First Real Trail Ride!

 I just went on my first ever trail ride! Although I ridden outside of the arena many times, this time was the first time that I left the property and ridden on a road. Because it was my first time, and Lucky's first time in a while, I rode in a western saddle so that I would be more secure. Safety is always most important!

 I lunged Lucky for a few minutes before I rode, like I always do. Then Laura and I rode around her property once before setting out on the road. We had to ride down the asphalt road a little ways before reaching the dirt road, but it is a small road and we didn't encounter any cars on the way to the dirt road.

 Throughout the ride, I mainly focused on getting Lucky to be forward and in front of my leg, something that is difficult for her. Before we even reached the dirt road, I began to fall behind. Laura waited for me this time, but for the rest of the ride I had to either stay beside Laura, or ahead of her. It was difficult. BB, who Laura was riding, has a very big, forward walk, while Lucky is just the opposite. I fell a little bit behind Laura quite a few times. Sometimes, when I asked Lucky to lengthen her stride to keep up with Laura, Lucky would shuffle forward in the jog instead. This is undesirable, because dressage horses shouldn't take short, shuffling strides. Laura told me that when trying to catch up, Lucky should take either large, marching walk strides or trot forward boldly, not jog. It was easier to keep up later on in the trail ride. Lucky enjoys being out on the trails, and began walking more forward. A few times throughout the ride, we trotted.

The beginning of the road

 I also worked on getting Lucky round by softly squeezing one of the reins to flex her, moving my hands toward the bit to give her a release whenever she became round. Periodically, Laura and I would allow our mounts to stretch. When we did this, we wouldn't just release the reins to full length. Instead, Laura told me to make sure Lucky was round first. Then, I would release the reins to the buckle, encouraging Lucky to stretch down. Though I can get a horse round for brief moments, I still can't keep them round for long. After a few strides of being round, Lucky would raise her head or get slightly behind the vertical. If Lucky got behind the bit, I added more leg. Adding more leg is usually the answer if anything goes wrong. Toward the end of the ride, I felt some of the moments when Lucky was about to come up, and flexed before she made that mistake.

 Though I was doing all this schooling throughout the ride, it was still exciting. I love being out of the arena, and so does Lucky. Being out of the arena is relaxing and fun, and there was always something exciting to look. We came across a herd of Haflingers and other horses in a pasture beside the road. There were even some ground squirrels and a rabbit. The trail that we took leads to the back part of Whiffletree Ranch, the ranch that the spring's driving show was at.

At one point, we came across a few barking dogs. Fortunately, Lucky didn't react to this at all. She is a very levelheaded horse, and in all the time I have ridden and worked with her, she hasn't once spooked. This makes her very reliable and safe on the trail, and I am very confident riding her on the trail.

 Not long after passing the dogs, we turned around. We didn't do much trotting on the way back. About halfway back, we stopped at the top of a ridge and beheld an amazing view of a large, golden, tree covered hill in the distance. We even saw a group of trees where Laura's house is and a teeny-looking mule in one of her fields. It was amazing how far away everything was, because it hadn't seemed like we had gone very far. It was a really exciting trail, and I can't wait to ride on the trail again.

Rhythm and Trail Etiquette

  I've been doing some of the usual work with Laura lately(tacking up and grooming mostly). Last week, I had a short but productive walk lesson on BB, her First Level mule. Laura wanted me to learn rhythm, and because BB has a big, rhythmic walk, she thought it would be best to learn on her. Before getting on, I had to count out the rhythm of BB's walk while Laura rode. I found it difficult to count out the beats of her footfalls, so Laura had me break it down. Each time BB's right front hit the ground, I said the word "tic." Once I found that rhythm, I began saying it twice as fast, counting the beat of both front legs.

 At last I mounted, riding without stirrups. BB's walk is quite different than Lucky's. BB has long, reaching strides, while Lucky usually takes slower, smaller strides. I entered the arena and began to say "tic" each time one of BB's shoulders came forward. Though I had to glance down at first, I could feel each stride once I started. As I rode, Laura had me play around with changing the length of BB's strides just by moving my hips. To open up her stride, I let me hips go more forward with each stride. To collect her, I blocked my hips and made smaller movements with them. It's pretty amazing how sensitive horses(and mules) are to slight changes in the rider's body.

