The Next Rungs On Milton’s Ladder Of Success

With Milton, the hard stuff is easy; the easy stuff is hard,

Dressage test? No problem. Showgrounds? Trailers? Other horses? Not so much.

Cross-Country. Solid fences? Jumping? Sure. Being ALL ALONE way, way out in the BIG, WIDE WORLD? Not so much.

Show Practice
I had thought to take a break until we are ready to canter in public. How many walk-trot Intro tests can one person do? Looks like I shall find out.

Hard things being easy, Milton is great with his own trailer. Loads well. Ships well. Stands tied next to it.

Easy things being hard, he has come-aparts watching trailers arrive at showgrounds. His trailer-related meltdowns are worse at ASB shows. The geometry at the local saddle seat barns is such that a handful of large trailers are wedged into a small space. Does he not like the big trailers? Not like being packed in? Who knows. He does better at Full Circle Horse Park , where the trailers are smaller, mostly two-horse with the occasional four-horse stock, and the parking is spread out over a wider space. Last weekend, he only startled once at a horse unloading nearby.

He gets stellar marks for his work in the ring [Show Report]. The rest of it is still a work in progress. Minus, we had to break out the nose chain to get him to pay attention when we arrived. Plus, he warmed-up beautifully in the ground driving. He both settled with it and worked well. Minus, mounted warm-up was still edgy.

Therefore, Milton and I will be going to all the walk-trot dressage and non-compete hunter/jumper shows we can reach. When we can canter, we’ll move up to endless iterations of Training Level Test 1. When we can jump 2′, we’ll add Hopeful Hunter.

I would rather do exciting things. Apparently simply being at a showgrounds is exciting for Milton.

Rider Nerves
While Milton is getting over his show nerves, I need to get over my show nerves, which are not helped by my horse having show nerves. Being nervous the day before is bad enough. Being nervous the entire week before a simple walk-trot test at a small, local schooling show is a ridiculous way to live one’s life.

While we are on the subject of the rider improvement, a few pointers gleaned from the photos. Lose the trainer’s hunch. Get a hairnet. I must remember that at non-ASB competitions I don’t have Reagan to turn me out beautifully. If I insist on hunching, don’t wear a loud, black& white stripped sweater that underscores my bad posture. For that matter, I am no longer allowed to wear black with a gray horse.

Canter
On the long-lines, Milton has canters quietly on voice commands. Under saddle, he canters well, once we get it. The transitions, not so much. OTOH, that is a hard thing being hard.

On the Thurs before the show, we practiced at Stepping Stone Farm. I didn’t ask well. When I don’t ask well, he gets confused. When he gets confused, he gets upset. When he gets upset, he hops. It was a little hop, nothing like the grand extravagance of last month, but it didn’t help my mental state at the show.

I was hoping to wait to show again until we could canter well. I think horse and rider will be both happier with the canter as tool for motivation and learning. This is not unusual for Thoroughbreds. Canter is their gait. With Previous Horse, also an OTTB, we warmed-up at canter, and I was best able to explain new things to him at a canter.

Riding Outside
Practice at home. Practice at SSF. Practice at FHF. Practice at FCHP.

Then practice at show when leaving the other horses. Maybe an XC school with other horses for company, even if all we do is watch the others.

And finally, before all of this …

Saddle
The time has come. We had to widen the Wintec [New Equipment] for Rodney. That means it no longer fits Milton. Really we’ve been lucky that one saddle fit two horses for this long. I have been dreading this for years [Saddle Shopping written in 2016]. Add in two horses with sensitive backs who are no shy about expressing their displeasure.

Driving
Have cart. Ready to start back at square one to recapitulate the process. Milton popped an abscess. It looks like a heel grab but on the back foot. Sigh.

He has recently lunged in his harness. He accepted it so well that I have a good feeling about driving at home (for driving, SSF is home). I am less sanguine about going anywhere else/showing.

All of the above will be good schooling for driving – dressage test, show exposure, riding in the open. The only element not relevant to driving it is the actual air-time over the jumps.

In Sum
Milton needs a saddle.
We need to get our shit together.
I need to get my shit together.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Dynamic Duo Does Digital, Show Photos, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019

Dressage
Full Circle Horse Park
Pell City AL, USA
March 9, 2019
[Show Report]
Jeremy Villar Photography

Intro A: 1. A Enter Working Trot Rising
Photo by Jeremy Villar

We begin.

