My Bucket List

I got this idea from the January 2009 issue of Horse Illustrated.

1. Gallop on a beach.
2. Win a blue ribbon for a Musicale Freestlye.
3. Enjoy an evening of equestrian theater by the Cavalia company.
4. Try my hand at team calf penning and cutting.
5. Ride in a recognized hunt, with scarlett coat and barking dogs.
6. Fall off and get right back on. Done.
7. See the majestic white Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria.
8. Visit the Musée Vivant du Cheval – the Living Horse Museum – in Chantilly, France.
9. Be accepted for a two-week training course at the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre – Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art – in Jerez, Spain.
10. Come to a sliding stop on a well-trained reining horse.
11. Take a riding lesson with an Olympian. Examples include, but are not limited to: Steffen Peters, Courtney King-Dye, Betsy Steiner, Jane Savoie, George Williams, Debbie McDonald, Sabine Schut Kerry...etc.,etc.
12. Nurse a horse through a crisis and back to full health. Done.
13. Experience the smooth ride of a gaited horse. Done, *lol*
14. Watch the horses come through the Head of the Lake on cross-country day at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.
15. Have the courage to do the right thing for your horse.
16. Attend the Kentucky Derby dressed to the nines -- including the hat.
17. Ride a trail accessible only be horseback and enjoy the view.
18. Take my dream vacation on horseback: New Zealand, Ireland, and Spain.
19. Master the sitting trot. Done.
20. Ride a dressage schoolmaster.
21. Watch polo.
22. Feed, muck, groom, ride. Repeat daily.
23. Wake up to a whinny every morning. Done.
24. Fly down the track on a Thoroughbred. Done.
25.Meet one of your favorite famous horses in person -- from the movies, Docs Keepin' Time (Justin).
26. Ride bareback, bridleless...or both. Done, I have no desire to ride bridleless.
27. Share a bond with your horse that's deeper than words.

And because I've already completed six of these, here are seven new ones.
1. Ride beautiful examples of the following breeds: a Lipizzaner, a Friesian, and an Andalusian. Make them all stallions.
2. Own any/all of the above.
3. Attend the Olympics.
4. Attend the FEI World Cup. Done, WEG 2010 @ the Kentucky Horse Park.
5. Own a Thoroughbred racehorse who runs in the Kentucky Derby.
6. Attend the Breeder's Cup.
7. Learn to ride Side Saddle.

'Secretariat' you are no 'Phar Lap'

My favorite horseracing movie of all time is Phar Lap, the 1983 (1984 for us here in the States) movie about the Australian racehorse. This was a horse that in 51 starts, won 37 times (51:37-3-2; nine times out of the money) and for a country that was in the depths of their own Depression, Phar Lap (1926-1932) gave them hope by winning virtually every race he was entered in. In the movie there is a frustration that Phar Lap could not be bought, so the Victorian Racing Committee (VRC) decided the only way to beat Phar Lap was to keep assigning him more and more weight. ("Weight can stop a train," was the line in the movie.) At the 1931 Melbourne Cup, the VRC did just that by assigning Phar Lap a weight of 149-lbs, he finished in eighth place. Up until that time, Phar Lap had successfully carried up to 138-lbs and still won handily, but with the fear that he would be broken down or killed by an angry bookie, Phar Lap was sent to Agua Caliente, Mexico to run in the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap. He won and mysteriously died 16-days later in Menlo Park, California. It is a fantastic film that even after all these years, I still cry at the ending.

A group of us went and saw the new Disney film Secretariat on October 8. I was fearful going into the movie that the real magic that was Secretariat would be lost in translation, and sadly my fear came true. For one, I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up on a Disney film. For another, I knew this was a movie and not a documentary. How I wish for the latter.

My number one complaint had to deal with the title...er...horse, Secretariat. It goes without saying no one horse could match his charisma much less his near perfect confirmation, but couldn't they find a horse who at least looked interested in his surroundings? The movie only showed one real race of Secretariat's, the Preakness Stakes. Our party just looked at each other and said, "Why show that race and NOT the Belmont Stakes?" To me, it would have much more emotional if the final Jewel of the Triple Crown was shown and accompanied, of course, with Chick Anderson's calling of the race ("Secretariat is widening now...He is moving like a tremendous machine!"). In this case, it is probably better to give Disney the benefit of the doubt and say, "Maybe there were copyright issues and they could not show that footage." It goes without saying that showing atleast one race, did lend a feeling à la Seabiscuit when they used the real call of the race in the match race with War Admiral.

