Jim Anderson Clinic - Day 2 - Spooking My Horse On Purpose

Saturday, October 1st, 2016.  Previously posted on Facebook.

Here is my review of my go at Day 2 of the Jim Anderson clinic. We went "back to basics." After Cayenne's little demo of her spook on Day 1, Jim said he thought about it a lot and wanted to help me get her better. Not that she will not ever spook because she is a horse and a cow bred, looky horse. He said that the spook itself didn't bother him so much as her continued elevated adrenaline level afterwards and the fact that she did not give to pressure (when I held onto the rein) I would not have ended up getting danced on and nearly sat on if she would have just given to that rein pressure.

We went over what I have done in the past when she has spooked. Like I said, she is very "looky" and that doesn't bother me. But, there have been times where she will take huge leaps straight in the air or whirled 180 degrees and launched over relatively nothing. She is very fast and I have been lucky to ride her out every time except 2 of those spooks. I've hit the ground twice this year including Day 1. It does not matter if she's fresh or physically tired. I have gotten her in big trouble on some of those spooks and sometimes just when she's going overboard with lots of little spooks or the tippy-toe-high-head-blowing-nose crap she will pull. I have pulled her head around, jerked her around, spurred her on the inside to kick her hind end around, etc to try to let her know that it is absolutely not acceptable. She maintains a little better after that but it really hasn't helped. I never did that to her when she was green because I am a lot more understanding and patient with a young horse. Cayenne is 10 years old and I started her as a 3 year old. I have ridden this horse a lot of years and at about 6 or 7 was when I started having issues with the violent spooks. That correlates with about the time when I started thinking, "I've had enough of this, now you will get punished for spooking." I figured she was trained enough, had been hauled to countless events, trail competitions, etc that she should be trying harder to maintain. While I still think that is true, I went about it the wrong way.

So, Jim helped me get to the root of my issue: Cayenne is a spooky horse and when she spooks, I have caused a fear of punishment. So, I get a big spook and then a high level of tension in anticipation of the aftermath. The "fix" is to teach her a new result of her spook. We started on the ground with her in a rope halter. I stood in the "scary corner" of the arena with a couple flags and Jim checked her out. She did her typical flyaway, high anxiety reaction. Jim pulled her around and asked her to give both vertically and laterally with her head/neck. She flew around quite a few times and was braced up against the pressure. He got her to give and then we started again. I took her after a few minutes and he flagged. We got her where she'd trot around in circles and I'd use a blunt stick to keep her out of the circle when she went by him (by poking her in the shoulder or ribs) and if she reacted dramatically to the flags, which she did many, many times, I'd drop the stick and grab the rope up close and bend her head around to her shoulder/armpit until she stopped and gave softly. We'd stop and give her breaks as she really was trying. Once we had it in hand pretty well, Jim had someone else be my flagger while he worked with other people in the clinic. He said that once I could get her bent around and soft in 2 seconds from the spook (rather than 6, 10, or 20) then I could saddle her up. We got to this point.

We actually put her in the round pen and did some joining up first just to help her get back "with me." At that point, we also dealt with her excessively pinny ears at liberty. She used to pin her ears on the line, which Jim had me fix this spring by chucking her under the chin with the tail of my whip. Jim chucked her under the chin when she gave him a dirty look and then called her to him with the other whip. Of course, she was completely shocked but she kept her ears up! I had to chuck her twice to get her snarly ears up and then she quit. I'd actually forgotten that she did that since she hadn't done it on the line in so many months.

Under saddle, Jim rode her to feel out her spook. I stood in the corner again and he loped circles on that end of the arena. He did a one-rein stop on her a few times without her being spooked. Then we moved on to me scaring her with the flags. As soon as she'd spook, he'd one rein stop her and wait until she gave completely (standing with head at his boot) She was not in "trouble" like I'd taught her. She just had to give to pressure and use her thinking brain rather than stay in that elevated state of mind. He did it quite a few times and then I got on. Nothing like knowing someone is purposely going to spook your horse while you lope circles!

Jim Anderson Clinic - Day 1 - Horses and Birds

I am firing up the old blog after three years of silence.  This is at the suggestion of several friends, both "real" and "Facebook."  I posted a few incredibly lengthy Facebook reviews of a clinic I went to last weekend.  It was for the benefit of a couple friends who were not able to be there.  I expected possibly a total of five people to slog through the entire post.  Boy, was I wrong!  The response via comment, private message, text and actual real face-to-face conversation (happens on occasion) was eye opening.  I either have seriously interested friends or they are bored, nice, or a combination of both. 

