The BeeGees vs the Sex Pistols

As you may know from reading this blog (and if you don’t I’m about to tell you) Pip has attitude in spades. And, like spades, his attitude can be pointy and black. He and I have worked all that out, and we get on fine, I’m the boss, but I recognize what a kick-as horse he is, which is probably a big reason why our rides are getting so fun. Pip however, is not satisfied that I understand him; he has to make sure that everyone on the ride knows just exactly what a kick-ass horse he is. With horses he lives with this isn’t a problem, they know his rank (first minion of the herd boss, Logan), he knows they know, and he’s cool with them. But other horses have to learn.



Enter Bailey. Bailey is a lovely palomino QH who is built like a greyhound. Long legs, back, neck, and fast, that’s Bailey. He also doesn’t spook at much of anything. All of which makes him the ideal lead horse in our group, as he is fastest too. Bailey is the king of his little herd, and also has attitude. Bailey has been known to kick at horses cantering too closely behind him. He also pins his ears and generally acts like a grouch if another horse doesn’t recognize his natural kingliness.



You can probably guess where this is going.



Pip and Bailey don’t get along. Two bossy, headstrong horses; one a tall, blonde, hip-happening disco king, the other a short, skinny, black-haired punk rocker. It’s like the Sex Pistols vs the Bee Gees. Both popular in their own distinctive ways but not really compatible with each other. And sure was brought home this weekend! Pip and I have been on a number of rides with Bailey, I usually just keep Pip back behind partly because I’m having trouble with him on some level. Earlier this year we went out and Pip was great, he didn’t really chase he listened, and was generally great on the ride at whatever speed. But this time, while Pip was good, he went after Bailey: Big time, everytime.



As I stated above, Bailey mostly just pins his ears and if he’s going to kick, it’s at the canter. Pip apparently has no such rules. Pip must have lunged at Bailey ten times over the course of the ride. While we were standing in the stream, at the walk, at the trot, at the canter and gallop, if Pip was near Bailey, he’d not just put back his ears, but also bare teeth and try to get a piece of that golden hide. I did manage to stop each effort, so no harm. Pip even went so far as to swing his butt across the trail and into Bailey in an obvious threat to kick. He never did actually kick, but then neither did Bailey, even when we were in optimal target range.



So perhaps they are working it out, maybe they did, since by the end of the ride, they seemed to be getting on better and a disco king and punk rockers

Corners

Last weekend I had a great ride with Pip. We ride with two other people, one of whom is not the most attentive of other riders. He’s great, his horse, Bailey, is not the least bit spooky (which is nice when you’re in the woods), but I was nervous about riding with him because of his propensity to just take off without warning, he assumes that the rest of the group is ready, willing and keen to gallop through the trees.

Which up until very recently, I have not been so much with Pip. Pip is a very handy horse, which means he can corner, dodge and scare the hell out of me going through trees. He has also, on occasion, taken a short cut off a 20 foot high ditch bank to get to a water crossing. It’s nice knowing that he’s smart enough to recognize the crossing and assume that we are going to go there. It’s also nice to know he’s really sure-footed even when he’s leaping down a 45 degree bank of loose dirt. It’s very disconcerting to have him make decisions like that with no input from me.



That’s what made this weekend such a very nice one. We didn’t have any of those things happen. We galloped, jumped, dodged and just sat around all without me freaking out and feeling as though I was on the brink of riding a rogue horse. At no time did I think that Pip would not listen. Now, that’s not to say he was perfect in everyway and suddenly a dead broke horse. Au contraire, mon Amis. He still took off after Bailey, tried to go where we weren’t going and fussed, but I was able to keep or regain his attention and compliance. It was really great.

Galloping PIp

The last two weeks we've worked on speed. As in, as much and as long as Pip could go. He hasn't quite figured out that speeding around the arena isn't going to get him anything, and today he learned that it in fact gets him a lot more work. Many many more trips around the arena. With me egging him on when he's feeling slower. Silly Pip.

Last week was our first time doing this. We did one lap, and he stopped by the gate, arching his neck, flinging his feet out in front of him. Apparently looking like he was trying to do the Spanish Walk, according to my friend who was watching. The great thing is, when he does that, he just feels great to ride, he's collected, under me, very there. Sadly I urged him on to gallop more, and rode him through the fits, until he really softened and gave me his attention and didn't fling around.