My other two issues dealt with Secretariat himself. For one, you had to wait until the ending credits to see the real Secretariat, in retirement at Claiborne, and I can honestly say to see his image on a 40' screen just took my breath way. It probably would have been difficult to do, and a distraction to movie goers, but couldn't they work his image into the movie in other places...winner circle photos? press photos? My second issue is the way the typical movie goer is led to believe that Secretariat is still alive. No mention in the closing credits is given that Secretariat has been dead of 21 years. More importantly, Disney lost the perfect opportunity to educate the public on laminitis (which ultimately took Secretariat's life) and the great work the Secretariat Foundation does in helping Thoroughbreds and non-Thoroughbreds in retraining programs, theraputic programs, veterinary research programs and retirement and rehab facilities for ex-Thoroughbred racehorses.

My second complaint is just the historical inaccuracies of the movie. Ranging from Mr Chenery's health to how Penny found Lucien Laurin; not to mention John Malkovich's ill-casting as the famed trainer. The movie didn't even touch on the close bond that groom Eddie Sweat had with Secretariat. I really wish that Eddie's character had a more prominent role in the film and gave Eddie the credit he deserved. Personally, for me, I wished the movie had been based on Lawrence Scanlan's The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse and not on Bill Nack's Secretariat. While Mr Nack's book has remained the definitive biography on Secretariat, Mr Scanlan's book lends a human emotion; especially in the connection of Eddie and Secretariat.

If I were to go on, I'd just be nit-picking. For the horseracing fan or Secretariat fan, the movie is not what it could be. But for the casual movie goer or horse loving public, it's enjoyable.

The bottom line is: when the movie comes out on DVD, I'll still buy it.

A Sobering Post

I've had Dino nearly a year now and I have been doing some serious thinking.

When I first got Dino, my trainer was excited for me. Yeah I got a younger horse who possessed endless possibilities for a new career. One that could get me going again. But mainly because I had a project that could take my mind and heart away from Angel, who is getting close to the end. My trainer told me, "Take everything you have and put it into him, this is going to be good for you..." I was offended. I mean, that's my Angel. My equine soul-mate that I wouldn't know what to do without. I just love her with all my heart and out of all my horses, I would give anything for her to be eternal. I cannot even put this mare down, because if I do I'll never leave our mini farm here in Ohio. I would just never leave her. I want to do it in Kentucky, so that I can always go out and sit with her. I didn't say anything and it put it out of my mind.

This past summer at Dressage Camp, it was the second day, and I was once again questioning my trainer on whether or not Dino was right for me. What I love about my trainer is that she is blunt, sometimes too blunt, but she needs to be; she's a realistic person whom would describe herself as my eyes on the ground. I would say 45% eyes on the ground, 65% therapist. This particular day she says to me, "Kelly, from everything you told me you wanted an affordable horse that you could bring along, Dino is perfect for you." Okay, you got me. Then she added, "You do love him; you would have too, to teach him to bow and put forth all the work that you have." I wanted to stop her, correct her and say, "But I don't." And that would have been the truth, because I have not allowed myself to love him. I keep waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop. A soundness issue, a psychological issue, etc., anything that would make it easier that if it didn't work out, I could get rid of him and not be hurt emotionally by it. In a way I was trying to protect myself.

Last Saturday, my farrier came out to trim hooves and pull Dino's shoes for the winter. My farrier was asking me how things were going and I listed two major faults that I have with Dino: his stall walking and his coprophagia. Then I listed two more: his pig eyes and his skinny neck. Before I knew it, I was listing off everything I didn't like about him. I was shocked and a little embarrassed. My farrier looked at me and said, "If you let those things bother you, I predict you won't keep him, because one day you'll say, 'That's it, I don't want him anymore, I can't take it' and you'll get rid of him." I thought, that's bull I wouldn't do that. We kept talking and I put Dino back in his stall and pulled Angel out. I started talking about Angel and how wonderful she is when my farrier interrupted me. "You know," he says, "You will never like that other horse while this one is still around." Once again I thought bull, whatever. But I knew in the back of my mind that he was saying what my trainer says to me, just in their own way.

