I guess it's been a while

            I'm actually not sure if anyone reads this blog, since no one has left comments here. But one way or another, I sometimes find it valuable to write my thoughts out about what I've been doing. I hope that whoever is reading enjoys that.

            This post was drafted in the beginning of January, but I haven't had a chance to proofread and post it until now. 

            Talana and I have had a good couple of months (November to early January). I have learned a lot about hoof trimming, and her feet are really starting to look good. She has started moving in ways I have never seen her comfortably move; picking up her hind feet higher and offering to jump and canter just for fun.
            We are making progress on her training, as well. I am starting to re-teach her lunging. I am also working on getting her more focused and trusting when I am riding her.
            The lunging is kind of a big deal, because she was so terrible at it. What happened before is that she would just stick her nose out of the circle and trot faster and faster without paying any attention to what I was actually asking her to do. I have successfully lunged horses before, so it was clear that she wasn't getting what I was asking of her. She was just tensing up and trying to escape.
            To lunge successfully, there has to be a balance between leading the horse and driving the horse. You want the horse to move in a forward fashion, but not zoom away from you in a panic.  You want the horse to have her attention inward, on you, but not fall in and end up standing on you. What Talana was doing was responding excessively to my driving pressure - swinging the end of the rope or whip a little to send her forward - and failing to "hear" the balancing cue asking her to keep her focus inward toward me. I knew I was not using excessive pressure, but Talana seemed to think that even a tiny bit was too much. She was going into the exercise with the assumption that she couldn't get the right answer, so she was tense rather than focused and engaging with me.
            So I just took away that pressure. Rather than standing next to her and cuing her forward with the combination of a leading gesture in the direction I want plus a driving pressure from behind, I led her on a long line. She is great at leading. She knows what I'm asking, and is not tense. When my gaze is turned in the direction we are going instead of at her, she is less worried about what I might do to her and feels safer about watching me. So we did a lot of walk-trot-walk-halt transitions where I gave her four or five feet of the rope to work with and expected her to come along with me and move at the speed I was cuing, but not looking at her. (Well, I did look at her. I cheated and peeked out the corner of my eye at her to make sure she was coming along and see how she was responding.)

            When she seemed comfortable with this exercise, I re-introduced the driving pressure a tiny bit at a time.
            Leading her forward at the trot, I brought my left arm forward and pointed her in the direction we were moving, while dropping into a walk beside her. When she slowed to stay behind me, I clucked and verbally encouraged her to keep trotting. I did not introduce further pressure yet. I just wanted her to figure out that I was asking her to keep trotting while I walked next to her (and further away from her) with my body angled toward her. As soon as she was trotting forward nicely like this with me beside her for a few strides (not swinging her head around either toward or away from me), I asked her to walk again and went back to leading by her head. This way, she could figure out what I was asking, but not have a chance to decide she was worried about it and swing her head out. She had to watch me to find out what we were doing.

            We did this a whole bunch, and then I gave her a break to just stand. She's getting better at standing when I ask. I can tell that she understands now that it is all right to stand still - that sometimes that's all I'm asking her to do and she doesn't have to tense up and move around.
            I slowly increased the length of time asking her to trot next to me rather than behind me. Then I introduced turns so that we could begin moving in a circle this way. At first, she would turn but drop the trot into a walk as she came around. She would bob her head a little and tense up as she became concerned about what I was asking. But I was able to ask with just a tiny bit of pressure for her to continue trotting - it did not take very much to keep her moving forward. Then, before you know it, I was walking a small circle while she was trotting a larger one around me. It wasn't perfect, but she was watching me about eighty percent of the time. The other twenty percent she spent tensing, looking around, and apparently trying to decide how worried she should be about what we were doing. And the cool thing was that she slowed to a walk when I asked, and went back up to a trot when I asked, and halted when I asked. This is new. The big obvious problem I had with lunging her before was that once she started trotting, she tuned me out and just kept going no matter what I was doing. But now I had enough of her attention in a relaxed enough frame of mind for her to understand the game we were playing: Watch the human and see if you can figure out where she wants you to go.
            It seems that she likes this game. She is certainly very good at it. Talana really wants to stay with me; she is interested in what I am doing and where I am going. She wants to come along. If I am able to teach her that it is always safe to do whatever I am asking - that as long as she is trying, I am happy with her - then I can use this as a tool to teach her new things. Lunging isn't exactly a new thing for her, but we are approaching it in a novel way. This is helping her remain engaged and relaxed as we play the game. What I want when we are playing the lunging game is for her to focus on me and try to figure out what I'm asking her to do. This focus allows both of us to be safer, since we are able to take care of each other, and it also helps us have more fun, because teamwork is a lot more fun.
            The next game, which I've already started introducing, is driving with two long lines. It's great that we are able to do circles. But... that's kind of limited, don't you think? It would be much more fun if we can go in any direction. Driving with two long lines, we could do all sorts of things! We could have adventures in the meadow. I could get her to practice jumping over small things without bucking, without having to also practice falling off of her. So I'm introducing a second long line. I'm using her sidepull as a halter anyway, so it's easy to just clip the lines on like reins. More on this in my next post!