I apparently entertain, educate and well, give people someone to laugh at when all else fails.  Someone asked me, "Don't you ever get embarrassed?!"  Not when it comes to horses and learning.  What could possibly be the most embarrassing thing to happen at a clinic?  Most of us would say falling off my horse or arriving to the clinic naked.  I checked the "Fall off horse in front of a world renowned clinician and random friends and strangers" box on Friday.  I could say that my green colt broke in two and bucked me off into the rafters.  I can't.  A pigeon scared my horse.  My colt.  No, not really.  My "broke" horse had a heart attack and dumped me on my head over a domestic bird.  I am smiling just thinking about it.  Read the copied and pasted Facebook post below for all of the glorious details plus the seriously great lessons I learned from Jim Anderson.  

I am cheating a bit and basically copying and pasting it to my blog over the next few days.  After that, I promise my writing will be all original.  

Friday, Sept 30th, I took Pistol, my 5yr old gelding, with me to the Jim Anderson clinic for some help with groundwork. Pistol is a gentle, laid back character with a tendency to lean, push and just not be very responsive both on the ground and under saddle. I had him doing the basics on the ground and he has about 60 rides, but hadn't been worked in 2 months. Pistol tended to trot around me on a line with his nose straight or tipped out and pushing his shoulder into me.

Jim immediately put a lariat rope halter on him so that it was more uncomfortable for Pistol to lean on the end of the halter rope. I would send Pistol around me at a trot and any time he took up the slack in the rope, I stepped back so he had to give to get relief. I also used my whip to flick him on the shoulder or rib cage to get him to arc his body properly on the circle. This worked well and Pistol was "getting" the idea of trotting around with his body arced properly with his shoulders freed up instead of bound up.

I definitely see where this will help his lope circles. I work hard loping him properly as he wants to drop his shoulder in, tip his nose slightly out and cut the circle. I have to basically drift him with the reins and push him out with my inside leg a lot more than should be necessary. We also worked with the sidepass drill down the fence to help him free up his shoulders and worked on reversing direction on the line without cutting into me too much. He is not rocking back on his hocks like is ideal but he responded well.

For our final work, we moved to the round pen and turned Pistol loose. He was very attentive to me and quickly picked up the idea of facing up and following me. I was very happy with Pistol. He was nervous when we first got to the arena but even though he was quivering, he would stop and stand when I asked him on the line. Sometimes he creeps forward because I think his favorite place to stand would be with his feet on your feet and his head laid against you. He backs off easily when told as that is a typical Pistol move. After his work, he stood tied to the trailer very well, only nickering occasionally. No holes to China or hoofprints on my fender.;)

I quickly warmed up Cayenne for the last little bit of my clinic time. She actually warmed up well without her typical spooky crap, which led me to go to sleep at the wheel a little later and get dumped! Yes, I got to eat some arena dirt.:) I had her loping on a very draped rein and she spooked hard right from the pigeons. It unseated me and she rolled back away from me and that was that. It wouldn't have been quite as exciting but I held onto a rein and it wrapped around her legs, causing her to do a tapdance trying to keep her feet and not step on me. She almost sat on me! I don't know why I didn't just let her go!

Anyway, I did have a good ride on her. Her spin is coming way better and the #1 reason is because I've been having her stand between spins until she relaxes. Even at Jim's clinic 2 weeks ago, I'd spin her and then while she stood, she'd nervously chew the bit, stretch her neck and just exhibit stressed behavior. It'd take her several minutes or longer to relax and drop her head on her own. I've only spun her a couple days since that clinic but have emphasized the lesson Jim tries to drive into our heads about WAITING ha ha! Jim also said she is so much more relaxed because she understands what I want better because I am being more clear with my cues. I'm more clear with my cues because I am understanding better, thanks to Jim!

In my lope circles, it's mainly on me keeping my shoulders back further and my pockets deeper in the saddle. There ya have it! I'm off for another day of riding! 

Smart Little Sign: Extreme Cowboy Race Champion

Smarty once again proved to be my steady eddy.  We hauled nine hours to Lynden, WA to compete in Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race.  I took Smarty and his daughter, Smart Little Cayenne.  Neither horse had been in the arena so I chose Smarty to run on Friday night.  He was good as gold and loped around that arena and over every obstacle like he'd been in there every day!  He won the go round.

I rode Cayenne on Saturday.  She was in rare form and not in a good way!  I managed to milk her through the preliminary round in the Extreme Cowboy Race and somehow she won her go, also.  Both horses made the finals to run on Sunday.

