Jumbled up

This is a little jumbled. I wrote most of it on the train yesterday, and some this morning when everyone was gathering. Boy is it odd to NOT have a horse at a clinic... I feel like I need to find "eleventy million" things to do to keep me busy!

Thursday 26 July

This morning Karen collected me from Lana’s with my bags. I always over-pack and wonder when I’m lugging bags around tiresomely why I couldn’t have left half of it behind.

I checked feeds were sorted for the rest of the week and then helped Karen with horses. We ended up bringing all four horses down. I had the camera while she worked Bracken in the arena quickly before the kids at camp came down. She then took Chico out into the field, as the kids are not really in control of their ponies and it’s easier to go elsewhere. When she realised we had a lot of spare time, she asked me to get Sully. He was receptive to the quiet work I started with, managing to stand still instead of moving off during much of it, which shows he is starting to find his balance and his trust in the work. Karen then worked Fon, also in the field. She was in a good space today: soft eye, kind expression, easy and flowing way of moving. Her rhythm was consistent and her transitions easy. She offered the movements without hesitation.

I changed from barn clothes into jeans and a tank top. I ate my sandwich (early lunch) as Karen drove me to the ferry. A short wait later and the ferry opened for boarding. The trip over to Seattle takes 35 minutes. The water is beautiful on a day like today, glistening in the sun.

The Seattle skyline appeared and its features cleared as we got nearer. Soon enough it was time to leave. I followed the footpath straight ahead for a couple of blocks before checking my bearings. I found a coffee shop close to the train station to sit down and kill some time.

The King Street Station is getting a much-needed overhaul, so the place is more than a bit of a shambles. I waited in the queue for assigning seats for twenty minutes (no one was issuing seats). The heat and humidity made me wish for a beach and a pair of shorts. Finally, I was issued my seat and could board. Shortly after that we were off.

As we got further and further from the woods around Seattle, the country and sky opened up. Much of the journey featured landscapes and details I simply couldn’t catch with the camera. I will have a lot of out-of-focus images to delete when I download the photos to my laptop.

I have managed to power through a good portion of a book I started last night, but there is only so much reading I can do in a moving vehicle. I picked at the food I packed for the trip, more out of boredom than hunger. Besides needing to put my book down and rest my eyes, I haven’t tried to sleep so that I have a good night’s rest tonight.

One of Peggy & Susan’s “PIT” (practitioner in training) instructors, Karen C, offered to collect me at Albany and put me up for the night.

Karen was the only person at a train station looking like she didn’t have a clue who she was looking for, so it was easy to work out who I was going with. Her house is about 10 or 15 minutes from the station. She briefly introduced me to her horses then we ate the Thai takeaways she had picked up for dinner (and even though I wasn’t hungry at all, we polished everything off!). Before bed, we both went to the barn and she dealt with one mare’s feet (she puts epoxy around the rim of the hoof, sort of like a shoe, to prevent abnormal wear of that hoof). I got to bed at 10.30pm and was out like a light.

Random scenery thoughts from the train journey:

Fallen tree trunks suspended in mid-air, mud marks metres above the level of the stream below.

Playgrounds, baseball fields, an arena for horses who could cut and rope and run barrels.

Abandoned barns, long grass and weeds threatening to take over.

Greenhouses, crops, fields of cut grass waiting to be tedded, turned, baled into hay.

Dogs crossing the road.

A large owl in a tree, a few minutes before a stop in Kelso ,WA.

Sidings filled with wildflowers in bloom.

Streams and lakes and wetlands, trees and plants I cannot name... Reeds rushes, lilies, blackberries.

Highways and driveways and everything in between.

Horses, cows, a herd of goats.

Houses and yards neat and tidy, through to those choked with junk, decaying and rusting away into nothing.

18 wheelers hauling freight.

Acres and acres of industrial land, airstrips. Rivers, streams, lakes. Roadside restaurants, highway motels, towns I have never heard of and don’t remember the names for.