Riding and other things

            I bought Talana a present. It's a new sidepull and matching reins. They are dark green, and they look really good on her. I thought that purchasing one that was made by somebody who makes a lot of them would result in a better-made piece of tack than the experimental one that I made. I was right! It was a good choice. It looks lovely on her, and fits well. She also responds nicely to it, just like the one I made.
            My hoof trimming adventures have been going so well lately. Talana seems more comfortable than I've ever seen her. I will have a post about that more in depth at some point. The other day, just before this awful first snowstorm that came through, we went down in the meadow right near the river and rode around. It was Talana's first time being ridden right next to the Big Scary Water, and I was also riding bareback. She did very well. She kept wanting to turn and canter for the house, but when I reminded her that we weren't going to do that, she did a good job listening and trotting in the direction I was actually steering her.
            I must be less stressed lately, because my muscles were loose enough to be comfortable trotting around a lot. I seem to be able to do a sitting trot very well bareback when my body cooperates. Talana was happy and forward, and I was happy and looking to the horizon. We went up the hill and down, and I was able to use my hands and seat for steering as well as staying attached. We even had an exciting moment when both of us realized at the same time that there was a big rock hiding in the grass right in front of us. I settled myself and prepared for Talana to dodge to one side or the other, but instead I found that we were flying through the air! It wasn't a huge rock (compared to some others out there), but it was my first jump bareback, and my first jump on Talana. She did a great job taking care not to hit the rock, and I guess my seat must be ok, because the landing didn't bother me at all, and nor did the three little bucks she threw after the jump! These were also my first bareback bucks. I'm pretty sure Talana was just surprised about the rock, and expressing her displeasure at its sudden appearance. She straightened right up and kept trotting onward as though nothing happened after showing that mean old rock her heels.
           I wish my friend who was watching could have gotten it on video so that I could see what we looked like jumping over the rock. Talana isn't "supposed" to jump. She's "supposed" to have arthritis in her back legs, and at the very least in the past she has seemed stiff back there. But I've been noticing after the last couple of hoof trims she's been a lot less sore. The fact that she offered to jump with me on her back (which I'd never have asked her to do on purpose) seems to indicate that she's feeling very well indeed!
            I must also admit that I'm very curious what I looked like going over a jump and some bucking bareback. I want to know what I did right, and what I can improve. Because, yeah, I hung on and felt mostly balanced. But all I have to go on is my memory of how I felt at the time. I am pretty sure that when Talana was bucking I started looking down at her neck instead of up at the horizon. What I'm not sure about is how much I did that. I felt that it unbalanced me a little bit. I will keep working on getting my head up. My shoulders have a habit of curling in when I'm tense, so I often have to remind myself to bring my head up and my shoulders back. Talana always tells me when it's happening by switching from her typical comfortable trot/jog to a choppy, short-strided trot that is very bouncy and uncomfortable to sit. I am not sure whether her nice trot is actually her using a different gait, or simply the result of an extended, more comfortable stride. I am hoping to get someone to video us so that I can have a look at the difference. I have been reading that some Arabians have a sort of "jogging" gait that they use in place of trotting, and I'm wondering if that's what she's been doing. She definitely trots when I watch her on the ground, though, so maybe not.
            Her stall in the barn is partially constructed now. She has a floor, but no walls. So when the big blizzard came this past weekend, I stacked up her hay into stall walls and let her in. I figured she wouldn't be too interested in the rest of the barn while surrounded by hay, and I was right. She pulled down a bale or two, but I was able to put them back up. What a good girl! She ended up using more hay than usual, since she had access to more and made a nest out of it to sleep in during the night. But she needed to be inside for that terrible weather, so it was worth it. The walls will be up very soon, and then we'll have a proper stall for her to use. I'm planning to let her go in and out at will.

