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.

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.

More riding adventures

            For the last few days, my muscles have been sore and more tense. I've still been riding, but less trotting lately because I feel unbalanced again. I am certain that it's what my body is doing on a given day that allows me to sit correctly and comfortably. Days when I am tense - or anxious at all, even if I'm enjoying my time with Talana - I am just not able to balance when we are trotting. It's kind of frustrating, but this is what my body does. So I just work with what I've got on a given day.
            My bareback pad arrived. It is a Best Friends Comfort Plus. It is extra cushy on top. My poor seat bones don't have much padding on them because I am underweight, so I thought that would be helpful. It is! Talana is shaped very nicely for bareback riding. Her back is muscled and rounded, and her withers don't stick up like some horses' do. But I know that when we trot, I am poking her in the back, because I get sore, too. The only problem I've had so far is not a problem with the pad, but with me. My thighs don't want to relax completely. This is a general problem that I have, riding or not. And so, when there is anything at all between me and my horse's back, I have to concentrate and practice a lot to get my legs to drape around properly. At first, I was very unbalanced on the bareback pad because of that same cushy stuff that I want there! But I realized right away that it was me, not the equipment, and I've been practicing in the pad some more and it's going better now. It is nice and grippy on top, so some almost falls that I've had have not actually ended with me on the ground, but rather hanging on sort of sideways as Talana stops. Then I can grab her mane and swing myself back up again. The pad doesn't seem to slip, so that is good. I think both of us like the pad now that we are getting used to it.
            Talana seems to think that it is time we move on to cantering. She keeps offering to canter when we are trotting, and while she has what feels like a very nice canter, I'm not really ready. I don't want to be going that fast until I feel like I can give useful directions to her at the trot. I can hang on; cantering is easy that way. But steering is important, too... I guess Talana is less concerned about that, since she knows where we are going. Thankfully, I have a nice respectful horse, and I am able to remind her that we are not going to canter until I ask for it. Or trot, for that matter - she loves to move out to the faster gaits. When I feel her getting ready to trot prematurely, I gently squeeze my hands on the reins, just enough so that she can feel it. Usually she settles back into a walk right away, but if she trots anyway I turn her tightly one direction or the other and then we continue on at a walk. She seems to think it's a lot more work to turn than to trot forward, so now that she's learned that this is the consequence of trotting without permission, she's making the error less often. I like this method, because it doesn't hurt her in any way, it's easy for me to do while staying balanced, and it does seem to work well. She is responding nicely and doesn't even seem to get irritated about it; just takes the feedback and goes, "Oops, I guess I can't do that."
            I am still very happy with the bridle I made. Talana goes well in it. She is still happy to put her nose right in when I offer it to her. She also responds very well to cues with it, and I really can't say I miss having a bit in the least. I suspect Talana doesn't miss the bit, either. I am giving her softer cues in this sidepull than I ever did with a snaffle, and she's responding more quickly and with little to no objection. She has stopped pulling her head down when we trot. Now she only does that if we are walking in a direction she doesn't want to go in, and then I pull her head up and direct her a bit more firmly the way I want to go, and she shakes her head and we go.
            I also talked to my mother about saddles the other day. She suggested that I try using an extra, much thicker pad in addition to the thinner one that she gave me. The idea there is that it will be an extra layer of cushion between any bouncing or ill-fitting of the saddle and Talana's back. I figured it was worth a try at least, so I found some thick foam and gave it a try.
            Well, I'm still not convinced that the saddle fits Talana "properly," but if this is how Mom rode her way back when, I can see how that worked. The extra padding does appear to make Talana sufficiently comfortable with the saddle - we trotted, and then we cantered, and then we trotted some more, and Talana was not at all fussy about it. So I have decided that as long as she's not acting like it bothers her, this is how I will use her saddle. And I've gone ahead and ordered some stirrups so that I can ride around in it, because without stirrups I bounce and slide like crazy unless I hang onto the pommel with one hand and Talana's mane with the other. Oh, yeah, steering? Never mind about that. I need stirrups! They will arrive in about a week. I am looking forward to it, because then I will be able to hang on securely and do more interesting things.

Making a sidepull halter/bridle thing

            Ever since I discovered that bitless bridles exist, I have been very interested in them. When I was little and taking riding lessons with other children, I watched other kids steer their horses by yanking the reins. I saw the reactions the horses gave them: tossing heads and pinned ears, turning quickly and tightly to escape the pain. I was always afraid of doing that to the horse I was riding, so I didn't do a very good job steering a lot of the time. While my heart may have been in the right place, I didn't understand the difference between appropriate pressure and excessive pressure, so I did not progress very much in my ability to communicate with my horse.
            Now that I'm older, I understand this better. It is entirely possible to ride with a bit and be gentle. But - you have to have the skill to do it. And your horse needs to be trained sufficiently to understand what you are asking. Between me and Talana, we have enough rusty spots in our training that I can't say for certain that I wouldn't accidentally yank on her mouth. The idea of trying to re-teach her that riding can be fun and gentle while having something in her mouth that with the simplest error on my part can cause her pain in a delicate place... I just don't like that idea.
            So, the thought that I can do the same things except without a bit really appeals to me. I thought at least we'd give it a try and see what she thinks. After all, if she's happy enough to do what I ask with no bit, why do I need one? For the basic things I'm asking her to do - walk, trot, back, go around this obstacle or that - we probably don't need the minute finesse of a direct line from my fingers to her mouth.
            Another thing that appeals to me is simple tack that I can understand. A nice thing about a sidepull is that it's basically a halter. I know how those work, and I understand how I'm putting pressure on her, and where, when I tug on different parts of it. That helps me feel more confident and secure in my movements, because I am not concerned with accidentally hurting her.
            It's such a simple piece of tack, in fact, that I can make them myself. I found a tutorial with pictures online, and set to work with some rope I got to play around with. It takes a lot of rope to make a halter! They recommend 18 feet. I'm not sure exactly how much I used to make Talana's, but it was at least that much. The rope I used was fairly soft and wide. It's not that thin stuff that I see on most rope halters, but that's ok. This one is a test run anyway, and I wasn't even sure it would work.
            It only took me three hours to end up with a serviceable halter, however. I added loops on the nose knots so that I can attach reins made from the same rope. And I went right outside and put it on Talana to see how it worked.
            It worked! Talana has now gotten so used to it that she puts it on herself if I hold the noseband open for her. She seems cheerful about it each time. And she's taking direction from it very well. It took her five or ten minutes to get the hang of how the different cues feel, but after that she seems happy with it. It seems to be soft enough over her nose because the rope I used is so thick. I may still put padding there when I start riding her around for longer periods of time.
            Hooray! I will probably try to get some pictures of it to post so that you can see what it looks like. I think it's not the nicest looking thing ever, but it works well enough for me.