 Another day, I rode Lucky around the property with Laura, who was riding BB. I learned about how to safely trail ride so that I could soon ride on the actual trail, a dirt road nearby Laura's ranch. As I rode, I attempted to keep just beside Laura, with my knee at her one, like riding a pas de deux. I had ask Lucky to speed up often, because she slowed down and began falling behind many times. We rode around the entire property, and even through one of the front pastures, which is currently empty. All this prepared me for my first real trail ride, which I will write about soon.

Trot Poles and Show This Weekend

Monday was a very busy day, with preparations for the coming show and donkey clinic underway. Laura and I spent most of the day deconstructing the dressage arena and moving the metal corral fences that aren't being used. A tractor came Wednesday to level the ground, and then we will set up 12X12 and 16X16 stalls with the fences with mules going to the show to stay in. t was a lot of hard work, but I didn't mind it. 

 Tuesday was more of the same thing, but since we had finished most of it the day before, we had time to ride. I worked on riding through a line of trot poles to work on rhythm. The two pairs of cones were there, like last time. I rode in a four leaf clover pattern, trotting over the poles, then going to the outside of either of the cones, make a rollback to go between them, and repeating the pattern. This is also a good exercise to prepare for jumping. When turning around the cone, I need to: 

• Make a wide enough

• Find a good, straight line to the poles

• Keep Lucky moving with enough  impulsion and reaching underneath herself her hind legs

• Prepare to make the next turn around the cone

As you can see, a big part of jumping(or going over trot poles in my case) is the preparation before the jump. Starting out, I did not prepare for the turn around the cones in time, my turn wasn't wide enough, and Lucky wasn't moving with enough impulsion and reaching underneath herself with her hind legs. I had to start over several times. After a few times, I began to really focused on preparing and lining Lucky up for the turn. As early as when I was heading over the poles, I looked for the cone I would circled and prepared to go there. 

 I also had trouble making a wide enough turn around the cones, especially to the right, Lucky's hard side. Each time, I started out wide, but made a sharp turn right after the cone. I had to really work on using my inside leg to push Lucky out onto a wider circle. It wasn't until near the end that I managed to get a nice, wide turn to the right.

 What I really had trouble with, though, was getting Lucky to take long enough strides to get over the poles. I have been working a lot on asking Lucky to move forward with light cues. When she didn't respond, I would kick her. I didn't get enough of a response. Since I wasn't getting her to open her stride more, her hind leg didn't quite reach over the second pole, and as a result, she stumbled over it. 

 It wasn't until the end of the lesson that I achieved a nice, rhythmic trot over the poles. Approaching the poles, I squeezed Lucky with my calves to get her get her moving forward. When she didn't respond, I gave her a tap with the whip I had been handed. She responded by lengthening her stride and trotting beautifully over the poles. I headed to the right cone, applying inside leg and flexion to make a nice, wide turn. I made sure to have enough calf on to keep her forward motion. 

 The driving show is this weekend. I can't wait!

Getting to Know Dyna

 I went to Laura's both Thursday and Friday. To begin both days, I cleaned Dyna's stall. Dyna is one of those equines that takes time to trust people, so by being around her in her space for a little bit each day, I can slowly build her trust. Then when I handle her we can both be conformable around each other and she will trust and have confidence in me.  When I first entered her paddock, I focused on getting her attention on me and drawing her toward me as I do when lungeing. I got her attention by tapping my leg and clucking. It took me a few minutes to get her to come to me. I had to walk toward her hips, cluck, wait until she looked, then took a small step back. Dyna then took a few steps toward me and focused on me. When she did, I approached her, petting her and letting her know that it feels good to be with me.  I then went on to clean the paddock. Friday, Dyna actually came up to me without me asking her when I was in the middle of cleaning. She waited beside me for a few minutes.