Hooves, trimming

            Well, I don't know what it is, but we seem to have a hard time getting people to call us back in this household. I've had trouble getting hay for this year, even though we started calling around in July. I've also had trouble getting ahold of a farrier/trimmer to take care of Talana's feet. I thought I had someone lined up before her arrival, but apparently not.
            But, I was already inclined to learn more about how to trim hooves. As usual, I have been reading and reading about subjects that interest me, and horse feet are fascinating. Talana has been kept barefoot most of her life, and doesn't seem to have any issues with it. In fact, I just assumed that horses always go barefoot unless you have a very specific reason to shoe them. It turns out that there are many very different opinions on the matter, and that means that there is plenty to read.
            I am inclined to think that the horse's hoof is a naturally sturdy thing which has evolved to hold up the horse and absorb/distribute impact appropriately. Now, the question in my mind is, how can we manage the horse's environment and use our trimming to help the horse's hoof do what it naturally wants to do - i.e., comfortably support the horse? Do we want to artificially force the hoof into a shape that we think makes it sturdy, or do we want to facilitate growth of the hoof so that it makes itself into whatever shape is most helpful for this particular horse, on this particular terrain? I suppose the answer is, some of both.
            Most folks aren't able to provide their horses with terrain that allows the hooves to manage themselves. There is a certain amount of wearing away that needs to happen, balanced by a certain amount of growth. We want our horses to be comfortable all the time, not just in a soft pasture. But since the soft pasture is what we keep them on, we have to help the hoof maintain an appropriate shape. Thus, trimming.
            Talana had long toes when she first arrived. She was 2 weeks out from her last trim. I noticed a few other things that concerned me about her feet, which didn't necessarily have to do with her previous farrier.