Intro A: 2. C Track Right
Photo by Jeremy Villar

Making his cute face. I didn’t realize Milton had a cute face. So cute that I bought the photo despite the wonky browband, which is making me nuts. I want to reach into the photo to straighten it.

Intro A: 3. A Circle right 20 meters, working trot rising
Photo by Jeremy Villar

Do I spot some outside rein being applied?

Intro A: 9. X Halt and salute
Photo by Jeremy Villar

This is the look on your face when you finish your test, pat your horse, look up, and see the judge watching you expectantly. Note to self, salute first, pat later.

Intro B: waiting for the bell
Photo by Jeremy Villar

Engage super-serious dressage mode.

Intro B: 3. E Circle left 20 meters, working trot rising I
Photo by Jeremy Villar

Milton doing nice work, despite having opinions.

Intro B: 3. E Circle left 20 meters, working trot rising II
Photo by Jeremy Villar

This is where he protested about how hard he was working.

Intro B: 6. E-H Medium Walk
Photo by Jeremy Villar

Trying to convince him that we have changed direction and will now be turning to the right. Judges comment “cld be strtr” (could be straighter). Yup.

Intro B: 9 X Halt and salute
Photo by Jeremy Villar

This time I remembered.

Intro B: Leave arena in free walk
Photo by Jeremy Villar

All done. Good boy.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Dynamic Duo Does Dinky Jumps, XC Schooling, Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019

Jumping Diary

 

The Activities
After our tests [Show Report], we ventured out into the wilds of a cross-country course sitting in the pasture next to the dressage ring. We walked and trotted over a handful of low logs. Milton treated most of the obstacles as ground poles rather than jumps, i.e. trotted over rather than jumping. The farther out we went, the less we trotted. He jumped over the last two, including cantering nicely away from the last, probably because we were heading back the barns/trailer area.

The Upside
We went out.

We jumped as high as we have been jumping in the ring. I can’t suddenly expect him to leap tall buildings on XC when he has been popping over garden sheds in schooling.

He stayed calm and attentive.

The Downside
We did a lot of walking. I wish I had felt up to doing more, but one always does. At least, I always does.

He got more and more lit as we got farther and farther – I’m talking yards here – out onto the course. When something would catch his eye, I would stop and let him contemplate for a while. Then we’d walk around more. When he got like this, I didn’t feel up to trotting the jumps or even trotting in the open sans jumps. I was concerned that trotting would become A) a wrestling match or B) a hissy fit. His expressed dislike of trotting around his own pasture was never far from my mind [Two Hops Forward, One Step Back].

Was he calm and attentive because I wisely chose not to overdo it and thereby cause a setback, or because he’s ready to do more and I should woman up and ride my horse? Either I am a brilliant trainer who senses the mood of her horse and is gradually building his education with positive experiences, or I’m a weenie. Your choice.

The Rest of the World
So many shows, so few Saturdays. I sent a brag photo to the nice ladies who helped get us ready for the show. They both responded with ribbon shots from their respective shows.

Falcon Hill Farm at Chatt Hills in Georgia.
Photo by Molly McCown
Stepping Stone Farm at ASAC in South Carolina.
Photo by Courtney Huguely

Say what you want about the evils of social media, it was fun to keep up with folks in real time. Note: both barns had more showing to do & more ribbons to reap.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Dynamic Duo Does Dressage, Show Report, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019

The Show
Dressage
Full Circle Horse Park
Pell City AL, USA
March 9, 2019

Milton
Class 3 – 2019 USDF Intro Test A (Walk-Trot) – Adult, 1st of 3, 68%
Class 4 – 2019 USDF Intro Test B (Walk-Trot) – Adult, 4th of 6, 68%

Highest score: 8, halt
Lowest score: 6, free walk

Results will be available at FCHP > Shows

The Summary
Overall, a noticeable improvement since the show in October [For This I Cleaned My Tack?]. Dressage ain’t never gonna be his thing, but ain’t never gonna be my thing either. Ground person says we got 90% to 95% of what we had at the last practice session before the show [Pre-Flight]. Anything over 80% of practice is gravy.

