Field Day Riding Instruction and Training, Camie Stockhausen

11/21/10 Rode in the pasture. It was windy and cold and she was ready to go. She was exuberant but polite, so that is what I was intending. She can have a personality, but she needs to keep it within the bounds of what her rider wishes and best interests, and she did that today. :-)

11/20/10 Rode in the evening in the pasture. She walked in a relaxed manner to the far side of the pasture, away from everyone else. We did some daisy chains in trot, working on connecting inside leg to outside rein, which was a little resistant at first, but we got it cookin'. Then on to canter which was lovely right off the bat. She's had a good week of work and gets tomorrow off.

11/19/10 Out for a hack on a fairly lovely day for November in Iowa. She was very good. She was soft in her poll in walk and trot quite easily. Her canter work was good right off the bat. Very good.

11/18/10 More canter work in the far end of the pasture. After work in walk and trot and some lateral work, on to canter. The first two circles in either direction were a discussion about who gets to make decisions about how she carries herself and then things got immediately better. Very good.

11/17/10 Worked in the pasture so that I could do a lot of trot and canter work. On the way out she let out one little rear to see if I really wanted her to leave the geldings, who were enjoying a hay snack. Oddly enough, I did. She is getting steadier in her carriage in trot. Canter work was a lot of work for the first few times on each lead. She is quite convinced that she gets to decide in which shape she will be when she canters. At the moment, she prefers long, with nose and hocks out. I, of course, prefer, withers up and hocks under. We did come to a nice agreement. We also practiced halting and standing quietly and on the aids. She earned much praise.

11/16/10 Out for a hack. Did a lot of walking, requiring her to be correct, with her neck down. She is really fairly interested in scanning the horizon for monsters. I am interested in her staying on the aids. She earned much praise when she was, and she often was. It got better and better. While this slow work is not uber glamorous to read about, it is important and will pay off in spades, in developing a more confident horse who looks to her rider for input.

11/15/10 Dusk hack out in the fields and woods. She had one minor slow-mo left spin when we came to the gate. I barked a little bit and turned her back right so that she had to go back the way she came. She allowed me to open the gate from her back and went out politely. We hacked along the woods trail and she was quite nice, though a little tight over the topline. She gives me the feeling that she just needs more quiet experience out on the hack, to learn that she can trust her rider and that she can be confident. At the moment, she's not a terrifically confident horse, but I think with patient work she can become one. Today, for instance, we were walking along late in the ride when the moonlight was glinting off a big puddle near our path and she caught sight of it and spun again, slow-mo left. It isn't hard to sit and really feels to me like "Gaah! What was that? I'm leaving!" I just calmly turned her back right and let her look at it for about 5 seconds. For about 3 seconds, she was studying it, then she understood it and got bored with it and then walked right past it. Our job is to get her to start looking quietly at things that surprise her, rather than just acting to leave the zip code. That comes with confidence.

11/11/10 Hack out in the fields. She did excellently in walk and trot and lateral work. When we did canter work, she was pretty sure that she couldn't stay soft over her topline and even managed to buck once. We did a lot of transition work, and we backed when she pushed through the halt request. It didn't start out to be her most stellar day, but it ended up well, with some very polite work.

11/7/10 Session with Diane. I rode first and then Diane rode. It went very well.

11/6/10 It occurred to me today that I never mentioned that I changed her bit to a french link snaffle, which you may take home with you if you like. You probably know that I much prefer the french link to a traditional snaffle because many horses prefer a french link to a traditional snaffle because it does not have as sever a nutcracker action, amonth other things. Today, the excavator was working on the ring, so there was no chance of doing in hand work or warming up there, so, after we tacked up, we went directly out for a hack. This was no problem. It was a beautiful day and she was perfectly relaxed. We went right past the junk that had caught the sun and made her rear on an earlier hack and she was calm about it. Then we went through some new territory, including past a blown down metal grain bin and she was very good. We went through an old gate that was new to her. It has a rolled up bunch of old wire standing near one side of the gate. Lots of horses give this a look, and she did too, but look is all she did, and then went calmly through. We were heading directly home after that gate, but I asked her to turn away and carry on and she did. Her canter work is coming along, but she needs help with her balance in it. We came home another way. Then we did some canter circles in the last soybean field on the way home. She was just the slightest bit not excited about that activity, but she did it quite well anyway. Then we almost got back to the gate and I turned her directly away from it and cantered straight over to Jay who was working on a tree in the pasture. She was excellent about it.

11/4/10 Went out and caught her easily in the pasture and led her away from the geldings with no resistance. Excellent. Then groomed and tacked up and did a brief review of in hand work which was near perfect. Then into the tack with some work in all gaits in the arena, including lateral work and backing, which went well. Then out on a hack, notably with no drama at the gate to leave the pasture. The hack today included some new territory, with no difficulty, including getting near home and turning away for a large loop around the field. Though there is more to do to cement these habits and continue to increase her confidence, I am delighted with her work today.

11/3/10 In hand work was a little tougher today because she is obviously in heat, judging by the banter going on in the pasture. She was a little distracted during in hand work, but remembered her proper role in less than one large circle. I mounted up and she was well-behaved, but distracted. We did some lateral work and work in all three gaits, basically enough for her to do to make her have to think. She came around very nicely.

With that, we were headed out on a hack, out the south gate of the pasture and when we got near it, she did a very nice volunteer 180 turn to the left. I had the immediate impression of her not being confident that she could deal with whatever new thing she was presented with today. It seems that life has been a pop quiz for her, with no help, only reprimand, from the teacher. So I firmly but quietly required her to turn back in the original direction and try. When she did, I gave her a pat and she let out a sigh and let me maneuver her to open the gate from her back. We went out across the field we went across yesterday and she was great. I was walking mostly, but requiring her to stay on my aids (over her back, down to the bit and evenly between my leg aids). We continued into the horse-eye-tall grass and she was great. She caught a glint of sunshine off some junk that a farmer had placed in a ravine and did another spin to the left. This one was less dramatic, but the aftermath was increased. She really would have like to have gone home then. Not 10 seconds and I had her turned back in the correct direction and walking. I petted her for doing right and she relaxed. She was great the rest of the ride, over the landbridge and up to the headwaters of the stream about a half mile up. We worked in all gaits and she was quite good. In the last quarter mile I had her cantering toward home and then I did a 20m circle to see what I had to do to make it round (horses off the aids will produce an egg shaped circle as they gravitate toward home on the side nearer home. She did very well. I did it in the other direction and received the same good result. Praise and walk on a long rein home.

11/2/10 Started with in hand work in the arena, short session, right on the money from the start. Good girl. Then some work in all gaits in the arena, which went well, so out to a new field to work in. We hacked all the way around the outside of it in all gaits and she was very good, somewhat inconsistent in bit connection, but polite and willing.

10/31/10 I went out to catch her in the pasture, which was easy. She and Charlie came up while I was lying on my stomach playing with the puppy. All of a sudden I looked up and there were two muzzles in my face, with large surprised eyes. We all laughed and I got up and put the halter on her. Then Charlie went back to the other horses in the pasture (just mosied off, no big deal) and Solo decided she should go too, so when I asked her to walk forward, she balked. So I did some in hand work with her and she threw a minor fit of backing up and resisting going in any direction I wished. We got through it doing cowboy circles and praising when she did right and making it clear that not going forward was going to be an unpleasant choice. She got on board fairly quickly. I brought her in and put her in the cross ties, at which time Jay was cutting down a big tree. She only slightly flinched when it hit the ground outside the barn. Pretty amazing really. Then I tacked up and did in hand work which went perfectly, since we'd just reviewed that in the pasture. I got on and rode her in all three gaits. The corrections I had to make were subtle and she did not buck or even suggest rearing throughout. That earned her a pass for a short trail ride. We went trotting around the field next to our place and, though she was inconsistent in her contact, she was always in front of my leg and on the mission. Very good day.

10/29/10 Worked in the outdoor, with work in hand first, then work in the tack. We had a few small rears in the begining of the session. This is due to tension and she can easily be sent forward and reassured and it passes. We ended up doing some reasonably nice work in all three gaits.

10/28/10 Big winds the last two days kept me out of the tack. Still breezy today, but doable. Did some reminder in hand work, which was a little rusty at first, but it came around. Then on to walk work, including leg yield and an introduction to shoulder in. Also frequent work in back up. She gets very stuck in back up, and needs to understand that the reins influence her back legs. Then on the trot, including leg yield and figures and a reminder about staying between the reins. Then canter work, requiring the circle to be round, rather than egg-shaped. Whe she pushed out over her shoulder toward the barn to make it bulge, I lightly correctd her with the whip on her shoulder. I fix these small questions and down the road we should not have to answer the larger questions of her running out over her shoulder. A few times during the session she got light on her front end and threw a few fits, but I sent her over her back and back to work and she got over it pretty quickly. I praised her immediately when she got back on track. She ended the session very well, round, relaxed and listening. Good girl.

