The Highest Compliment

Adventures are fun!

On Tuesday I had a wonderful opportunity to join a barn friend for a lesson with a local horseman, Lester Buckley. I had not heard of him before, but my friend talked highly of him and said not only was he an excellent "natural horsemanship type," but was also quite knowledgeable in dressage, show jumping, cutting and other sports. He was a "no judgement" type, and respects all horses.

I wanted to work on Hampton's spooking issues - which certainly are not bad, but can get annoying and really bite me in the ass in the ring. He goes "off the grid" and all my aids stop working. I was curious to see if Lester had any advice.

Mr. Cowboy I would like help with my wild stallion please.

So I tossed Porkchop on the trailer and we made the 20 min drive.

It was an absolutely lovely, adorable ranch with plenty of pasture, dry lots, an indoor, outdoor, round pen and trails.

Hamps has not been off the farm since October, so I just assumed he would be lively and up for this trip and hopefully spooky so Lester could help me work through that.

Remember this test when Hampton spooked at the judge,
so I put my inside leg on and he reacted by bucking?

... you probably know where this is going.

Hampton stepped off the trailer like a dead broke kids pony. Stood nicely to be tacked up, and sauntered into the indoor area as if he has been here 50 times.

sigh. Figures.

I am sure Lester must have thought I was crazy as I explained our occasional spooking problems. Meanwhile, Hampton is quietly standing by me basically half asleep.

But Lester started right in with some basic exercises I could use to settle Hampton should he ever be in a more ... exuberant .. mood. Lester uses very methodical, fair exercises to help quiet the horse's mind, and give them a safe space to come to when they are afraid or nervous.

After some ground work, I got on and we went through some suppling exercises (basics are all the same, people). The last half of the lesson we went up to the outdoor and Hamps suddenly had more energy! Yay! Maybe he will spook!

No.

There were even cows. COWS. In the distance. Hamps looked, but never really got tight even. But Lester was great in guiding me through even the mild looking.

After the lesson, I let him graze for a good hour and he thought
IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER.

His theory is, let the horse look. So he knows he is safe, but then "Ok, come back to me." Even if it just for a second, reward - give the horse a "paycheck" - and continue with work. Repeat repeat repeat. This respects the horse's instincts, lets him look and continue to move, and then rewards him for coming mentally back to you.

Certainly worked better for me than trying to override the horse by not letting him look, or "making him listen" that I am pretty guilty of.

Somebody else, who will remain nameless, can also benefit
from Lester's theories.

Basically his theories all revolve around bending the ribcage. Say you have a horse who is tight, looking, maybe feels like a bomb. Instead of freezing, taking your leg off and hoping for the best (GUILTY right here), start doing figure 8s, serpentines, asking the horse to walk on 3 tracks. This makes YOU keep your leg on, because you are hugging him with alternating legs as you change direction. It gives the horse something else to focus on. And it gives the horse is safe place. "Oh, remember that pattern we do at home? Well we are going to do that now." Always keep the horse's eyes tilted at the scary object. Never let the object get into their blind spots.

Make everything your idea. Say your horse snorts and bravely walks up to a scary object. In that moment, YOU turn him around and walk away. Re-approach again after some figure 8s. Make it your idea. That way the horse always thinks "Ok, there are no surprises and she will always keep me safe. I am not forced to face this."

Eventually, when you get in the ring, you should only have to hug that inside leg, and ask for a little inside bend, and maybe even do a tiny little serpentine - like inches - and the horse will come back to you. That's what is supposed to happen anyway. Easier said than done.

A relaxed Porkchop.

But I plan to use these concepts more in daily work. So should Hampton find something offensive in a show arena, there will already be a base of trust, and safety, and perhaps it won't be so dramatic. Like the time he can to a screeeeeching halt in the middle the dressage ring when we were supposed be doing shoulder-in? Yeah.

Back to the title of this post. Lester paid me one of the highest compliments I have ever received.

He said, "You have a really nice working partner in your horse. He isn't submissive like so many dressage horses. His ears are up, moving around. He has this youthful look on his face like he enjoys his work."

I mean wow. I would much rather have a horse who is interested, happy, than one who "assumes the position" with constant sideways ears, working to get it over with. Granted, he does get those focused airplane ears when he is really concentrating, as they all do, but I knew what he was trying to say.

He also called Hampton clever, safe, gentle and a really nice horse.

That I already knew. :)