Rider homework report. I can’t recall making a concerted effort to squeeze smoothly, I was too busy looking for the next place to go. He went, so I must have used my legs aids somewhat appropriately. He did not shut me out, so I didn’t need to take dramatic action. I succeeded in getting him to bring his nose in during the various working walks so that they at least looked different from the free walks. I was all about the short reins. I pushed him to the outside with my inside leg on the corners and circles. I got my geometry right except for one point when I asked for deep corner and then remembered we were still on a circle. Screech, course correction.

The Stories
As the second ride of the day (8:36, thank you very much), I had a chance to walk past the judge’s hut before the show started. Back and forth. Look at hut. Think about hut. Back. Talk to judge who is standing outside, moving while she can. Forth. Fellow drives up. Gets out of truck carrying a cooler. Milton is fascinated with the cooler. Ears on high alert. He follows the cooler from truck to hut. He is rapt. Food-level rapt. Fellow enters judge’s hut. Appears at the open front of the hut.

Milton, spooks to the side, briefly contemplates hissy fit: Holy hut, Batman. How did that happen?
~~~
Three-quarters of the way through our second first circle in our second test, I’m using my inside leg to push him to the outside.

Milton, objecting; Hey, I’m working hard here.
Me: Yes. Yes, you are.
Milton, going back to work: Okay, as long as we’re both clear on that.
~~~
As we came across the short diagonal toward E, Milton saw his ground person/header. Driving horses learn to go toward their headers [BTDT: Hello?]. That’s the person who stands in front of the horse at a halt, usually with peppermints.