 Thursday, I lunged Lucky on my own, without Laura watching until the end. I'm getting better at asking Lucky to do what I want using small cues. I focused on controlling my breathing, too, to get Lucky to relax and breathe.  Laura recommended I do this, and I used a technique in the book Centered Riding. Sometimes, by unconsciously holding our breathes or not breathing deeply, we can make the horse do the same and become tense. When Laura came, she told me to turn Lucky's head to the inside by squeezing the lunge line and pointing at Lucky's side with the whip to get her bend. Laura demonstrated this, and then I tried. I kept Lucky on a small circle at the walk, squeezing and releasing when needed. When Lucky was bending really nicely, Laura decided I should finish there. It's always good to end when the horse is going nicely.

Thursday, we also began preparing for a donkey clinic that Laura will be hosting at the end of March. It's going to be a fun day,  and I am looking forward to it! I will mention more as it draws near.

 Friday, Lucky was at the other end of her pasture, which is pretty big, and didn't want to come all the way up to me when I shook a bucket of grain, stopping when she was about maybe 20 to 30 yards away. Laura decided to let me try on my to catch her so that I can learn. I decided to try what I did with Dyna, taking a few steps toward Lucky and making a sound by clucking and clapping my leg. I waited a few moments. Lucky stared at me, her ear perked, so I took a step back. She then began approaching me. It's really neat how everything I am learning with Laura fits together and helps with all aspects of horsemanship, not just riding.

A Visit from the Vet

 Monday, the vet came to see one of Laura's mules because the has lately been holding her right hind leg off the ground, hardly err putting weight on it. While it's not unusual for an equine to not put weight on one foot, it is unusual for Laura's mule to only rest one leg. While the mule hasn't taken an unsound step, Laura wanted to the vet to come just in case something was wrong. Because I someday want to an equine veterinarian, Laura invited me to come watch. The vet who came is really great. Not only does she really care about horses, but when she heard that I was interested in being a vet, she took the time to explain everything she was doing.

 First, she put special sensors on the mule: one on the right front leg, one on the head, and on on the croup. This device, called the Equinosis Lameness Locator(the link takes you to the website), has revolutionized veterinary medicine. As a horse or mule trots, the device senses the take off and impact pressures of each leg, as well as irregularities in the gait, helping to diagnose which leg the lameness is on and whether it is likely mild or severe. The vet has a computer screen that instantly shows the results of the test. It's a really awesome tool that can help narrow down the lameness diagnosis to a specific leg, detecting things that the humans eye can't see. Then, the vet can work on that leg. The vet said the being a vet is like being a detective–you have to hunt for clues and solve the mystery. The Locator helps with that.

  Laura led the mule on flat ground at the trot while the device tracked the mules steps. The prognosis was that the mule right hind lameness. The vet then decided to block some of the nerves in the leg, making that part of the leg numb and thus pinpointing where the lameness is. As she worked, she explained what she was doing, showing me how the nerves look like in a book that she has. She first started by blocking everything below the fetlock, which would eliminate lameness in the ankle in the device still showed the mule to be lame. She let me be her assistant by holding the needles until she was ready and operating the Lameness Locator.

 After letting the mule adjust to having the numb leg, Laura once more led the mule at the trot. The device still showed right hind lameness. The vet suspected that the stifle may have a problem, so she decided to numb it as well. A stifle injection is a joint injection is a joint injection not a nerve injection like the other one, and is similar to the knee joint in people. When injecting the stifle, the vet injects the two cushions between the joints in that area. She feels for the three tendons running down the leg to help locate these areas.

 Again the numbing didn't help, so the vet recommended doing an ultrasound rather than continuing to guess and give more injections. Nobody likes having lots of shots put in them, mules and horses included. I don't know the result yet, but hopeful it's nothing too serious! It was a great experience to talk and learn from the vet; she was great at explaining and teaching. Now I won't be completely clueless when I go to vet school!

Bath Day and Mane Clipping with Laura

 Thursday, when I went to help Laura I learned how to clip a mule's mane. Mules have manes that stick straight up, like donkeys do(just like Fjords too). For shows, it is conventional to trim the mane to abut an inch long, rather than braiding. Laura demonstrated on BB first. To begin with, she clipped along the neckline of the mule, heading the direction the hairs go. For shorter necked horses, like BB, you clip further done the neck to make it appear longer(similar to adding more braids). Then she began shaving off the outer hairs of the mane to make it thinner. BB has chestnut hairs along the outside of her mane and grey hairs in the middle, so Laura clipped the red hairs off. Next she let me try. It's really easy and simple, and I had no problem doing it. When I had finished, Laura decided to leave BB's mane long because it looked really cute.