A half moon hanging in the pale blue sky.

 

Friday 27 July

Up at 5.30am to eat some breakfast and have coffee before helping Karen to finish packing the trailer and load her two horses. It is about an hour's drive from her house to Brownville, where the clinic is being held.

It has been a hectic day. I feel like I haven't stopped since I got out of bed. We spent time sitting in the morning, discussing people's horses and goals. Peggy introduced and reinforced concepts. The obligatory people exercises came out for about half an hour.
One group of horses came out before lunch for initial groundwork. At lunch, Susan showed me the tent I was sleeping in, all kitted out with air mattress, foam mattress and sleeping bag. The other group of horses came out for groundwork after lunch. Finally, the two groups came out for a riding session.
I ended up doing a lot of stuff: walking one of Karen's horses (who was having a bit of a moment); helping support a rider with the wand (the horse needed a little more oompf); leading Joan's mare when she was having a meltdown, to give Joan a break; all sorts, really.

It turned out that another PIT, Lori, has had a rough run lately and was very grateful for any additional help, so I am at her place for the tonight and tomorrow night, though I really will sleep in the tent for the following two nights!

I will be quiet until I get back to Washington: I have another 5.30am start tomorrow (breakfast, loading a horse Lori has on trial, to take to the clinic - an hour from here - ready for the 9.00am start with horses).
Sunday is the last "clinic" day. That night is some sort of fund-raising dinner in Brownville, so I will tag along with the group. Monday is lessons and Tuesday we travel 'home.'  I think I may stay with mum's cousin and his wife for at least a few days. I think they sort of expect me for at least a little while, plus I have to collect my Lodge cast iron casserole dish (I am simply DYING to make a loaf of bread! I miss cooking and baking, a LOT).

On the move again

Today was super busy and super hot again. I pulled the sheets off my bed to wash as I ate breakfast and made a sandwich for lunch.

I biked to the barn and took Sully out for groundwork first, as I also needed to give him another light hoof trim and he needed to work first. Boy, did he come out with ants in his pants! I settled for some reasonable walk in both directions with the cavesson, then changed him into the halter for just a little work, then took him back to trim his feet. He was still antsy as anything, so he got some fly spray which seemed to settle him while I trimmed. However he was back to idiotic antics the second I wanted him to stand still for some progress photos... I got what I needed and took him back to the paddock. Barely five seconds after being let go, he stretched out for a massive pee - I think he doesn't like splashing his legs in the stall or on the short grass!!! He is such a funny guy. After he was done he came back over for a quick cuddle (and the hope of another carrot, I bet).

He is starting to put on weight!

Peggy rang to say she'd be there at 12.30. Fon came in and was groomed in preparation. The other day I found she really, REALLY likes having her belly and udder scratched. I also think she's warming to me (she takes a while to truly "like" people). I also mixed up feeds for the 6 days we'll be away, plus some spares "just in case."

The barn worker, Nanette, had asked me to trim one pony's feet a week ago, and another pony yesterday (though neither was urgent so if I didn't get to them, that was fine). This area is a rough one for farriers: there are not many to start with. All the good ones are more than fully booked and the rest (to quote Nanette) "I wouldn't call them for my dead horse!"

The barn runs holiday camps for kids. Last week and this week they've had two groups. The older kids (8-12?) do 4 days and the younger kids (all under 5!) do 2 or 3 days (I lose track!). They ride in the mornings and finish at noon
... 11.40am and Fon was ready, the kids were back at the barn so I said "bring me Bozo when you're done," [gawd, what a name!] "and I'll sort his feet."

After Bozo, I realised I also had time to trim Molly, who foundered in a past life. Her feet are completely separated the whole way around, so the outer shape of the walls was probably 4cm wider in diameter than it should have been. Not cool, but I did my best to shape her hooves up nicely. She licked and chewed when I finished: a good sign.

I had 5 mins to drink some water and sit until Peggy got there. Today, Fon got tacked up to be ridden (the first time in a month or two). I started with some simple out/in walk and trot on the cavesson. Peggy and Karen set up four trotting poles and two small crosses (jumps) down one side of the arena. Fon trotted over them several times and then it was time to ride! She tries to please but is super quick and responsive, and got herself in a bit of a muddle. Peggy asked me to lead her and do a slow Elephant's Trunk to give her rhythm. Peggy worked on rotating to capture first the outside and then the inside hind leg. Fon settled really well. I swapped with Karen and grabbed Peggy's camera to get a few photos of the work. Peggy said she felt more suspension than this mare has given before, and a better, clearer rhythm. All in all, a very good first ride back!

Karen and I got Bracken and Chico ready. I warmed Chico up in the bridle with a couple of out/in/trot transitions in both directions. Ridden, the same thing. Peggy had us go over the poles. Chico felt "flat" on the arena surface, which desperately needs to be dragged. Peggy talked me through the approach to the poles: I needed to gather up his hind legs, eke on the outside rein but still give him an outside boundary, and move my bones in a rhythm to steady him. We managed some nice walk work at the end but my brain was totally fried. We are really just doing the same sequence (out/in/on) a million different ways, and I am learning which parts of ME need to do what, to achieve what we want.

Back at Lana's, I've done three loads of washing (towels, delicate/wool, and the rest of my barn clothes), almost finished packing for my trip away (literally half of the things I bought with me, including helmet, boots, gaiters, gloves, outdoor clothes and jods, indoor clothes, something for warm and something for cold), made a pot of coffee (nom) and need to have dinner. I will also pop down to check the mail, put out the trash for collection early tomorrow. Oh and the cats need their dinner!

I may not have internet until I get back to Poulsbo next Tuesday night, so will keep track of what we did and take as many photos as I can so you can share my trip. Until then, ciao!

PS. Walked down to the letterbox to collect the mail. It's about 750m, about the same as from the end of our driveway, down the lane to Newell Rd, however includes a very steep hill. On the way out I remembered to check Lana's raspberry bushes. Nom nom nom, there were ripe berries! I picked a handful to eat on my way down and another few handfuls before I got back to the house. Guess what I'm having for dessert?!

All four legs on all four horses

Today was a long day at the barn. I left the house on the bike at 8am to get 'chores' done before Peggy arrived.
I gave rems and groomed Sully before turning the horses out. He's missed out on proper grooming most of the past week as I've been taking him from the long grass paddock to the short grass to work, without bringing him up to the tack room. I picked up one load of manure into the cart (the paddocks are looking great) before bringing Fonteyn in for grooming, finishing just as Peggy arrived.

The focus today was working out which of the four legs was stuck, then targeting the groundwork exercises to that. Peggy started Fon with out/in/trot to get her moving. After that, backwards Ss done one step at a time. The aim is for the handler to get, from their rotation and suggestion with the wand, the (current) outside fore to cross in front of the inside fore (with a weight shift from the outside to inside leg). Ideally the horse should do this lightly and easily, taking just the one step that is being asked for.

This type of exercise is very difficult for 'beginner' horses, or those who are stuck, but it can help free them up, even if they do take two or more steps each time - as long as the handler's requests stay small and soft, and the horse gets breaks, they usually improve with each attempt.

After the front legs cross, the handler's rotation changes and the current inside hind leg should cross in front of the outside hind.
As the horse progresses, it should begin to take considered, easy steps. You end up with the horse moving out and sideways. Their base comes up, the hind legs are engaged and their neck softens, allowing their head to come down. Transitions to trot are like butter when these things all come together.
Alternatively, and especially if they have not let go with their neck, the handler asks the horse to back (with oscillation in their body to encourage oscillation in the horse) several steps. Once the neck has let go, the handler can face forwards and ask for trot with a tap of the wand, under the belly or over the croup. At the same time, the front hand must lift and go towards the cheek press position, allowing the horse to take as much rein/line as they need.

Sully is very much at the beginning of his connected journey. He requires short bursts of work. He often needs to move his feet during the 'static' groundwork exercises. I warmed him up in-hand walking in connection, with various presses on his cheek, upper neck, and an oscillation over the midline of his neck just behind his poll. Peggy then put him out on one line for a simplified version of what we're asking from the other horses. At this stage, he needs to learn a clear out, a clear in, and a clear forwards, with his head lowered and neck soft.

Karen worked with Bracken while we worked with Sully and rode when I bought Chico down. Bracken had some awesome moments of gorgeous trot.

Chico came out walking and trotting like he was in sludge. I felt I had a "lazy" horse (in terms of his movement and responsiveness), who, when I asked for forwards, rushed and fell on his forehand. He was very stuck through his shoulders. Some quick one-step-out, one-step-in helped loosen him up a little, but Peggy had to work quite hard at the same exercise as Fon to get him to engage his hind end and start to move his weight from his front legs. Consequently, his rhythm improved, he had more push from behind, his head lowered and his neck softened. I rode him briefly to feel how the groundwork had affected him. I am starting to get the hang of his movement, learning which buttons I need to activate and when. He produced some lovely balanced trot for me, as soon as I hooked his hind legs and asked him for FORWARDS, WITHOUT RUSHING. To achieve this, I have to rotate out (hey, outside hind!), in (hey, inside hind!), then usually rotate out a little more to really gather the outside hind, before giving a wobble/come on to ask him to come up into my hand.

To finish our day, Peggy showed some of the groundwork exercises to the barn owner's daughter, Samantha. Her barrel-racing horse Candybar had an accident on the weekend: she flipped out and went up and over, tearing her hamstring muscles and inflicting plenty of cuts and bruises. She is out for the next two months or more while she heals. Meanwhile, she is one VERY sore horse, holding a LOT of tension in her body. It is important to get a horse in this position to learn to stand on four feet, soften their muscles (especially the neck) and start the process of relieving tension. Otherwise the horse is pretty much a train wreck by the time it comes off stall rest, requiring significant rehab.

Tomorrow will be my last dull day at the barn this week. I may drop by on Thursday morning for a short time but need to leave for the ferry 2 to 3 hours before my train departs. I have lots of things to do there and at Lana's before Thursday!

Getting busy

Today, Peggy had her first chance to be at the barn for nearly a week. Ron dropped me at the barn on his way out in the morning (8.30am), so I'd done rems, feeds, two loads of mucking out and groomed Fonteyn before Peggy called to say she was on her way. I took Fon down and started some groundwork.

We had a LOT of rain last night and the arena was absolutely soaked. It is not good footing at the best of times, but is at its worst when super dry or super wet... today, it was sludge. Consequently, I did some quiet walk groundwork to get her moving before I asked her to halt and do some exercises just standing, or moving one foot at a time. She was in a really good headspace. I think her mood two days ago was simply her saying "hey, I need more processing time!"
Peggy tried out the two-armed heart-girth press (rotating to the horse's hind causes the front arm to have a lift, and rotating back to their head causes the back arm to have a lift, so you have the best of all worlds: your rotation causes the press, and each press has an "up, up!" in it). While she was working through that at Fon's speed, I was doing slow Elephant's Trunk by her head, and Karen even joined in with presses on her hindquarters.

We discussed achievements, too. Peggy believes in getting to the point: why spend a lifetime on something that can be achieved simply and quickly, when you decide what parts are stuck and which exercises will best unstick them!

Peggy also had a quick look at Sully. The same exercise will help him, as his ribs are quite inflexible at present (he hasn't had a LOT of CR). Also anything around his head, neck, shoulders and elbows, preferably with support of outside rein, and probably requiring a hand on the 1 (cheek press), 2 (top of neck), 3 (middle-upper neck) places... He would currently be best with a handler who had several arms ;)

Karen and I then took Bracken and Chico out on the trail. Karen uses the trails' twisty windy up and down-ness to her best advantage: she usually trots most of the way.  It was really cool to get out and GO instead of meander along at a walk. Chico is a neat horse and has a lovely trot so I had fun. I also really appreciate the opportunities to get out of the arena (especially when it's in too poor a condition for anything more than walking).

Plans for the Oregon trip are shaping up. Peggy and Susan are travelling on Wednesday. I am taking the train on Thursday. Karen offered to drop me at the ferry so I need to check the timetable (there are a couple of blocks between the ferry terminal and  train station in Seattle). I depart Seattle at 2.20pm and arrive in Albany at 7.50pm. I promise to take my camera and to actually USE it ;)

Lana and Ron are off before dawn tomorrow to catch the ferry to Seattle and then to Victoria (Canada). They will be back Thursday night. I am not coming back to their house after my trip to Oregon, as they have relatives coming to stay.
Soooooo, I am in the middle of packing my stuff up! I borrowed a bag from Lana for the trip (4 days + a travel day at each end). I need to bring my boots + chaps back from the barn and do all my washing on Wednesday, as well as things like towels, sheets, etc so the room I have been in is ready for new people.

However, it is getting late and I have a full-on day at the barn with Peggy tomorrow, so I best get off to bed. I would love to hear from you (by email) if I haven't been in touch recently. I do miss all of you down there!

Lesson day!

Yesterday was more of the same at the barn. Rode Chico, groundworked Fonteyn and Sully, mucked out (two carts seeing I missed the day prior due to thunderstorms). I also went out with Lana, Chico and Selena (Lana's standard poodle) on the trails. Selena needs to learn to go with Lana when she goes on the trail. She has been walked there before, but never gone with a horse, so I volunteered to take her and a leash. After a few minutes I let her off ans she followed happily along behind us. When Lana and Chico went for a trot, Selena knew I was there but she also knew she should stick with her mommy. Very good instincts and also a very good first time out with the horse.
Lana saw a racoon crossing the path near the couch (there is an ancient, falling-to-pieces couch at the fork near the start of the trail, that has been there as long as anyone can remember) so we turned down the nearby dead end trail first and it was gone by the time we had to walk past the couch. Sadly, I didn't see the racoon, just the bushes moving as it walked through, into the woods.

In the evening we went to Dusty and Phyllis' for dinner. Dusty had cooked prime rib. Honestly, there was about half a cow on the table ;) and as seems to be the case with anything he cooks, it was delicious. My dessert, a dairy-free tiramisu, went down a treat. I used a light sponge cake soaked in coffee + kahlua, topped with a mixture of eggs (separated eggs, whipped separately with a little sweetner, vanilla, more kahlua) that had been combined with coconut cream. I think the only way to improve and refine would be to use something like amaretto instead of kahlua, as the almond-y flavour would go well with the coconut.


Today I got up at the crack of dawn (5.30am, to be precise, which is just about the time when the sun comes up) to be ready for a 6am pick up by Peggy, who was accompanied by Susan's dog, Josie (a small poodle, only 7 or 8 months old). We were at the ferry terminal at 6.35am for the 7.05am sailing to Seattle. The ferry takes 30 mins to get across the sound. Then it was a 30-45 min drive out the the barn in Redmond. We stopped on the way so Peggy could grab breakfast; I had a look around the grocery store which was a neat little place. Before we drove the last 5 minutes to the barn, we let Josie out (on leash) to stretch her legs.

The barn is where one of Peggy's clients, an instructor, boards. The lessons today were 1) a new client of hers, who's lovely horse had been moved to the barn only 3 weeks ago, 2) another client of hers, who has also done clinics and lessons with Peggy in the past, riding a cute little Arab x Appaloosa pony mare and 3) the instructor and her rehab-in-progress horse.