The great thing is, I felt like he was actually cantering towards the end, not just deer bounding. And he picks up his leads amazingly well. That was wonderful. I think the key for him is going to be cantering first, then working on the trot and finess, because he has so much go, and even if he is lounged, he has a lot to give when I first get on him. So I think I'll break the rules I was taught, and just lot him take the edge off at the canter first.

So today we rode to the big arena a few miles from the barn. We mainly walked there, some trotting through the bosque, Pip leading (he did well, even though the others hung back a bit so they could canter) He didn't break his stride hearing the others coming up behind him, it was great.

To get to the arena, we had to walk past a skate park, filled with kids skating, biking, just hangin' out. Pip did all right, he was concerned, but held it together. In the arena, we just motored around and around and around and around. He has an amazing ability to change direction, and almost lost me a few times as we cantered past Amanda going the other way, and Pip tried to follow him. At the canter. But I stayed on, and he did a little lead change, and we kept going. Eventually Pip slowed down, and started listening to me the whole time, rather than just when I got in his face. It was good. His canter (hand gallop?) is still pretty deer-like and boundy, but I think a few more workouts til he's tired will help him start suing his back end more. I hope. Or I will just have to learn how to ride a deer.

Relaxation

So today is all about the work that I need to do! Pip is doing well, we're solid on the trail, and I've begun working on arena stuff. Today I decided to ride a training level dressage test. Amanda was going to call it for me. Sadly I didn't bring my test! So I did my best to try to ride what I remembered. Which wasn't tons of things, however, I did most of the movements. Pip and I struggled a bit, mostly because he hadn't been ridden for 2 weeks, and also because the other horses (except Tango) were out in the back pasture, having fun. Tango was the sacrifice to Pip's sanity, just to keep things kind of normal.

Considering all that, Pip did pretty well. He was rushy, went toward the pasture quickly, went away slowly, and didn't listen great, but you know, it was about dinner time, he was the only horse not having a great time in the field, and I had had a 3 beer lunch a little before this. So while I was relaxed, I wasn't quite as accurate in my position as I would have liked. And of course this was the day I had my camera! So I included the best photos from the bunch. Sadly the delay on a digital camera meant there were lots of missed shots. But oh well!

I think he looks pretty dang good! We're getting more relaxation from him, and he's just dang cute in his dressage togs!

Other People's Horses

So today, instead of riding Pip, or even one of Amanda C's walkers, I rode another friend's quarter horse and Arabs. This is Fancy and me cantering. Fancy is very fancy as you can see, and she is just my size, about 14.3, 15 hands maybe, and built like a Cadillac. She's a little shorter than Pip, but heavier, and longer. She had a really nice jog, and her canter was nice, even though she did buck a bit. She was a bit upset at having to work, she's been of a few months. I know I would also be upset at having to work if I'd been lounging about for months.

One of the Arabs is a large, big moving dapple gray, who's built like a tank. He is broad and tall and just lovely, with a big bouncing stride that was very hard to sit. His canter was great, huge and rocking horse.

The other is a little chestnut who is so well trained, I rode him bareback, and the entire time felt as secure as I did in the saddle on the gray. WE didn't canter, as I was not feeling completely secure in my seat, but I'm happy to be getting lots of bareback practice, as I think it will help me and Pipper. Especially with my being a bit uneven. We'll see.

But it was great because I got to ride really well trained horses, both of them, and got to practice a bit for MY riding, as opposed to building Pip's skills.

And I have to say, I think I"m a better rider than I was before I started Pip, that's for sure. I'm less perchy and my hands are quieter than I remember. So it was a really great experience, not even including the fact that Pat's horses are just plain sweet as pie and lovely to work with.

Stealth dogs!

