One step back and three steps forward

Last Friday Stella was back to her tense, go-go girl self. When I wanted her to walk she'd jig and break to the trot; at the trot she wanted to rush and break to the canter – but "don't touch my face!" When she acts like that, dancing together like ballroom partners seems a distant dream.

But on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday she was much better. We were able to work at the walk and the trot without drama; I didn't ask her to canter and she didn't insist except for one time she slipped into it as quietly as could be, stayed calm and quiet, and then came back to trot on her own.

I took a photo of her on Sunday, and when I went to my photo file to add it to this post there was a second photo dated 1/16 – from 2021.

Even though it's bittersweet, I'm including it. That's a young, black Morgan stallion that my son got to ride. Last winter while he was at college (he dropped out; that's the bittersweet part) in Walla Walla, WA, he connected with a Morgan trainer there through the girl he was dating. He got to ride at the trainer's several times, and on two different stallions. He said this one was really tall, so I looked him up (at the time; now I can't remember his name). Over 16 hands high; that IS tall for a Morgan! But I was not impressed by the side view I saw of him. It would be interesting see current photos, though, as he was only three or four then and has probably matured a lot. Now if only my son would . . . . 😏

The Black Swan and the Velveteen Rabbit

I know; it's been a month and a half! It's not for lack of blog fodder that I've been silent here; more that I'm doing a lot with my horses (Stella, mostly) to help keep me sane and centered but not finding time for some other things, like blogging. There has been lots of family drama and resulting stress, but when I am working horses (or in agility class with my pup) I can put that out of mind completely and focus on something else.

Not that life with horses is stress-free. It has been a rough spring for Lance. I mentioned his breathing problems in my last post, and that has continued to various degrees. His weight is good but his energy is low, and he's rubbing out his mane, tail, and hair on various parts of his itchy hide. The other day when I was riding my poor, mangy-looking mustang, The Velveteen Rabbit came to mind; Lance is as much loved, and threadbare, as that character. In complete contrast, Stella is my lovely black swan, even though I never can quite capture her elegance, IMO. I keep trying, though!

Then there's Oliver, the kinda crazy quarter horse Rick and Brian have shared since the loss of Rick's cutting horse and Brian's pony. His front legs are shot, and it has been plain to Brian and me for months that he is miserable. Rick finally came to the same conclusion after taking the time to examine him more closely, but is still procrastinating on putting him down. It is sad, but Ollie's had 20 more years of life than he would have had with his breeder, and 21 more years than it appeared he'd have when he almost died of sepsis as a foal.

Back to happier things. Awhile back I wrote on my farm blog, "I feel like I'm now reaping the results of the long, slow work of relationship-building with my beautiful Morgan mare Stella. I am now riding her regularly at walk and trot, which just thrills me, and there is much promise of greatness to come." That's right; we've added a gait to our under-saddle repertoire! After my last post, Lisa came out to assist us in taking the next step by ponying us at the walk and trot. Stella did pretty well (I've ponied her at the trot lots of times), but she was just squirrelly enough that I didn't feel comfortable proceeding at home alone. Lisa and I had talked about hauling our young horses to a facility with a round pen, where we could both work our skittish mounts in a more controlled environment, so on March 30 we did just that. And with one excellent session under her girth, it's been onward and forward at home!

First solo trot work; what a good girl!

As I was untacking her in mid-April, I noticed something on the mouthpiece of Stella's Nathe bit. On closer examination, it is clear she had caused significant damage:

Alarmed, especially since we hadn't had this bit all that long, I texted Suzan. She told me to switch to a bitless bridle immediately, because Stella was teething and working her in a bit while teething can cause all kinds of problems. Okay then. At some point Rick is going to do a dental on her, but in the meantime I cobbled together this so we could keep working:

I purchased the 'hackamore' part (noseband/chin strap/metal wheel) on eBay from Germany years ago for Lance, to use when he got little pinpoint sores in his mouth. I had it on the bridle I bought for my Swedish Warmblood mare La Prix, but that was way too big on Stella. So I took the headstall and reins off the cob bridle we got with Brian's pony Breezy. The browband is too tight and the reins are a bit short, so I should do some more cobbling and trade out La Prix's headband and reins for those parts of the cob bridle, but it's working for now.