That night I went down to the barn for one last check on them and Angel was lying down. I went into her stall and sat with her for a few seconds stroking her face and neck. I found myself saying to her, "If only I could turn back time..." I quickly got up, locked her stall door, turn the barn lights out and went back up to the house. Yesterday afternoon, I was cleaning stalls when I was rethinking about Angel lying down and my going into the stall with her. A horse has to have a lot of faith to allow you in there with them, because they are at their most vulnerable. They are down and wouldn't be able to get away from a predator. Dino, on the other hand, if he were down when I walked into the barn, would immediately get up.

That all changed last night. It was 11:20 when I went back down to the barn to check on them. Dino was down in his stall. I walked up to his stall door to glance at him, before I knew it I was sliding the latch on his stall door and walking in...and he didn't get up. I didn't get down, but I bent over and rubbed his face and neck. I stood back up and just watched him before returning to rub his face, his ears, neck and fixing his forelock. I left his stall, even though he was making no effort to stand, and went to see Angel, then Sancho. Before I left, I went back to Dino but remained outside of his stall, just watching him. After a few minutes he rolled twice and then got up, lumbering over to me to stroke his nose.

It dawned on me then, not only have I short changed Dino, but I have been unfair to him. While I have been busy building a wall to keep Dino out of my heart, he has completely and utterly allowed me into his world. And tonight, Dino made the first move to dismantling the wall.

I need to change, if not for myself, then for Dino.

A Change in the Air

It finally happened, just when I thought I would live in 90+ weather that never rains and was always muggy. But today, today it's 78 out with a high of 81. Tonight lows down to 58. The next ten days call for low to mid 80s.

Yesssss!

So Dino got worked this morning. Poor, poor Dino. Lunged in side-reins on the girth, 10 minutes in each direction. The first five minutes were slow to warm-up and then I asked him to step it up. He was fantastic going to the left, but weak to the right; which is typical. It was July 10 that he was really worked, so right now we are re-conditioning and will be for the remainder of the month.

Dino was fresh this morning and I did anticipate that, which was why he was lunged. I haven't formed a plan for tomorrow, whether it be ride or lunge...probably ride. And on Wednesday we'll just walk, I haven't ridden him to music yet. I think Wednesday would be a good day to introduce that.

A few years ago, my trainer told me to pickup A Gymnastic Riding System Using Mind, Body, and Spirit: Progressive Training for Rider and Horse by Betsy Steiner and Jennifer Bryant. Chapter Two deals with rhythm as the first building block, and it lists starter songs that work well with the gait of a horse. One of the songs is The Beatles 'Yellow Submarine' as a great walking song - a good four beat rhythm for the horse to march to, and it allows the rider to get a feel for a good walk. Too many times the rider allows the horse to lag behind their leg, while both rider and horse zone out. Not good. When ever you are on the horse, whether a show or pleasure mount, is an opportunity to work on something. It can be contact, supplying, bending, a good walk, etc. Now I don't mean Dino is never given his head, he is. When we cool out I drop to the buckle and encourage him to reach down into the bridle (contact) and engage his hindquarters and stretch over his back. He's cooling out, but we're still doing something. I don't believe training opportunities should ever be passed up.

In other Dino related news, he's still stall walking. :*(

Stall walking

Some barn managers and owners don't allow certain bad habits in their barn: cribbing, weaving, stall kicking, stall walking..., etc. Dino has turned into a stall walker and I'm not sure exactly why....was he bored?....did he have anxiety?....was he hurting in some way? The more I let it go on to observe him, the worse it got in he was losing weight and I had growing concerns with him over loading his left front. I was starting to feel helpless and knew I couldn't help him if I don't know the reason(s) behind it. So I started looking back at our short history to see if anything jumped out at me.

When he was boarded last winter at Sandy's Lilly Bug Farm, he didn't stall walk. He was in the first stall next to the tack room, the walls were solid and there were no windows.

