"Where art ends, violence begins."

I can't take credit for the above quote, it was actually said by Col. Bengt Lundquist. Col. Lundquist was a Swedish dressage master and is credited with bringing dressage to the United States. He wrote the Practical Dressage Manual back in the early 80's and nearly 30-years later it is still a must read.

When you work with horses, especially on your own, you become your own 'trainer' with your own philosophy or rules to live by. My philosophy is something I call: The 3, 3's.

1. A horse has the mental capacity of a 3-year-old child.
2. If you discipline a horse, you must do it within the first 3 seconds of it doing something wrong. Otherwise they've forgotten and you're just being abusive.
3. When you do discipline them, only do so for 3 seconds and walk away.

I am ashamed to say that I recently broke my rules. Since this blog is titled the Ups & Downs, I thought in an effort to be honest, I must write about what happened.

A little more than a month ago, Dino started becoming aggressive. At first it was towards my Dad and it was just little things, like pinning his ears when he walked by his stall. Then one day, Dad went into his stall to change out water buckets and Dino wanted out. Dad pushed him back and while Dino stood in the corner, he charged my Dad with ears flat back and mouth open. Dad told me about it and said he got after him. At the time he stressed, "I don't trust him."

In my mind, I thought, "Whatever, I trust Dino. He wouldn't do that to me." It didn't take long before I ate my words. Our barn is 30' by 40' with the stalls along the east side wall. In the northwest corner is the hay mound, directly between the hay mound and Sancho's stall, is where the grain and bedding is stored. Our barn is an open floor plan, if the horses can't get out and we're doing stalls, we just let them out into the 'court-yard', if you will. At some point, someone was being naughty, I don't know if it was Angel or Dino, but my Dad got a rope to fasten across the width of the barn to Angel's stall, to keep them out of the hay. Okay, I was lazy in a hurry, whatever, but I didn't fasten the rope across as I was cleaning Dino's stall one day last month. He got into the hay, I yelled at him, he moved away and when I approached him he got aggressive. Laid back his ears, switched his tail, his mouth tightened...all the signs that I know is his way of telling me, "I'm in no mood."

It didn't deter me, I thought in my silly human mind, "I'm the boss here, what I say goes." So I asked Dino to move over, nothing. I told Dino to move over, nothing. Well now I'm annoyed and I made Dino move over. He turned his butt towards me and double-barreled kicked at me. I would like to think I reacted about the same as anyone would, I was angry and I immediately got after him. I made him move and continued to do so until I felt he had moved his feet enough and I gained some respect before I allowed him to stop. Remember, this is a 30' x 40' barn with three stalls, 18' from the front of their stalls to the opposite wall and about 30' from the hay mound to the front of the barn; so its about 18' x 30' of free space. Really the horses can only walk in there, maybe a few steps of trot but nothing else - there's just no room, so it wasn't like I was running him ragged. But I did keep him moving.

About a week goes by and the same darn thing happens. Dino got into the hay mound, I got after him and he kicked at me - one foot this time, the back right. He was so close to me this time, I literally had to spit out dirt and small stones. I reacted differently this time, I was angry and there was a level of fear that rose up within me and more than anything, I reacted to that fear than to my anger. I, again, got after Dino. When I went to grab his halter, he reared. He didn't strike out, just reared up. That pretty much sealed it. I was no longer thinking clearly. I can't even begin to speculate how much time elapsed, it felt like no more than 10 minutes, but I'm sure it was much longer. Needless to say, when I was done Dino was shaking with his nose to the ground.

It was at that moment that I saw what I had done to him and I immediately backed off. I was sitting on something, don't recall what, watching Dino watch me. I softly called to him and he, without hesitation, came directly to me. It would be nice if I could say we shared a moment, but we didn't. I finished in the barn and went up to the house to email my trainer. I was honest about it and asked for guidance in this situation. I even reached out to a few horse friends, who all quickly attempted to assure me it was okay. I needed to get after him and even it was done harshly, he was less likely to do it again.

Wrong.

It was like three days later and I was in Dino's stall cleaning it with him in there. I asked him to move, nothing. I told him to move, aggression. I made him move and he kicked. This time my pitchfork was the causality. He nailed that sucker and had it been bone instead of plastic and wood, he would have broken, no shattered, the bone. Of course, it would have been my knee or thigh he was that close. Once again, I got after him. Which was stupid, because at one point I was in the corner with no where to go. Which in hindsight is how Dino felt, trapped.

