Hitting the reset button

I have been plugging along with Stella, feeling my way, making adjustments, evaluating her responses, building our relationship. She is also building new relationships. Recently Brian was out of town for work so Rick cleaned stalls, spending more time with her in the process. Since Brian is leaving soon for college (less than a month!), I've told Rick that I will be needing his help as a ground person; it would help if he's not a stranger. Our new neighbors on the lot to our north have also been building a relationship; Rebecca comes over to the fence and gives Stella carrots and attention.

 This is a good thing should we have a repeat what happened last month. Do you see what is wrong with this picture?

That's Stella on the wrong side of the fence. The neighbors called me at work one morning; Stella was on their property. What?!? Before leaving for work I had turned her out in the upper pasture for the first time and put the boys in the lower pasture. Lance had taken to standing at one of the apple trees all day eating green fruit and leaves, risking founder and colic, so I was trying a new arrangement. Knowing she wasn't likely to let the neighbors anywhere near her (this was pre-carrot times), I hurriedly finished what I was doing and dashed home. Would she be cut up? Would the fence be torn up? Nope; the fence was intact and I couldn't find a mark on my mare so apparently she jumped it. So she's back in the lower pasture and the boys have been staying in. 🙄

In spite of all the ground work, lunging, and schmoozing,

our progress still seems infinitesimal. Yes, I'm talking about YOU, you reactive creature, you!

Our future as dancing partners seems nearly as distant as ever. Maybe if I was still young and fearless, or had a round pen, I'd just get ON her and deal with whatever comes, but I'm not and I don't. And even if I was and I did, my accumulated knowledge says overfacing her like that would not end well; horses can't learn when they are in a state of panic. (That is probably true of all creatures....)

So I continue to ride Lance to keep my riding muscles in shape and ponder what to do with my silly, stunning black swan.

a vineyard we used to ride around has been fenced off 😞

One evening Rick actually rode WITH me!

post-shower; my patent leather pony

Yesterday I decided to ACT on a recurring idea; I messaged Lisa Sink for help. She and her husband were trainers in the BLM's TIP (Trainer Incentive Program; currently inactive); they own Lance's sire, a Kiger mustang they adopted intact (allowed for Kigers) at age four, and have/had many other mustangs. In other words, Lisa knows feral horses. If anyone could help me move forward with this mare, I thought it might be her.

Lisa messaged me right back: Call me. I did, and gave her a quick summary. She said, "I know exactly what you need to do next." I didn't even ask what that was; I just asked "When?" This morning worked for both of us!

Lisa brought her own 'tools' – a rope halter with integrated lead rope and a flag on a stick. She said follows Buck Brannaman's groundwork methods, and proceeded to slowly and patiently work with Stella. She encouraged me to video what she was doing so I could refer back to it, because I am to repeat the work daily until she comes again next Wednesday (yay!), and I am to go to her place to work with her trained horse so I know what I'm working toward.

I won't go into great detail on what Lisa did for an hour, but will include a few photos and screenshots from videos, plus bullet-point things below as a reminder to myself (and will try to upload the videos soon). But basically we went back to almost square one, working with her as Lisa would a wild mustang, gaining Stella's trust, getting her 'unstuck' so she can easily and calmly move her feet and body around, giving her a chance to think and respond. Having never worked with a horse as 'untouched' as Stella was, I started training her as I would have a handled youngster, leaving behind a big gap that I don't think we would ever have been able to safely hurdle. Yep, I should have made that call to Lisa MONTHS ago, but I'm so glad that I finally did it now, so we can fill in that gap and move forward together.

• Backing (also standing, walking forward)
• Bending at the poll
• Moving the back end
• Head down
• Half-circles
• Accepting the flag
• Moving the front end
• Back a circle
• Rope around the butt and turn
• Handling her tail

Now if only we could hit the reset button on 2020!

Once upon a time...

. . . don't all fairy tales start that way? Yes, once upon a time, I attended the Oregon State Fair with my toddler and husband. Rick was the horse show vet for the day, so we spent a fair amount of our time at that venue.

Just outside the warm-up arena, I noticed a handsome horse . . . a strikingly handsome stallion. He was standing there saddled but riderless, calm and quiet, while many of the horses being warmed up acted less than well trained. I wandered over to get a closer look, and struck up a conversation with the horse's owner. He introduced me to Dino, his adopted Kiger mustang who was rounded up by the BLM as a four-year-old (a fact that made his gentlemanly demeanor even more impressive). After watching Dino move, I was so enamored that I wished out loud for a good mare he could service in order to see what he could produce for a dressage mount – he was that nice!