Milton: I’ll go to him.
Me: No, you have to turn. That fetlock-high white planking is a wall.
Milton: If you say so.
~~~
Milton becomes enamored of a chestnut horse with a trace clip off in the distance. Whether it was the horse or the racing stripes, I have no idea. He is riveted by this horse. Even more so than the cooler. Ears higher than I have every seen them. Not spooking, just staring. Gets mad when I try to walk in a circle that makes him turn his back to his new love. I give up and let him watch. Horse walks off behind the barns. Every time Milton glimpses the horse, he stares. After the rides, I walk him over for a meet-and-greet. She is a Quarter Horse/Belgian mare. Friendly and adorable. The owner stops a few feet from Milton.

Mare: Hello.
Milton, looking off into the distance: Sure. Whatever. She’s okay. I guess.

The Scores
Needs more activity. Yup
Needs more connection. Yup.
On the right track, Yay.

Update
[Dressage Called on Account of Rain, Show Unreport #1]
[Cross Country Called On Account of Rain, Unreport #2]
[Roll Call, The Many Names of Milton, Unreport #3]
[Pre-Flight Check, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019]
[Dynamic Duo Does Dressage, Show Report, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019]
[Dynamic Duo Does Dinky Jumps, XC Schooling, Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019]
[Dynamic Duo Does Digital, Show Photos, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019]
[The Next Rungs On Milton’s Ladder Of Success]
[Anxiety Dreams, A Sure Sign That Show Season Has Started]
[The Letters of Dressage]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Pre-Flight Check, Dressage at Full Circle Horse Park, March 2019

Names
As I suspected [Roll Call], the two-n version of Milton won’t wash. It failed first time out of the box. Despite my careful printing of 2 Ns on the entry form, he ended up as Milton-one-N at the show. I could pursue this, but I would have to constantly correct over-worked show secretaries and hound under-appreciated volunteer association points keepers. I would make a pain of myself and would still end up with my horse filed in different bins. Not worth it.

Back to the drawing board.

Delving For My Inner Dressage Diva
The weekend before the show, we had a dressage run-through at Falcon Hill Farm, the place I take jumping lessons. We dragged poles off the jumps to sketch out a ring and pressed Coach Molly into service as dressage trainer for a day.

I had two main take-aways:

1) Leg ooonn and oooofff, rather than on/off, on/off, on/off, like a demented sewing machine.

2) It is a schooling show. If Milton shuts me out & plods around the ring as he did before [For This I Cleaned My Tack?], DO something. It is better to have an error of action that one of inaction.

So, demanding but sensitive. No problem.

Other comments.

‘In the working walk, part of the energy goes up.’ Ooh, ooh I know how to do that. ASBs are all about energy up rather than forward.

‘Short reins win tests.’ My plan is to have short reins even if there is no horse at the other end.

Plus the dressage basics, go forward, do the geometry, and so on.

I am starting to realize that Milton has the sense of fairness that Previous Horse did. I can ask, but need to respect the effort he gives, no matter how small. I can reprimand, but only if it is justified. If I do it wrong, he will let me know.

For example, we all ran out of interest in dressage before we ran out of lesson, so we practiced our canter transitions. I made a complete, monstrous hash out of the first one. I had a brain fade over which aids to use. When finally we got the canter, Milton gave a small proto-hop with his shoulders and then went off to do lovely lap around the entire, large ring.

Horse: I would be within my rights to file an objection. You rode horribly.
Me: You are not wrong.

Tomorrow, the Walk-Trot Dynamic Duo returns to the show ring.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Is Your Horse A Dog Or A Sailboat?

On My Mind, Miscellaneous Thoughts

 
Is your horse a companion animal or a piece of athletic equipment? Or a mix of both?

DOG?
Yes, some dogs still work. They herd, sniff for drugs, search for cadavers. These days, most dogs are employed as companion animals. (Most? I have no data, I’m guessing. Certainly in this country. Anyone care to weigh in? A?) They sleep on our couches. We feed them. We post Internet photos of them, Boop my Nose.

Ditto horses. According to the Brooke, two million horses, donkeys, and mules still work around the world. In the US, horses work with the police, in the tourist industry, and transporting the Amish. However, the average (?) US horse is as much a companion animal as the average US dog. We make their beds. We feed them carrots. We dress them up for Halloween.

Our horses moved into our backyard in 1992. Since then, we have had the good fortune of providing forever homes, regardless of utility. Caesar and Mathilda are both out back, in the corner of the pasture under the trees. In the fullness of time, I expect Rodney and Milton to join them. I wouldn’t mind being tossed out there myself, although this might upset some folks.

Rodney and Milton amuse us endlessly. After a meal, whoever fed comes back in to share stories about the horses galloping up madly for their meal, or sauntering in quietly. We often have Team Meetings wherein the two horses hang out while the two humans brush, pick feet, comb manes, and generally convince the horses not to be feral.

If you want to have horses in the backyard, you have to enjoy simply looking at them. It’s too much work otherwise.

BOAT?
Sail power used to be humanity’s main form of aquatic transportation, Then, sailboats were replaced with boats powered by internal combustion. Now, sailboats are a recreational activity and a sport. Good sailing is a blend of technique & art. It takes a lifetime to master the intricate interaction of wave & wind & sail. When you think you know it all, your boat will prove that you don’t. (As with dogs, I’m guessing here, extrapolating from sailing at summer camp and sport in general. I bet I’m right. Sailors?)

Ditto horses. Transportation. Internal combustion. Sport. Lifetime to learn.

I have made no secret of my competitive aspirations: Jumping. Hunters. Eventing. Driving. Obstacle Challenge. Bring it on. As much as I like my horses, I also like winning.

I have had an instructor tell me to think of the horse as a tool to becoming a better rider. While I can’t bring myself to go quite that far, I do see the point in terms of self-improvement. Maybe if they hadn’t used the specific word “tool.” A horse will never behave as a mechanical device and should never be treated as one. But I digress.

BLOG
I feel that there has been a lot of sailboat on the blog lately.

One of my favorite things to do is take a stool and a book to the barn or out into the field and sit with the horses. However, ‘today I listened to the horses chew’ does not make for riveting narrative. At least, I can’t make it into riveting narrative. So I talk about lessons and shows and ribbons … ribbons … My Precious … lovely, fluffy ribbons … um, where was I?

The stated goal of the blog is to amuse myself. Within that, I chose topics that are likely to amuse you. Which means I end up taking about exciting moments, interesting events, and novel activities, i.e. lessons and shows and ribbons.

I strive to be honest on the blog, mostly because I lack the subtlety do otherwise. Even writing every day, I can’t cover every moment. I have to pick and chose. Selection bias occurs. The result is a record that is accurate, but not always representative of the whole.

In Sum
Horses IRL are more dog than sailboat. Horses on the blog are more sailboat than dog.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott