Bomb-proofing Clinic

I was able to take Diego to the Wild Horse and Burro Expo that was being hosted here in Reno at the Livestock Event Center today. One of their scheduled "events" was a bomb-proofing clinic hosted by Willis Lamm that was free to the public - bring your horse it said, so I did!

This ended up being the first time Diego's been off the property since he bucked me off and I broke my arm back in April. Add to that the fact that we were going to a pretty large show grounds with other horses, loud speakers, golf carts, plenty of people, etc and this ended up being a pretty big test for him. AND HE TOTALLY ACED IT!!! =)

When we first got there, I got Diego out of the trailer in the parking lot and tied him up and groomed him for a little while. I had strategically parked where he could see two other horses that were tied up to their trailer, so he had a little extra confidence boost. His eyes were kind of big, but he was very good and stood still while I brushed him, combed his mane and picked his hooves. Unfortunately/Fortunately it was a little cool and breezy today, so he wasn't able to get a bath and elbow grease had to do, but at least it wasn't 101 like it was a few days ago.

After I bit, I put my lunge line on Diego and took him over to the area where they had the obstacles set up. They had many different obstacles: wooden fence posts in various designs (5 of these), a barrel, a big tractor tire with plywood over it, a bed sheet on a frame, a "horse wash" on a frame with caution tape, a leopard print rug to walk over, crushed cans, a small set of wooden steps with a platform the horse could walk over, two different types of bridges, crushed aluminum cans inside one of the fence post sets, etc. It was a really nice set-up. Things were pretty low-key when I went over, there was just the clinician and one other gentleman working with is roan mustang at the time. Perfect, perfect.

Diego was nervous at first so I went over to the barrel and lunged him in some circles for a while in the most open area. This gave him a chance to start to check everything out. I just let him trot for a little bit, then started asking him to yield his hindquarters, turn and face me, change direction, back-up, etc. Once he was focusing on me, we started to walk around more and look at stuff.

One of the first obstacles we did was a set of six poles set in a circle, so I stood in the middle and lunged Dig around the outside. He did well and as soon as he dropped his head to watch what he was doing, I could see him start to focus on me more and begin to really relax. After he was looking comfortable with this, we went over to the bed sheet on the frame. Diego walked up to it and started trying to chew on the bed sheet. =) Obviously our tarp training has been paying off! Yay! I let him check it out a bit more, and then sent him through several time. We then did the caution tape horse wash obstacle. This one was a bit more tricky in that there were bits of red plastic and flagging ribbons tied long this side of the arena. Diego didn't seem to care about any of that stuff - he even bit one of the red plastic flags and pulled it off - so I had to tie it back on.

We then went over and worked on the wooden bridges. Diego has done the one at my friend Sarah's house before, so I didn't take long before he was walking over both of them. You could tell he was starting to get more and more confident and braver about trying things. I took him through the two of the other wooden sets - one was a long narrow, somewhat bendy section made of railroad ties. The other was a big jumble, where the horse had to pay attention to where they were placing their feet. The poles were angled and set up on the side with one or the other end, so he really had to focus on what he was doing.

The clinician Willis Lamm came over and talked with me for a while at this point. Diego was stopped in the middle of the obstacle, back feet straddling a pole, and he stood patiently while we discussed Dig. Willis mentioned that as an Arab, Diego is breed to be extra aware of his surroundings, as battle horses, they needed to always be alert to what was going on around them and be quick enough to evade an attack. He'd noticed when we first came in, how Dig was a bit on "overwhelm" and complimented me for just working with him calmly and quietly. He mentioned how with Diego, his "flashpoint" was still very near the surface, and he was quick to react, but we had both noticed how he was also quick to stop, think about it, and settle down to evaluate the situation. He really liked Dig a lot, and told me that in about a year and a half or so, I would probably have a rock-solid, very steady mount that I could point at just about anything.

