Setting time aside for my own horses has become a priority this year, one that has seen marginal success, so it will be hoisted up and over into the New Year. Last Sunday, a close friend and I sat down and shared past goals achieved and not, and set fresh ones out for our next year. I started doing this a few years ago, and get a bigger kick out of it the the Ole Resolution thingy....and has become a marvelous way to actually track my behavior over the previous years and see if I am managing to learn anything...:)So riding my own horses like they were in Full-time training is a major goal. Treat yourself like the way you treat others.......wait, no. That's backwards....!
Anyway, in light of that, I saddled up Indy, and ponied Ivy out to the field, and worked one while I tied the other to a very nice Fir tree that volunteered its services. Worked on some walk/canter transitions, backing at greater distances ( 50' plus), and counter bending. Counter bends! Ah! Poor Indy, he had to think on that one! We are using a new Bosal, a nice 1/2 " that is actually big enough for his schnozzle....different feel again for both of us. I swap horses around and spend the next 1/2 hour laughing at Ivy, as she stamps her pretty little foot, tosses her hair and says potty words.... In the end, she has earned her Big Girl Badge, and gets to pony Indy home. Of course we take the long way over hill and dale, with the regulation three dogs in tow, and Indy snatching delectable dead weeds as we go................
I leave you with these words, from a very wise Shira Tehrani
"You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth."
Home!
With Christmas and a visit to Family and Friends back on Vancouver Island now over, two things have filled me with enormous gratitude. First, Christmas in its pure form is truly a gift. It allows us to remember to accept and give love, forgive, share, give thanks, spend time with those we often don't take the time to, eat food lovingly prepared, and recognize that a gentle but powerful force greater then us is present and with us.
Secondly, I am blessed with a gift of my life, my home, my ability to do what I passionately love to do for a living in a place that I deeply care for. The crazy animals that seem to love me as much as I love them, my sturdy, happy truck, the Sunshine that pours down on me as I drove through the Fraser Canyon yesterday ( I opted for the Old Fashioned route. Just seemed more appropriate somehow....) and all those ridiculous rocks! I Love the rocks in this country! and the Sage! And the Pines! and the snow!....And the dirt roads! and.....
hmmmm, I expect that you can tell, I am HAPPY to be home.
Thank you.
With 5 days off under his belt, all of which were no doubt spent trying to 'one-up' his neighbor in the all time favorite Gelding game of ' Who Can pull More Fur out of Who' , combined with a definite itch to GET OUT, Carson made the obvious choice for my first ride. Being the (albeit infrequent) sensible type, I opt for the saddle and snaffle, and slap my rope on as well, on the remote chance I might need something to latch onto quickly in case Carson gets a bit, shall we say.....expressive. Still, this is prime opportunity to check out our progress, and we tack an' go. Course, I do have a plan, and that includes heading down the squeaky snow (trust me, it squeaks), past the calves, and up the hill. OK, maybe it IS the Canyon Hill, but its good footing, steep as all get out, and I want to give Carson a big job, get him focusing on something positive, and hey! Guess what else? We are doing it together, and he needs to trust me, himself and experience something new and Adventurous! I get off half way, as it is just too steep for him, and he lacks the co-ordination and strength to do it yet with me on his back as well, but that just lets him know I am on his side, and we are in this hare-brained deal together (Who's idea was this anyway?) Once at the top, we are looking down on the Dot Ranch, in the sun, in the sparkling snow,right on the tippy-top off the Hoo-Doos. It is really too bad that Carson, Sage, Griffin and me are the only ones that got to see what we saw, but for those of you in computer land.....well, that's just really too bad....;)
Then we lope and gallop a bit, and head down across the frozen creek(more trust, I lead the way) and home, practicing a tiny bit of soft feel, flexion and half pass, drop out a few loops and drag the rope...really no Bigga Deal. Remember, I am always playing the 'Feel Carson' Game....always. Oh!.... there were so many very cool things that happened on this ride, and it feels like we are heading in just the right direction.....for both of us*)
As we come in the yard, and well, here's Jeanne and Kathleen! Yay! They haven't been up in weeks, and their three boys, Gumby, Nash and Joey are thrilled! We head out down the hill and along the river trail, Jeanne up on Nash, and Kath on Joey and myself on the Comfy Couch of the equine world, Gumby. I think Jeanne is pretty proud of Gumby, and rightly so. He has come a long, long journey, and I adore him. He is so willing to connect and be with us crazy 2-leggeds now, getting quicker and quicker to trust. Gumby and brother Nash are Belgian/Mustangs. Gumby was ungelded and wild for years before Jeanne acquired them, and she would be the one to ask for the human side of their story, but Gumby has told me a fair bit about his.......
Unfortunately, the ladies couldn't stay in their Chateau Le Dot Trailer but will be back up later this week to ride again. Remember warmer mittens, girls:)
It has turned cold again today, and that's a blessing. This country doesn't do +temperatures well in winter....everything melts just that little bit, then freezes and teaching horses to ice skate is not really in my lesson plan! So seeing the sun out, and -12 made us all do the happy dance, and get one last day of riding in before I have, er, get to go down to the Island for Christmas with family and friends.......