            See these growth rings? When I started reading about them, I began to find them a little alarming. I thought this was normal when I was growing up, but it's not. Well, it's "normal" in that you may find a lot of horses who have these, but it's not ideal. Hooves are supposed to be pretty smooth and even. Unlike tree rings, they are supposed to grow evenly all year long. Growth rings like this are a sign of missing vitamins/minerals, and thus, of poor or inconsistent nutrition. Often you'll see a ring that becomes apparent several months after spring, in response to the rich, sugary grass that suddenly pops up in everyone's fields. Rings like this can also be a sign of a laminitic episode. Eek! It made me wonder if some of Talana's "arthritis" may actually be sore feet.
            However, she walks and trots with proper heel-first landings in all four feet, and doesn't appear lame, only stiff. Nor is she reluctant to move around. So I held my panic at bay, and continued reading to see what I could do about it.
            The supplements I have been giving her are step number one. I was able to determine that she's likely had too much iron, and not enough copper and zinc in her diet. So I sought out a supplement with no iron, but appropriate levels of these and other needed things. Hooves take months to grow out, so I am just now starting to see the effects of the supplement. I think her hooves are growing in more smoothly. I will be more certain by spring, when the current hoof wall has made its way further down, and I can compare pictures. Her glossier-than-normal coat is another indicator that I have done a good thing by adding this supplement to her diet.
            Another thing I noticed after looking at lots of example pictures is that her frogs are contracted, particularly in the front hooves. I looked further, and noted that her front hooves aren't just long in the toes, but all the way around. Her heels were starting to run forward, which is a bad thing that comes from the hoof wall being allowed to get too long. This, and the wet grass that she often stands in, likely accounts for the contracted heels. However, I'm seeing no thrush, just a less than ideal cushion for the back of her foot.
            The last thing I noticed was that she had a deep groove between her hoof wall and sole. Lots of dirt and little stones got packed in there, and it seemed like maybe it's not supposed to be that deep? Well, I was right. The hoof wall pulling away from the sole like that is worrisome. Not only can stuff get packed in there that shouldn't, that's supposed to be a tight connection that holds her feet together. This groove that is now growing out is a sign that about six months ago when this part of her foot was first growing in, she may have had some laminitis-type stuff going on, resulting in a weaker connection between the wall and the sole.
           Golly! And I thought all along growing up that these were strong, happy feet! I guess not, so much. However, Talana herself has never complained about trotting over gravel, sand, pavement, or grass. So, perhaps things aren't ideal, but I decided that getting too alarmed was not a good plan. Instead, I read more about how to mend these problems, to see if there are things I can do myself. Meanwhile, given that it had been a couple of weeks and I had not heard from the trimmer, I began to seek out resources that could help me learn to trim. I know that there are many people who trim their own horses' feet. Perhaps I can learn, too.
            I read a lot on Pete Ramey's website about how hooves are put together. He also has what seems like sound advice on which bits of the hoof are best to leave alone, and which bits can be safely trimmed. I decided that I'm not going to mess with nippers, which take a lot of hoof at once. It seems to me that I could easily make a mistake with those in a hurry. So I started with just a rasp, and a plan to bring back just Talana's toes. Then I thought I'd observe her for a few days, and see if it helped, hurt, or had no obvious effect.
            It turns out that holding up a horse's foot while rasping it is hard. My back gets tired. Talana gets tired, too, so we take a lot of breaks. I do either the fronts or the backs, but usually not all four on a given day. Sometimes I have someone hold her for me, because she doesn't like to stand on three legs very much and I don't have the energy to chase her around with the rasp in addition to using it on her. She stands very nicely when she knows she's been captured.
            Well, I worked on her feet and shortened those toes. Immediately, within five minutes, she was walking more smoothly without tripping. I hadn't noticed the tripping so much before, but I noticed when she stopped doing it. Clearly I was doing some good. This emboldened me a little, and I became a little braver about the idea of trimming her feet myself. I knew that I hadn't taken very much the first time, and more needed done.
           I have settled into a routine of working on her feet about once a week. They still aren't perfect, for sure. Perhaps a professional could fix them up more quickly. But whenever I trim, she looks better and moves better. I have decided, as per Pete Ramey's recommendations on his website, not to mess with her sole, bars, or frog. It sounds like it may be ok to adjust these areas if you are a professional with lots of experience, but I am not. I look very carefully at her feet before I work on them, and then I rasp the hoof wall where it is too long. I use her sole as a guide for the shape of her foot, and I don't take a whole lot at a time. Then I watch how she is moving for the next few days. I once felt a little heat in her rear hooves, and after I trimmed them the heat went away within a day. I must be doing the right thing.
            That groove is slowly going away. It is already much less deep. I think soon it will be gone altogether. Her frogs are still contracted, but that takes time to overcome. I have noticed that her soles are getting more concave, particularly near the frogs. I am slowly getting rid of the flared part of her right front hoof wall.
            I like being able to work on her feet myself. I wouldn't mind having someone check my work, but I can also see that I am doing good things. I look forward to Talana's feet in six months, when they have grown in all new and I am maintaining them in a more ideal way. I'm betting she'll feel better.

Paddock Paradise for my horse

            I haven't been riding much lately. Talana and I have been doing other things instead. She has been working on growing in her winter coat, and is moderately fluffy now. What I find remarkable is that she is staying shiny. She's not quite as glossy as she was during the summer, but her coat has not turned dull like I am accustomed to. Sometimes when the angle of the sun is just right, I can still see some dapples in her saddle area.
            I can see that she's been laying down to sleep during the night. It leaves muddy spots in certain places on her tummy and her legs. I am glad that she is comfortable enough here to sleep so soundly. She seems to generally feel comfortable and peaceful. Most often when I look out the window to check on her, I see a relaxed horse who is either grazing or snoozing in the sunshine. On some windy days, she is more alert and will trot around. But I haven't seen her be upset here. If she smells other horses - I know there are some nearby, she must smell them sometimes - I have seen no sign of it. She doesn't call for them. She does, however, call to me when I have her breakfast.