This echoed a lot of my own feelings in that Diego is just unconfident and didn't have a lot of trust in me and our relationship. I've been happy to see that trust developing more and more, and today it was very apparent at times as he would look to me and take his cues for reaction based upon what I was doing. I could go on and on, but I'll let the pictures (taken by my 7 yr old son) speak for themselves. Diego conquered every obstacle that was in that ring. He cracked me up with the aluminum cans, rustling them with his nose, biting one, tossing them around, and then calmly stepping through. I also hooked up my second line and spent some time ground driving him around and over them as well - helping to establish that "I don't have to go first" scenario that will continue with our riding career. We ended our day with going inside the big spooky indoor arena, and lunging a bit in there and then calmly walking out and back to the trailer. I was exceedingly proud of my boy today - GO DIEGO GO!!!

What we've been up to...

... besides obviously not blogging. =)


So, broken arm aside (which has healed extremely well and I have my full range of motion back - Yay!), I haven't just been letting Diego rot in the barn for the past few months. I've done my best to take this set-back in stride and think of it as time to improve our ground work and overall relationship. With that mindset, I've been pretty satisfied with our results. To be perfectly honest, I think this time to take a step back and really get back to basics has benefitted us both. And I most probably would NOT have done all this additional ground work if I had been able to keep riding.


Things I've been doing:

- Despooking: Diego has now been "sacked out" and is non-phased by tarps, plastic bags, whips, ropes, our new puppy (who thinks he's a big dog andwants him to play), hula hoops, towels, milk jugs with rocks inside, pool noodles, Taren riding his bike around, and he's getting a lot better about quick startling movements - for the most part he just ducks his head or flinchs in place now. That was one of the little gems I picked up from the Stacey Westfall ground work DVD I rented from Horseflix.com, was that she's "never had a deer jump out, and then back, and then out, and then back" while trail riding. So she uses both rhythym and quick sudden motions while despooking. I've noticed a pretty big difference in Diego since I've started just randomly jerking my hands around, or ducking down, or jumping towards him, etc. When I first started - it was OHMYGODWHATSGONNAEATME! Now he kind of goes "Huh?" Unfortunately, I've found out this doesn't quite apply when you walk out in the middle of the pitch black night to go feed and take off the horsie fly mask and the horse is totally zoned-out dead asleep on the far side of the barn, such that when you walk into the middle of the corral and see the dark shape and proclaim "Oh! THERE you are!" the pony will have a heart attack for approximately 3 seconds (poor guy). It also doesn't help when you are carrying a saddle and two hula hoops (which he's never seen or heard before) up to the corral in the dark (I work late a lot, training often happens at night under lights at my place) and the big rattly bulky clinky misshapen monster may "sound" like Mom, but only until you can acutally SEE her are you reassured it's not a horse eating monster.


- Lunging: We've been doing a lot of work on the lunge. Working on establishing good verbal cues (I use "walk", quick kisses to trot, a long smooch to lope, "easy" to slow down, and "whoa") that are followed every time in a quick consistent manner. I'll ask, ask with slight pressure, and then make him do it. An example of this would be a walk to trot transition. He'll be going along and I'll kiss to him. If he doesn't immediately start to trot, I'll kiss to him and use the whip, end of the rope, or my arm to apply pressure from behind to speed up. If he still hasn't started trotting, then I'll get after him until he does. The one that he has the hardest time with is the trot to walk transition down. He will often stop completely and then I need to get him walking again. He's gotten a lot better, especially going to the left, but this is something we'll continue to work on. The other nice thing is that I don't just lunge him in the same circle in the same place - we'll lunge in different areas and go over "obstacles" such as rocks, a small ditch, gravel, pieces of pipe, a sand hill, etc. I'll also use the lunge to ground drive him straight for a bit and then ask for turning again - work on making different "shapes."


