REPOST: Progress in the Park

Updated 7/15: I fixed the video link at the bottom. Everyone should be able to view it now.

Hello ALL!! First, let me get you caught up. For the last 3 months, since drill team ended, we've been forced to work on groundwork because Fiona had an allergic reaction to fly spray and she got some weird rash on her skin. It got really wrinkled at first, then the hair fell out..ugh what a mess. It was VERY itchy. The poor girl, I tried to wash it with a bristle brush and she looked at me with an amount of indignation which I have never experienced, even from another human, much less a horse.

The rash is clearing now, so no long term damage was done. We are going BACK to natural fly spray.

The good news out of all this, is that our groundwork has consisted of some really amazing outings to the park across the street from the barn. For those of you that do not know the history, I came off of Fiona in this park over a year ago while riding off property or the first time. It nearly killed us both...literally. See....
Another bad First for details.

But going out with Fiona on the ground has been nothing short of amazing. It took at least a month for her to even consider calming down outside the barn walls. She was convinced that I had lost my mind and gotten us both lost somehow. Even worse, I continued to do it week after week. It is important to mention that every night before our park outings I would work her hard. This will come up again later.

Her main issue was right as we would get into the park, she would start to circle me in an attempt to herd me back to the barn/horses. Instead of stopping to get her attention at that point, we would just keep walking away from the barn. She would continue to get anxious and we would just keep lunging her until she would get calmer, but she never REALLY settled down.

Finally, after watching a youtube video about how to get a horse to go closer to something they are afraid of while riding, it clicked. I needed to deal with that behavior before we did ANYTHING else in the park. So one day, I took a long whip out with us and as soon as she circled back to the barn, I started smacking the ground and getting after her. As she went away from the barn, I left her alone. Toward the barn, BAD. Away from the barn, GOOD. I am starting to think this is why Tonto was so good with horses. He kept the conversation simple.

Finally after a severe 20 mins argument on this matter, Fiona got it. She began to stand next to me, on the side away from the barn. From there, it was like the dam burst. She walked out of the park, away from the barn to the desert across the street. She walked by my side the entire way.

The game was on!!! Now it was time to start pushing her. The next week, we walked through a neighborhood for the first time. She was amazing. She walked right by my side, looking at everything! The trash cans were definitely shifty, but she dealt with it. The car under the waving car cover was definitely not cool, but she eventually got over that too. Even the giant trash truck, driven by  a human being who clearly thought myself and my trainer were out of our minds, wasn't a big issue. We had to wave the driver by because he was afraid to scare the horse!! now there's a switch!!!

We've practiced crossing the road a few times, which is where we got ourselves in a wreck riding. She was amazing, scared, but amazing. She just puts on her brave boots and marches on.

This is the first time in a long time, maybe ever, that I think this horse might really be able to make a full leap into something that will blow everyone away. I don't know what it will be yet, but I am convinced that she will continue to surprise us!!

Here are some pictures/video of our adventures:

Remember, this is a $550 rescue horse folks.....

 

 

This guy likes to walk his pitbull during our lesson

Apparently, this day it wasn't amusing anymore.

 

 This is where we started.

 

Fiona Chillin' in the park
This is where we are now.

Happy trails!!!!

Success!!!!!!!

After 3+ years of hard work, Fiona and I finally got to compete in the Red Mountain Stables Games AND perform with the Chili Peppers Drill team!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say, in the days leading up to the big day, I was really ok with the whole thing going to crap. The progress we've made in the last 3-4 months was satisfying enough. We have been riding in the big arena several times a month now (before I was lucky to pull that off a total of 3-4 times EVER). We've ridden with other horses a ton...which we never did much at all before. So, if we got to the day of the games and performance and I got hit by a big tractor trailer truck, I would have died a happy woman.

However, I am SUPER stoked that we did both the games AND the drill team performance. I seriously considered not doing games. I consistently have a "set the bar low" mentality when it comes to working with Fiona. I am SO used to things going wrong that I try to set my expectation accordingly. Instead of going with my standard ho-hum thinking, I pushed through and saddled up around 9am for games. Fiona was nervous, but only a little. She wouldn't stand at all when we started, but she walked instead of bolting like a complete nutjob. So I just let her walk, but kept changing directions. We did some circles and figure-8s until she could stand still.

The games were pretty simple. We had some reservations about going over and between poles on the ground and by "we" I mean Fiona. I just let her look and took things slowly. She never freaked out or bolted.  She did try to evade some things, but I just kept her pointed the right way and let her get over her concerns. We even took second place in the snail race (slowest time wins)..I know that's for the kids, but I am counting it.

We did skip the canter this time, but my goal for next games is to be competitive. It kills me to skip the cantering. I know if we could do it, Fiona would LOVE it. The horse loves to run!!! She'd probably surprise some folks at the stable. She is really fast and she turns on a dime. She would make a killer cutting horse.

