Not all play and no work...

I start this post out with a little.. hehehehehe. :-) Molly learned today that life now is not all about life in pastures with her pasture boyfriends.... work and work ethic is involved also!

I should back up a bit and Sing Mollys Praises for her attitude yesterday getting shoes on for the first time. I was glad to have my old farrier back... Chase New. Chase is SOOO wonderful with the horses, and especially those that are green to the shoeing process. He takes his time where he needs to... and is quick and efficient when he needs to, and there is always a sign of affection and a pat "well done" after each foot. I am very grateful! Molly really was a trooper. Chase said, "I was expecting a LOT worse! I was thinking I would teach my apprentice today how to shoe a green 9 year old mare that had never had shoes on... But Molly didn't give me that chance!". We didn't push our luck and hot shoe her... but now, she has all 4 shoes on and is way more balanced! (Yah! No tripping now on her long toes!).

I was quite eager to get to the barn and ride today with Molly's new kicks! I saddled her up and hopped on. As usually, she was her laaaaazy self <might have to add the small spurs tomorrow b/c she's not thaaat impressed with a crop either ;-)> . I trotted around a for about 5 minutes each way then thought I would do some lunge work so she can learn to put her head down while trotting... side reins... yes. I already know she's not a huge fan ( just backs up a bit... but hey, she's only had them on once). We worked our way in and she did wonderful. Moved forward, didn't fight the side reins.... aaaaaannnnnnddddd then she thought she was finished. She would stop when she got to the side of the arena that her buddy's pasture is (neighbors the arena). Yeah... no ma'am. She did well.. but once she hit her limit, she would only make a 90% circle then stop and stare at me.

Then, when I "told" her she Had to move forward, she decided backing up really fast was the answer and not moving forward... OR , she would do the 80-90% around and then stop by her buddies. So, I switched sides of the arena. Phew... she got quite the work out.. but she eventually was moving away from the lunge whip... she would do well, and if I said "good girl" she would think that was her cue to stop. No ma'am. So, about 15 minutes of the same routine, I finally got her to walk 100% around in a circle (albeit closer to me...) and then finally trot around 100% and then I let told her to whoa.

I will say, she is super forgiving. Any other horse, after learning to respect the lunge whip would be flaring their head up when you walk towards them... nope, not her. If she was at a point where he was refusing to move at all, I would walk up to her, walk her to the middle again, and then send her out. Wash, rinse, repeat, Wash, rinse, repeat.

I must say, I am so thankful that I have been able to shadow, work for, apprentice with... some of the best trainers in the South East. From these trainers, I have learned MUCH MUCH MUCH more patience in my training techniques. I also have to thank the dog training that I have been involved in the past 5 years... the training philosophies I've used there (inductive training with positive reinforcement, etc.) In the past, probably 6 years I have learned to not get SO EMOTIONAL about training an animal. I will never never never forget the first lesson I had with Trina Blankenship and my first horse, Jasmyne... she spent the WHOLE lesson saying.. "Dont get mad at that! Dont get mad at that! She's a dumb horse Tyler, dont get mad at that". I laugh now, but I realized that I was internalizing so many emotions when Jasmyne would be incorrect that I was sending WAY wrong signals to her, which only made her CONFUSED and FRUSTRATED as well.

Same with the dogs, I have learned how to give a correction, with out emotion. When you take emotion away from the equation when you have to give a negative stimulation to an animal (horses and dogs, and humans for that matter), it becomes clear to that animal. Emotions muddy the water/understanding. Emotions make you irrational. Horses are not EMOTIONAL when they correct or reprimand a herd mate... which makes their message CLEAR to the one receiving. They also do not hold grudges. Horses hold "grudges" with HUMANS in signs of reaction and FEAR when the messages we send them are super unclear. I have learned, and really honed in on these skill for myself greatly over this past year especially..

I really saw that today with a much more green horse (since it's been quite a while since I've worked with an un-experienced horse). Geoffrey, the horse I rode for 1.5 years really helped me keep my emotions in check b/c he was SOSOSO sensitive to them. He fed off if you got "mad" at him.. he would get mad back and his "fight mode"... which of course is not good, and very unproductive. I learned quickly, If he was being naughty, I would laugh it off and say- keep going. If he was really naughty... I would correct (completely un emotionally) and then MOVE ON... AND SO WOULD HE. This is when animals really learn.

Me thanking Geoffrey for being such a good boy!

So, that said... I was impressed with Molly today. She learned some lessons, and realized that there are boundaries to work. After we were done... I walked her around the arena several times to cool her off. He dug her head in my body and let me scratch her sweaty head. I hold no grudges... she holds no fear!

I didn't mean to go on a rant here... but I have just found SO MUCH GROWTH in my training and horsemanship skills over the past 6 years and am seeing the results, the positive results! :-) And this makes me feel good, and makes me feel like a better person/trainer because of it.

Thank You Trina Blankenship for showing me compassion and patience with horses. Teaching me to understand them better and realize why they did something and what caused it.

Trina in the early years of Jasmyne's training.

While working for Trina- Kissing Gordon!

 Thank you Joey Leigh for teaching me valuable training skills with my beloved competition dogs that has bled over into other training avenues as well. You've taught me to "speaka-the-language" of what I am working with.

Me and my male, Spot at a competition

 Thank you the Land family for letting me experience training at the top top level and the kindness used, and truly how IMPORTANT fitness is to a horses success/health. Health prevention and horse wellness overall.

Me washing up Jay Lands horse, Nepal after a ride in Lake Placid, NY

 Thank You Sharon Enteen for showing me that growth is always possible. Sharing wonderful excercise for myself and the horse so neither party gets bored or stagnant. For showing me that variety is good for training.

I'm probably 12 here at an FRS barn show, I got Champion I believe, thats right... No Stirrups!

 Thank You Dana Helton for showing me that I can have an even stronger bond with a horse. Showing me that there are different ways to do things and get better results... that patience is important... very very important.

Do it right the first time and you wont have to fix it later! Thank you for teaching me how to speak to my horse through my body not just my hands. :-)

Dana at the AHS inspections 2011.. I was hold the Mom on the left

Thank you MOM for always being there to give advice when I asked for it... for offering up your wise knowledge and green-horse training skills. You also taught me patience and do it right the first time... and always love.

Mom helping me with Jasmyne with some of her first rides!

Me and Stratus (horse listed above in the FRS photo).. he was perfect b/c of my Momma

There are many Thanks here that I'm leaving out... but these I would say are the MAIN influences in my training, and who I am as an equestrian... a horse owner... and riding trainer. May I never stop learning, may I never stop growing. And I hope the same for you!