Then Dino came home where he was again placed in the first stall, closest to the barn door. My walls are solid for four feet and then have bars another four feet. All three horses can see each other and it increases air flow. My stalls have windows. I use to have the typical small barn windows that I hated. You had to crank them open and close, and one cold day Angel's window got stuck. I went outside to see if I smacked the window frame if it would help close. Nope. My hand went right through the glass and I had an awful mess with the shattered glass outside the barn in snow and inside the stall with Angel, not to mention my bleeding hand. That spring we were replacing the windows in the house, so we took the top half of the windows, which are roughly three feet by two feet, and placed those in the stalls. In the winter time, the windows are in, a bar frame is placed in front of the windows to protect the glass from flying hooves and plastic weatherproofing for insulation against drafts. In the spring/summer/fall all is removed and the horses can literally hang their heads out their windows.

Left to right: Dino, Angel, & Sancho

Shortly after Dino came home, he started walking. He'd walk to the front stall to look out the big door. He'd walk to the back of his stall to look out his window. This went on and on and on. At first I thought he just wasn't use to having so much to see and he would settle in as he got used to it all. At first yes, now not so much.

In early July Dino went to the University of Findlay's western campus for dressage camp. He had a stall right in the middle of the aisle against the wall with solid sides and no windows. He didn't stall walk. Shortly after we returned home, the stall walking increased ten-fold. But his workload suddenly decreased, due to the weather and his banged knee.

I have taken this all into consideration and when I started searching the internet into the whys and ways as to help him. I found a great article off of The Horse in which Dr. Katherine Houpt explains that while many people think "[stall walking] is brought on by boredom [...] evidence has shown that this behavior is caused more by confinement, lack of interaction with other horses, and the lack of grazing."

I immediately thought to myself, "No way can it be caused by lack of interaction with other horses in Dino's case. He can see both Angel and Sancho, touch noses with Angel and he's turned out (weather permitting) with them both daily." And then I finished the sentence, "lack of grazing." Bingo. This summer has been unreasonably hot and humid with very little rain. The large pasture in the back, never even got open. The small one in the front that Angel and Sancho have access to, they ate down and has pretty much died. The even smaller one, with better fencing, that Dino gets, had the same problem. So unless they are being hand grazed for 10-15 minutes in the morning, they are all turned out together in the dry lot where they receive a bale of hay (roughly 60-lbs) a day. Days when it's too hot and humid, they stay in all day and are turned out at night.

In the article, Dr Houpt breaks stall walking into two categories, "the first one being frantic stall walking, where the horse is walking around rapidly and probably defecating. This indicates that the horse is extremely upset, commonly caused by separation. Separation anxiety is characterized by the horse neighing, which is an isolation call."

Nope, not Dino.

"The second type of stall walking is classified as a stereotypic behavior. This is generally a response to a poor environment, which some horses can cope with and others can't. This is seen with the horse walking slowly around the stall leaving a worn-down trail."

Yep, that's Dino. It's like he's taking a stroll. When he's outside walking, he's never in a hurry and drags his hind toes. He just has this look of indifference, he'll get there when he gets there and he knows you'll wait. He has the same walk in his stall.

Dr Houpt does little to appease my fear when she states, "These behaviors generally do no harm to the horse. However, the horse may excessively wear the floor of the stall or may wear his shoes or hooves abnormally." All my stalls have mats and my farrier hasn't mentioned any abnormal wear of Dino's shoes. Yet I still worry about the filling in Dino's left front. When my vet, Dr Henninger, came out for shots last April, he thought he could have a bone chip in there, some wearing of the cartilage, or just some normal wear and tear of being a racehorse. Dr H said I could get x-rays, if I wanted, but it was probably really just nothing. My trainer has assured me if Dino were to have soundness issues, we'd know by now. But I don't want to add more stress with his stall walking. I did place Dino on a supplement, Devil's Claw Plus, just as a precaution. In my mind, I couldn't help thinking that with all his racing and training, Dino's body must have aged much like that of a human marathon runner. You put that kind of strain and stress on your body, you're gonna be achy.

As I continued with the article, Dr Houpt suggests adding more than one type of roughage, like beet pulp. I can do that, I keep it on hand. I've also been considering getting some more timothy/alfalfa hay cubes, which Dino LOVES. She also mentions feeding more than once a day, I already feed three times a day and I don't know if I could feed more than that, and she talks about changing bedding type. Right now I have corn cob pellets in Dino's stall, having switched from wood pellets and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. I don't want to use straw as bedding, so that's automatically out.