If you walk, cycle or ride in residential neighborhoods you know what I'm talking about. Many people have dogs, and a lot of people in the western US have dogs. I live in the western US. I have dogs. When I take them for a walk in the nieghborhood, we usually encounter other dogs in their yards, barking to alert me that I am not invited to their yard. As these dogs well know, if they didn't bark and carry on, I might just sneak in there and well, do something. So these guard dogs are really the first and best defense (in their minds) for protection against marauders. When I trail ride, Pip and I encounter a lot of these types of dogs, the barky warning dogs. That's fine; the horses may spook a bit, but it's all good.

Then there are stealth dogs. These are much less common, and much scarier for horses and people. These are the dogs that don't bark, they just quietly get themselves where they can rush you and scare the snot outta you. We found two today. We were riding along, the horses were already on higher alert because we'd caught an old, napping horse by surprise and had a mutual scare. Amanda C was riding Fiona off the trail, and by a fence, because Fi had been worried about it earlier. I had taken Pip down there, but was moving back to the main trail, as there wasn't really a lot of room for two horses.

Suddenly Pip and I were moving very very fast away from that property and toward the ditch. Then that time slo-mo thing happened, where you say "holy crap! I'm not falling off, and I'm not going into that ditch!" and you get yourself organized and do an emergency stop. Pip stopped, turned to look, and I saw two red dogs slinking back to the property next to the one we'd been riding by. they didn't look espeically proud, more like shocked that their plain of eating horses hadn't gone so well.

Happily, neither myself nor Amanda C. fell off, and the horses were fine, if very jumpy for a bit after that. And the great thing is, by the end of that ride, both Pip and Fiona were fine, relaxed, moving forward, listening and happy. Yay for a really, really solid horse!

Woot!

Ok, today I learned two really important things:
1. Pip is a great horse (yeah, I know, I'm saying that) and I think he'll be a wonderful "babysitter" one day, and;
2. I'm an embarrassing owner, which I need to note so I know when kids are embarrassed by nme, it's not JUST because they're related, I really AM that sort of person.

First, the bad news. I rode Pip bareback today. This in and of itself isn't bad, of course. The events surrounding it were. First, I had to get up on his back. This involved me jumping (rather half-heartedly) from the mounting block to his back. The mounting block isn't high enough for me to just swing a leg over, I have to actually leap up, and lie over his back, then swing my leg over and sit up. It only took about 4 tries. During this time, Pip gave Amanda C. a look of pure, unadulterated horror. BUT! I got up! hooray!
And we even trotted a bit, mostly walked around, since I have *round* thighs (tho I have lost 10 lbs since Jan!) and I was not so steady.
Then, to add insult to injury, I got off and tried to swing up as I had done so easily as a kid. Yeah, that didn't work so good. I did get my leg over him, but there's like no power in the arms, torso, inner thigh and wherever else it's needed to get scrambling. So now I have a new goal! Be able to swing (or jump) up on Pip by the end of the summer. Amanda C. is great, she is just plain impressed that I can actually get my foot onto Pip's back at all, much less dream of mounting that way. However! I will regain this ability!

Ok, the good news: (I know you are all holding your breath!) While I was bareback, we trotted, but once Pip figured out that I was bobbly, he just plain would not trot. I finally got him to do it by holding his mane and really pushing him forward, but I can tell when he's really a made horse, he's gonig to be one of those "oh, sorry, you're not educated enough to canter, let's just walk" sort of horses. IN other words, worth his weight in gold! woo!

Every day I'm just discovering why I have the bestest horse ever!

Break on through....

This weekend was a three day Pip fest. Which I think he enjoyed.

Friday was arena and trail work, where I learned just how to get him to slow down and to get him relaxed and lifting his back.

Saturday was arena riding where we worked on Friday’s lessons, tempo and relaxation.

Sunday was a two hour trail ride (mostly at the walk) and I was amazed at how relaxed and happy he was. The reason it was mostly at the walk was because another rider, Susan, brought her 5 year old grandson, and ponied him. So in the interests of not having an accident, we walked. Susan rode Fiona and Caleb (her grandson) rode Sundance. Amanda on Tango and Pip and I rode behind them, as Sundance can get antsy if he’s following or being passed.