Every month I get four horse magazines: Horse Illustrated, Dressage Today, Practical Horseman, and Equus. One might ask, "Why so many magazines?" I like learning about new techniques and sometimes what someone writes, can resonate deeply when the right person reads it. They can see things more clearly, understand a situation better, take what that person learned - apply it to their life/situation, and it all allows them to become a better person.

The March issue of Equus had two such articles. One was titled "Get Your Horse's Attention", in which Cherry Hill talks about combating boredom, anticipation and sourness. Right now, Dino is sour. A horse who is sour will pin their ears, switch their tail, head shaking, bucking (kicking), bulk when asked to move,etc. This paragraph spoke volumes to me, "Finally, sourness can develop when the lines of communication between horse and rider are broken. In particular, the communication sequence is broken if you forget the importance of acknowledgment and yielding. If you don't yield (reward) when the horse does something correctly but, instead, you try to "hold" your horse [...]" This is not something that happened over night, our communication has been breaking down for a while now. I just kept thinking, "Winter, it's bound to happen. It'll get better when we can get back to work." I know I need to re-establish the lines of communication with Dino if we are to move past this. Waiting for the ground to thaw is not going to work here.

The second article is part of a series, "Saving Sophie". Author Ann Hardy was a journalist who adopted an Appaloosa filly, Sophie, whom was rescued from slaughter. In part III of the series, Ann and Sophie are facing their own communication breakdown. Ann found help in a new trainer, Emily, who believes Sophie's "integration into a herd was paramount. As prey animals, horses need a herd in order to feel safe. Also, the pecking order of a herd would teach Sophie valuable lessons in terms of respect and hierarchy - in other words, she would not be allowed to be a brat [...]" Dino is a race-horse-brat, he was isolated so long at the track that he really doesn't know how to act in a herd. And right now, who's going to teach him? My 23-year-old 13.2-hand Paso Fino gelding or my 21-year-old lame (read: crippled) thoroughbred mare? When it comes down to it, I am the fourth member of the heard and it's up to me to find a better way to communicate with him about what is acceptable and what is not. Again, communication.

Probably the best was Jim Wofford's column in Practical Horseman, "Our Horses, Our Teachers", which is where the title of this post came from. I love reading Jim's column every month, there is always something to learn from them. This time around Jim was really stressing just how much we learn from our horses and he goes on to list what he has learned: Patience; Ignore gender and color; Work beats talent everytime; Plan for success; Punctuality; Sense of humor; and Optimism. What stuck out at me the most was optimism. "You only need three things to be happy: Someone to love, something to do, and someone to do it with. If you love horses, this takes care of itself. "

That last day, when Dino kicked at me and got my pitchfork, I had a good cry in his stall. Just wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed. I just felt that I couldn't put up with that type of behavior and he probably needed to go. It was at that moment that I felt compassion, but it wasn't coming from me, it was coming from Dino. You see, as I was crying, Dino had wrapped his neck around me almost laying his cheek against my ear with his nose over my shoulder. I caught my breath for a second and thought, "How weird, its like he's hugging me back." Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing here and it probably doesn't even matter, I just knew in that moment that Dino and I are in this together, that together Dino and I will ride this out and be better partners on the other side.

In the midst of all of this, Dino turned nine on February 13.

YAY, Dino!!!

Dino's page on the Thoroughbred Adoption Network, courtesy of Maker's Mark Secretariat Center.

Dino was also the "Secretariat Descent of the Day" on Secretariat's Meadow. (Please scroll down to see the mention. :)

I am on this personal mission to get Dino's story out to as many people as possible. Hopefully in doing so, would let people know that off the track thoroughbreds are not 'ruined' and can be re-trained for second career. Which is why I write this blog.

A month ago, Eclipse Awards put out a question on their facebook page, "If you could make a new category for an award at the Eclipse Awards what would it be and why?"