Oh, another interesting tidbit in the tack department. I've been riding Stella in an ancient Wintec saddle but eventually plan to switch to the newer Wintec saddle I use on Lance, with the appropriate gullet. To that end I bought a Wintec gullet gauge. Incredibly, my little black swan of a Morgan and my big red goober of a mustang both require an XL gullet! That seemed so unlikely that I had a friend come over and help me measure again; she got the same results. So strange, because there is no question that Lance is far broader than Stella, but hey, I don't have to buy a different gullet!

Stella is still a reactive girl, but when she spooks at something under saddle, she doesn't lose her mind. She may jump once, but then goes right back to what we were doing; what a blessing. So far we're staying in the arena, but on a warm day when she's really mellow (that's happened once, okay?), I plan to stretch her horizons. I've been sitting (carefully) the trot because she got anxious the first time I tried posting, but last night I tried again and she was fine with it. I'm really impressed with how she's responding to my leg, seat, and voice, too. I've been wanting video to document where we are now; on Mothers Day my son gave me the gift of some time to do that (this is pre-posting):

I think we've come a long way, baby. 😊

P.S. Ugh; you can clearly see the Lance-hoof-shaped scar tissue on the back of my right thigh in the video. Oh well, no 'body' is perfect....

Lessons 4, 5, and 6 – and PROGRESS!

Time flies when you're having fun – and even when you're not.

Stella and I had our fourth lesson with Lisa (above) the day after my last post, and then took two weeks off because of the horribly smokey air from the wildfires that started on Labor Day and shortly after. I continued to do little bits of homework with Stella, but not a lot; even though she had to be out in it, I did not. But I started to get a little stir crazy so we started working together more and went ahead with a lesson on the 16th; you can see the dingy yellow haze that cast a pall on everything (below). But it sure was fun watching "Lisa the apple dispenser" work with Stella on accepting the tarp! (Walking on it was no big deal; picking it up and putting it against and ON her was something else altogether.) I love the end of that video.

Lisa said at the end of that lesson that she thought Stella was about ready to do circles with me on her, since she is fine with me sitting on her as part of our fence work (my views from her back, below). Given how very quick she is and how reactive she is when things fall off her, I didn't think so! We are talking about hauling Stella somewhere to take a long-lining lesson with Suzan Davis Atkinson, since she really seems happy to be ground-driven and I've seen Suzan do some amazing training that way.

On the night of the 17th we had a glorious hours-long thunderstorm with abundant rain that scrubbed everything clean again and quelled the dust in the arena. Stella and I went back to work in earnest, adding trailer loading practice to our homework. Loading her up to bring her home at the end of December was only her second time in a trailer, and I haven't loaded her since. Taking a cue from Lisa's tarp work, I used apples as a reward, and she's been great.

We also kept working on her reactivity to things on and falling off her. Now if she's standing still, no reaction. If she's moving, she still reacts.

Lisa had asked me if I had a surcingle so I borrowed one and we introduced it in this week's lesson. Putting it on was no big deal since Stella's been saddled a lot; learning to work from a line run through one of its rings took some adjustment. The benefits were quickly apparent, though.

Then Lisa pulled the line out of the ring. Oops; omething else to work on!


After that we moved on to fence work, and Lisa suggested we ask her to move. Lo and behold, I got to RIDE my mare; so exciting!


Lisa explained how I can continue this mounted work at home alone. I didn't have time today to try it because of work and a dog agility class, but hope to tomorrow. The progress we've made in just six lessons plus homework is exciting!

Meanwhile, Lance watches all this from his paddock and makes it clear he's frustrated about being left out. He's had two shockwave treatments (out of three) so far, on 9/2 and 9/21, and is no longer lame. Twice now he's escaped from his stall while Rick cleaned his paddock (Brian knew better than to leave Lance's door ajar – and now Rick does, too). The first time to my alarm he took off bucking but didn't seem worse for his shenanigans; the second time he was much more sedate – I think he had used up all his excess energy. I was amazed and thankful that he didn't seem to suffer during that period of terrible air quality.

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!