Normally Pip HAS to be first. It’s like a compulsion. He always passes everyone. Happily he is also brave enough to lead everyone as well, unlike Eli who would have to be out front, then when he was there, he would spook at everything. But yesterday he was perfectly happy to just trail along, a couple lengths behind the leaders, back with Tango. Tango is a Walking horse, but actually has a rather slow “regular” walk. His flat walk and running walk are fantastic and incredibly fast. Pip was relaxed, trotted up in tempo, I even got some nice jog steps out of him. And the highlight was me going off on my own into the trees while the other stayed up on the bank so I could get some alone on the trail time with Pipper. He did really well. He was anxious, kept making a sort of squealy-grunt, but he kept going, a nice forward trot. I didn’t let him get too fast, because I know he sometimes gets stupider the faster he goes. And he came right down to a slower tempo when I asked him to do so. He was really great. I’m definitely going to be going out alone more. I don’t usually go out alone because he’s been a total pill. He won’t rear or buck, just plant and refuse to go forward. But I think now we’re at a place where we can go alone. There’s a little mile loop, through the Bosque, across the creek, and back on the wide ditch that we’ll start doing.

I also know that I need to be riding more often, 3 days a week seems like a minimum, but until the time/light change, I may be limited to that!

Same thing again...

So I rode Pip for about 20 minutes today, just working on him going forward (he's got that) and without rushing. So mostly just tempo, I guess. He did better, still speeding up at the beginning. Also he's much stiffer to the left than the right. So I will make sure I work on that. I have noticed that when posting on the trail, the left diagonal is less easy to post. I suspect this is me, as my right leg is flouncy. But we'll be doing more tomorrow, so I'll post in the evening! And hopefully I'll have some photos of us riding!

Consistency is what I lack

Today I worked on one or two of the issues I'd mentioned in earlier posts; namely going forward and tempo. The 1-2-whack worked very well. I actually only had to do that twice before Pip figured it out. Then we had to work on tempo. Pip tends to rush around, in ever shrinking circles until he finally stops. It's kind of odd, actually, but he's just getting to the middle where he thinks I might decide to get off his back.
Amanda C. helped me out, she was riding Fiona, and she hopped on Pipper, and gave me a chance to see some of what he's doing, as well as hear what I should be doing. That was incredibly helpful. Basically I'm working on using my legs and seat to move him forward into the bridle, and then asking him to also lower his head, so he's not going around hollowed as a birch-bark canoe.

So we did that, asking him to use his rear more, to lift his back, and golly gee, he slowed down, and became a lot easier to ride! I was very happy when I got back on him and he really did feel more under me.

After that, we went out on the trail, because it was just a lovely day, and we didn't want to just go home and eat! (I'm trying to lose weight so that Pip has less of me to lug around!)

Out on the trail, Pip was miles better! He didn't fling his head up, kept a nice steady trot going, as well as a lovely round caner when we went down into the Bosque. Now, I don't often canter him there, as he is usually bombing around, barely missing trees and that scares the crap out of me. But! Today we were behind Fiona, who is working on her canter departs, and Pip picked his up right away. He did get bouncy, kind of crowhopping a bit, but I sat up and back, as instructed earlier, and he settled right in fine. I will say that he doesn't stop very well, we almost ran Fiona down, but we managed.

Oh, and we measured the two of them. They are the same height, just a smidge over 15.1, Pip weighs about 950, and Fiona weighs about 1090, so she's more than 100 heavier than Pip, and she sure looks like it. When I rode her, it was amazing the difference, she has a lot of power, and you go up as much as forward, she deffo feels like a big, solid horse. Pip on the other hand, has a very scooty sort of gait, it's smooth, softer and he sure has some shuffling going on, because uphill, he's absolutely doing a flatwalk or something gaited like that! He feels like he's on his tippy toes all the time, where on Fiona, you can feel her legs landing, boom-boom-boom! It wa hard for me to get used to the difference, I have to say, I like how Pip goes more! But I know I'm biased!

The best desensitization process yet!

This desensitizing, you ask, what ever can it be?

Well, it's quite simply: spring time in New Mexico. When the wind blows and blows and it sure blows. Remember the Dust Bowl? Yeah, that happened out here too, and these are the winds that helped get all that dirt to Chicago.