This was my answer: A former racehorse who's made an impact outside of racing. Whether he/she is a showhorse (4H to international level), is used in search and rescue, or found a new life as a rehab mount (for mentally or physically handicapped children and/or adults). This is also something that should be voted on by the Turf Writers Guild AND the public. They get nominated by the guild, but the public chooses. Much like how CNN has their Heroes Award. Submitting can be via Youtube along with a 1,500 word essay. The winner gets their own Eclipse and a feature story (including cover) on the Blood-Horse. This would be a great way to give attention to the retired thoroughbred racehorse. Boost adoptions and maybe even give incentives to trainers and owners for their horses; make sure these horses get a second lease on life after racing.

I firmly believe in this and hope to see it become a reality one day.

Equine Affaire

I've been going to Equine Affaire every year for over a decade now. I love it and it is the one thing I really look forward to doing every spring. For me, it the symbol that spring has arrived, even when it's held in March! A few years back, I decided to take the plunge and apply to ride with the best. I applied with both Angel and Sancho, but it was with Sancho that I was selected and coincidentally enough every time I apply with Sancho, I get accepted -- as long as its a gaited clinic. Steffen Peters and George Williams had no interested in me, but one day I will ride with Mr Peters and there is talk of our dressage group joining forces with another and having a clinic with Mr Williams, so my fingers are crossed.

Anyhow, applying to, and being selected, to ride with the best at Equine Affaire is a wonderful experience. For one, you are learning from a nationally recognized (sometimes worldly recognized) clinician/trainer, you are getting at least 45-minutes of their time telling you how to better your ride and most of the time this is in a semi-structured lesson (at least two riders). This alone always makes it worth it to me.

Now the stress is major. The best I can compare it to is like qualifying and showing at Nationals. The schooling ring is a ride-at-your-own-risk experience. You have people who are there just to learn how to stop their horse. You know, instead of running their horse into things, like me. When you go to a major horse show, like Nationals, you know how to ride, you know the other riders know how to ride. At Equine Affaire, and let me be blunt here, some of these people have never been out of their backyard. I'm not kidding. One time I saw this girl lunging when there were at least 20 other riders in the ring, and this is a good size ring (see picture), this girl is lunging her horse at the end of a dog leash (a slight exaggeration) and her horse is in a full out gallop. He was dragging her and clearly out of control. Another time, this girl was getting on and the horse started spinning - viciously. She wasn't even on, just clinging to the side of her saddle in a fetal position!

So I developed a Master Plan; 1)I don't ride in the afternoon, I ride first thing at 7am and 2)I don't ride in the schooling arena, I ride in the arena where my clinic is scheduled this way my horse and I become familiar with the layout, and we avoid other riders.

The other stress, and this is a biggie, is not only riding with the nationally recognized (sometimes worldly recognized) clinician/trainer, but its the crowds. Those milling about, walking alongside the arena, getting up abruptly their seats and the non-horsepeople who came out to see the horses...and pet them without asking.

A minor stress is the weather, you never know what to expect come March/April. Our first year we had 20-degree weather that couldn't decide between the snow and sleet. Poor Sancho was clipped (my bad) and our clinic was held in a covered outdoor arena, which you had to cross the parking lot to reach. Another year I was in shorts and last year it was nice mild weather, of course, because I didn't take a horse.

So several weeks back, I heard a rumor that Larry Whitesell was going to be there this year. I got sooo excited when it was finally confirmed. I've been wanting to ride with Mr Whitesell since I first got involved with Paso Finos, he is well known for his classical work with gaited horses and never compromising the gait. I immediately thought, "Sancho you're coming out of retirement!" But then my Dad got wind of it and basically told me to forget it, "Will you just leave the horse alone? He's too old to being doing this and you're probably just going to give him ulcers from the stress." And then it became, "When was the last time you even rode him?" "I rode him last year...well last spring...and just once." It appeared that I admitted defeat...again, appeared.