 Next, we gave BB and Moxie baths because it was a warm day and we wanted to take advantage of it. Laura showed me how to do it first, and then I did it myself. We used a special horse shampoo that attaches to the hose to spray them down(we gave BB a bath first), then I sponged BB down with a shampoo made for palominos, put the same shampoo in her mane and tail, and finally rinsed her off and put conditioner in her mane and tail. I did the same process with Moxie. BB was a much brighter, golden color by the time we were down, and both mules were soft and clean. Laura trimmed both mules tails, demonstrating how to do it. Bathing horses or mules takes a long time, so by the time we were done it was evening.

  Laura explained how important it is that your horse is well groomed, even if you are just trail riding with friends. You want to give a good impression and show how much you care for your horse. You also want to give a good representation of horses in general, or maybe the breed you have if you have a rare breed, a breed maybe most people have misconceptions about, or in Laura's case a mule. She wants her mules to give a good representation of mules since mules have a bad reputation to some people. She wants to always groom her equines like they are going to be photographed for the Olympics she says.

 We organized the tack room for a few minutes too. I enjoyed giving the muse a bath, and the next warm ay I might be able to give Lucky a bath too. I also might be able come when the veterinarian comes Monday, which will be great because I someday want to be an equine vet so it will be interesting to talk to and watch the vet work.

Equine Chiropractor

 Wednesday, the equine chiropractor came to work on Laura's equine, so I got to watch what a chiropractor does. Basically, a chiropractor fixes the blocked neuro-impulses in the spine and muscles and bringing them back into alignment if needed. This helps with stiffness and joint and back pain, making the equine more comfortable using their back in dressage work. Often scar tissue can build up under the skin, becoming stuck to the spine and making it uncomfortable for the horse because the tissue is restricting the movement. The chiropractor had a special, flat metal tool that she rubbed on the equine's back to detect this tissue. Equine chiropractors have to study at a human chiropractor school or veterinary school after their undergrad, and then take a course specializing in an chiropractic work for animals to get their animal chiropractic license, so becoming one takes quite a bit of schooling.

 It was fascinating to watch the chiropractor work and ask her questions about what she was doing. It was neat to see the tension in the spine relax as she pushed and squeezed the spine, and i could even hear the back pop a few times. After working on the back and hips, the chiropractor would lift the legs, one at a time, and bend it back at the knee(or hock), rotating in and then out. She did this on all four legs. She also worked on the neck, and on one mule she worked on the temporomandibular joint(TMJ), the joint that controls chewing.

This is Lucky. She's putting her ears back a it because she is getting adjusted, but has a very cute face.

 I helped with brining the equines to the chiropractor when she was ready, holding them for the leg and neck work, and putting them away when she was done. When she began working on the last mule, I went to the pasture to grab Lucky and began brushing her out. When Lucky was all brushed out, I worked with turning her on her forehand as I had with Dyna, then brought her to the chiropractor. Great news–the chiropractor gave the clear to start working her, so Lucky will have a week off to recover from the chiropractor and then I'll be able to state riding her!

 After the chiropractor was done, we picked up some wormers and new clippers, so I'll soon be able to learn how to worm and them clip all the equines so they look neat and show ready(there isn't a show soon but Laura wants her equines looking nice).

 I also learned what hay and supplements the equines get, so I an start feeding them too. Also I learned an interesting fact about mules: they have an affinity for mares, more so than most geldings.

Learning to Lunge with Laura and Meeting Lucky

 Tuesday, when working with Laura, I learned how to actually do the lunging. Laura lunged BB first, demonstrating how it looks when a horse/mule in trotting in balance, with their head down as if on a stretchy circle. I was able to see how when a horse/mule is balanced without tension, their loin area springs up and down. It's fascinating to watch. Laura also demonstrated one of the basics of what she does with equines–being able to direct their attention where you want. If you direct their mind somewhere, their feet will follow. She showed me how she can select an object, then gently nudge BB's head toward that object to get her to focus. She then let me try the same thing. This concept is important, especially when I learned to lunged, which I soon did.

