Tails From Provence

The Breaker 6

It was finally time for Tilou’s owner, N, to ride him.

But first, she had to practise lunging and working from the ground. It’s interesting that the ground work is considered as much a part of the horse’s education as the ridden work. I don’t know if this is a Natural Horsemanship thing or a French thing (or an Alexandrine thing!), but it’s quite different from the way I saw horses broken in Ireland – and, indeed, from the way I broke them myself. Once the horse was backed, training sessions focused on ridden work. Ground work just ‘happened’ in the course of the horse’s daily handling. There was none of this ‘move the horse to the side’ or ‘back the horse up’ or ‘ask the horse to come forward’ stuff, which I now think is a shame. It takes very little effort, but you end up with a horse who understands what’s being asked of him much better, which makes life easier later on. Thinks like going into a trailer, or going into a small room for veterinary examination, or even placing a foot on a block for an x-ray and staying immobile would all be done quite easily.

The Handover

Anyway, N was to be in charge of Tilou from the start. She had to tack him up, work him from the ground and then ride him all by herself. Alexandrine was there to supervise, advise and correct, but she was trying to get N to do everything herself because Tilou would soon be going home

Flying solo

They did basic stuff first, like leading, halting, reverse and return.

After that, it was on to lunging. Like anyone being presented with unfamiliar equipment, N found the ‘carrot’ stick and the lunge rope a bit fiddly to handle.

I can sympathise. I’ll tell you a secret – one of the reasons I really wanted to improve my liberty work with the horses was so that I would no longer be juggling the stick and the lunge line!

The ground work all went ok. With practice, N will soon be more confident handling the equipment and can then focus on what she’s asking Tilou to do, rather than how is she going to untangle the cord on the end of the stick from the lunge line. Or from around the horse’s feet. Like I said, I sympathise. Been there, done that.

It was time to mount for the very first time. She was a little nervous, but Alexandrine was very calm and confident about it all. Tilou was lined up beside the mounting block and stood quietly while his ‘mom’ climbed on board.

Off they went around the arena…

…cautiously at first and then more confidently.

They just stuck to walk and trot and everything went perfectly!

The session finished with one very happy lady!

This was a great start to Tilou’s career with N, but in their next session, things went a bit awry. N was cantering Tilou on the lunge and he pulled away from her, ripping the rope out of her hands. Well, he’s a quick learner – we all saw that with the backing process – and he realised straight away that he had the upper hand here. Alexandrine had to step in and even she could not hold him – he pulled away from her too. It was back to square one – into the round pen and work on obedience. Alex did the ground work for another two days afterwards and eventually she convinced Tilou that life would be easier if he maintained a circle around his handler while being lunged.

N’s nerves were rattled though. Now she was afraid that she would be teaching Tilou bad habits and causing him to unlearn his early lessons. I was able to sit in on one more session, when N was to be completely solo – Alex would not even be there. We all hoped it would all go well…

If you’ve missed the other posts in this series, you can catch up here :

Tags: breaker, equitation éthologique, horse breaking, natural horsemanship

Let’s all go to a Horseshow Again Follow-up

Last time I mentioned doing an Interdressage test, I was all gung-ho about doing a ridden test with both horses and possibly also doing a Horsemanship test with Aero.

Then things happened, as they do, and I went a bit quiet on the subject.

We went off on our Anniversary trek. I tried to spend time with my guests, Granny and the BFF. I sat in on a few more Training Tilou sessions. I tried to catch up with my blogging (still not there yet) and I tried (and failed) to get some more Ballyloch stories written down. (They’re in my head; getting them out is the problem.)

What I haven’t mentioned anywhere is that, when we came back from our trek, I had a schooling session with both Aero and Flurry to prepare for videoing the ridden test. There are two rein back/canter moves in the test, so I wanted to practice it beforehand. Aero was pretty good at this – and his canter after the rein back was super! Flurry’s turn… his direct transitions aren’t as good as Aero’s, so we worked on building up to it. Rein back/trot; walk/canter; halt/canter. Uncharacteristically, he struck off wrong in left canter twice. And he felt quite stiff in canter, especially to the left. His trot felt fine, it was just the canter that seemed a bit off. Perhaps he was stiff after the trek?

Next day, I spotted a slight swelling on the front of his right hock. Soft and squodgy, a bursitis of some sort. Crap. Maybe I had overdone it with the direct transitions? No lameness, mind you, but a swelling nonetheless. I forgot about doing the test with him and took to treating the hock with a combination of hosing, cold packs and clay. Rested him for a week and then took him out for a short hack with two of my friends. Was his walk irregular or were the zillions of flies buzzing about his head bothering him? He was striding out well, and seemed ok when we trotted a few steps… but when we got back, the hock was even more swollen and this time there was clear heat on the outside of it. Double crap. Back to rest and cold treatment, and I called the vet, asking for an appointment the following week. I also consulted with a Facebook vet friend, who gave me loads of helpful information and made me feel confident I was doing the right things with him!

