Buck Brannaman clinic - day 2 report

I'm having a hard time remembering the specifics of day 2 at this point - it was all a blur in hindsight! I think it was more of the same to start, so we were to work on moving around the arena on the ground, not just doing the half-circle exercise in one place. This is really hard and I actually ended up doing something a little different because I felt like that was what Mac needed at the time. Instead of going around the whole arena, I worked on the fence-line near the stands, since that seemed to scare him the most. What I worked on was simply the half-circle exercise but with me standing in place (like in day 1 . . . we were supposed to be walking in a straight line, though). I'd pick a spot along the wall and work there for a bit, then move to a different spot on the wall and work there, and so on. What I did (and I'll refer back to this later so make a mental note) was to create a "chute" of sorts whereby Mac had to pass between me and the wall. At first the chute was wide, but I slowly narrowed it so he'd have to go closer to the wall to stay out of my bubble. There were points where I would open the door (ask him to "follow the feel" of my lead rope) and he'd hesitate. All I would do is quietly raise my flag - I didn't shake it, I didn't make my energy loud, I just raised it from pointing at the ground to pointing at him behind the balance point - and wait. I didn't increase my energy because I could see his little brain trying to decide if he could trust me and if it was safe to go through. And he did trust me, and he did go through (and as soon as he made a step forward, I lowered my flag). After a couple times of decreasing hesitation, he went through with no trouble so I'd move to a different spot.

Here we are goofing off at the beginning of class before the work started.



Back to what I said to remember for the future. Buck worked on the very thing I mentioned earlier about Mac with regard to thinking and trying to figure something out. There was another horse who didn't understand how to follow the feel and the invitation to move forward. He took the horse from the owner and did a demonstration on how to get it to work, as I mentioned in my first update. If he could see the horse thinking and considering and trying to make a decision, he wouldn't up the energy, he'd wait on the horse to figure it out.

Buck was all about patience and waiting on the horse, which was so refreshing! If the horse said no, then Buck would show him the right answer and try again until the horse showed some try. When the horse was trying, Buck would wait on him to get the right answer and Buck would let him just stand there for a moment and think about it, then go back to the exercise, perhaps on the other side.

So keeping that in the back of your mind, I came up with a theory on how Buck works with the students in his class. I've heard people say that Buck seems to ignore people or not give everyone attention. First off, I will say that if you have a question, he will take his time to answer it for you. The beginning of each class is a lot of standing around and talking because he is answering questions and explaining things. I asked a question before class "started" every day, but once under saddle or doing exercises I got no instruction from him (except for one comment where he said "good timing" :-D ). I think the reason for this is the same as what I mentioned above with the horse. I think (and I could be totally wrong) that if he sees you trying to figure it out and he sees that your tries result in a correct response (eventually - it is hard to get on the first try!), then you are going to have a better understanding of how to get it right than if he told you all the time what you were doing wrong. Does that make sense? If he saw me doing something and I was close to getting it right, and then the next time I got it right, then the next time I didn't, but I did get it right two times after that, he would see that I'm progressing in my learning and the best way for me to learn is to get feedback from the horse. The horse's correct response is the best lesson and that's what will make it sink in more than anything. I hope that makes sense.

Here's a picture break to look at Mac because he's cute in a big-head sort of way.



At the end of day 2 we put our bridles on and worked on flexion for just a little bit, and that was to be our homework for the evening. Working on lateral flexion from the ground was (of course) the precursor to getting it under saddle. Buck looks for 3 things from lateral flexion: bend (turning the head to 90 degrees), poll higher than the withers, and ears level. He is adamant that if the ears aren't level then the horse will be out of balance. Of course, in the beginning you're not going to get all three at once, so start by just accepting one thing as correct. Then as that is consistent, wait on the horse until he finds the next thing and build on that, etc. Again, this isn't something that we force our horses in to. We ask, wait for them to offer the correct response, and release immediately. If you take up the reins and the horse just starts to bend, reward that and build on it. When he's getting the correct bend, then wait for him to bring his poll up (if it is too low) and as soon as he does a minute lifting of the poll with the bend, then release. Build on that. Then once he's got the bend and the poll up, wait for him to level out his ears. Once he does, immediately release. And so on and so forth. Giving breaks for really good tries is important.