             I love this view, where I can see her out the window when I sit at the computer. Keeping her down in the meadow, which is past the trees in this photo, was good in that she got access to more grass. However, I really missed seeing her from the house. I didn't expect that to affect me so much, but I found it really irritating! I like to be able to just look out and see what she's doing.
            I thought at first that this was something I couldn't do anything about. But, as always, I have been reading. One of the things I have been reading about is how to keep a horse on small acreage. The amount of land I have available for my use is adequate, if I manage it carefully. But it's not expansive. It would be different if I had access to the whole meadow, of course - but I feel that it would be rude to push for more access at the moment when the land owners have already been so kind. So I am interested in keeping the land I have in good shape, not just for Talana's benefit, but for everyone who enjoys it.
            There is a system of land management called the "Paddock Paradise." You may have heard of it. There's a book about it, by Jamie Jackson. The basic idea is that horses are supposed to move around, not just stand and eat in one spot all day. To create a Paddock Paradise, you reconfigure your fence so that the horse has a "track" to walk around, rather than a rectangle or circle that encompasses the entire area available to them. Maybe they have access to the whole area, but they have to walk on the track to get to everything they need. Water is over here, salt is over there, grazing is spread out in different areas (or hay is spread in little clumps all over, not big piles). Other obstacles are included, too: rocky areas, graveled areas, a log that has to be stepped/jumped over or maneuvered around.
            One of the things that makes me re-think what I can do for Talana is the inclusion of these obstacles. Someone who has land that has been used for horses for many decades - say someplace in the rolling hills of Kentucky or Virginia - would have to build in rocks and rough areas. Those huge pastures of bluegrass have been carefully manicured for a very long time to not have any hazards: No boulders, no rocky areas. Steep areas have been landscaped to be nice and flat, comparatively. But here in Maine, I have the opposite situation. About fifty percent of the land that belongs to the house I live in is rocky and hilly. Those scrubby bushes you see are actually part of the backyard. I had assumed that this area was not worth anything to Talana, because it is "too steep" and "too rocky." But look at where these horses live: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/our-paddocks-paradise-2/
            That's nothing but rocks! My rocky backyard is no worse than that. It's just covered in bushes and weedy things. So I went for an adventure into the bushes to see what I really have back there. It turns out that there is even grass growing between the rocks, wherever the bushes don't block all the light. If I were to take down the chest-high undergrowth, Talana would be able to navigate around the rockiest areas just fine. And, furthermore, I could connect the yard up here to the meadow down there. She would then be able to make her way down to the meadow to graze. I could keep her water and salt up here, so she'd have to come up and down the hill. I could still move the fence around down in the meadow to manage which parts she has access to at one time.
            In the winter, I don't think this would work well. I don't like the idea of encouraging Talana to attempt a rocky hill in the snow and ice. It's just too dangerous, even for a sensible horse like her. The best scenario would be that she chooses not to go down there. So I think she will have to be satisfied with the area around the house, as I originally planned.
            I don't know if I'll have time before the snow comes to get this area opened up for her. It may depend on how early winter arrives this year. But I've already started work. Anything I can do now will help when things begin to thaw in the spring.

            This pile of rocks marks the edge of the yard before the hill slopes down. This particular spot may not be the place Talana wants to use as a path. Off to the right of this picture, there is a more gradual slope that is less rocky. These rocks were likely taken out of the yard to make it flatter and easier to mow many years ago. They are stacked quite loosely, and I will probably re-stack them so that they don't turn underfoot when stepped on. I may move them somewhere else altogether. It wouldn't be difficult to roll them down the hill to some muddy spot where they are needed, for instance. All I'd have to do is jiggle them loose and give them a push. The way they are right now, I wouldn't ask Talana to attempt to traverse them. It just seems like a sprained ankle (or worse) waiting to happen.
            I didn't realize just how much space there is here until I began taking down the tansy and wild roses that have grown up. It's actually taken over a third, maybe half, of what used to be grassy yard! And having my own pile of rocks to use for landscaping feels like a windfall. I am glad I have such rich resources to use right in my backyard. Who knew I'd be so happy about having lots of rocks?
            I have been doing battle with the tansy ever since I moved here. The tansy is the stuff that leaves all those woody brown canes behind. It's a truly nasty weed. It's poisonous, so nothing eats it. It smells bad, so no one likes to touch it. It grows five feet high, so you can't walk through it or see over it. It spreads incredibly rapidly with thick roots and millions of seeds yearly. Blech. A monoculture is not beautiful, or wildlife-friendly, and that is just what the tansy creates. I really dislike the stuff. Also, once it's grown up, it's hard to cut it down. It tends to kill weed-whackers because it's too woody. It takes a lot of muscle power to knock it down with a sickle. And it grows in places you can't take a lawnmower. But it turns out that a hedge trimmer works quite well to knock it down! So that is what I have been using. I'm still left with the stubbly canes sticking up, and I'll have to do something about that. But at least I can see the ground now. Honestly, I'm a lot less concerned about leaving the roses and raspberries alone. Talana doesn't mind them at all, and they spread slowly enough that they can be managed with a once-a-year trimming.
            It feels good to work on things that will help Talana. I find that I enjoy the chores I do to keep her comfortable, and her areas clean. Reclaiming the yard is a big project, but I feel very motivated to do it. I know Talana will like it when I am done. That makes it worth the sore muscles and punctures from thorns. It's also worth missing out on a few weeks' worth of riding. Riding is fun, but we can do that most any time. This nice weather will only last so long, and I want to use it to work on things that will have a lasting impact on Talana's comfort.
            Here she is from my window again, enjoying the afternoon sun.