Anyway, I digress. Here are some pictures of the games:

 

 

The Drill team performance was AWESOME!!!! It was the best performance the team had done to that point. Fiona only had one issue and that was when she HATED the horse next to her during our pinwheel. She kept pinning her ears, but she stayed in line for the most part. I was super proud of both of us!!!! Here are some pictures of the drill team performance:

 

 

 

I can honestly say, I am having fun doing this!!  I mean I have loved watching Fiona change and get braver in the world, but my experience with the drill team has been TRULY FUN! One of the best things to come out of it is I can finally just show up and ride..without any drama. Saddling her is easier, she likes to go ride and I don't have to warm her up for 15 minutes before we go to work. It's is outstanding! I look forward to lots of relaxing rides after work! :)

Drill team and Unearthed History

Last fall, Fiona and I started taking part in the Chili Peppers Drill Team and the stables where Fiona's apartment (that's what my wife calls it) is. I wasn't certain we could pull it off, even though I've wanted to do it for a while. There are a total of 8 horse/rider pairs in our team and for those not familiar with drill team, the general idea is to ride in coordinated patterns, as a group, to music. The maximum gate of the performance varies based on the skill levels of the riders. We have only done walking/trotting thus far.

I have to say, I am STUNNED by how well Fiona has done with it. She seems to just love it. I mean it is hard to tell what a horse "love" to do. Best I can tell, it is similar to infants...eat, sleep and shit.
She has been extremely calm through the practices. Even when some of the other horses have had moments of we will call it "distress", she is cool as can be. I am kind of floored by how well she is doing.

The last practice, she even kicked a plastic cone and didn't freak out about it. It is like she is a different horse. My theory is that she needed a job, but it needed to be simple enough that we could both do it together with confidence. I have to say, I didn't stary off very confident, but every practice we have that is uneventful...it just gets better and better. She is more cofident and so am I. I think this could really turn out to be a big turning point for both of us.


Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

Ok, so the rest of this post is just going to be a bit of therapy for me...so I won't be hurt if you fall off here. So I had a terrible start with this horse. I didn't know what I was doing or how horses worked, what they really needed, etc. It was awful. I put my trust in the people around me and was ultimately very let down. While I have to believe their hearts were in the right place, it just didn't go well. I lost a lot of money and didn't get much in return. I felt pushed into some artificial timeline of when the horse had to be "fixed". When, really the thing that needed to be fixed was my lack of knowledge and experience. Anyway, I saw one of the people today that tried to help me early on. We've had a major falling out, mostly due to a mistake I made. But seeing her today, I couldn't help but wonder what she thinks about where Fiona and I are today. My immediate assumption was that she believes we are not any further than they day I got her. I think I assumed that because she was one of the folks that pushed an artificial timeline in the first place. She and her father though my horse could be "fixed" in a few months and be a world class trail horse or something. I can safely say, that this just isn't realistic. It can be done for some horses and some riders, but not Fiona and I. We needed time and a lot of it.We needed to understand each other. I needed to learn. The horse is extremely bright and very athletic. She is not your average horse. I know, I know...I am parental bias here, but I have had people TELL me this about the horse. Not just one person, but many different people have said there is something special about Fiona.

 

The reality is, I don't know what this woman thinks about me and my horse and it really doesn't matter. While I want all the folks that have helped Fiona and I to be stunned and amazed at our progress, it really doesn't matter what they think. What matters is where we are and we are in great shape. We have been through hell together and made it out the other side. We will probably have issues in the future and that's ok...we can handle it together. We are a bitchin' pair and both stubborn to no end. We will not give up, we will continue to grow and change together. We will both be better for having one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demise of the Scary White Tarp Thingie

It's been a VERY long time since I've posted. Life has been somewhat out of control, work, more work, trips out of town, and more WORK. UGH. How I managed to use almost 3 weeks of vacation and still not feel rested is beyond me. However, in the midst of all the chaos, I am somehow managed to continue to develop a strong, confident and happy little Polish Arabian mare. Fiona is doing so well, I don't even know where to start. She is calmer than she has ever been. We've started taking her out of the property again (on the ground, I have no desire to die early). She is still very nervous on her outings, but she trusts me and she knows she has to listen, even if her brain is on a million other things.

So on a whim, at one of our lessons, I decided to pull out an hold enemy, the scary white tarp thingie. See my prior blog posts on this topic: Return of the Scary White Tarp Thingie and The Struggle with Strangles,

Well, I am glad to announce that the scary white tarp thingie....is dead. Fiona conquered it. It is no more, it has ceased to be a fear. The first time through it, she literally too a leap of faith. She jumped through it to get to the trainer. It was AWESOME!

Here are some videos of the middle of the process and end result. I am so proud of my girl. She just keeps pushing through. Eventually, she will be damn near fearless. I truly believe that.




This is me walking her through the tarp...for the finale. :)