Buck said lateral flexion comes before longitudinal flexion, so after we practiced the lateral we moved on to longitudinal. Same thing. Poll higher than the withers. Ears even. This time the head should be centered. Reward for tries and progress from there.

Here we are practicing some longitudinal flexion.



So our homework after day 2 was to practice these flexions and also to combine "leg" into the mix with lateral flexion. So once you are in lateral flexion, use your stirrup to gently bump, bump, bump behind the balance point. Again, quietly and gently, and wait and see how light you can be with that aid to get the horse to move over behind. Release once he starts moving so he knows that's what you want is movement. Repeat. As with all the other exercises, be patient and wait on your horse to figure it out and release immediately once he gives you a try.

Buck is gracious enough to spend time at the end of the day signing autographs and doing pictures if people want them . . . which of course I did!

Buck Brannaman clinic - day 1 report

Last weekend I went to the Buck Brannaman clinic and am happy to report it was the best horsey experience of my life. I was nervous ahead of time because I didn't know what to expect, but it was the most amazing weekend - it is hard to come down from the high! I didn't take any notes because I wanted to watch and absorb everything I was seeing and hearing and if I stopped to take notes, I'd miss a lot of the action. So my reports are going to be from what I remember . . . but I remember a lot!

First off, the reason why I went in the first place. Exactly a year ago Mac bucked me off HARD at our second show. I had taken him to a show the weekend before and he was great, but this show was a different story. Looking back on it (and I had this realization right away), it was my fault, as I didn't prepare him properly. I was so used to my TB, who is easy-peasy at shows, who never needs lunging, who doesn't have to walk around to get used to anything, who isn't much bothered by other horses or people, that I forgot that Mac may not have been so easy. After he bucked me off, I got back on and rode and did two classes the next day, but scratched after that. I was in pain and I just couldn't take any more. I did what I could to work through the potential fear issue, but the physical pain was too much.

After that, I took a look at my program and what I was doing and realized I needed more help - and a different kind of help - to get me through these issues. I needed tools to help me get into Mac's head, to help me help him, to work with him so that I would be his safety net and that he wouldn't go running and dump me if the shit hit the fan and he got scared. Regular dressage training wasn't going to cut it - I needed someone who had experience working with mustangs and troubled horses.

I spent a couple months with someone who started me off in the right direction, and after feeling what a difference the "natural horsemanship" training made in Mac's rideability, I was eager for more. [Sidenote: I hate to call it "natural horsemanship" but that is a buzzword these days that most people understand to mean a more in-depth program of ground work, which is where we needed to start. Really, it is just horsemanship and getting more involved with your horse than just getting on and riding, but that's a whole debate I don't want to get into!] I had heard about Buck Brannaman's 7 Clinics DVDs and after much debating with myself about whether or not they would be worth it, I decided to buy them. That was maybe 3-4 months ago. And yes, they are worth it. Right away I started working on the exercises, and right away I started to notice a difference in my horse. On a whim I looked up his clinic schedule and when I saw he was coming my way, I sent in my application to ride in the clinic.

Ok, so that's the long background. I did the Foundation Horsemanship group, which was mostly groundwork and some riding. The first day as we stood around at the beginning, Buck asked if anyone had issues they wanted to address. I told him that Mac gets attached to other horses and loses focus on me...especially with mares. He's not herd-bound in the sense that I can't take him anywhere away from horses, because that actually isn't a problem. It's if we're in the company of other horses that he is so interested in them that he doesn't pay attention. Buck said that the exercises we'd work on in the clinic would help with that. He said that through keeping the horse in "the rectangle" and centered with you, that eventually the horse will seek that out himself and the distractions won't be an issue.

