A pause to reflect ....

With Ernie now just turned 6 and me realising this weekend that we're now 3 months into this relationship I felt it time to consider the overall picture - yes that means I will try and balance my autistic obsession with napping.  I realise that a lot of wonderful things are going unrecorded as i focus on this one problem - but hey I think my children might recognise that behavior!!

So 3 months in and 3 rosettes.  Ernie knows when to deliver the goods for sure.  We're signed up for the rest of the summer dressage series, if the next one goes well I might try and move him up from Intro for the last show.  I have been rediscovering my old library of dressage literature and watching Carl Hester (as well as some old classics such as Nuno Olivera) vids on youtube, Ernie's increasingly positive response to subtle softer commands is making me feel we have some real opportunities here.

All this said I had a jump lesson on him this week and if truth be known did get myself quite excited and still found myself still smiling when the alarm went off on the following morning.  Then watched the hunter trials today and kicked myself for 3 hours for not just "going for it" and doing the novice pairs with Marble.  Let us see, eh?  how many challenges can we have at one time.

He is teaching me a lot about what it feels like to work with a horse.  He is teaching me a lot about him.  I am now calibrating my approach to what seems to work well for him.  For example, he is clearly a lot more sensitive than perhaps he has been given credit for, as I mentioned he is showing a real positive response to the softer command, voice and a slight squeeze.  For note: when the formula isn't followed resistance ensues, and that resistance increases with the strength of the demand.  So give him a big kick, rest assured there will be a big buck.

I continue to work on the napping, but as said am trying to do it in a non-conflict type of way, this is fine, but you need plenty of time.  We are often found standing around in different parts of Mascals and Joydens, waiting for Ernie to be bored of sodding about, for sure not everyone agrees the approach, but in each case we end up doing what I ask and the scale of the resistence is reducing for sure.  So this is a few months rather than a few weeks but it will be fine.  At the end of the day he is always good follwoing in company anyway, so the real problems are only "alone", but I do love the spiritual bond of hacking alone with him so will not be letting up too soon.

I chose not to buy an older developed and experienced horse, and there is the challenge, I am learning to accept it for that.  I have the satisfaction of ownership around our successes (and the pride of watching his great performances with Sophie too).  The subtlty of controls and voice activation, improving balance and lateral work, a real build in his physical strength and stamina (to the extent that his 'roaring' really feels like a non-issue).  As for me, my understanding around communication, a real new love of ground-work out of the saddle and tying that back to mounted work, a much more balanced seat of own and a burgeoning appreciation of what can be achieved around that.  And realising that my commands need to be clear and absolute, not being a school master he doesn't filter mulitple commands in the same way as older horses.

Sometimes it actually feels like he knows everything and that he is just quietly waiting for me to ask the right question.  But there can be satisfaction in discovery regardless of which one of us has the epiphony!  When it comes down I love Ernie and I love owning him.  I can't recall how long of wanted a horse and now I have one.  I didn't believe it would be so satisfying, I still just stop and stare at him or just sit on the floor next to him in his stable and pinch myself to say yes he's mine. 

I cannot know for sure what new challenges lie ahead, or when the current will pass.  I cannot know what achievements await us, but I do know that the time we share is without price, it cannot be valued or measured it just to be experienced.  To live in the a fixed present, just the now, which you are on horse back is the most amazing escape.  He has become a really special part of my life, sometimes I do wonder if the feeling is actually mutual though!! :-) 

A quick nap! (Not!!)

OMG!

Did we have a nap or what this morning.  But decided to confront it head on, or sort of .... my way or no way!

So it took 50 minutes to get out of MM car park.  A lot of very polite help offered, a lot declined.  But we continued and eventually got down the lane... after many long periods of standing still pointing in our intended direction, then punctuated by much jumping around and reversing!  He can park between cars in reverse better than I can!  In the end it was a good old fashioned stand off, or boreeach other to death, with occasional bursts of frantic conflict and loud hoof scraping on tarmac.  But we got there.

The first time we almost succeeded we met a post office van, so i had to turn round and come back!  The air was filled with excessive use of the F word.  Audible up at Taylors and down in Bexley village I expect.

But we got there.
Next we had 10 minutes to get back on him after the woods gate.  That was a little more physical, not too proud of that one!  In the end it was the more passive approach that won the day.

After all this ... we still had to have a hack!  Only had half day off!!!

Classical riding and classic character development

Ernie and I have done our first dressage test - the BD intro (B).  Why did we do it?  I decided I loved the competition spirit and wanted to do more, so ......  The idea: lets do it and get used to the competition environment, no expectation of performance.  And then we ended up second!  60% test score overall, and that included a big spook.  As they announced the results I became increasingly surprised, Bash even stopped to observe the look of disbelief on my face.

So the preparation, never my strong point.  I have never really "My Little Ponied" properly though I accept that I now must.  I would like to take pride in his presentation, but ..... After hacking on Saturday Lucy and I decided to get them platted in prep.  Whilst Lucy beautiful coiffured Marble, I tied Ernie up and quickly started trying to tie my chubby inflexible digits into some kind of living cats cradle,whilst pretending to tussle with his mane.  After the swearing started, Lucy sweeps in (to save the sensitivities of the young children working on the yard) and works her magic along his neck, whilst I professionally issue elastic bands on demand.