Yesterday I was again checking the roster for any newly added clinicians and my heart stopped....they added Jane Savoie!! The audio on Ms Savoie's website, concerning confidence, was the key to getting me comfortable on Dino. What I wouldn't do to have her insight and opinion. So now the wheels are in motion, should I apply Dino and myself? Would I be setting us up to fail, and fail miserably? Is this a disaster in the making to even the most layman? If it did turn out horribly, would I be undoing all the hard work I've accomplished in building confidence for Dino and myself? Is Dino even ready to handle Equine Affaire or would he revert to his old 'racing' self and have a major melt down before we even got in the ring? Could I even have him ready in time? (Like how I'm just assuming we'd even be selected?!*lol*)

Okay, so basically I'm in the process of talking myself out of even thinking of applying Dino. And really, I'm putting the cart before the horse because I don't even know what type of clinics (forget how many) Ms Savoie is even putting together. Hopefully within the next week or so, they'll have the clinic schedule up and I'll see if we (Dino and I) even qualify for anything. Here's to hoping Ms Savoie puts together an in-hand clinic, we'd be all over that one!!

Sancho and I participating in our first clinic at Equine Affaire. The weather couldn't decide on snowing or sleeting, the clinic was held in a covered outdoor ring, poor Sancho was body clipped, and I wore LAYERS and still froze. But I had a great time.

Looking Forward

Looking back on the past year has me eagerly looking forward. I find myself counting down the days until Equine Affaire, which inevitably leads me to counting down the days until my next vacation. Bump that back to the sooner I can do my taxes and get my return the better, because that's my annual spending money at Equine Affaire.

Besides that, I'm looking forward to a break in the weather so that Dino and I can get back to work. This year I'm hoping to take him to his first show in April. Not to show, mind you, I'll tie him up to the trailer or get a stall, then school him in schooling ring and walk him around. I know Dino and I know once he becomes upset, there's no reasoning with him. As I have said all along, every experience has to be a good one which is built upon.

Then we'll go to our first show, we'll start at intro level and at our second show, if all goes well at our first, we'll do training level. Before we know it, time for dressage camp will be upon us again. Four days of fun in the sun (well, indoor) and a lot of learning. By the end of the summer, early fall, I hope to begin first level.

Could I push Dino to start doing shoulder-fore, shoulder-in, haunches-in, haunches-out, half-passes, and leg-yields? Yes, of course, but what good is it if Dino's not connecting over his topline from his hindquarters, if he' not maintaining contact with my hand. It should start simply with leg-yields, where Dino would travel both sideways and forward at the same time; his body is straight with a slight bend to the outside. This, to me, is basic riding and not just dressage.

I learned a long time ago that short-cuts do not pay off, they never have and they never will. So come on spring, hurry up and get here!!

What can I say, I'm psychic

My last post was titled, "Someone is NOT going to make it through winter, probably me" and I have to say, it's coming true.

Picture it: a beautiful Christmas late afternoon, time to get together with family and enjoy a wonderful meal. Glancing out a window you see three horses, one horse is standing quietly while another is chasing around the third. The concerned owner slips out the backdoor and brings in the poor chased horse and offers her a flake of hay to nimble on, she then returns to the house. But not for long. As she is sitting in the family room, she watches the once quiet horse cantering across the pasture. She wonders if the bully is picking another fight, so she gets up from her chair and goes to the window to see better. The cantering horse settles down and starts walking the fence line. As he reaches the back of the pasture, he spins and starts cantering...er, galloping along the fence. He comes to the corner and instead of turning and following the line, he slips, falls, and slides through the fence.

The owner, who just witness this, is frantic and runs wildly through the house and out the backdoor. The horse is even more frantic as he is now tangled in the electric fence and trying to free himself. As he bolts across the pasture, the electric fence is around his legs, barrel, back and chest. Luckily the fence snaps and he is free, just now understandably upset and still galloping about. The owner reaches the pasture gate, flings it open and runs to her horse's aid. In hindsight, not a good idea; but a good gesture...to one who would appreciate it.

Once the horse is caught, he is blowing and shaking. He is led back into the barn, where the owner tends to his injuries...but wait! There is only one, a rope burn around his chest and shoulder. She thanks her lucky stars that it is not worse and goes about settling down the wild beast.

For the rest of the evening, and well into the night, the concerned owner returns to the barn every hour on the hour to check on her poor-poor horse.

Cast of Characters:
Concerned/Frantic Owner.....Me
Picked on horse....Angel
Bully.....Sancho

Which can only leave our STAR

Quiet horse who ran through fence....DINO.

The damages, December 25, 2010.

And to think, I thought I'd have post about what gifts Angel, Sancho and Dino got for Christmas.