 Once I put BB away, I brought Dyna to the round pen, and Laura demonstrated another piece needed for lunging: being able to move the equine's feet. She showed how he can walk toward Dyna's hindquarters to get her to do a turn on the forehand. Then she showed how she can direct dyna's attention to the way she wants Dyna to go, say the right, face Dyna's left should, and get Dyna to turn on her hindquarters. Once I practiced the same thing, she put it together into lunging.

Dyna in the evening sun.

 She started with Dyna facing her, directing her attention the way she wanted, and then have Dyna move her shoulder and go around in a circle. When lunging, she did this without moving her feet because with equines, the one who moves first is lower ranked. to turn Dyna around, she shortens the rope, pointing the whip, which is an extension of the arm, not a punishment, towards Dyna's hindquarters to get Dyna to face her, then switches to lead rope to the other and points toward Dyna's shoulder and directs her attention to the new direction. She does this fluidly. To get Dyna to walk on, she gets more energy in her body and Dyna walks. To trot, she increases her energy and gets the rhythm of the trot her body.

 Then I tried. I was uncoordinated at first, and it took me a while to find the right way to ask for trot without being too energetic and without stepping in front of the drive line, the part of the horse's body you stand next when you lunge, which is right where you sit when riding. it felt really amazing when I got a great trot transition and a smooth change of directions.

Clipping Lucky's muzzle and jaw.

 Next I met Lucky, the mare I will be riding. Lucky is a 17 year old bay Hanoverian/Thoroughbred that was once a jumper in Southern California. She had a few problems and emotional baggage, but Laura took her and began training her about eight years ago. Lucky is a really nice, well behaved mare now. Since she has been out in the pasture for a while, we took her out, gave her a nice grooming(I even clipped her muzzle), and Laura lunged her at liberty, meaning without any tack–no halter or lunge line/lead rope. Lucky was a bit frisky, but otherwise really nice. After working her for a bit, Laura let me come in. First Laura turned Lucky's haunches and front just like she had done with Dyna, with me following. Then I did the same thing, turning her around, then walking a few steps away from her, with Lucky following as if I had an invisible alter and lead. It is really extraordinary and I love how I can learn to build a connection with horses rather than ride and leave.

First Day Working with Laura!

 Thursday I had my first real day working with Laura. Since I'm a homeschooler, I can work during the day, which is awesome. This time I learned a lot about how Laura trains and had the chance to watch her ride so I could see her do similar things under saddle as she had on the ground. For the next week or so, I will be practicing groundwork, and once I learn those, I can apply them under saddle. Basically I'll be learning not just how to ride, but more in depth on training and why to do certain things. I'll be learning how to recognize when the horse is in balance and the other finer points of dressage and riding.

 I started out my learning how to clip a muzzle. Laura had brought out BB, one of her mules, who I would clip. BB is a cute mare(she looks like a dark palomino). First, Laura demonstrated how to clip just the long whiskers on BB, only using enough pressure to take off the longer hairs and going toward the end of the muzzle. She showed how to clip the long, fuzzy hairs under the BB's head and little up the cheek, and then I tried. I shaved off the really long hairs to clean up BB's face and make her look nice. Clipping the face is not too hard at all.

 I then put BB"s boots on and turned her out in the big paddock so she could run and play if she wanted to. Next, I got Moxie ready for Laura too lunge and went to watch her ride Dyna. What she does under saddle is similar to what she taught me when lungeing. She showed me at the halt the difference between the horse/mule that is truly round and one simply bending the head. A truly round horse uses his/her back and steps up underneath himself/herself. Staying halted, Laura applied just a bit a leg, and Dyna stepped under herself with her hind legs, becoming truly round. Laura always wants to ask as lightly as possible so the horse/mule is responsive. Laura is also using creating energy in her seat to go faster, and relaxing to go slower.

 At the walk, she showed my how she flexes her mount's head slightly to the inside, then outside a few times to test how flexible the horse/mule is at the moment. She makes sure the horse/mule is in self-carraige(balancing with the weight shifted to the hindquarters without help from the rider) by putting her inside hand forward and patting her mounts neck. If the horse/mule stays round, balance, and on the bit, he/she is in self carriage. Then she trots. She does the same thing a the trot, flexing the horse/mule and then putting her inside hand forward to test if the horse/mule is in self carriage. She then canters a bit, doing the same. She then does the same thing the other way. This is really neat stuff that will take my riding to the next level. I'll be more in tune with the equines I ride, and someday when I much better it will be useful in training horses.