In the end, Dr Houpt does not believe stall walking cause "harm to the horse, and if he doesn't destroy the stall floor or his feet, then you may want to consider just leaving him alone. There are some horses which only exhibit these behaviors when people are around. So the horse may not be stall walking or weaving except when you are present. Other horses will only stall walk when they become anxious."

I know that Dino stall walks when no one is around, he's stabled at home and I see the walking ring in his stall. But maybe he does do it when he's anxious. Like he knows its getting close to feeding time or turn out time.

Dr Houpt closes with, "All breeds are susceptible to stall walking or weaving. The occurrence is more closely associated to the horse's use rather than other factors. Dressage competitors and racehorses exhibit these behaviors more often than do trail horses. It has not been studied yet why different uses make a difference in these behaviors, but it may be tied to feed, amount and type of exercise, and pasture time. Without further studies, there is no way to know if certain breeds are more susceptible than others."

And there went any hope that I could stop this from continuing. Dino's in dressage training, he's a retired racehorse, and he's not lacking interaction with other horses. My only hope lies in adding beet pulp and/or hay cubes to his diet.

And maybe do a rain dance.

More than five months...

WOW, I can't believe it has been more than five months since my last post. I truly need to keep this updated more and promise to do so.

Dino six months after I got him, May 2010.

I guess a quick recap is in order. On March 2, Dino met my trainer, Mandy, for the first time. It was a lunge lesson to evaluate him and assess where we would go from there. We dropped the side-reins onto the girth and passed the lunge line through the bit ring to the lowest ring on the surcingle. Dino needed to learn about going forward into contact and to bend. We used this method because Dino had a habit of pulling on you in one direction, running you over in the other and choosing what speed to work. Within three weeks, Dino was staying out on the line and no longer pulling. It was also vital to put a "whoa" on him before we proceeded to anything under-saddle. It would take a few more months before Dino could regulate his speed on the lunge, mainly because he was so unbalanced and leaning heavily on the side-reins for balance.

On March 9, Dino moved home. :)

From r to l: Dino, Angel, & Sancho.

It was more than two months before my trainer saw Dino again. During this time I continued to lunge him and work on increasing his flexibility, moving forward, and perfecting our voice commands. Dino's schedule was, and has remained, off Sunday and Thursday, work the rest of the week with one day devoted to only walking for 40-60minutes to encourage relaxation. At this point Dino was still jigging into a trot and not truly walking at any time during our works.

May 13 was our first under-saddle lesson. Mandy put up four cones on a 15-meter circle for us to ride through. The corresponding cones were set up just wide enough for us to pass through. This was a tough lesson because Dino just locked onto the left rein and would not give to the pressure. He kept his nose rooted in one position and kept popping out his left shoulder. I was truly discouraged.

May 18 and I brought my spurs with me. During the five days between lessons I lunged Dino like crazy and got him to unlock on his left, I foolishly thought I had won the war. Same exercise, accept this time Dino locked onto the right rein and kept popping his right shoulder. Too bad for him that I had spurs and this was probably his first experience with these nifty little training aids, because he promptly turned around and bit my right foot when I applied them.

June 1 was probably our best lesson. We did a whole slew of changing directions while remaining balanced and connected. By the end of the lesson we had a new motto: rhythm + balance + connection = harmony. The reason we were so on our game for this lesson was because we had worked like crazy during those two weeks on everything we had learned. I'm the type of rider that I take the tools given to me in a lesson and apply them at home on my own, this way at my next lesson I/we are ready to move on to the next task. I personally feel like I don't want to waste my time, money, or energy if I don't work and I would feel horrible to waste my trainers time. She's there as my eyes on the ground and gives me the tools to succeed.

June 10 was a bit of a break down, but we were able to get through it and for the first time we experienced reaching over his back and down into the bridle. For Dino to do this, he had to have a completely loose back. It also seemed as if Dino and I are still struggling with connection going to the left and this is something that we will probably always struggle with. Like humans horses are also right-handed and left-handed, Dino is probably right handed...or right hooved. Another great experience about this lesson, the barn was holding a schooling show two days later and the arena was already set-up. Even though we haven't shown in an *official* dressage arena, we have at least schooled in one - yay!