If you've watched the 7 Clinics DVDs, then you know what we did in the clinic. I'm glad I watched the DVDs and had been practicing the exercises, because I felt totally prepared. This first day we worked on making a circle with correct bend. We worked on getting the horse to "follow the feel" - doing this on the ground with the lead rope is just the first step, but will carry over to everything else - by opening the lead rope and inviting the horse to go in that direction. If the horse didn't reply, we'd give a little shake with the flag behind the balance point (girth area - flank or butt) to encourage him forward. If he didn't go, follow up with a more energetic response. We worked on bringing the rope back toward the hip and stepping in to the hip to disengage the hind end, getting the horse to cross over and come to a stop. We worked on backing. We worked on each thing separately, and then put it all together. He does a really good job of breaking things down. We also worked on the difference between a neutral lead rope that has no life in it and an active rope that is telling the horse to do something. We worked on getting the horses used to the flags and having them stand there while we moved them around the horse - and the horse knows to stand because the rope isn't telling him to do anything and our energy isn't being directed at him.

Here's a picture of me waving the flag around . . . notice Mac is relaxed and isn't reacting because my lead rope and my body energy aren't instructing him to do anything.



At the end we practiced a half circle exercise while we were standing still and moving the horse around us. So go a half circle, move the hindquarters over, stop the horse, direct the horse in a half circle in the opposite direction, repeat. Then our homework was to do that while walking in a straight line - so we would walk forward in a straight line and the horse would do half circles in front of us whilst we continued to walk. It's hard to get that timing right!

I watched the other groups, which were both riding - no ground work. There were a couple of really troubled TBs and one troubled Arab in the second group, so Buck had his assistants work with them on ground work while he got everyone else going under saddle. They worked on similar things that we worked on - circles with bend, one-rein stop, bending and moving over with the hind end - they just did it while mounted.

At the beginning of the day Mac was really nervous in the big indoor arena with buzzing lights and bleachers and people stomping on the bleachers and music over the loudspeakers and banners and all the commotion. He also immediately picked out the mares he liked and called and talked to other horses a lot.

I did ask Buck also about energy. I've worked with a couple trainers who HAVE A LOT OF ENERGY - like everything they do must be like yelling to a horse, or at least to Mac, because he got a little nervous just being around them. I've had people tell me that he just needs to get used to it and deal with it, so I asked Buck his opinion. He thought the opposite. He thinks that we need to be there for our horses to support them. So if that means that sometimes our energy is soft and quiet to offer them support or relief, then so be it. If our energy has to change to perhaps get their attention focused on us, then that's fine, too. It is a matter of dialing it up and down to meet the needs of the horse, not a matter of always being on high and making the horse get used to it.

So here's my day 1 takeaway. Buck loves the horses. He does what he does to help the horses. He doesn't care what discipline you ride - good horsemanship is good horsemanship. He's very gracious and humble and funny. He also said some people come to his clinics thinking they'll impress him and his response is "I learned from Ray Hunt. Do you think you could do anything better than him that would be impressive?" (or something like that) He is honest and straightforward. If he's "picking on you" it is because he sincerely wants to help you and sees that you're not in a position to do it yourself (there was one lady in the afternoon group that he sort of singled out) for some reason. You should pay attention and try to do what he is telling you - don't just do the same thing over and over and over again when he is giving you tools on how to solve a problem. Do what he says. He hates it when people ride with rope halters under a bridle - it is ugly. Stay out of his horse's bubble. If you ride, then come back and watch the other classes - he expects you to be there all day AND to do your homework.

Here's a picture of Buck and Reuben, the young horse he used in the first two classes of the day.

Happy horses!

Many thanks to our great neighbors who let our horses graze on their pastures in the spring! I want to say it is like crack cocaine for them, except they don't get hyped-up . . . so maybe it is more like marijuana for them. They go out for lunch and graze for a few hours and when I bring them in they are sosooooooo mellow! They stand around in a daze, like "wow, man . . .groovy" and just chill for a few hours when I bring them back home. But they don't get the munchies. So maybe it is like Xanax or something - I don't know! All I know is they are so happy and loving life right now!