So away we go, gleefully wreaking the pristine, unplowed road, the dogs and Carson make a game out of how many times they can criss-cross, all the while playing horse try to catch dog as their paths cross. This game continues until we ease thru the slip wire and into the big field and on up the hill. We choose a less steep incline, in respect to the questionable footing, and I start to play my game. 'Feel Carson' is a game I have been playing for a few weeks now, and its rules are simple. Slow down and ask as subtly as possible, usually just where I look now, and just be with him. For his part, Carson is good at the game, and is very clear when I have asked to strongly/rudely/coarsely, the head comes up, stride gets short, breathing accelerates, champing or worse, grinding his teeth. Before you get to thinking I am a complete knuckle-head, this happens very quickly if you are a chestnut gelding with diagonal white socks and your name is Carson. This actually makes the makes the game very fun and I get to increase my awareness of my riding, his slightest tries, where he is looking, where I am looking( sometimes I drift off, thinking about inane human things, and he will drive us straight into a Pine tree, which I swear is intentional, as if to say...."Oi, Lady! look where we're going!) We play around with energy, and ease up to a trot and I discover some tension. We keep trotting on a loose rein, with a bit of a feel for him in there as well, until there is a slight lowering of his head, and a drop my energy and weight, and he walks. Rub, Rub, Rub, and into a trot again.....and rub. This time, I am rewarded with almost an instant relaxation, a nice blow and we continue on at a trot for awhile. I really want him to find relaxation in movement, kind of just encourage him in that direction, and then let him find it for himself. I try to do as little as possible, so that I am just helping the good solution to present itself for him to find. It is so very cool to feel his skin relax, ears soften and muscles loosen and we, Carson and Stef, are just going for a ride, he enjoying it every bit as much as myself. And for me, that is the very best part- that we both win; I get to keep refining horsemanship, Carson keeps refining peoplemanship and we ride thruogh some of the worlds most spectacular scenery.....
And the dogs? They are gloriously oblivious to all of this, just happy to be alive and enjoying every minute of it. Hmmmmmmmmmm
I am happily in the depths of an amazing book titled " Power vs Force", by Dr. David Hawkins.
It delves into consciousness, spirit and energy patterns, amongst other fascinating brain strains.....There is a line in there (well, LOTS of lines!) that caught my attention. See as we all know, everything reflects everything else, and of course I apply these thoughts to Horsemanship. " A subjective sensation of slow motion, beauty, and grace is frequently noted in higher states; time seems to stop and there is an inner silence, despite the noise of the world" Boy, how many of us know that truth! For me, it is one of the multitude gifts that the horses bring. When I get so into our interaction, playing with loading into the trailer backwards,or working on advancing some certain move, or traveling out on a fine trail with the sun warming cold winter hands,
or watching them zooming around icy fields, marveling that they can stay upright.... After riding Gumby and Carson out on the scant snow left, I sneak off on Indy, down around the Lower river trail, past the cattle chewing off the last of summer's alfalfa and along the river is that is trying to freeze up. The footing's good, and we're sharp shod anyway, and both of us agree. We need to RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man can that horse fly! Flat out down the dirt road, blowing by the scattering calves, and over the creek and we're flat out up the hill and headed home, as tears of bliss and ice pour down my face...and time stands still.
OH Wow! Lots of things to learn and Peter is helping me get all sorts of things happening with this here 'Blog', so bear with me as I get it all figured....Here are a couple seasonal photos. One is of Gay's Conn's Paint Horse Max, and my Head Assistant Trainer, Sage, sporting the very latest in outfits.....(taken 2 winters ago)
The other was taken yesterday morning, at home here on the Dot Ranch. Funny, how you add snow, and everything just gets to feeling like Christmas. With the weather being all cold, it is far easier to just hop on bareback instead of sitting in a cold saddle, so I grabbed Indy, and Carson came along for the tour, and we headed up the Sage hills, with three dogs in tow. Today was completely mono-chromatic; all snow and fog, very sureal. Just spent the time watching the interactions between Carson and Indy, the way they are so aware...of their surroundings, each other, me, the dogs, and still have time to clown around. Half way, I switched horses, and watched the change in the dynamic. He who is ridden, is in charge, other guy is second in line, literally. Indy thinks this change in position is VERY unbecoming and sulked all the way home. Carson? Well he was all puffed up like he just won the Preakness.....
Well now!
At Peter's (The Great, I might add!) determined nudging, here I am with a 'Blog'! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So it would seem the 'Shy Girl' now gets more practice at talking....well, you need to be careful what you wish for since we apparently leave a crumb trail for it to find us...
So I am going to be sharing some thoughts , observations, insights, questions,and general musings about my day to day interactions with the horses that wander through my life. Alot of pretty cool things can happen in a day, as well as the day to day training triggers a multitude of A-Ha's both in horsemanship and in life. So stay tuned and at the very least I get typing practice and feel like I might be chatting to someone....
By the way, the photos are of Sage, her son, Griffin and Indy, my main man. They were taken last summer when Griffy was 6 monthes old and they are my constant companions and are currently pre-heating my bed....so that's my cue.
Until next time.................Stef
Setting time aside for my own horses has become a priority this year, one that has seen marginal success, so it will be hoisted up and over into the New Year. Last Sunday, a close friend and I sat down and shared past goals achieved and not, and set fresh ones out for our next year. I started doing this a few years ago, and get a bigger kick out of it the the Ole Resolution thingy....and has become a marvelous way to actually track my behavior over the previous years and see if I am managing to learn anything...:)