Arthritis, musings about supplements

            I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but Talana has some arthritis in her rear joints. It's been there for years; as long as I've known her, in fact. Talana is a sturdy girl, but there are some things I won't ask her to do. We won't be jumping, or racing around barrels, or doing the levade. Which is all fine and dandy with me; I'm actually not too interested in doing any of that right now! But what I am interested in is Talana's comfort. So although she's been hanging out in the pasture with her arthritis for years and moving well enough to canter about when the other horses chased her (and to occasionally jump over things of her own choice), I thought I'd look into ways to help her out.
            The first things I think of when I know an animal is having joint problems are glucosamine and chondroitin. This is what helped Dandy, my elderly dog, for the last year and a half of her life. They are also helping Alice, my current elderly dog.
           Dandy:

            Alice:

            One of the problems with glucosamine is that it's pretty expensive. And, if you think it's expensive for the amount you need to feed a dog, think about how much you need to give an 800 pound horse! So I started searching around to see if I could get it for less than an arm and a leg, or if there is something else that helps horses.
            From what I've been able to gather, glucosamine and chondroitin are basically the building blocks of cartilage and connective tissues. Part of the reason you need to feed so much of it to have an effect is that these are huge molecules that are difficult for the horse's gut to absorb and use, so a lot of what you feed just passes right through. There is another component to joint health, which is MSM (methylsulfonylmethane - don't ask me how to pronounce it). This stuff is supposed to help the body put the building blocks together. Some horses seem to respond just as well to supplementation with MSM as to glucosamine, chondroitin, and MSM together. Particularly those who already have issues, like Talana. Another key benefit is that it's less expensive.
           Now, I'm not knocking glucosamine and chondroitin. But if I can help Talana feel her best with less cost, you betcha I will. So we are trying MSM for her, and if we aren't seeing convincing improvements after a couple months, I'll look into glucosamine and chondroitin supplements, too.
            The good news is that it's been three days with this supplement, and Talana seems to be moving more smoothly in the mornings. She usually seems a tad slow to get started at the beginning of the day, but this morning she seemed to be moving more like she does later in the day, like she's already had her morning stretches or something. Of course, it's been a grand total of three days. I may just be imagining things. But I'm hoping that in a few weeks I'll continue to see improvement.
            Supplements aren't the only options for a horse with arthritis. It also helps to get them moving around - not too much, like I said, no jumping - but walking and trotting for a bit every day is supposed to help get things loosened up and moving more comfortably. And I would say that this is true for Talana. She moves better on the days I ride than the days I'm at work until dinner. I can tell because when she is sore, she won't do a proper turn on the forehand. She'll yield, yes, but she won't cross her legs. Instead she does an odd hop-step, moving one first and then the other without crossing them. But after we've walked around for a bit, if I ask for that movement she does it correctly. She can also sidepass better after exercise, like when she doesn't want the dog to get any closer to her and steps sideways.
            Generally, Talana seems to be doing well. She's growing in her winter coat already, in response to the chillier weather. She looks good, and her mane and tail seem to be continuing the trend of growing in shiny. She's feeling pretty spunky lately; when I had her grazing on a lead line she decided that Alice was sitting on a tasty patch of grass and chomped her on the ear.  Boy did Alice get a surprise! No harm done, Alice's ear was just a tad slobbery. It must have been a very soft nip. But Alice barked and Talana jumped back, too. Now they keep a skeptical eye on each other. Also, I'm policing them a bit more carefully, because that's pretty rude and I won't let Talana go around grabbing dogs. I am a little glad that she feels good enough to stake out a claim to her grass, though.
            And I'll leave you with a picture of her, even though it's not the most recent. Here she is from late August, finally giving in and trying the mint in the backyard.

