip on the reins and I'm not talking about pulling back with bulging biceps. I'm simply saying he seemed to welcome a little more weight in my hands than what I've been giving him. He was responsive to the slightest finger wiggle, he gave and relaxed his jaw and poll when I "sponged" the reins and the white foam dripped wonderfully from his amazingly quiet mouth. I've mentioned before that he plays, plays, plays with the bit, sucking it up into his mouth, trying to chew on it, wiggling it, grinding his teeth, etc.

There was none of that, as long as I kept a firm connection with him. As soon as I dropped the reins to go on the buckle, he dropped his whole neck and dove for the bit as if he had dropped something and was trying to find it. His mouth went to work wiggling, wiggling, chewing, chewing, grinding, grinding at the bit. As soon as I took up a firmer connection, the playing stopped.

Is it a comfort thing for him? Does he just prefer "strong" leadership from me in the saddle? Is it a leftover habit from his racetrack days? I don't know, but I'm going to go with it. Eventually, I'd prefer NOT to have such a strong contact, I prefer the "baby bird in your hand" approach, but for now it works and I'll run with it for as long as he needs me to.

Off they go!

It's St. Patrick's day and you know what that means? Spring is literally just around the corner! I have green grass poking its head through the mud and my daffodils are blooming. The horses are shedding like mad and Gabe is acting like he's been cooped up in a stall all winter. Even old man Chief has been feeling his oats, bucking and farting around like a yearling.

We still have massive amounts of mud. We had the wettest February in almost a century and my ground is definitely showing it. There's no where left for the water to go so it just sits on top of the saturated ground and turns everything into a smushy bog.

My daughter and I couldn't ride last night, although the weather was perfect for it, because of the mud, but we got the horses out and gave them a good grooming instead. I could make two new horses out of the hair I pulled off Gabe and Calypso! Chief is shedding a lot, too, and as usual, his white spots are shedding first and most.

We had a little minor emergency last night that made me so, so thankful horses are ruled by the tummies and tend to prefer being in each others company.

I had finished grooming Gabe and was letting him graze on the new grass in the yard while Kayleigh put Chief back into his paddock and caught Calypso so I could groom and worm her, too. Instead of hooking both electric ropes back up at Chief's gate (we have a gate that connects the two paddocks, it makes turnout easier during the summer), she just hooked the top rope. Well, Chief, being the sneaky little escape artist he is, took advantage of the situation and shot under the top rope of the gate into Gabe's paddock and straight out the open main gate into the yard. Of course, as he whipped by Gabe (my back was turned to the paddock while I let Gabe graze) he stirred up his blood. Gabe spun, lunged forward and took off after Chief, ripping the rope through my hands (ouch to torn flesh!) as he did so. I thought they were GONE! as they both tore up the bank next to the house and headed towards the driveway.

Suddenly, they both realized Calypso was not with them. Kayleigh had a nice snug hold on her and that mare is so well-mannered she just stood there, tail up and blowing with excitement, but not moving a single hoof to go after them because Kayleigh told her to whoa! Good girl, good girl. I tied her up and sent Kayleigh after a bucket of grain to entice the two bad boys back to us. I knew if I put Calypso back in the paddock she'd just rip around the paddock screaming at the boys and get them even more whipped up.

I shook the bucket, Gabe's ears came forward and he came right to me, like a bee to honey. What a good boy.

Chief is usually a pain in the ass to catch. Honestly, the only one who never has any problems catching him is Kayleigh. I can follow that jerk around the paddock for hours and he lets me get JUUUSSTTT close enough to touch him, then he turns and walks away. The faster I walk after him, the faster he walks. He never runs, he just stays right out of reach. I thought we were going to have a major issue with him, but Kayleigh took the bucket, shook the grain, put it on the ground and he took the bait. She flipped a rope over his neck, buckled on the halter and he never flinched or made a single move to get away.

My poor kid was shaking so bad! She thought her horse was gone for sure. And she kept apologizing for not hooking up the bottom rope...of course, I told her it wasn't her fault, neither one of us thought Chief would decide to make a Great Escape. We just know not to do that again. Lesson learned.

All ended well, everyone got wormed and brushed and we managed to inject a little bit of excitement into the evening.