- Ground Driving: I've also been doing a bit of ground driving. I rented a Mark Rashid DVD from Horseflix and he really made it look simple. I've taken lessons and had formal instruction in ground driving before from one of our local trainers who uses it a lot very successfully for her dressage horses. So I'm not totally clueless about what I'm doing. Diego has been doing pretty well with it, but after getting kicked, I do still have some hesitation about being directly behind him. As such, I do a lot of my "driving" standing next to him in the position of where I would be if I was riding. I'm seeing Diego having to overcome some of his confidence issues while we do this. I am no longer the "leader" out in front of him, instead he has to be responsible for choosing where to go with some direction from me. I've been using my hand or the stirrup if saddled to create pressure where my feet will go to help reinforce our verbal cues as well. While ground driving, I'll press, then give the verbal cue and press again, and then make him - using this as a transition away from the verbal cues somewhat. I purchased a new snaffle bit that has three pieces, similar to a french link but with the middle link being a little thicker and more rounded (I believe it's called a Lozenge snaffle). Diego seems to like this bit a lot better and doesn't chomp on it as much. He also doesn't bob his head when I apply rein pressure, so I think the regular snaffle was hitting the roof of his mouth.


- Riding: Yes, I have been "riding", just a bit the past week. Actually, truth be told, I have sat on the pony a few times and done a little bit of walking around the corral. I just don't totally have my nerve back yet and my corral is not the most conducive place to riding the horse, being farily small and having one wall of the barn/shed that sticks out into it. Mounting and dismounting (from either side) has been a non-issue and we've done some really easy walking circles, stops, and backing up. That's it for now. I've been busy doing something pretty much every weekend lately so I just haven't had time to get him out to a proper round pen or arena to do some more riding.


Honestly, I don't think our bucking issue is totally resolved or gone. I think Diego has learned he can do this behavior to get me off of him and to be able to do what he wants. I'm not sure if it's naughtiness on his part (which I kind of doubt), or just insecurity and feeling overwhelmed. I'm hoping that by going slower and doing the basics again, we can avoid the bucking. But the little voice in the back of my head is telling me that this isn't a "done" issue and that honestly I'm going to have to ride it out and then severely discipline him for him to start to think about giving up that behavior. I would be happy if that little voice is wrong though.

Tevis Bound!!!

Okay, so I'm not riding =( BUT just being there is *almost* as good! This year, I'll be helping with the webcast coverage and be available to help crew. My good friend, Lucy Chapman Trumbull is riding this year for her very first time. She is rider # 170. Also, Kevin Myers, who I got Diego from, will be riding on his horse Far. He is rider #129. Kevin got Far from our good friend Leslie, who I rode my first 100 with on my older horse Sinatra. Lucy got her horse Roo from Kevin's partner Rusty... Hhhmmm, seems we just shuffle them around our small group. =)

You can follow along in several ways. Karen Chaton is head of the webcast this year, and as a tech guru, she certainly doesn't disappoint. The official webcast coverage can be found at http://www.teviscup.org/webcast/main.html

Photos (including mine, and Lucy's shots "from the trail") will be uploaded during the event here: http://www.teviscup.org/webcast/2009photos.html I'm hoping to get some video as well and will be posting those links as we go. So far, I plan on being at Robie Park Friday, then the Hwy 89 crossing (near Squaw Valley), Robinson Flat, Michigan Bluff, Foresthill and the finish in Auburn.

Tevis tweets! Check out the Twitter page with updates: http://twitter.com/tevisnews I'll also work on adding a Twitter sidebar to this blog, but am not making any promises as to frequent updates since I hate texting on my phone. =)

Honest Scrap Award

Horse of Course was kind enough to bestow the "Honest Scrap" award to my blog! My first award!!! =) I've been following her blog for a while now. She's a dressage rider who lives in Oslo, Norway. Along with providing good, practical training advice, she also shares her trail riding and traveling adventures. She lives and rides in an area that receives a lot of snow and has a terribly long winter from the sound of things, but she doesn't let that slow her down overly much. I've picked up a few gems from her site, http://horseofcourseeng.blogspot.com/.

When you receive The Honest Scrap award you must stick to some rules:

Recognize your award presenter and link back to their blog in your post.

List 10 honest things about yourself that others might not know.

Present this award to 10 admirable bloggers and link to their blogs.

Leave a comment on your recipients' blogs to let them know to visit your post to retrieve their award.