Rewards

            I've been thinking about how to give Talana rewards when she does things I like, and, conversely, to provide consequences for behavior I don't like. This way, it becomes easy for her to do the right thing, and hard to do the wrong thing.
            There's always the example of verbal praise for good behavior, and verbal scolding for undesirable behavior. We humans are pretty good at that. We are such verbal creatures. How many of our animals learn the word, "No!"? And, "Good boy!"? But that's not really enough. The momentary pleasant sound of a happy human is often paltry when compared to the joy of racing away across the grass, or when compared to the deep fear of That Thing Over There That I'm Pretty Sure is Going to Eat Me. So as I get to know my animals, I like to learn what it is that they like, and dislike. What is my dog's favorite treat? What is his least favorite thing to do/what is hard for him to do? What is a neutral thing that he doesn't care about? What toys does he prefer?
            I have been learning these things about Talana. Some are obvious: She loves apples and carrots. Grain is pretty great, too. She doesn't like it when I make her think too hard, but a bit of a puzzle can be fun, especially when she gets the right answer. But more specifically, what things make this horse tick?
            Talana doesn't like groundwork very much. She'll do various things if you ask, but she's always worried about The Evil Circle Game. Letting her know that she can stop is a reward when I am on the ground. "Ok, good job, stand still a moment," is a good way to let things sink in when she's just done the correct thing. Or even, "Ok, good job, slow down some," will let her settle a bit and think things over. When I push her, she's worried. When I let the pressure evaporate, she feels safer. Sometimes I want her to think a bit harder, so that is when I move her feet. Sometimes I want her to relax, so I might move her feet just enough to make her worry about how much work she's going to have to do, and then release the pressure and let her halt. "Whew!" She says, "That was a close one, I almost had to do real work there! I'm so glad I get to stand now."
            She's very different under saddle. Talana likes to move. She wants to go see what's over there; she wants to trot up this hill; she wants to canter around just for fun. She likes moving her body, and she seems to like taking me along. Talana has gone on a number of endurance rides, and I think she must like being a trail horse. What is the point of just standing around now that I'm sitting up there? We're all ready to go - let's go. This means that asking her to halt too much makes her frustrated. "Why aren't we going already? What now, silly human?" So when I want to remind her that I am the one calling the shots, I sometimes ask her to halt. But I don't make her stand around for a long time; if she halted nicely I ask her to Walk On, because that is her reward for stopping so well. Doing this a number of times as we're just riding around helps her remember that it's not such a pain to stop, because she gets to go again pretty soon. It helps her keep from being fidgety while we're halted for me to do my stretches.
            The other thing she really likes is when I dismount. That is a huge reward for her. Sometimes when she does something really well, I praise her lavishly while asking for a halt, and then hop off while still praising her. I rub her shoulder and face and let her stand for a bit without me sitting on her. It seemed kind of funny to me when I first thought of trying it. "Isn't it wrong to get off the horse when you're supposed to be riding around?" But I tell you what, when I hop right back on after doing that, she does such a good job with whatever that thing was, again and again. It's such a big statement to her when I get down. Even if both of us want to keep working, giving her such a big break like that seems to really get her attention. "Hey, I did something good! Whatever that was, it worked!" And then when I get back on, I can ask for that same thing and she is delighted to do it just right, many times. This is part of why I insist that she stand perfectly still, no fidgeting, with her ears on me, when I dismount. I want to reward her for being extremely stable at that critical moment. And lifting my weight off of her back is a big reward.
            I'm not saying I hop up and hop down all the time while we're working. It's kind of inconvenient. But for important things, I'm happy to do it. For instance, Talana is kind of afraid of the river. It runs down past the bottom of the meadow, and whenever she comes around the trees and gets a good look at it, her eyes bug out. All that water! Yikes! She doesn't like to walk toward it when we are riding. So, I walk her toward it at the end of our ride. We go down about as far as I think she can handle, and then when she's doing a good job walking forward without resisting, it's time for us to halt. I go ahead and take the saddle off right there, so that she's thinking about how nice it is to have the girth loosened (while looking at the water), how nice it is to get the saddle taken off (while looking at the water), how nice it is to get petted and stand there in the pleasant breeze (while looking at the water). Before long, looking at the water will seem like a nice thing to do, too, because of these associations.
            I think of these things as tools in my training tool box. The more I work with Talana, the more I can develop finesse in my communication with her using these tools and others I find. I know that I can tell her when she's doing something I like, and make it feel good to her to do that thing. That makes both of us happy.