Riddle Me Dino

But I didn't have a mare; I had Russell, and I was very happy with him. He was progressing nicely in dressage and taking excellent care of my little boy:

Brian scaling "Mt. Russell" just days after that fateful State Fair

The horse my dad called "one in 20,000"

Fast forward seven years to this summer. I was leasing Larry and wishing for a horse to call my own. Having given Russell away to the perfect semi-retirement home, I had no budget to speak of. I had looked at a couple horses owned by clients of Rick's who owed him money, but we either couldn't work out a trade or the horses weren't what I was interested in. Then two different friends almost simultaneously suggested I look into adopting a horse from the BLM. So look into it I did, and in the process, learned: 1) "mustangs" can be a mixture of TB remount, ranch horse and draft blood, which could result in a very nice dressage-type horse; 2) a friend of a friend could get me into the closest holding facility to get a good look at prospects; 3) I could afford the adoption fee of $125 and even get it gentled for free through the Trainer Incentive Program; and 4) Kevin Sink, that stunning Kiger stallion's owner, is an approved T.I.P. trainer. (THAT was a blast from the past; I hadn't thought much about them nor could I have recalled the names of horse or owner without this development.) I started getting excited about a road trip to potentially choose my new partner.

But that plan was derailed – or at least moved onto a sidetrack – by two things. First, the BLM's holding facility in Burns, OR was closed to visitors due to a big influx of newly rounded up horses thanks to huge range fires in their herd management areas. And second, just as I was wrapping up Larry's month of training for his new owner, my friend Sylvia called, urging me to take Horton in for training. Seeing as we needed the additional income, I put thoughts of getting my own horse on the back burner and agreed.

In August, while my son was visiting my folks in Texas, Rick invited me to ride with him to a vet appointment over at the coast. He figured we could take advantage of the rare opportunity to have a date after he finished his call. So off we went. In the course of visiting with the client, she mentioned breeding for buckskins or duns because she and her daughter show on that circuit. With a newly refreshed memory, I piped up, "I know which stallion I'd use in that case!" When she asked which one, I said, "Kevin Sink's Kiger stallion." The client laughed out loud and pointed to the horse in the corner stall – a tall, good-looking colt who had already caught my eye – and said, "That's his daddy!" She had bred her short palomino mustang mare to Dino in hopes of getting a short Western-type filly, but instead got Lancelot, a tall, English-type gelding. The only part of her wishes that was fulfilled was the red dun packaging! I rued aloud that I didn't have space or budget to take him off her hands, and Rick and I bid her and her lovely colt good-bye.

On September 7 my phone rang. It was Rick's client, asking if I would be interested in Lance. She had put him in training at a barn here in the valley for the month of September in order to see what he was best suited for in order to market him. After the first ride or two the trainer said "dressage," and suggested the owner call me. I reiterated that I had no space or money; she offered to keep Lance for the cost of hay until I had space available, and trade out his purchase price on her vet bill. Then she suggested I go try him out, and the rest is history . . . most of it still waiting to be written – and ridden.

"Well, look who's coming through the door
I think we've met somewhere beforeHello love, hello love
Where in the world have you been so long?I've missed you so since you've been goneHello love, hello love
Make yourself feel right at homeI'll hope you plan on staying longCome in love, come in love
I must say I was sure surprisedYou're the last thing I expected byHello love, hello love
I've heard it said time and againYou'll often go back where you've beenI really didn't believe it was trueBut I left the door unlocked for you
I'll try to please you in every wayAssure you of a pleasant stayThis time love, this time love...."

Back to bay

In the comments of my last post, Lori asked: "What's next?" Well, I wasn't sure until this morning!

I am still interested in looking at BLM horses, especially after learning about a win-win proposition called T.I.P. I'm working on coordinating a little road trip to the nearest BLM holding pens to see if I can find a future dancing partner.

In the meantime, a friend of mine who knew Larry was moving on called and asked if I would consider taking her horse in for board and training. That took some thoughtful consideration. My friend bought this very green four-year-old Holsteiner cross (a Cotopaxi son) as her new dressage mount last fall, and he turned out to have a bent for bucking when he didn't want to do something. So my friend put him in hunter-jumper training this summer with the intention of selling him, and in the process he's settled down and hasn't bucked lately. Since he hasn't sold and my friend would really rather keep him if he's going to behave himself, yesterday I went to look at him. First the hunter-jumper trainer lunged and rode him.

I observed a green, hot horse but not a mean or crazy one, so we switched out saddles and I rode him a little. I came home and told Rick I thought I could handle him, and this morning Rick gave the go-ahead. I picked up my latest project this afternoon.

Meet Cohort, also known as Horton (Hears a Who, for his expression when worried; see it?):

I look forward to teaching Cohort how to dance so that Sylvia can enjoy him safely for years to come! But first, we need to get a bit that fits him....

Summer days

It's been cloudy and cooler the past week, but we haven't seen any of the rain much of the rest of the state has gotten. The pastures are dormant, and we are feeding full hay rations. Still, cooler is good, especially for riding.

Speaking of riding, Larry (front and center) leaves early next week for his new home in Washington. I'll miss working with him; he's been the perfect project horse. So what will my next project be? I'm not sure. I'd certainly be open to taking in another horse to board and train/school/condition. I've also been encouraged to look into adopting a BLM horse, so look into it I have. There's much to learn about the different HMAs and the kind of horses that typically come from each one; fortunately, I have a couple of very knowledgeable connections. I have spent a lot of time looking at the photos of horses posted online, but the horses pictured are only a fraction of what is available. Besides, choosing a horse from a photo is like getting a mail-order bride – not my idea of the best way to enter into a lifelong commitment! Still, there's some very nice eye-candy, like this yearling with the "quote bubble" on his forehead:

Stay tuned!