Someone is NOT going to make it through winter, probably me

FOR SALE: 23-year-old spirited (read: PSYCHOTIC) Paso Fino gelding. Has performance record, neck reins, jumps, goes 2nd/3rd level dressage, crosses water - quickly if you don't want to get wet, and is road safe - even knows his way home! Can be a the nervous type; especially if you ask him think.

Last Saturday morning I had the scare of my life, and nearly a heart attack! I turned horses out while I was doing stalls and getting their breakfast ready. Fast forward 30-minutes and I go to bring them in, I open the side door and come face-to-face with a wide open pasture gate, "On no!", I thought.

I turn around just in time to see Sancho galloping across the backyard, afraid another horse would come barreling around the corner I approached with trepidation and peered around. I could see Angel out in a field, digging through snow for grass, and immediately felt a little better that she hadn't joined Sancho in his wild gallop. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see something running down the road, "OH NO, DINO!!" With my heart simultaneously in my throat and my stomach I started to walk across the barn drive to retrieve Angel when I notice Dino was really next to her, hidden from view by the trailer, out in the field digging through snow for grass. "Oh, thank you Lord," I thought and probably even said out loud.

I was now in a conundrum. Do I catch Sancho, who was still running around and risk Angel and Dino joining him. Do I go for Angel, who I would have a 50/50 shot of actually catching, but if she took off Dino would also for sure. Or Dino who has never been loose like this... I stood there contemplating for a few seconds before deciding Dino it was and who had a look on his face that said, "This is too much fun!"

Angel also had a look, "You will never guess what I just showed Dino...oh wait, I bet you can." However, it wasn't Angel's look that concerned me, it was the gleam in her eye. I've seen it many times before, the one that says: "Try me."

I adverted my eyes and calmly walked up to Dino, took hold of his halter (thank God I left those on!) and started walking back to the barn, but then I thought better of it and turned around grabbed Angel's halter as well. I could just see in my mind's eye, Angel taking off to join Sancho and setting Dino off in the process. So I had Dino on my right, Angel on my left and Sancho still running around like a damn fool. I immediately thought, "You, I am going to kill."

I get Angel safely back into her (locked) stall and while in Dino's stall Sancho comes FLYING into the barn, making a beeline for his stall. Once inside, he's snorting and shaking and really there is nothing I can do. If I raise my voice to him, he'll just get that much more upset. So I calmly walked over to his stall, removed his halter, closed and LOCKED his stall door.

Sancho is a...peculiar...horse. Not the brightest light bulb and can really test one's patience. I got him when he was 11-years-old and according to his owner transfer papers, I'm his fifth owner. Basically he was changing hands every other year. And I get why. I really-really-REALLY do. I am sometimes amazed that I've held on to him for more than half his life, and at this point I know I'm in for the long haul.

A really long haul. I just need to recite the Rider's Prayer more often, especially the line "Dearest Creator grant me patience..." Maybe even tattoo it on my body.

OR better yet, his body.

Videos

Here are some older videos I've taken of Dino over the course of the last year. Hopefully at some point I'll have some videos of Angel, Sancho and Dino out in the snow playing.

This first one if from when Dino was boarded last winter at Sandy's Lilly Bug Farm, just down the road from me. Okay, 'down the road from me' is country talk, she's about three miles north of me. I had boarded Dino for the sole reason of an indoor riding arena. It served its purpose. This particular day, Dino was feeling his oats a bit. Check out the buck at :39. The bucking was something Dino had to learn was not acceptable under saddle, it took a bit for him learn that! Sorry it's so dark, I did have the arena lights on.

This next video is of Dino bowing. I talked about this is another post and I do recommend teaching this trick. Super easy, a great focus tool and is a bounding experience.

The last video is the most recent. Dino is still lunged at least once a week. It gives his back a rest, works on his balance, his rhythm, and his gait. It's also great for me, because like most people I'm on time restraints and lungeing is just so much easier. Here Dino is in side-reins which are simply looped onto the girth, if he pulls his head up they will slide up. This way he is not forced into a position, but encouraged into one. The lunge line is attached to the inside ring of the bit only (the bit ring closest to me). Dino is going in a dressage bridle with a padded raised flash cavesson, and the bit is a Happy Mouth double jointed loose ring snaffle bit.