And of course, what might this blog be without an update on the napping....
We have definitely made some progress, but it is to be slow.  Have tried to follow my basic rules, previously identified.  The best story on naps from this week (which actually best illustrates what seems to be Ernie thinking) was yesterday at the Ship pub.  Returning from the piggeries as we walk down the country lane Ernie spots The Ship pub, and this is where he wants to be, and so we stop, he walks back, we turn and try again, he walks back again, we march into a parked car (thankfully unalarmed) .... eventually we are led, lead-rein by Marble - "how old are we??!"  Ironically I recall my reasoning behind buying the big E - because if he was a person then I'd look forward to spending evenings propping up bars and politicing, exchanging irrelevant and non-PC observations of the world around us.  Part of me wants to go " 'as ma boy!".  And why such behavior, somebody knew there was grass in a paddock out back.

So what have we learned ...
1. his napping is largely bloody-minded
2. there are no fear or spook behind it
3. ernie naps when he has "better" ideas - i don't want to go round the woods again; i've schooled so it's not hack-time; i've already jumped once today; i like it here!

So we have a stubbon teenager on our hands who has decided it is time to assert his burgeoning character.

In summary the napping might still be there but in most cases he seems to be less determined, "this is the place in woods where I'm naughty, so off I go" but sometimes it seems to be follwed by a "why" .... so we stand him still and he seems to either get bored or to forget why he didn't want to go.  The pub mentioned above was he only real bad show.  I am optimistic we will move on from this, over time.....

Call me niaive.

I seem to have pointed a lot recently that we get the horses (and pets for that matter) we deserve!  Anyone know an occasionally stubbon, slightly-willful man who might just believe that he knows best!  Tell me, I need a chat with him.

Love that 'orse!

The good, the bad and the nappy

So let's start with a the high points.  Ernie's bank holiday weekend was one of incredible achievements - 6th place in the MM Royal wedding challenge with Sophie, then at the Mayday show two 3rd place rosettes with me (on inhand classes) and the 6th and 4th on novice and intermediate jumps respectively with Sophie - selective bits will be available on my youtube page soon (http://www.youtube.com/graemebesgreen ).  What a horse. What potential.  Inspired we take on intro dressage next weekend.

So there's the good.  Now the bad, now the heartache..... Now the napping!

I recall my celebrations around this horse that would go anywhere.  Now I rue one single ride which seems to have turned all that around.  At heart I am devastated by this, it feels like some real incredible achievements just blown apart.

One saturday morning we refused to go.  Not just refused but stopped and learnt to march backwards at speed - straight back, round into trees and towards (so far just parked) cars!  Ironically we were not alone but our fellow rider had to leave us the effect it was having on his mount.  Truth be known it is un-nerving me, more than a little.

Worst cases - having to be chased out of mascal's car park by staff to get to the woods; finding myself stuck in the chalk woods for 20 mins; on bad days not being able to pass junctions without a fight and throwing Sophie off in competition (so far I have proved too fat and heavy and/or too nervous to push that hard!). 

So where now.  I am trying to take this on in a non combative way.  Getting overly physical heavy with Ernie just leads at the moment to fights which I am destined to lose.  The irony of all the voice training I have done is that we now work together in a minimally physical way which just makes this the harder to resolve, and if that physical pressure escalates it undermines our achievements.  This is hard!

I have increased my ground work - am undertaking the natural horsemanship goal of controlling personal space and control of the movement of the feet as a non confrontational approach.  I borrowed an 15m round pen and went for join-up the other evening - which involved Courtenay (who'd come to watch) running away because she thought he was going to attack me, great to have support in a crisis!  That said there was some very directed and high kicks when I moved in front of him at canter to force a 180 degrees change in his direction. 

Also there is a lot of inhand lateral and transition work - these things have gone very well and I can turn him around his front and rear quarters from the ground as well as perfect transitions from little light voice and posture change.  These are wonderful, sometimes we almost begin to play together trotting up and down roads and round schools together - though personally I find jogging in the sand very hard!

Is this spiritual cowbay stuff working?  I don't know yet if honest but these things aren't supposed to be overnight.  The nappiness seems to be worse at times, especially when he has decided he's done enough, for example taking him to the woods after he's been schooling becomes an all-star wrestling feature.  So what's the plan....

1. Continue the horsemanship

2. Try to minimise conflict opportunities (eg dismount for gates where I know he might fight, beforehand; do not try 'round the woods twice').

3. When alone make sure I have time to address problems - ie if he decides to not go forward then make him stay until he is bored, even if this means 30 mins standing in the same spot - Lucy telling me of people taking books out hacking with them to kill time!  I have now put tetris on my phone!

4. Hack with more mature and sensible animals when not alone.

I am on my own with this for most of this month (May) with Sophie away, and then Lucy and Marble are moving away which is really saddens me and I think will upset the big E.  So the challenge is there.  I am determined to get through this without further impact on relations.

People remind me he is young.  I know this unconsciously, especially when he is really stubborn when by default I find myself calling him Quentin!  The other male (slightly headstrong) teenager in my life.

And so dear readers to work....