Riding, standing nicely

            My stirrups arrived. Talana was a little less pleased about the saddle when she felt how much heavier it is with stirrups! She's a good girl, so all she did was make faces and try to walk away from it when I went to put it on the second time. But for her, that means "I don't think I want to stick around for this! See ya!"
            Handily, this provided another opportunity for us to work on ground tying, which is one of our ongoing projects. Talana is pretty good about standing, until she sees me coming with something she doesn't want. Which really means she needs some work on that. I can't have her trying to walk off while I'm doing stuff with her.
            I've been going at this a couple of different ways. One is to have a halter and lead shank on her, and drop the lead to the ground while I'm grooming and tacking her up. If she's moving around, I pick up the lead and back her a bit, then walk her forward to The Spot and have her stand again. She finds out that she can work hard without getting anywhere, or she can stand nicely. She's making good progress this way. The other thing I've been doing is to walk up to her without a halter and just start doing things with her while she's at liberty in her fence. I know she's not going to "get away" in there, so it's safe for me to go about things differently. Talana has come to recognize my grooming bucket. She likes it because it's got nice grooming tools in it that make her feel good, so she usually walks up to me when I bring it in. But at first when I brought in the saddle, she'd turn and walk away before I approached her. I know she has bad memories about being ridden, so my goal here is to teach her that she can trust me. Even when I'm holding the saddle.
            One of the ways I want her to learn to trust me is to learn that I'm consistent. If she walks away while I am picking out her feet and between hooves, I follow her with the pick. If she keeps walking away, I increase my energy and send her away at a trot until I see her paying attention to me. I don't worry about circles; I actually jog along nearby and we usually go in a straight-ish line. Usually in a moment I see her ear flick back to me. Then I bring my energy down to a walk and give her a chance to respond. Typically she'll also slow to a walk and lower her head a little. Then I turn away from her while inviting her to come with me, and we walk together for a few steps. When I'm ready, I come to a halt and ask her to Whoa. She stops, I go back to picking her feet. To backtrack a bit, if she doesn't slow to walk with me, I go back to jogging her around for a bit and try again when she looks more ready. Generally, this whole process takes about thirty seconds. Afterword, Talana refocuses on me and stands very well. Back to my point about consistency: I do the same thing if she's walking away from the saddle. I know her history with saddles. She thinks they aren't nearly as nice as a hoof pick. But I treat them as though they are the same. The saddle isn't any scarier, and she needs to know that I expect the same behavior in regards to the saddle as to the pick, even if she's not as emotionally comfortable with the saddle. With time, I'm hoping this will change her response to the saddle - Oh, it's this thing that gets put on me after grooming sometimes, rather than, Eek! Not the saddle, those make me feel weird! We've done this a few times now, and she's getting better and better about it. I can tell that she's already starting to understand. She can walk away, but I'm not going to stop tacking her up. It'll just take longer.
            The other important part of this process is that I make sure not to hurt her or frighten her. The last thing she needs is one more bad experience with the saddle! I move smoothly and confidently, and when I tighten the girth I try to do it without yanking or pinching. Then when I am riding, I make sure to give her a good experience as well. I don't ask her to do things that will make me off-balance enough to bounce on her back, or if I do I don't punish her for expressing discomfort. When she does what I ask her to do, I praise her and reward her for a job well done. When I need to correct her, I am firm but fair. A small thing doesn't need a big correction - not with Talana. She "hears" the subtlest movements I give her. No need to suddenly act like the world is ending, or to frighten her or give the idea that I'm a big angry monster on her back. "Nope, that's not what I asked for," is all I need to communicate.
            I find that Talana is responding well to this approach. She always seems disappointed when I walk away. She's not anxious to gallop away from me when I release her. I think she is discovering that it's all right to trust me, and that I won't do anything mean to her. She is starting to act more relaxed with the saddle. I am so proud of how well she stood for me to tack her up yesterday. I didn't put anything on her head at all until I'd tightened the girth most of the way, and when I walked away to get the bridle, she looked after me for a moment, then followed me. She still likes to stick her nose in the sidepull for me to make it easy to put on. The other day, she even acted like she expected a bit, lipping at the reins!
            On one hand, it seems like we haven't done much. "All" I'm doing is riding her around at the walk and sometimes trotting a little. We haven't been riding for long periods of time. But on the other hand, Talana is learning some important things. She is learning that she can trust me. She is learning what cues I use and how I expect her to respond to them. I am learning, too. I am learning how she moves, what things are rewards to her and what things are neutral or unpleasant to her. So, overall, I think we've made a lot of progress.