My Mind Has Been Blown.

I woke up this morning in one of the worst moods I've ever been in due to a horrible night's rest and several days of building stress.  Despite how I was feeling, however, I decided I needed to go see Jenny and Larry and attend at least part of the horse clinic that was being held today.  When we got there my mood improved slowly, and by the time 10:00 came around I had left all my troubles behind and was focusing on what was in store for today--FUN!

Buck and I began the day with a light grooming and then traveled over to Craig's indoor arena that was filled with all sorts of obstacles.  We did everything at liberty, which means I have no direct contact with Buck and I have to use my body language and my carrot stick to direct him through objects.  He was such a good boy.  We squeezed through some things, did several figure eights through barrels, side passed over a big blue ball and a white barrel that had tipped over, and walked over some "scary" objects.  It was a good start to a soon to be great day.


When Jenny began instruction she asked if we wanted to ride.  My confidence in Buck (and myself) has improved immensely since being back from New Mexico, so I was actually quite excited about it.  I got him to side pass over to a fence that I was sitting on so I could mount him easily, and then we did partner riding.  Partner riding is when you ride your horse, but you do not direct them where to go (no touching the rein!).  However, you do control the pace of the horse. That was a great warm up to remind me how my muscles, body position, and speech effect how Buck operates while I'm riding him.  We worked in the round pen for a while doing that, and then we moved on to something different--riding with a carrot stick.  

A carrot stick is a fiber glass stick that is about four or so feet long.  When we ride with just a carrot stick, we direct the horse by putting pressure on the horse's face, which makes it turn.  If we want them to stop, we put the carrot stick on their chest.  If we want them to keep doing whatever it is they are doing, we move to a neutral position which is either resting the carrot stick on our shoulder or putting it down to our side.  Of course, I think that makes it seem a lot simpler than it actually is, but you get the idea.  Buck quickly picked up what I was trying to get him to do and I felt much better about my own performance compared to the brief time in New Mexico that I did it.  We eventually ended up cantering for a bit in the round pen.  At one point he did a small skip/jump type thing because he was so happy.  Talk about amazing!

When we got back from taking a lunch break, a lot of exciting things happened (Well, more exciting things).  I wanted to try cantering Buck with just two carrot sticks outside of the round pen.  I was so excited to see what would happen, and I had a lot of confidence in Buck that he would be great.  And that he was!  We cantered outside the round pen with ease.  He stayed close to the rail for the most part and listened to my directions.  
He tested me at some points, but I didn't let him get away from me and we ended on some great strides.  I really wanted to have someone take a video of it, but maybe next time :)  By the end of it, I was really, really tired.  It took a lot of energy!  Buck could have kept going though, and I think he wanted to in fact.

Before I dismounted we went back into the indoor arena and went through the obstacles one more time (carrot stick riding all the while!.) Not a problem!  I was able to roll the big blue ball underneath his belly with my carrot sticks and put his front and back feet in a hoolahoop (Second time ever Buck has let me put his back feet in something, big deal for a horse!).  I got off and did something I found pretty funny.  I took the blue yoga ball and started bouncing it off of Buck's sides.  Neck, barrel, butt, bouncing it over the top of him, he didn't care!  I eventually ended up picking up his front leg hoof, placing it on the ball, stretching it out, and rubbing it gently.  And what a stretch it was!  He really enjoyed relaxing his leg on the ball.  His eyes closed and everything.  Who would have thunk?!

I feel like I should add in here that I do not ride with a saddle.  I don't think it is necessary!  The feeling of being able to control a 1,200 pound horse at a canter with just two sticks is invigorating.  The fact that Buck chooses to listen to me under these circumstances is amazing.  He could easily throw me or take off running with me, but he chooses not to because he wants to be with me and he wants to do well.  Thank you, Buck!  Of course, at this point in time everything is in a controlled environment.  It will take a lot more work to be able to ride safely in areas that create anxiety for Buck.  But for now, I think we have made a huge step in the right direction.

It is really quite astonishing to see how far Buck (and I) have come since our first clinic.  Buck was a hard, dull horse.  I had only ridden English and Western, and I knew the kind of horse Buck was.  To say the least, I was not looking forward to working with him to any extent.  It felt more like a chore I was doing for my mom.  Buck would not back up without having to push and pull on him.  He would invade your space like you weren't even there.  And he was a nightmare to ride.  
Now, with the natural horsemanship skills I have acquired thanks to several wonderful people (Jenny, Larry, Steve, Craig, John, and my mom), I can get Buck to back up 30 feet with just a flick of a string, I can get him to disengage his hind end with a point of my finger and a look, and I can ride him brideless.  It is amazing how little a horse needs to get it to look at you with excitement, willingness, and love.  For 20 years, Buck's entire life, he has been ridden the wrong way.  Now, he is finally able to feel what it is like to be a horse that has fun and enjoys being ridden!

What I am learning is invaluable.  Every time I work with Buck my life changes a little bit more.  To me, this is the only way to manage a horse.  I look back on how I would get a horse to do things before, and it was completely ineffective and dumb.  This is the right way.  This is the way a horse was meant to be used.