Clinic season

So as a warm-up to the Buck Brannaman clinic at the end of this month, I went to a Jerry Tindell clinic about defensive riding on the trail. It was a great clinic - not just for the content, which is always helpful, but for getting Mac in a covered arena with 10 other equines where everyone was walking, trotting, cantering around, walking over a fake bridge, working in pairs, running up our butts, or stopping in front of us. Generally there was just a lot going on that he had to deal with - so much more than what goes on at home when we ride alone!

Mac was really so so so so so so very good, I was so happy with him! I was nervous at first, because riding in groups is, well, what makes me nervous! But he handled it so well and was a gentleman throughout the day. Jerry had us do some exercises that were stressful, but that was the point! At one point I tried to ask Jerry a question . . . well, I DID ask him a question. And his answer was to make me move; or, rather, make me move Mac. He didn't answer my questions with words, he answered my question with action and changing my balance and Mac's balance. Pretty effective, since words would have just gone in one ear and out the other, but the action of showing me the answer gave me the results and change I was looking for in Mac. Pretty clever, Jerry!

The "homework" that I really need to work on is Mac's hindquarters and moving them over and getting him to step under and release. If he won't release his hindquarters, then he carries stiffness throughout his body and then I REALLY can't move him over and affect change in his way of going. I've been doing exercises, but not enough. And I didn't really do them when I got on Mac at the clinic, so I didn't prepare him . . . which is just what happened a year ago at the horse show when he bucked me off - I didn't prepare him. I guess I was intimidated by being in a clinic situation and what would happen so I was too focused externally on outside stuff vs. internally on me and Mac (and I'm just getting this NOW as I'm typing - duh!). That's something to remember for the Buck clinic because I'll again be wondering what's to come.

I met the woman who puts together the Napa Valley Mustang Days and she invited me to come and bring Mac, so I look forward to doing that.

All in all it was a great experience, just aside from the things I learned from the actual topic of the class! I typed up a long recap of the clinic and here it is:

Some basic principles are (just as if you were not riding):

1) Be aware - know what is going on around you, pay attention to who is on the trail and what they are doing. Listen to your spidey-sense - do you get a bad vibe from someone? Pay attention to it! (For me it was also a confirmation to listen to my horse and what he notices. Mac is very alert and often will stop on a trail - head goes up, ears pricked. I have learned to pay attention to that instead of trying to just kick him on. He is always right and will hear someone coming around a corner that I couldn't have possibly heard. If we stand our ground, we can assess the situation vs. running into a bike blindly flying around the corner, for example.)

2) Posture. Both for not looking like a victim, but also for being secure in the saddle. Sit tall, don't slouch in the fetal position. If you are coming across something that requires your attention, sitting confidently and securely in the saddle will help to prevent someone or something from unseating you. If you get scared and curl up into a ball, you're screwed. ;-)

3) LOOK at the target (bad guy). Look him squarely in the eye and ride with purpose. You may put someone off by just looking at them as if saying "I see you, I know you're there, I am not someone to be messed with."

4) Movement. Being able to control your horse's movement is (obviously) key. Leg yielding either away from something (which is easy if your horse is nervous) or into something (which is harder because like it was said above, horses are generally trained to not get into people's space). Moving the shoulders, moving the haunches, going forward, backing up. You may need to move your horse's haunch into someone to get them to move away from you, or you may need to go forward and mow someone over. Your horse has to do what you want him to do, when you want him to do it.

So of course these sound like simple and easy things, but if the energy is up and you are nervous, or your horse is nervous, it is going to be harder. We did a lot of exercises to work in/through the nervous state:

1) Jerry walked around the arena, but with big, menacing, scary, purposeful energy. He didn't even have to wave his arms or shout or "do anything" that looked scary, but the horses definitely got the vibe and all shied away from him, so we had to practice control in trying to walk over/through someone.

2) Jerry was mounted on his big mule and worked with each of us on trying to get to us to unseat us. We basically went around in a small circle, each of us taking up half the circle, so to speak (his mule's head was at my horse's butt and vice versa, while I was bent away from him as he was trying to reach out and get me). Again here - look the target in the eye and sit tall. Have your reins short enough that you can control your horse's movement. Be solid in your position so that you can stay with the horse and not be unseated.

