Baking Lessons

Misty and I had our 4th baking lesson with Sir Cowboy today.

I call them baking lessons because during lesson #1, Sir Cowboy called Misty a half baked cake. He said we need to turn up the heat and finish baking.

The heat is on and Misty and I are baking together.  Stick a toothpick in us, and it will still come out with some batter on it, but we are progressing and on our way to becoming fully baked.

Lesson #1: We walked and trotted in the round pen, working on my use of reins and leg aids.  Sir Cowboy evaluated my tack and made some adjustments and suggestions.  He loaned me a breast collar and rigged up a makeshift  flank set out of  a light horse sized flank cinch, nylon straps and baling twine. (Baling twine...almost as versatile as duct tape.)  It did the trick until a local saddle maker could make those items in draft size to fit Misty.  It is hard to shop "off the rack" for Misty.

Lesson #2: We trotted a lot and did exercises around barrels.  Sir Cowboy surprised me when he instructed me to put Misty into a fast trot around the round pen and kiss her into a lope.  She kicked out a little bit the first time we moved into the lope.  The furthest we loped was 1/2 way around the round pen. Loping under saddle is unfamiliar to Misty and it was the first time I had loped (cantered) in 25 years.  Then we finished up with some trotting exercises so Misty could end the lesson with confidence.

During lesson #3, I was surprised Sir Cowboy didn't make us lope some more.  Instead we did our turning and trotting exercises in the round pen.  Then we ventured out of the round pen to the front pasture where Sir Cowboy had us trot through a line of poles suspended from a high wire.  We worked on leg cues and releasing pressure through the poles.  It wasn't  pretty, but we did it with only one mishap.  While turning around the end pole, Misty stumbled on some uneven ground and went down onto her front knees.  Don't ya just hate it when that happens?!  She recovered fine and I stayed in the saddle.  Sir Cowboy said, "It's OK, she just tripped. You are riding a horse with big feet, you know."   Next we walked over a wooden bridge Sir Cowboy uses for training.  We walked over that bridge as if we had crossed it a thousand times.  The next time over the bridge Sir Cowboy told me to stop Misty on top.  No problem.  Piece of cake (even if it is just half baked). But Sir Cowboy likes to challenge us. He told me to back Misty off the bridge.  What?  Back her off the bridge?  We've ridden over these types of training bridges before, but always in one direction....forward!  I'd never thought of backing her off of a bridge before.   Misty was a little surprised with that first step backward off the bridge, but handled herself well.  The next time, Sir Cowboy had me say the word "Step" to prepare her for the step down, much like I do when I back her out of her horse trailer. She stepped backward off the bridge with ease.  I really need to have Mr. OnceUpon construct a bridge for us at home.  I like riding over bridges.  We ended that lesson by trotting a barrel pattern.

During the two weeks between lesson #3 and today's lesson, I've been practicing trotting in an arena, around barrels and through a line of orange cones.  I've also been putting Misty into a lope on the lunge line often.  That is something I have not done with her until the last 4 weeks.  I've stayed in my comfort zone too long, lunging her at the walk and trot only and that's probably why she kicked out a little bit when we went into our first lope under saddle during lesson #2.

Lesson #4: Today we stayed in the round pen for the whole lesson.  We started out with ground work to warm Misty up like we do at the beginning of every lesson.  Then I mounted and we did some trotting.  Sir Cowboy had me stop and get off while he made an adjustment to my saddle.  He tied a rope onto the rings at the back of the cantle.  I still tend to perch forward a little too much and he said this would help me get the feel of sitting deeper in the saddle and will give me confidence at the  lope.  He doesn't want me sitting back with my butt all the way in the saddle.  He wants me sitting on my pelvic bones, with weight in the stirrups, but not pitched forward so much.  He instructed me to hold the reins in my left hand, hold onto the rope behind my hip with my right hand, move to the rail at a fast trot and then move into the lope.  Misty picked up the lope without kicking this time.  We did this several times and she was very good, if only a little difficult to get into the lope because she was tired, and it is harder for a horse, especially a draft horse, to lope in a circle in a round pen.  I was tired too and made some mistakes.  One time Misty started trotting faster and faster, but wouldn't go into the lope and I felt a bit out of control.  Sir Cowboy said I was tensing up and using my legs to tell her to lope, but was hanging onto her mouth at the same time; giving her mixed signals.  We started over and I concentrated on moving my hands forward with her and not pulling back and we went right into a nice relaxed lope and traveled several times around the round pen.  It was great and we are a little more baked.

Sir Cowboy wants me to practice loping Misty on my own when I take her to an arena.  He told me not to lope around the corners, but to put her into a lope as we travel down the long side of the arena; start with a short distance and work up to loping the length of the arena.  He told me to be brave and that I've got to turn up the heat to get to the next level.

And so we bake...

Misty's Monday Muse - Half Baked

Hello there. I haven't had much to say since my little buddy went to a new home. It's been kind of boring and lonely without Marley, but I've handled it well and I'm enjoying the extra attention from MyLady.

On Saturday, MyLady and I went into the country for a riding lesson with Sir Cowboy. Sir Cowboy called me a "half baked cake". He says I'm half baked because I'm 7 years old and am not a finished horse and MyLady has been dabbling with my training for 3 years. He says we need to turn up the heat and get me fully baked. MyLady has to raise the bar for both of us. She has to get brave and move beyond her comfort zone.