 After that, she lunged Moxie. Again, she wanted him to become balanced at each gait, teaching me to recognize when he was balance. I recognized it a few times, but not every time. At the end of the lungeing session, though, I was able to see a clear difference in his walk from the beginning: he took bigger, more free strides, and his hind legs stepped underneath him more. She rode Moxie for a bit too, doing the same thing as with Dyna.

 I really love be a working student for Laura already. I'm learning something new each time I'm there..

I'm a Working Student for Laura Hermanson!

 I have some very exciting news! I've been offered a working student position with Laura Hermanson, a local rider. As you may remember, Laura Hermanson went to the last year's U.S. Dressage Finals with her mule, Dyna, the first rider to ever do so. She also owns the local tack shop, so I met her there. Just this past weekend, she offered me a position as working student, and today I went to see her! First, I told her about myself and my experience, then I met one of her mules, Moxie, a dark bay Thoroughbred mule trained through 3rd level. He's a big, sweet one.

  As a working student, I will help take care of her mules for her, brushing and tacking them, and maybe lunging them before she rides in exchange for lessons. I may even be a groom at shows. I will be learning almost constantly, and not just when riding. I'll learn the really important but often overlooked details of caring for the horse and being on the ground with them. I learned that from the time you take the horse(or mule in this case) out of the pasture, you are training him/her. Laura believes in setting the horse up for success and n asking the horse as lightly and subtly as possible, only increasing when needed. One really important thing she stressed as we talked is preparing the horse for anything you do, whether that means leading the horse, stopping, or riding. She demonstrated how she can lead the mules, halting or speeding up, using only her body language---mainly changing the way she breathes(inhaling deeply when going faster and healing to slow down) and creating more or less energy as needed. These things are small, almost imperceptible to people, but horses and mules notice them.

Laura and Moxie

 After demonstrating this with her mule, she let me try. She told me to focus on a spot, the walk purposefully to that place, creating energy as I prepared to go forward. I also walked back and forth, alternating between going slow, fast, even trotting a bit. It's something that takes a while to learn, but I was starting to get it. Personal space and respect are also very important things she mentioned, and Moxie is really good about it. To back an equine up, she simply walks toward him/her, adding energy if needed. There's no need to yank the lead rope.

 Next, she showed my how she tacks up. Again, she stressed the importance of preparing the horse,(mule) running her hands down the legs before putting the boots on. She also showed me the way she places the saddle so that it doesn't restrict the equine's movement. She taught me to feel the scapula(point of shoulder), placing the pad and saddle a bit behind it. This way, the shoulder is covered by the saddle. Then, she taught me the way she bridles, by gently turning Moxie's head toward her, lowering it a bit,   putting the bridle one. She showed me where the noseband should sit, two fingers under the cheekbone, and also where the brow band should be, by the indent over the eye. She taught me how to put the surcingle on, the showed me how she lunges.

Moxie and I.

 As she lunged, she used the same concept of changing the way she breathes and her body position to change the pace of Moxie. She prefers to lunge to train the horse to use his body properly and to build muscle without having the interference of a rider, rather than just to wear them out for get the bucks out. She wanted Moxie to find his balance in each and step underneath himself with his hind legs. Every time Moxie did this in the trot, she would quietly ask for canter, working him just a few circles until he balanced properly, even for a bit, then returning to trot. She also gave him time to stretch. By the end I began to see when he became relaxed and balanced. Laura can tell just by lunging how her ride will be and what to work on. This is just a brief, not so in depth summary of what I learned about lunging. When she was done, I untacked Moxie, helped Laura brush him, led him to his paddock. Laura showed my how she puts her equines away by simply standing out the gait and having them turn around to face her.

  To start out with, I'll be going maybe twice a week to work. I can tell I'll be learning a lot. I will be taking lesson on her 17 year old mare(not a mule), but more in depth on that later as this post is long. I'm really excited about this!