Horse #1 was so stuck it was difficult to get him moving. He was a very nicely put together horse but simply didn't understand what he needed to do with his feet when he was asked to walk on. His habit was to get head high and back up. His left hind dragged while backing, and also while walking. His rider said he gets stuck and won't walk on (he has reared), and, he has two gears: ON and OFF! To begin, his walk was very slow. His feet were lazy and he was on the forehand.
Peggy did some gentle, quiet groundwork exercises to start him 'sitting' and coiling his hind end. It took a lot longer than the allotted hour of lesson time, but, it takes the time it takes and you have to work with the horse you have on the day. She also did some balancing work (moving one foot at a time as she used her rotation to move him in and out) as he can be very awkward to line up at the mounting block (never in the right place, always moving off, head high, etc). The horse found that difficult, too. However, by the end of the lesson, the rider was able to hop on and feel his walk, which she described as much more regular, free-er, and easier.

Horse #2 had had some groundwork as warm up while the first horse was being worked. Still, she came over head high, fidgety, tossing and flicking her head, not able to stand still. Her walk was uneven (she has a past injury to her left hind) and she was on the forehand.Peggy started with out/in to forwards. The horse starting tracking up almost immediately and her walk improved. After a time, the rider mounted. This horse also needed time and re-balancing to stand nicely at the mounting block with her head down. The rider felt the horse and was happy with the length of stride, free-ness and even-ness (that the horse doesn't normally have right away under saddle). Then, I led the horse while Peggy talked the rider through some exercises she could use to find neutral. Finally, the instructor rode the horse (I led her again for a while, as Peggy used her to demonstrate a few other concepts of neutral posture). She got some beautiful trot from the mare, as well as a canter transition in both directions (something the owner had had trouble with for some time).

Horse #3 is a work in progress. He does not currently have a saddle so was only groundworked. He got a lot of exercises as he stood there. He is a very clever, very mouthy horse who was constantly grabbing the reins and tossing his head. His owner led him around to begin. Peggy then showed some groundwork techniques that work for horses like him, who hold incredible tension in their bodies.  These included hair slides (a TTeam technique), various ways of doing the heart-girth presses, mouth and ear exercises.
She also noted that with a very active horse, you often need to meet their energy (rather than trying to bring them down to earth with low energy), until they loosen up.

The important messages from today were:
When the horse loses independence of its four legs, it loses suspension.
Retraction is dysfunction, and leads to loss of suspension.
Horse needs to learn a weight-bearing posture to have independent legs, and thus gain back its suspension.
The horse needs to move its feet with lightness and clear intention.
Find the non-habitual ways of working with the horse that will bring a change.
Find different ways to override the 5 Fs: Flight, Fight, Freeze, Fidget, Faint.
Lengthening the spine is CRITICAL to enable the horse to find his own suspension, and the ability to oscillate the head.
Finally... Being effective: what do I want and how do I get it? Remember to follow a clear process to get the horse coming through.

We collected Susan from the airport on our way home. Peggy decided to drive around rather than drive 30 mins to the ferry, wait an hour, spend 30 mins on the ferry then 20 mins driving home. Consequently, we arrived in Poulsbo sooner than the ferry would have been in Bainbridge. Josie got to play with Selena briefly then they went home to rest after all the travelling (eg, Peggy drove nearly 1000km yesterday). Lana and I played one game of Skip Bo as I ate the rest of my lunch (it was 3.30pm, lol) then I went out and spent an hour and a half weeding in the last parts of her garden. Thankfully the rake I decided to find made the job a heck of a lot quicker so I was inside at 6.00pm to warm up some leftovers for dinner... followed by the last small slice of last night's tiramisu! It was neat to see that my adapted recipe did survive the night/day without separating... If anything, I think it tasted better today than last night - yum!