The bad things about the winds, you probably already know: dust, trash, random noises, plastic bags, dust, strange smells from far away, everything drying out, general feeling of twitchyness, dust, average everyday things turning into monsters, you get the picture.




Wind for some reason, turns horses into that little frightened, primal eohippus trotting through the forest, trying to avoid a big, toothy-jawed eohippus- eater. In the wind, benign things like leaves and rocks become terrible predators that are a master of disguise. People walking and on bicycles become horrible monsters just slavering for a nice hunk of horse. Even birds, those chirpy harbingers of better times, are suddenly vicious pteradactyles swooping down on the
unwary pony.

But what you may not know about wind is it's a fabulous training tool. How many times have you been at a show where the wind kicks up and all of the sudden every other horse is a basket case? They can't concentrate on their rider, only on the wind.

Well let me tell you, for all his gaping training holes, Pip is the master of wind. I'm sure there's some Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings wind master, just call Pip that. (ok, yeah, I have to admit, he's the master of THAT wind too!)

We went out, Team Amanda, with Pip and Fiona. Now Pip is still young (rising 6), but compared with other horses his age, he's not had as much work. Which suits me just fine, as I'm trying to learn to teach him. I'll probably cover that in another blog. So Pip has not got as many arena miles on him as Fiona, the other horse today, who's 5 has.

Fiona is a lovely QH/Paint mare, and she is just a nice horse, and Amanda has been getting her professional training, and I tell you, it shows. She's collecting and doing nice lopes on the trail while me and Pip are still just trotting along.

However, today Pip showed his true colors, and they are /golden/.

We went out around noon, the forecast was wind into the afternoon, the morning had been very calm, so we reckoned that the wind probably wouldn't really get going til much later.

We were wrong.


About 100 yards from the barn, a huge thermal kicks up, leaves, dust, twigs, small insects (probably) went zinging around us, swirling and pulling Pip's mane every which way.

Crap, I thought, here we go, the horses are going to be nutso! I heard Fiona behind me spook at a rock. Well, ou know I thought, we'll just have a nice trail walk. Out onto the ditch, and Fiona is on RED ALERT. She's jumping at everything, rocks, leaves, her shadow, all of it. Pip is definately on alert, but it's more like Amber, and he's moving forward, fast, fast, in that almost shuffle that he can do when he's motivated. He was looking, but moving.

We got to perhaps the most frightening house on the ditch, it's like a junkyard/outdoor theater/hippy compound, and there's always something going on there. Which wouldn't be a problem if that wasn't the exact place we have to turn (away from the gyrating hippies, of course) and navagate a rather narrow dirt berm, with ditches on both sides. It's nerve wracking, because if a horse bolts sideways, you're going in. Pip and Fi round this hazard together, each moving away from the scary ditch (they've only seen 100's of times) into each other. Then sigh with relief when they see the creek. Muddy, leafy entry to the creek? No problem.

We cross the creek, but have to get up on top of the levee, which is high and exposed. Good for seeing any approaching horse-eating monsters. But now we have to descend into the dank, overgrown Bosque, the cottonwood forest that grows along the river! Horror! And mince along the well-worn and wide footpath, around dead trees (EEKKK!) and birds flitting (GAH!). Trotting was for a moment, out of the question, as Pip, being the pushy thing he is, had to go first. And he's pushy, but not stupid enough to actually RUN into the jaws of danger. But eventually he did go, and he lead a fair bit of the way, even with Bicycles, Pedestrians with Dogs, and Other Horses. And moving through everything else, the Wind.

I can say that Fiona, for all her arena training and stuff, had to follow most of the way to keep calm. Pip lead at the trot and the walk, and went past some pretty scary things like the champ that he is. Even on the way back, with the wind blowing hard now, and horses in fields acting like wild animals, Pip came through it in fine form. One spook, and not much at that, a few unintentional lane changes, and a couple full stops, forcing Fiona to take the lead. But other than that, I never felt like I was going to lose him, or that he would lose his mind. It was stellar. He's a superlative horse, I gotta say.