Here are 10 honest scraps about me:

1. My husband, my son, and I all have our birthday on the 19th of the month, just different months. Taren, my son, barely made the deadline, arriving at 11:57 PM. Yes, I was pushing like a maniac and some of my first words were "Did we make it? Was it before midnight?"


2. I finished the Tevis Cup 100-mile endurance ride in 2007, which was a dream of mine for 20 years. I'm proud that my first endurance horse was a non-Arab. I think he taught me a lot since the sport wasn't overly "easy" for him but he was very capable if we had our act together. Sinatra has now passed on but he was deserving of his own blog, see here for our ride stories together: http://www.ctsinatra.blogspot.com/


3. I'm equally as proud of my Miss Reno Rodeo 1999 title, and I think that buckle is much prettier. =)


4. I've only been out of the country once, to Victoria, Canada. I would LOVE to travel more, especially internationally. But I don't even HAVE a passport... yet.


5. I have been to a lot of cool places in the United States - Grand Canyon, Bryce, 4-Corners, Disneyworld (& Disneyland), Daytona, Yellowstone, Las Vegas, etc. Most of that is in great thanks to my Grandparents who were willing to haul 3 (or more) bratty kids around in an RV during the summer for a month or more at a time.


6. My ideal job would be something that centered around horses but didn't require me to be outside all hours of the day. Anyone have any cool marketing or promotional type positions open that pay really well???


7. My mom is one of my best friends. Not so much when I was a teenager, but more and more as I get older. I'm just sorry she wasn't into horses when I lived at home and instead waited until I moved out to start riding more and getting a horse of her own.


8. I love my "car". It's a dark sky blue 2005 Dodge Durango, V8 Hemi. With nice wheels. ;)


9. I grow my hair out pretty long then get it all cut off and donate it to Locks of Love. I've done this 4 times now. The last time was partly because of my broken arm... Even seen a husband try to do a ponytail???


10. I strive hard to be the kind of person that other people want to be around and be friends with.

And now for the bloggers to whom I shall pass on this award:

1. Trot on Hank - This is the story of my friend Jonni's horse Hank. Hank lives in Texas and underwent colic surgery in August 2008. Since that time he has returned to competing (and winning the CRAP out of!) NATRC rides.


2. Endurance Granny - E.G. is working on getting her home-bred horse Phebe going in AERC endurance rides. They had a set-back at their first LD and have gone back into training mode. I especially like this blog because E.G. has had a lot of the same issues with Phebe that I'm having (and am somewhat expecting to have) with Diego.


3. Boots & Saddles - Mel has been competing in endurance for a couple of years now. She's a fellow West region rider, but we haven't had the chance to actually meet. She's planning on making her first attempt at Tevis (which is also her first 100-miler) this year. I hope to get the chance to meet her there!


4. Go Pony - This is my friend Ashley in Arizona. Again, we haven't met in person but will most certainly be spending time together at Tevis this year. Ashley rides a POA mare Mimi in endurance and this blog is a chronicle of their adventures together. I think it's especially cool that Ashley does most of her rides with her dad, something I really enjoy sharing with my mom as well.


5. Living in a Zoo - Another endurance blog!!! I think it's fabulous how many riders, especially new riders, are documenting their journey into this sport that I so love. Not only is Elly starting to compete with her horse Jasper, she's a fourth year vet student! I don't know how she finds the time. I'm excited to hear more about her adventures, both in the clinic and at rides.


6. Zephyr's Wonderful Wanderings - Sharon and her horse Zephyr live in Maine and recently completed their first 100-mile ride! Zephyr is a beautiful Arab/Rocky Mountain cross. I'm also throughly jealous of their beach rides along the coast.


7. Adventures on Arabee - Nicole had been conditioning her mare Arabee to compete in their first ride, but that got put on hold while she and her husband add the blessing of a second child to their family. She's still updating occassionally. I'm sure we'll hear more from her this winter/spring on the horse-front.


8. EnduranceRider - April in Tennessee has two horses which she's doing rides on, Tanna on whom she recently completed her first 100-miler at last year's National Championship, and Serts who recently completed his very first LD (25-mile) ride.