10/25/10 Brief review of ground work tonight which went well. Then tack up and on board. Lots of work in walk and trot, requiring her to be between the two straight lines of the reins and the straight lines of my stirrup leathers. When we started, walk serpentine was a challenge. She would find different ways to push in the "square" of my reins, outlines by the bit, the two reins and my hands. She would push over the right side, the left side, the front, the back (also known as rearing) and try to get underneath it by pushing down or get above it but pulling up. I did a lot of waiting and putting back whatever she pushed out and by the end, she was occasionally quite good. She thinks that the bit is either to be evaded or leaned upon, it is my job to show her that she can balance without it, and trust it.

I was oddly pleased when she did twice try to run out over her right shoulder, but because of your telling me that she was fond of that trick, I was carrying my whip in my right hand. I was able to immediately correct her for sticking that shoulder out. I really only had to tap her because I had the element of knowing her trick ahead of time and the element of surprise as I had the whip right there. She immediately thought better of it the first time, and the second time she tried it a few minutes later it was a half-hearted "are you paying attention" attempt. Very good day. She gets tomorrow off. She has a lot to think about and time off for processing is never wasted.

10/24/10 I took her out and worked her in hand in the outdoor. She remembered her lessons from the two days prior and we built on it, adding leading in straight lines at different paces, politely at all times. Among other things, this gets horses into the habit of looking to their people for direction, rather than making up things by themselves for the people to deal with. Then I went back to in hand work in bending around me, adding frequent changes of direction. It is harder for her to come back to the right, which makes sense in light of what you had said about her running over her right shoulder in getting out of work in the past.

Next, I tacked and mounted up. We did a lot of walk work, requiring her to yield in her poll, which is more difficult to do correctly to the left, but not terribly difficult for her. After we got that covered, then I asked her to yield in her poll on a large circle, which she was pretty convinced not smart or correct. I waited her out and she chose to come a little rounder in her topline. Very good. The next several minutes were spent discussing the new reality that she needs to live between the two reins and between each of my legs. Whatever she stuck out – a shoulder, a hip, a nose – I calmly put back. She wasn't really all about yielding her body entirely, so she did manage to rear once. She got over it and produced some polite work. By the end we were doing walk leg yield, not entirely rhythmically, but politely anyway. Very good.

10/23/10 Morning in hand work. She started out resistant at first, in fact, gave a nice big rear in the first few minutes and got the appropriate short, negative response. She then got nicely to work and remembered all we discussed yesterday and learned about turning on her hindquarters to switch directions on the small circle. All this work is to establish who gets to decide where and how she uses her body. All this will translate to under saddle work. She also decided today that cookies are good and did very well with putting her neck down when requested.

10/22/10 Picked her up at VPS. She didn't want to load, so I started to do some in hand work with her. She is quite resistant and happy to invade the handler's space, back away and rear. I didn't want to continue to work on it in the rocky driveway. Diane used her lip string and the mare loaded perfectly. She hauled home fine.

We unloaded her and put her in the three stalls that link in our barn so that she could stretch her legs, yet remain separate from the herd.. She cleaned up every scrap of hay, poor starving dear. After I let her settle in while I worked the other horses, I brought her out to the outdoor and did some in hand work. I put a rope halter on her and asked her to walk a circle around me. Predictably, she was pulling away from me on the side toward the horses and crowding me on the side away from the horses. The first two times she was successful in slowly but purposefully moving the circle and me over to the fenceline by the other horses, through rearing, resisting and/or backing up. This is classic herdbound behaviour and I'd much rather deal with it on the ground. Each time, we went back to the original spot, and by the third time, she acquiesced to my plan of doing a rhythmic, round, circle centered on me, located in one spot, in the arena. Good girl.

Next I asked her to release her neck down when I directed her to with the halter. This took some time, but there wasn't a real struggle. She believes that she can take her attention to any topic that she wishes – passing birds, tractors on the highway, the gelding herd whatever. She was determined to not stay mentally with her handler. I just kept gently, but firmly correcting her back to me. By the end, she was stretching her muzzle down low enough to be even with her fetlocks and she earned lots of rubs. Done for the day.

At supper time I wormed her with Quest and put her in the cross ties so that she could stand there while I fed the others grain. Clearly she doesn't need grain. It wasn't like I was torturing her about the grain, but I was asking her to stand in the cross ties. She did a fair amount of wiggling around and pawing as I kept an eye on her while I went about my business. Everytime I walked by I would ask her to straighten out, which she did. I offered her cookies when she did well, which she seemed not to be interested in. Either she doesn't know about cookies or she was really annoyed with me so wasn't accepting them. We did some more work on yielding her neck down. After supper, I put her back in the stalls with some fresh water and a nice meal of hay.