Since I had two horses in the Open Division, the management had me go first on one and last on the other so I had time to switch.  I rode Cayenne first to get her out of the way.  She was a lot better than Saturday but still really bothered by the arena and was acting very mare-ish at the in gate.  She ran a beautiful course other than not ground tying at either spot and not standing still for the dismount, pick up right front foot, and remount obstacle.  It's hard to demonstrate that you are picking up the horse's foot when she keeps picking it up on her own!  She had some great points like beautiful jumps and coming when called for me to mount off of an obstacle.  She has so much energy pumping on the inside that it is hard to remain calm on her!  She probably feels the same about me!

I hurried and switched horses.  Husband, Ransom, gave me a "calm down" talk and I ended up with plenty of time to watch other contestants go before I had to run again.  I stopped shaking and started breathing before I went in the gate on Smarty.  Smarty just oozes confidence and calm.

Our run was super!  Smarty was his usual quiet self and helped me just sit back and work out the details.  Our free ride (gallop around the arena) was relaxed, the gate obstacle was smooth, the tarp carry was wonderful except for it hooking on his tail after I hung it up and rode off.  He was pooping and I didn't pay attention.  He didn't care at all about his tail accessory and I think he deserved extra points for my mistake!  He walked a step or two at the first ground tie while I was "milking" the cow.  His jumps were beautiful and he was in the correct lead every time.  His trash walk (trot) was on a totally loose rein with no hesitation.  The obstacle where I ground tied him and crawled through a tunnel was great.  He stood stock still like it happened every day!  We didn't make it through the cones without spilling a water cup but we tried :)  He stood like a champ while I dismounted on the near side, reached under him to squeeze his off side chestnut for him to pick up his right front foot, and mounted up for my last free ride.  I was (and still am) so proud of him!  Here is a link to his run:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY-aoCQ8D7I

I had missed a couple runs when I was switching horses so was not sure how everyone did.  I figured Smarty was in the top 5 but didn't want to get my hopes up.  During the awards, I was called up for the Reserve Championship.  I was so happy and yet beating myself up for not fixing little bobbles that make the difference between 1st and 2nd place!  Then they called me back up for the Championship!!!  Cayenne had won the Reserve and Smarty took the Championship by a long shot!  I was over the moon! 

I am so thankful for my wonderful horses and even more so for my husband!  Ransom was on the sidelines helping me get prepared, encouraging, calming, and videoing the whole weekend.  I think he understands my horse sickness a little better and saw the extremely competitive side of me.  He even told Craig Cameron how I always ride my horses whether it's after dark or in the rain :)

Freckles On Fire

Long overdue pics of my 2013 filly.  Sired by Smart Little Sign (Smarty) and out of my AQHA mare, Top This Sail, who is by Freckles Flynn.  We call this filly "Slider."  She is probably my best one yet but, of course, how they go under saddle is the ultimate deciding factor! 

Update on Smart Little Cayenne

Cayenne has been doing a bit of everything this past year.  She placed 4th in a 25 mile limited distance endurance ride, Home on the Range, near Washtucna, WA last spring.  More importantly to me, she took the Best Condition Award at that ride.  Cayenne liked the endurance as she prefers to get out and cover ground and has a wide competitive streak in her.

I rode Cayenne in two weekend clinics with Pat Wyse.  One in Sandpoint in April and one in Montana in May.  She has a lot of talent but I am working on getting good enough to ride her to her full potential!

I competed in a couple small trail challenges, did some gaming, competed in our first (and second and third) Competitive Mounted Orienteering rides, and moved cows a little.  We had a lot of fun and did well!

In Novemeber, I hauled Cayenne and her sire, Smart Little Cayenne, to Eugene, OR for the Northwest Mountain Trail Championships at the Oregon Horse Center.  Cayenne took 5th in the Novice Horse class.  She was the only horse to score a "10" on an obstacle all weekend in her class.  That obstacle was the ground tie.  All that practice paid off!  Cayenne did better than I expected competing there but Smart Little Sign was my rock star.  He came out of two years of no competition and took Reserve Grand Champion in Eugene!

Another Quarter Horse

I've added another Quarter Horse to my herd. She may not have spots but she's certainly worthy! It has been tough to find a suitable Appaloosa broodmare I wanted, especially in my area, so I went AQHA. "Jessie" is a daughter of Freckles Flynn, whose NCHA earnings are over $100,000. Her dam is a daughter of an NRHA money earner and Topsail Cody bred. Jessie is bay with black points, about 15-15.1 hands, and easy on the eyes. I will breed her to Smarty for a 2013 foal. That seems like a long way from now but time flies!

Smart Little Pistol

He's a pistol! Annie and Smarty's colt is weaned now. He's pretty smart and thinks he's something special. I'll wait to make that assessment in a couple years when I'm riding him! First two pictures are of Smart Little Pistol and the last is of his sire, Smart Little Sign.