9. Karen's Endurance Ride Stuff - No endurance blog directory (which this is becoming) would be complete without the Martha Stewart of endurance riding, Karen Chaton. Her blog (actually the whole site) is just a WEALTH of resources. I've seen and passed on many a link to her site for many, many different topics from barefoot hoof care, equine nutrition, tack tips, ride history, and much, much more.


10. A Good Horse - A non-endurance blog! Solitairemare has a fairly new-to-her horse named Rugby. After getting dumped a little while ago, she has decided to go back to basics and work on more groud work and gaining respect with Rugby. Sound familiar??? She has a trainer, T.S., who has been helping her achieve her goals. Like me, she's very much ready to start riding again.

I have many other blogs I really enjoy following as well, please see the sidebar. I tried to mainly include those that I thought would post a response.

Horse Expo cont'd - John Lyons "Facing Fear"

The next clinic we attended was by John Lyons. John is one of my favorite clinicians to watch. He's always so entertaining and he does a beautiful job of making it all look (and seem) so simple. It's easy to see why he has been so popular for such a long time. Just a wonderful man that you want to spend more time watching and listening to.

John's topic was on facing our fears, "Fear in the Horse, Fear in the Rider, & Yikes! It's Gonna Eat Me!" He made some really wonderful points. Things that I think many of us lose track and focus of. #1 most important point was to HAVE FUN WHILE RIDING. That we have horses to have fun, and we need to always focus on that first and foremost. If we can't or don't want to ride our horses, then we still need to focus on what it is about having horses that makes us happy. Even if that's just watching them eat grass and petting their noses. He made the point to *D what you CAN, not what you CAN'T*. Some of the thoughts for that:

• Don't ride (or work) your horse when/where you don't have control. If your horse is very barn sour and you can only ride at the barn, then ride at the barn. By working the horse in it's comfort zone and gently pushing the borders (shades of Ryan Gingerich's Green, Yellow, Red here) that zone will eventually begin to expand.
• Work on what you and your horse already know. Don't make every session a training session (or conditioning session - as us Endurance riders at apt to do). Take some time to just go over your basics. Be proud of what you have accomplished so far. Reinforce and strengthen your horse's known cues.
• Practice what you want to learn. You need to be 90+% perfect in your practice, otherwise you are teaching the mistake. If your horse isn't getting what you're trying to teach, you need to go back and look for a missing or weak step in the process. Go back to working on what you know.
• Don't work on the problem, instead focus on what works - what it is you want.

The main point was to CHANGE OUR FOCUS WHILE RIDING from the negative to the positive. John got on a Fresian mare that had earlier that day bucked off her rider while in that same arena, spooking at some balloons. The mare was very hot and anxious. You could see how nervous she was. John commented on how if he was thinking "I want this mare to be calm, to stand still, to walk near these grandstands, etc" those were all things the mare was not currently capable of. What *could* she do? Well, she would turn on the forehand, she could flex her head, she could yield her hindquarters, etc. By just constantly circling her back and forth, letting her walk until she would be come tense or try to speed up, then circling her again, back and forth, back and forth while talking with us - pretty soon you could see the mare start to relax and gain confidence. By the end of the clinic, he had everyone in the grandstand make as much noise as possible and the mare stood still in one spot and watched us, about 10 ft from the rail, less than 20 ft from the beginning of the bleachers.

His point on this was "you can't force respect, it has to come to you." You can't MAKE the horse respect you, you have to earn it. One of the best ways to earn respect is to choose a simple exercise and achieve the correct response every time. For this mare, it was a turn on the forehand, yielding her hindquarters. This will help to build rider confidence as well, in that you will begin to recognize that you have control. "Don't try to do what you can't, do what you can."