Meanwhile, I worked with Aero, but I wasn’t happy with how the test was shaping up. We were aiming for Fundamental Walk, Trot, Canter 2 – you will find it here if you’re interested. It’s very stop : start with lots of halts and rein backs, and two walk demi-pirouettes. The more we practised rein back, the crookeder it got! When I threw the demi-pirouettes into the mix, both of us got even more confused about which legs should go where. So I decided to just do the Horsemanship test instead and I arranged for the LSH to come and video us after work one evening.

That morning, I had a look at some of the tests that were already on line. There was some really impressive long-reining work and also a ridden test. A ridden test? Wasn’t this an in-hand class? I checked the specification once again. Oh yes, it said work could be ridden, in-hand, on the lunge or in long-reins (and I had already asked could I do it at liberty so I knew that was included too). Maybe I could start off with some ridden stuff?

So I changed my plan at the last minute. And this was the result :

I wasn’t happy with the ridden work and I regretted my last minute change. I hadn’t warmed him up at all and he’s really tight through his back the whole time. Also, we finished my floor-plan with about a minute to spare, so I added in a side pass over a cone and a reverse/recall on the fly. Both of these were a little shaky – you’d never guess we hadn’t rehearsed them!!

I went to look at the video on the back of the camera, with Aero following me. Damned if he didn’t stand with his head by my shoulder, looking at the little screen just as intently as we were! The LSH snapped a photo with his iPhone to capture the moment :

Ok, the test wasn’t perfect but bits of it were good. The cone-work looked well, especially the on-foot zig zag, and I was delighted with how well Aero reconnected with me after the jump. Although the camera decided to go out of focus and you can’t really see it! I didn’t want to go through it all again, so I gave it the thumbs up.

To my amazement, this happened :

I’m going to go all airy-fairy for a moment, please bear with me :

Normally, when I work with Aero from the ground, we both have fun. I praise him loads, laugh out loud when he does something cute or funny (like the bow at the end, for example. That was his idea), give him treats when he does something well, and stop frequently to give him lots of pats and rubs and scratches (and the odd kiss too). He’ll pop over a jump and I’ll sing out “Good BOY! Yeah!” and invite him back to me for a reward. He knows when he’s doing well and he knows when he’s not doing so well (cheekily ducking out the side of a jump, for example!)

When we’re practising and videoing a test, I’m sorry to say that there’s much less fun about it. I’m so focussed on doing the right things in the right order that I end up praising him less. I know I smile less; I certainly don’t laugh at all. It lacks the joy that we have when we’re just playing. So I think I will probably not enter an in-hand (or out-hand!) test again. Never say never, but that’s the way I feel at the moment.

Enough introspection.

My goal for this month is to improve our ridden work and to do Fundamental Walk Trot Canter 3, class 6A. It’s a more flowing test than last month’s and I think it will suit us better. You can have a look at it here if you’re interested.

But how’s Flurry? I hear you ask.

He seems fine. The swelling has become firmer and he feels 100% normal, even at canter. So much so that I cancelled the vet visit. I don’t need to spend €70 to be told to wait and see. We are waiting and seeing, doing light work and continuing to put clay on the hock every day. Fingers crossed.

If you’re interested in joining me at this month’s Interdressage test, here’s the link to the schedule :

http://interdressage.com/enter.php#SCHEDULE

I know Annette from Oak Creek Ranch is hoping to participate, and maybe Helen and Ali from Skyfaxa might have another go too…

Tags: interdressage

The Sixth Ballyloch Story – The Christmas Pony

I feel a bit weird about re-posting this here, seeing as my regular readers saw it last December. But hey, on-line marketing is on-line marketing, and there may be one or two people here who missed it last time around.

The cover boy, by the way, is a lovely Connemara pony called Casper who I had the pleasure of teaching many years ago. His mum very kindly offered me this Christmassy photo when I put an appeal on Facebook – thanks, Sarah!

Mike

…Oh come let us adore Him,

Oh come let us adore Him,

Oh come let us adooore Hi-im,

I belted out the words, feigning enthusiasm, keeping my mind empty. Don’t think, man, just sing!

Even so, there was a lump forming in my throat. I swallowed it down and forced out the last line :

Chri-ist the Lord!

The last notes of the organ faded away into the growing hubbub, as people started to shift in their seats, shaking hands and exchanging Christmas greetings with one another. I smiled at the large lady beside me.

“Happy Christmas,” I said, holding out my hand.

“And happy Christmas to you, too,” she said, taking my hand and squeezing it a little too much as she shook it.

Ok, she knew who I was. The bereaved husband. Father of the motherless child. That poor guy. There but for the grace of God…

No, I was reading too much into it. She turned her back and started to shuffle out of the pew in the wake of her husband. I followed and we gradually melded into the throng of people who were filling the central aisle of the old stone church, inching our way towards the arched doorway. The rector and his deacons were waiting in the porch, shaking hands with the members of the congregation, as we made our way out into the crisp, clear night. He’s a practical chap, the rector, and he didn’t try to engage me in conversation. Just said he hoped we had a good Christmas and left it at that.