Windy work

I went out to ride today, and there's a storm front coming in. So it was windy. According to NOAA, 25 MPH winds, with gusts up to 39 MPH. And it wasn't raining, which means it was dusty as anything. But Pip didn't seem too worried, so I tacked him up (in the western saddle, since it makes me feel safer) and away we went.
We rode in the arena, amid swirling leaves, bits of things and cans rolling down the road. Debris flitted around us like bugs, and through it, Pip was exactly the same as he'd been last week, a bit fussy, barreling back toward the others, reluctant to go away from the barn, and generally anticipating my requests.

I've noticed that he's dropping his inside shoulder a lot, which isn't easy for me to fix at the blazing trot he was offering. I did do more work at the walk, with circles, bending and that, which he was good at. But when we get to the trot, he just gets strong, or fussy, refusing to go forward. But we kept at it, I did a number of halts, just to mix things up a bit, and so that he doesn't exactly know what I'm doing. I have noticed I don't do a lot of halt, and he is beginning to think halt means "end of riding." But this time it seemed like he relaxed, got going more, didn't balk as often, or as long. So all in all, an ok ride. I was working on using my seatbones, and also on sitting up and back more, not getting a head of him. And we did ok. I felt like I will try cantering him in the arena, which I haven't done a lot of, mostly because it's really not a great area (it's the horses turnout) not exactly square, and the fencing is odd, but it's what I've got. I'm happy that I'm feeling confident enough to canter, since I don't really do much of that except on the trail. Perhaps he'll enjoy working in the arena more if we do canter some.

But overall I'm pretty happy that I can get on and have a good ride, where Pip is paying more attention to me than to the gusts of wind. That tells me he's a pretty solid little horse, and what more can I ask for?

Is this offically a wall?

While most of the North American Continent is having extremely cold and nasty weather, we in the Southwest US are having freakishly balmy weather. Here in Albuquerque, it’s been dry and in the 50’s for the last few weeks. Which means two things: 1. I have no excuse to not ride; and 2. if it doesn’t snow in the mountains soon, the price of hay is going to be worse than last year. Hopefully it will snow soon. As you can see, Pip hopes so too, as he is modeling the very height to yakness, even though it's about 55F out. (that's 12C for the rest of youse.)

As for riding, Pip has had quite a lot of time off. After our Mountain ride in September, he had strangles. That put the kibosh on riding for about 5 weeks. When that finally cleared up, I was off to Australia, so no riding for another 3 weeks. That brought us into the end of the year when it was actually cold and wet (no riding) and now we’re into February, and FINALLY I’m riding again! Hooray!

So the Pipmeister and I had a ride on the weekend. And I learned some things. He hasn’t forgotten his training from the summer. He’s much more responsive to my leg, and isn’t nearly has heavy in the hands. He actually carried himself pretty well. He did get balky trotting, and I’m not entirely sure why. He would just stop and fuss. I am using the dressage whip, as I hate booting him in the sides, and I'm not entirelly confident in my leg control to use spurs just yet. But we seem to be not really getting anywhere.

I am concerned that it could also be saddle fit (I’m using the western, as it makes ME feel secure) but it might be digging in behind his withers. Or it’s just me and my piss-poor position. I know that I’m not keeping my position very well, I feel too loose and wobbly, and my legs feel inconsistent (again why I'm leery of using the spurs). I think I am sitting lopsided (I don’t have any mirrors to use, and no one is watching me right now) and I just can’t seem to figure out what I’m doing wrong, or how to correct whatever it may be. But I also don't feel like I can concentrate on me, when Pip is all over the place too. I'm not doing a very good job focusing on him when I'm trying to remember how to ride well. And it's beginning to show...

However, next ride (hopefully sometime this week) will be in the dressage saddle (it’s closer contact and I’m more used to it) and we’ll see how that goes. Also, I don’t really care for arena riding, and I know Pip doesn’t like it. But I need to get him working and focused on me, rather than anything else. I am also working on losing weight so I’m not so heavy for him, that I can be fit enough to actually ride for an hour without getting winded, and keeping MY concentration so that I don’t lose him.

I also think I need to take lessons, but not owning a trailer or truck, I’m going to have to take lessons on other horses than Pip. But that could be a good thing, since lessons on Pip turn into Pip training, and I don’t really get the training I feel like I need to be doing his training!

So next post will be on training me for training him, perhaps!