3) We each picked a partner and then rode stirrup-to-stirrup leg yielding into and away from each other.

4) We weaved through cones and a small space between him and the fence, again leg yielding toward him to push him away from us.

5) We again moved between him and the fence while he tried to grab us/the horse and we did whatever we needed to do to get him off of us. He tried to grab my leg and I kicked him!

6) Jerry has trained many horses for various police departments and he put us in some formations so we could work together to move a crowd (him and some helpers). We worked in "columns of two" and walked in various patterns (kind of like Simon Says - it was fun!), and then we'd line up to form a barricade line and move him and his group back, or have them walk at us and we would either hold them or move them back. He did this both with and without props (plastic water bottles being crinkled).

Some other tidbits of information.

1) If someone grabs your body and tries to either pull you or push you to the side, straighten the leg of the direction you are being moved and use your foot in the stirrup to push off and keep you in the saddle (like if someone is pulling at me to come off the near side, I would straighten that leg to keep me upright - use it to push into the stirrup to counter-balance the pull, if that makes sense).

2) Do whatever you have to do to get someone away from you, so if that means kicking them or hitting them with your split reins, or hitting them with a whip then go for it.

3) Most people who would go after you don't understand the nature of horses, so you can yell and say "my horse bites/kicks/strikes" or whatever, and move into them to get them to back off of you. Just the verbal threat of something like that could/should warn someone off of you.

4) Yes, use your voice. And don't get engaged with the lost person who asks you to help them read their map (that was another exercise). If you don't get a bad/threatening feeling from them, you can tell them to stand away from you so that they don't spook your horse. If they follow your direction, they are probably not a bad guy. If they ignore you and continue to move in, they probably are and you may need to escalate by moving your horse toward them (depending on terrain, of course).

5) If you are on a single-track and someone has to pass you, have them pass you on the downhill slope.

6) If you are on a single-track on the side of a hill and you need to move for whatever reason, point your horse downhill so that if he backs up you're not going to back off a cliff (duh!)

I'm sure there are other things that I can't remember right now, but that was most of it. Jerry had really interesting exercises for us to work on, and his background in training police officers/horses was very useful. He was all about building confidence and bravery in the horse/rider pairs so that we have more tools at our disposal.

New videos

I had a friend come up this weekend and so took advantage of her videography skills to get new videos of me and Mac.

The first video is a section of groundwork that we were doing (we did more than this, but this is the shortest of the videos). It was a good day because 1) it was kind of raining, 2) Mac was distracted by my friend videoing, her husband and my husband picking up stuff in the pasture across from the arena, and 3) I was able to work through some snorting issues with Mac (not shown on this video) and he didn't try to escape by running away or exploding.



The next video of me riding him. As you'll see I took the noseband off in preparation for the Buck Brannaman clinic. I wanted to see what it was like because he can be busy with his mouth. What I've found is that without the noseband, it is much more clear to me when he is being fussy with the bit and when he's being quiet with the bit, so it gives me another point of feedback. I think he does fine without it so I'm not really planning on putting it back on until we go to a show. While the video isn't very exciting, I like how he's steadier in the bridle than he has been in the past. He also looks happier and more relaxed to me.



Enjoy!

Flying the flag

So I decided to get myself the "7-Clinics" DVD with Buck Brannaman. I had heard good things about it and had wanted it for a while but held off on getting it for no particular reason. Finally I decided to buy the series and I'm so glad I did!

The DVD is basically the out-takes from the movie "Buck" and takes place over a series of clinics from colt starting to under-saddle work. As I had been taking lessons on groundwork, I thought this would be a good continuation and hopefully give me new ideas. Did it ever! I will admit that I always looked askance at people who used a "carrot stick" or flags in doing groundwork with their horses. It was just so foreign to me and I thought it was for people who were afraid to ride that they only did in-hand exercises. Granted, I do think that it holds true for some horse people, but I've also come to realize what a great tool it is. I suppose it is more a tool for the handler, just as a clicker might be for clicker training - it is something that actually teaches the person to improve their timing and their aids and the timing of their aids.