John told us to focus on the physical parts you can touch. The rider of the Fresian mare said she had an "attitude". John asked her to put her finger on the horse's attitude. Or put your finger on your horse's fear, or spook, or trust. It can't be done - instead focus on what you can touch, what you can control - make it simple. For example, he would start the mare walking and say "I'm going to focus on her tail, nothing else, just her tail. By picking up my rein, I turn her and move her tail. That's all, that's all I want to do, just move the tail. We're not worried about her head, or her shoulders, or her legs, just her tail." To do this best, there are 4 steps:

1. Pick the physical spot you want to control
2. Pick the direction you want that spot to move (i.e. tail to the right, left eye down - BE SPECIFIC)
3. Use constant, consistent even pressure on the reins to move that spot (he wasn't doing much with his legs at this point - the focus was more on problem horses, just ONE cue).
4. Release the pressure when achieved

These type of exercises will make your horse lighter and more responsive to the bridle. This will help to further build your relationship by building control. Focus on the control, the response to the exercise. It will help both the horse and the rider begin to relax and build confidence.

For spooky objects:

• Don't focus on the spooky object - look past it. Acknowledge it's there but then channel your focus to something else.
• Pick an exercise your horse knows (circling, sidepass, shoulders-in, etc). Concentrate on that exercise instead. "We're going to work on circling here. Oh, there happens to be a horse-eating log over there? Well nevermind, we're over here doing circles instead."
• Work where you CAN on the exercise, not where the horse is tense and worried, where it is comfortable and just somewhat unfocused.
• Stay focused on the exercise. Gradually work your way closer to the spooky object.
• DON'T STOP. Once the horse is stopped, it can too easily bolt, rear, spin, teleport, buck, etc. Keep the feet moving. Don't let your horse walk over and sniff the scary object until it's already not worried about it. Stop is more likely to equal explosion, controlled movement is much better.

John concluded by saying that most all riders/people will experience fear at some point, that's just our common sense working. Being brave isn't having ANY fear, being brave is being fearful but being able to face and address those fears. To being working through the problems and issues. "When there is no reason for the fear, the fear will go away."

Green, Yellow, Red Behavior Zone Training

The first clinic I attended at the Horse Expo (www.horsexpo.com) was Ryan Gingerich (www.ryangingerich.com). For those that have RFD-TV, Ryan is "The Behaviorist" and during his show, he travels around the country and works with various owners and their horses on issues and problems they are having. I had seen one or two episodes of his show before, but didn't really know much about him or his methods. The topic of his seminar was "Red, Yellow, Green: Behavior Zone Training for Your Problem Horse" which I thought was appropriate for what I was looking for. =)

During his clinic Ryan talked about how there are three "zones" for the horses in regards to their behavior. The green zone is the first zone, where the horse is responsive, attentive, and controlled. This is the zone you want to be in all the time ideally. This is the zone where learning can take place. The yellow zone is the second zone. This is where the horse is unfocused, worried, and nervous. Like a yellow light, this zone is the warning zone. The goal is venture into and achieve a positive response in yellow, to enlarge and return to the green zone. The red zone is where you don't ever want to be. That's where negative actions such as bucking and/or bolting occur - where the horse is not paying attention to the rider or is trying to get rid of the rider. If you push a horse too hard or too fast in the yellow zone, you can get the red zone.

In regards to cues, Ryan mentioned that many time people worry too much about how they are cuing their horse's. He demonstrated how he asks for forward with his legs, one side at a time, specifically requesting a certain leg to step forward and begin the walk (or increase the speed). The main point was that for any sort of cues, you need to be CLEAR, CONCISE, and CONSISTENT. Don't change the "code" on the horse. Teach them that 1 cue = 1 response, every time. For instance, teach your horse that leg forward near the girth means to go forward, always. Then, if you want to teach sidepassing - you need to either add or modify you leg cue. You can't just use leg at the girth, you need to use something else. He compared this to our teaching our horses a language. We can't change our "words" and expect them to still understand what we want.

Working with our horses, we need to establish the basic controls: forward, back, left, right, stop, and stand still. Everything else that we ask stems from these basics. These must be solid before we ask the horse to progress on to other maneuvers (including speeding up). He uses three different leg cues, using only ONE leg at a time: 1) Go forward - ask at the girthline, 2) Go faster - where your legs hang in a neutral position, bump side to side with hind leg, 3) Hip/Hindquarter control - near the back cinch.