I made my way to the car, sat inside and turned the heater on while I waited for Allie. Another milestone passed, I mused. The second school Carol Service since Mary died. Now we were heading, full steam ahead, into the second Christmas without her.

I barely remembered the previous one. Even though it had already been five months since Mary’s death, our first Christmas without her had passed in a blur. My sister Katie and her family had been great, inviting us to join them for the day. Allie had played happily enough with her cousins, but there was an air of stillness and a gravity about her which you don’t expect to see in an eleven-year old at Christmas time. Every so often, I’d catch her eye and she would look away, as if she was afraid of what she might see in my expression. Driving home that night, we’d both been silent, lost in our own thoughts of Christmas Past.

Now, a year later, we had moved on through the stages of grief. It’s funny how you hear about the five stages of grief, but you never realise just how real they are until you’re going through them. We had moved our way along, and I was pretty sure we were at Acceptance now. This Christmas was going to be about new starts and looking ahead to the future. I had a great surprise planned for my little girl, one that I was certain was going to make her happy for many years to come. I had bought her a pony. Not any old pony, but her absolute favourite pony from the riding school – Bubbles, a handsome dapple-grey Connemara. I’d had a tough time persuading Liz to sell him, but we had eventually come to an agreement that Bubbles would still be used in the riding school, three days a week. It would be best for everyone, she had said. He’d be exercised on the days Allie couldn’t ride him and she’d still have him available for her better riders. I had agreed, just glad that I had finally convinced her to sell him!

I heard the chatter of girlish voices and looked in the wing mirror. There she was, arm in arm with her best friends, Amy and Jane, giggling as they walked along the gravel footpath towards the car park. I rolled down the window as they hugged each other goodbye.

“Happy Christmas, girls,” I called.

“Happy Christmas, Mr Moore,” they chorused. Jane winked at me as they turned and walked to where her parents were waiting and I smiled. They were in on the secret, of course. On Christmas Eve, they were going to decorate Bubbles with tinsel and glitter, so he’d be all ready to surprise Allie on Christmas morning.

“He’ll be so Christmassy that Santa will think he’s a reindeer,” Amy had laughed when I had asked them to help.

Allie settled into the front seat beside me and clicked her seat-belt shut.

“Did you have fun?” I asked, as we joined the line of cars making their way out of the church grounds.

“Yeah, it was good,” she replied. She looked out of the window into the darkness for a moment, then her hand went into her pocket and she fished out her phone. Her fingers flew over the touch screen as she joined her friends on Facebook and I sighed.

We drove the rest of the way home in silence.

*****

“It’s not you,” Katie said. “It’s just the whole puberty thing, on top of the loss of her mother. Right now, she’s a seething mess of hormones with a whole lot of grief thrown in for good measure. Sheesh, it’s a moody age at the best of times. Don’t you remember what I was like?”

Yes, I did. I was just two years older than Katie, and by God we’d had some massive rows in our early teens.

“But she’s so…” I struggled for words. “She’s so SPIKEY. She used to be such a cuddly kid. Now it’s like there’s some kind of force field around her. Any time I hug her, it’s like she blocks me, and she can’t get out of it quickly enough. And she hardly speaks to me now, she’s stuck to her phone all day long, Facebooking or texting.”

“Look Mike, you have to accept that she’s growing up.”

Katie topped up my tea without asking, as she continued “She’s well on her way to being a woman now.”

I smiled at her. “Yes, I am grateful for your help with that! I couldn’t very well advise her on tampons now, could I!”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” laughed Katie, “I’m just saying she’s changing. It’s part of life. Your relationship will change, because she’s not a little girl any more.”

“Humph,” I replied. “She’ll always be my little girl.”

Katie shook her head, but said no more. I changed the subject.

“Let me tell you all about this pony,” I began.

*****

Ting-Ting!

My phone chimed on Christmas eve. I picked it up. There was a message from Jane – a photograph! Jane and Amy, pink-cheeked and bundled up in warm coats, hats and scarves, standing on either side of a grey pony. His mane was plaited and the girls had twisted gold and red tinsel through the plaits. A jaunty red Christmas hat was perched between his ears and his head collar was decorated with silver bells. His white tail was neatly brushed out and he wore a brand new rug. Fair play to the girls, they had done a great job. Bubbles looked fantastic! Allie would be thrilled, I thought, as I replied to Jane.

Well done girls. Thanks a million. Mike

I glanced at Allie, curled up in the corner of the couch, one eye on the TV and the other eye on her phone. She was going to get the surprise of her life tomorrow…

Like what you’ve read? You can find out how the big surprise goes for Allie and Mike by visiting Amazon.com and downloading The Christmas Pony for just €0.99! Here’s the link : The Christmas Pony on Amazon