So on Saturday, we started out with groundwork in the big roundpen. I had to do a lot of trotting and loping. Then MyLady got onboard and we did exercises at the walk and trot (more trotting than walking). Sir Cowboy put two barrels in the roundpen with an orange cone on top of each barrel. He gave MyLady 3 rings. She was supposed to trot me around the barrels and place a ring over the cone, then switch rings and reins to the other hand and drop another ring over the next cone as we trotted around the 2nd barrel. Even at a standstill MyLady was all discombobulated trying to practice switching rings and reins between her hands, so Sir Cowboy took the rings away. We did the exercise without rings so MyLady could practice switching just the reins between hands and using her leg aids to move me around the barrels. It wasn't pretty to begin with, but we did pretty well. Then Sir Cowboy decided to raise the bar on us. He told MyLady to move me into a fast trot around the round pen and "kiss me into a lope".

A lope!!! MyLady has never asked me to lope before! And if you read her last post, you know she recently just loped on a school horse herself for the first time in 25 years. Sir Cowboy told her to be brave and trust me. He told her to put me into a lope for just 1/4 of the way around the roundpen, then pull me up to a stop and we'd talk about it. We trotted fast, and then moved into a lope for just a little bit and then MyLady asked me to "whoa." It went pretty well, but she was a little surprised because she felt something unexpected as we moved into a lope. She felt an extra hitch in my giddy-up, as she describes it. She turned to Sir Cowboy and asked, "DID SHE BUCK?!" I didn't really buck, but I did kick out a back leg. Sir Cowboy said it is not uncommon for a horse to do that the first time it lopes with a rider because it can be a bit of a surprise to us. (I had a Pro lope me under saddle once, over a year ago, but I haven't done anything like that since.) He told her to put me into a lope again. I didn't kick out this time because I knew what to expect. We stopped again to talk and think about it and I got lots of pats on my neck and was told I was a good girl. I was glad to rest and relax and catch my breath. Loping is hard work. The last time we loped we went 1/2 way around the roundpen before Sir Cowboy told us to stop. My Lady didn't want to stop, but she did because she is an obedient student. My lope felt really nice to her and she was enjoying herself. Sir Cowboy said that on that last lope, I was very relaxed, loping nicely, and that MyLady was perfectly in sync with me.

We rested for a few minutes so I could think about what I had just accomplished with MyLady on my back. Then Sir Cowboy had us end the lesson with some trotting exercises. He says it is good to end with an exercise I'm very confident with after having moved forward into a new challenge, like loping. Next week he plans to have us work up to loping 2 times around the round pen.

We have some homework to do this week. MyLady is to get more aggressive with our groundwork and has to make me lope in a roundpen or on a lunge line while she is directing me from the ground. Sir Cowboy could tell that MyLady has been stuck in her comfort zone and hasn't been asking me to lope during groundwork.

We also have to work on my stops. I'm pretty good at stopping, but Sir Cowboy wants me to come to a full stop more quickly when MyLady asks for a "whoa". He doesn't want me trotting for a few strides, then walking a few strides before coming to a stop. There is a difference between transitioning to slower gaits and a "whoa". I need to have a good "whoa" from any gait. He said that someday MyLady and I may need a good, solid stop and wouldn't it be better if I stopped sooner, rather than traveling several mores strides....right over a cliff? Then he told us this funny story:

One day a policeman pulled a motorist over for running a stop sign. The driver argued and said, "But officer, I slowed down!" The officer took out his billy club and started hitting the driver over the head. The driver yelled, "Stop! Stop!" The officer asked, "Do you want me to stop? Or do you want me to just slow down?"

Whoa means whoa, not slow down.

The Confidence Booster

Quite by accident, I came across a horse for sale that sounded interesting, so I called the seller. The seller, whom I'll call Sir Cowboy, is a professional team roper/cowboy/trainer. Sir Cowboy trains roping horses, gives roping lessons to people as well as teaches beginning riding lessons to children and adults. He suggested I come to his ranch and take some lessons and he'd put me on this horse he has for sale.

I've taken 2 riding lessons on this roping horse and he's been a big confidence booster for me. On my 2nd lesson, I loped for the first time in 25 years. It was wonderful!

I wish this were the horse for me, but I'm trying to be wise about this next purchase. He's 15 years old and has been a performance horse. He has a big knot on his knee; looks like it might be a capped knee, but I don't have much experience with equine knee issues. He's been perfectly sound when I've ridden him. He moves nicely and is comfortable to ride. But the knee worries me and I'm afraid it will become a problem down the road. The protrusion on his knee joint feels hard, like it must be calcified, and that worries me. So I guess I'll keep looking. My farrier advised me to "ride 10, buy 1". Ugh...do I really have to ride 9 more horses before I recognize the right one? This is harder than finding a husband.

I think I can learn a lot from Sir Cowboy, so I will continue taking lessons from him. He is a traditional cowboy - encouraging, yet firm and won't put up with any weakness. Here are some words of wisdom Sir Cowboy has spoken during our lessons:

"I know you got hurt recently, but if you want to ride, you gotta dig down deep and be brave. You gotta control your motor (as he taps on his chest over his heart)."

"There is no such thing as 'pleasure riding'. Riding is work and if you aren't riding, then you are just hanging on."

"You are training your horse every time you ride. You keep training him until you bury him."

During lesson #2 when Sir Cowboy told me he was going to have me lope, my eyes got big and I said, "Ohhhhh, but...." He stopped me and said, "I don't want to hear that. I told you you've got to be brave...or get a bicycle."

I look forward to more lessons with Sir Cowboy. He pushes me and corrects my riding, but he also tells me when I'm doing everything right.