June 30 was a monumental lesson for Dino and I -- we cantered for the first time under-saddle. Okay, an experienced horse person is thinking to themselves, "Why'd you wait so long to canter?" It's very simple, Dino needed to unlock, bend, develop some self-carriage, and he didn't have the strength to hold himself in a rhythmic canter. "But he was a racehorse, how could he not have the strength?" Dino has the strength to run full out and run faster when I pull on him. He needed to become balanced and develop the strength to hold himself in a trot before cantering. There were lessons that my lower back, shoulders, and upper arms just killed me after a lesson -- because I was carrying him. Not exactly how it works. By cantering sooner, I would not have been doing Dino any favors by allowing him to canter badly, or myself for that matter. It was not the prettiest canter, by far, but we cantered and now we have a new goal to work towards. Oh, and pick up the right lead...but he does does have a nice flying change. ;)

July 7-10 Dino and I participated in the Flatlanders Dressage & Combined Training Association's camp. We hauled in the night before, really too late to school or do anything, but I was still confident that Dino would handle the change well. For the most part he did.

Day 1 of camp it was hot and muggy. This was just a day for the instructor's to evaluate you and your horse, as well as get an idea on where you were in training. Lucky for me, my trainer was one the trainers as was her trainer, so I felt like I already knew what to expect in the instructions. As opposed to someone knew who didn't know my riding style or my horse's inexperience. Everyone also all had a 30-45min private lesson that first day. Our private lesson went okay, we worked on counter-flexion and for the first time leg-yielding, we also started preliminary work on haunches-in. The goal was to work on Dino's suppleness, improve his impulsion, and strengthen his hindquarters.

Day 2 it was hotter and muggier, if that was possible. The day started with a 45min semi-private and ended with an hour group lesson of five or six. My semi-private went well. We were again working on a 20-meter circle with the cones, which was difficult because there were two of you and you had to regulate your horse to keep equal distance at all times. This was also our second time cantering and it was so much better than before. I felt going to the right that I was gripping with my thighs and not relaxing, but going to the left I was able to sit into the saddle. This was probably more mental on my part. I was happy that I could flex Dino and maintain the canter without him running off with me. My trainer told me then that, "Dino has a natural canter, so we have to work on getting his trot to that level." The hardest part of this semi-private was when we worked on downward and upward transitions. As of right now, Dino still has a hard time coming down off his "high" when cantering. He doesn't relax and constantly jigs. So after our canter work, asking him to halt within three strides was nearly impossible - he would just root me down his neck and start jigging into a trot.

After lunch we had our group lesson and that went from bad to horrible. After our semi-private earlier that morning, Dino started acting colicky and I wasn't sure what was going on with him. I took him for a walk and he perked up, so after talking with my trainer and my trainer's trainer, Janet, it was decided I would ride him and he was probably just experiencing ill-effects from the weather. The lesson prior to ours was running over, so we all gathered outside the arena to wait. Dino started fidgeting, getting anxious and breaking out in a sweat. When we got into the arena, Dino and I were last in line to mount. It took 20mins to get on as Dino just would not stand. Even Janet, who came over to assist, couldn't get him to stand. Dino would almost just head-butt her. Finally I was able to get on and Dino wouldn't walk. It nearly came to a confrontation between us and I could feel Dino was on the verge of a massive meltdown/explosion. Janet saw this and told me to go ahead and trot him, he wouldn't even trot out just did a "bunny-hop" trot. When I applied my leg to him to push him out, he would root down and try breaking into a canter. Within a few minutes Dino was pouring from sweat and Janet told me to just hop off, but I couldn't because he wouldn't stand still. It was more like a moving dismount. As I left the arena, close to tears, I asked Janet why were we moving backwards. Janet assured me these things happen.

Day 3 of camp had my trainer out and Janet handling all 17 riders. The lessons were reworked to private, semi-private or group. I had a semi-private towards the end of the day. This was also the first day where the weather was finally cooling and less muggy. I really didn't want to ride in the large indoor again and wanted to ride in the small indoor. Janet told me on to lunge Dino in the large indoor and see how things go, if he's bad then we'll move to the smaller indoor where he was comfortable with my trainer the previous two days. In my mind I had already decided that if Dino was bad, we were pulling out that night and going home. I just felt like maybe I was asking too much of Dino too soon. Surprise-surprise Dino was good, it took me a few minutes but I was able to mount him on my own. This lesson really focused on supplying and flexing the jaw, as Janet had setup cones that we had to leg-yield around or to if they were placed on the quarter line. We also worked on straightness and coming down center line. At the end of the lesson, Dino was on the buckle walking. I felt so good that we had worked through this, together.