In any case, I bought myself a flag (a bright orange one, as orange is my favorite color) and got to work with it right away. Since Mac seemed to be a little leery of it at first, I did use some operant conditioning to get him to accept it and not be afraid of it (meaning, I used treats, which really gets his attention and makes him place a higher value on whatever it is we're training). I used exercises from the DVDs and realized how difficult it is to get your point across accurately and at the right time, but with much practice, I did notice improvement in short order.

For example, I came up with an exercise whereby I would have Mac circle around me on the short side of the arena and then turn up quarterline and leg yield from quarterline to the rail. Doing this exercise to the left at the walk was fine and Mac caught on right away. To the right, though, he couldn't do it at the walk and trotted . . . our circles weren't very good, nor was going very straight. This told me that I need to work on his right side more because he seemed to not know what to do with me in that space. After the third day of doing this, we could complete it at a walk and he did it very well! That wasn't an exercise from the DVD, but a good exercise nonetheless.

So after working with this approach for a couple weeks, Mac is doing really well! I start every ride with 15-20 minutes of groundwork - having him move in pace with me, working on backing and coming forward, working on disengaging the hindquarters or moving the front away from me, moving off of a single leg aid, timing my leg aids or my hand aids very specifically - and so when I get on he is more "with me" and ready to work softly.

I also changed a bit about my bridle and he seems to go well - I dropped my bit a hole and I took the noseband off. Taking the noseband off actually lets me feel more directly when he gives and softens. I'm trying to be very diligent in using hands or legs, but not hands and legs at the same time. We're also working on "forward" (I mean, obviously we work in a forward fashion, but the concept of moving promptly and forward off my leg is something that I think I let slide a bit) and backing for a certain number of strides; turning on the forehand and haunches and/or a combination of the two are also part of our warm-up.

In any event, I'm very pleased with the way things are going.

I put my name in the lottery for the Buck Brannaman clinic in a couple months and was pleasantly surprised to find that I got in! I can't believe it! So I need to keep working on my homework to prepare. I will say I'm a bit nervous, as working in large groups is something that scares me, but that's what I need to work on so I'm looking forward in learning some tools to help me help Mac.

Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. A lot has happened since then. From October-December I had three funerals to go to - not pleasant. So I took a bit of a break from riding and, obviously, from posting on the blog!

Let's see - after our cow-working clinic I sent Mac out for a couple weeks of training while I went on vacation. When I got back from vacation, I only got a couple days to ride him before I went out of town for the second of three funeral services. He felt great, nice and supple and forward. He also seemed to gain a bit of patience while out for training as well, as he stood tied very well and, well, just seemed more patient!

When I got back from vacation we had a lot of rain and mud so I couldn't ride for a couple weeks. It wasn't until last week that I was able to swing a leg over. So basically, Mac has been out of regular work since before Thanksgiving. I think he thought he was retired or something! The first couple of rides last week weren't pretty - he was fairly resistant. My friend had given me a lunging cavesson for Xmas, so I put that on and put him on the line with side reins and let him fight it out with himself and he was much improved. He is definitely a horse who needs regular work to keep his "work ethic."

Yesterday I took him on a trail ride and went somewhere we hadn't been since at least the summer. It was a cold day and so I wore the quarter sheet blanket over his butt and my legs to keep us warm. We had a wonderful training opportunity on the ride. At one point we came to a line of sandbags put on the trail to divert water and Mac didn't like the looks of them. He stopped to stare, then turned to go the other way, then I turned him back and we walked forward. Bit by bit he got up to the sandbags and when he reached down to sniff them I rewarded him with a cookie. Then it was game on! He really responds to treats in situations like that so when he walked over then he got another cookie. As we turned to go down the trail (looping back toward home) I could see ahead on the trail at least four more lines of sandbags - great! Mac marched toward them, brave and bold and confident. Of course the cookie bribery didn't hurt! It was nice to get out for a couple-hour ride.