For a starting basic exercise, we should ask our horse to carry us in a straight line down the rail (or down a road). We ask for forward with our inside leg, the horse should step forward with that front foot as its first step. If not, you need to "delete the response" by stopping and backing up a few steps. Stand still and try again. You need to correct the wrong response immediately, and the backing helps to "delete" that response, the standing puts the horse back in "neutral" and you can proceed again from there. This should be repeated for any exercise where you receive the wrong response. So back to the rail, we ask for forward with our inside leg, the horse moves forward at a walk, the stop, back and stand still.

You need to repeat the correct response **5 to 7 times**. Ryan mentioned that this is where many people get into trouble, they'll get the correct response once or twice, and then stop the exercise, or move onto the other side. Horses learn by repetition, so we as riders need to repeat the process, and ensure the horse understands what we are asking for by repetition of success, with praise and a release of pressure for the correct response. I can see myself not always repeating the exercise I'm working on enough (i.e. trot to walk transitions on the lunge), I often get the correct response two or three times, and then have Diego change direction and start to work his other side - according to Ryan's theories, I need to repeat more before I change. 5 to 7 times successfully on each side before you transition to something else.

Our training should progress through four stages: 1) impulsion and lightness, 2) rhythm - gait and transitions, 3) line - straightness and bend, and 4) connection - hip and shoulder control. So the first thing we need to establish is impulsion (go forward) and then lightness (give to the reins). Ryan had an interesting technique that he used for a drop/vertical flexion. He said that as he was playing around with establishing a new cue, he realized that everytime he set is outside rein (hold with light connection) and then went up and across the neck/withers with his inside rein, his horse would drop his nose. So he used this as his "head down" cue for vertical flexion. The other tools for lightness are circles and serpentines, bump, bump, bump on the inside rein in connection with the inside foreleg to cue the horse through the turn. Again, "delete" the incorrect response immediately by stopping and backing up. Then proceed with the exercise again.

My thoughts: As mentioned above, I can see the value of the repetition of correct response, and I don't think I follow through with ENOUGH asking before I move onto doing something else. I like the idea of the green/yellow/red behavior zone and only focusing on training/teaching something new in the green zone. When you are in the yellow zone, your focus needs to be getting back to green. My issue is what happens when you're in the green zone and then suddenly catapulted (sometimes literally) into the red zone, and yellow was skipped entirely. I did purchase his DVD on Bucking horses - which I'll review later. Overall I liked a lot of things about his approach. He was more willing to back off the horse and take a step down than to continue the pressure to "work the horse through" approach that some other trainers use.

Sacramento CA Horse Expo

This is the third time that my mom and I have gotten together and attended the big Horse Expo in Sacramento, California. www.horsexpo.com I had submitted Diego to be considered for a Demo horse this year, but alas he was not selected by any of the trainers. Still, I went with high hopes to expand upon my current knowledge and possibly discover some further tips and techniques that I could use in my training.

Diego is the most difficult horse I have had to work with to date. My Quarter Horse filly, Angel, that I purchased as a non-halter broke weanling ended up being extremely easy to get going under saddle, possibly because I did EVERYTHING with her when she was very young, so adding a saddle and a rider where just one more little thing and she already had a very strong trust bond with me. My last two horses, Sugar and Sinatra, had come to me either with problems (Sugar) or just very, very green (Sinatra). Both of them I was able to successfully work though and again, establish a very strong bond. When I first got Sugar, I spent nearly a month just trying to get her to WALK on a loose rein. I eventually did parades and the Reno Rodeo Flag Team on that mare, something I would have considered impossible when I first got her. Sinatra just needed to get exposed to the big wide world, and learn it wasn't going to eat him, but that was quite a process as well.

But in considering my relationship with Diego, I realized that I was lacking in two very key elements: control and trust. So these were my focus going into the horse expo, to gain more control, and thus increase his trust in me. I'll do some follow-up individual posts on the clinics I attended, several of which I took notes at. =)