It also turns out Janet had an idea as to Dino's poor behavior the day before. Janet pointed out everything I did was reminiscent of a racetrack. I brought Dino to the ring to wait with a bunch of other horses, i.e., a saddling paddock. Dino was last in line for the mounting block, i.e., a starting gate. Janet held Dino as I attempted to mount, i.e., a walking ring. My trainer pointed out that Dino has never been in a group lesson before, i.e., warming up before a race. Maybe it was true, maybe in Dino's mind he thought he was going to race again.

Day 4, and last day, of camp, we had the best weather yet. This time I had a semi-private right after lunch. I didn't want to differ from the day before, so I again lunged Dino in the large arena and got on immediately afterward. This lesson was the toughest by far. Janet had setup cones to form two 15meter circles back to back of each other and out of the second 15meter circle, she had five or six cones evenly spaced heading on a diagonal toward each corner. It was all about flexion of the jaw and suppleness of the body. We started on the first circle, developing a rhythm and connection, we then moved to the second circle were it was a change of direction and again working on rhythm and connection. When that was established, we'd come out of the second circle and weave through the cones working on flexion and suppleness. The first few times through the cones was difficult, but as we continued to work Dino kept loosening up. Janet then moved the cones we had been weaving through closer together, Dino became so supple and attuned to me that I could literally move him through the cones off my thighs. It was definitely a moment for us. We ended the lesson by working on impulsion, which Dino is already a forward moving horse, he'll just fall heavily on to his front end and loose the connection. So Janet had us push a stride, flex and supple the next, push a stride, flex and supple the next, etc. We did this all the way around the arena and then across the diagonals. It was an amazing feeling!

In the end, camp was fantastic! It was Dino and I's first real outing together in a strange environment with strange horses, we survived and next year will be even better! I already have a plan in my head on how to work on our cantering issues: loosen up with trot work and then canter. Everytime we come down from the canter, we walk a good 15mins and then we start over; trot work and then canter. Just like how Dino needed to learn to walk and not jig into a trot, he'll need to relearn to walk after cantering. This will probably take a while for Dino to grasp and completely relax into to.

Now while I have a plan for the cantering, I don't have one for the halting. It is something I really need to sit down and contemplate. The halt probably has more to do with me than Dino, where I need to work on my half-halt and really plan on the halt, not just ask and immediately expect it. Remembering to open up my shoulders and not allow Dino to haul me down his neck would also really help.

So this is where we are at, we are beginning work on training level and this time next year I hope to be schooling first level. After camp Dino must have sweated off 50-lbs so he was originally given a week off to rest and recoup. Sadly Dino has remained on "vacation" as the weather turned unbelievably hot and muggy again and the population of horse and deer flies multiplied. I've seen him buck, it's one of those jaw breaker bucks, so I'm now on a mission to find a spray to keep us both in one piece. Dino also had a feed change, he is now on timothy/alfalfa hay, roughly 20-lbs a day, off of the straight alfalfa, and Purina's Ultium, where he gets about 3.5-lbs a day. I do feed less than the recommendation, mainly because I don't like feeding a lot of grain, I'd rather feed more hay but so far I just LOVE this feed!

Eight years have past...

(taken February 12, 2010)

Today Dino is officially 8-years-old.

I have often wondered if Dino knows just how close he came to being someone's dinner. I have spoken to Anne Russek, who did the initial rescue from Sugarcreek 16-months ago, and she told me that everytime they entered the pen that Dino was in, to look at another horse, Dino approached them - making it clear to them that he did not want to stay there. I'm not the type of person who uses anthropomorphism when it comes to animals, but reading Anne's words have made me wonder...

In the short three months that I have owned Dino, I have bared witness to a transformation of sorts. Once described as having ADD, Dino has blossomed into an affectionate, patient and worry-free horse. When we work, he keeps both an ear and an eye locked on me. So much so, that freestyle lunging has become a quiet solitude of body language. I only hope this friendship/bond continues to develop and grow into an unstoppable force.

More updates will follow as the weather improves. As of right now, I have tentatively scheduled a lesson with my trainer for March 9.