Author: Corrina (Page 1 of 47)

Yesterday we returned from our awesome 3-week vacation. I missed the kitties and horses terribly while we were gone. Here's how the kitties greeted us:

It didn't take long for them to want to snuggle and purr in our laps. Ah the love!

I was glad to see the horses trotting up to me from the pasture, which I'm sure is because they are certain it's feeding time even when it's not.

Today I wasn't sure where to start working with the horses. Frankly I couldn't really remember where I had left off; thankfully I keep a handwritten notebook with short notes on our sessions. I decided that the easiest thing to do is to start with super easy tasks to see how much each horse remembered from our last session.

Since I fed the boys breakfast in the round pen, they happily followed me in. Bragi is the most enthusiastic (and pushy) so I let him in and asked Odin to back out, wait his turn. Here's Bragi:

I love his expression and how curious he is; he seems to enjoy connecting with me. I'm pleased to report that for the most part he picked up almost right where we left off: keep your nose to yourself, check; follow me, check; backup, check; friendly game, check; stand still while I walk around, check; move the haunches left to right, check (eventually); go into the barn with me, not so great. He's always been wary of the barn aisle and that is where we left off before vacation. I used approach and retreat with lots of reward when he decided to go with me and stand still in the barn aisle. Rewards include cookies and also a good belly scratch. Then I asked him to back out and let him go about his own business. The photo is of him after the session. I'm in the round pen fiddling with the water bucket and he's still quite engaged, curious about what I'm doing.

Odin seemed a little put out that I worked with Bragi first but came around when I rewarded him for very simple tasks, namely asking him to put his nose in his halter. One of my goals with training these horses is make sure they enjoy their tasks. I think this builds trust and engagement for more complicated requests.

Halter on, Odin and I walked up to the front yard where I let him graze for a bit as a reward. I want him to look forward to leaving the barn and going to the front yard because that's where I do the majority of my riding, which is work for him. After grazing for a bit, we played the squeeze game where I asked him to go through a narrow space, which happened to be between the front porch and my truck.  This is a good exercise for getting used to tight situations.  Horses are naturally claustrophobic so doing this exercise as part of a warmup is good for unexpected tight situations; both horse and handler know what to do. I also asked him to hang out a bit near his nemesis, the hose bib. He offered to touch it with his nose and got a reward for his effort. Moving on, I asked for turns on the haunches and forehand to see how much he remembered. Odin still likes to go forward for the turn on the haunches exercise so we practice this a lot. He's naturally heavy on his forehand so this exercise is a little more difficult for him since he has to shift his weight to his hindquarters. Odin is growing his winter coat already:

Here's another critter I noticed during pasture patrol:

I call him Mr. Chippy even though he's not a chipmunk but a native Douglas squirrel. He looks like he's getting ready for winter.

Currently I'm on vacation, a long vacation from my Public Health day job, away from COVID response where the Delta virus is wreaking havoc in the unvaccinated in my community. I'm sorry but I have nothing else to contribute to that effort at the moment.

During vacation the Equestrian Nomad explored the St. Croix River on kayak and is making plans for the blog. The long break was due to exhausting the bandwidth for anything but COVID response and doing the bare minimum to keep everyone alive and thriving.

Odin and Bragi the Mustangs have received a little education from my fabulous coach who guides me in person then offers a lot of homework.

The plan for the Equestrian Nomad is to continue that education during the winter and posting more frequently. Soon enough daylight will wane, rain will return and the horses will have more time with each other than with me.

What we have learned over the summer:

Odin responds well to moving forward under saddle by using R+ (positive reinforcement). We also practiced bareback. He's a good mustang.

Bragi is learning to relax with his demons in the barn aisle. R+ helps him focus on me for answers rather than his demons behind him or out the side door to the manure pile. Bragi is also learning about backing up and the stick and string flopping around his body. We'll prepare for under saddle work eventually but he's only 3 and I expect him to grow for another 5 years. Odin is now 9 and finally reached maturity last year. Such good boys:

Until next time, love your horses!

Corrina Marote

My last post was July 2020, about a month or so before I lost my beloved Jodee dog, on August 30, 2020. She was just a couple months shy of her 15th birthday. The loss was so profound that I had no words, just a persistent ache and a lot of questions about whether I waited too long to assist her out of her suffering. The last 18 months of her life were difficult for her, painful for me to watch, expensive and time consuming.  The latter two are the least important.  I know that I waited one day too long but the decision to assist a beloved pet out of suffering is extremely personal and situational. Jodee always had a lot of try and I did my best to honor that while alleviating her pain as much as possible.  I suppose I should've known when the vet told me that CBD oil was the only thing left to ease her arthritis and nerve degeneration pain that it was time for me to plan for her exit. I have no idea how the tumor in her abdomen felt but toward the end she was getting nauseous at meals times. To the point where she'd leave her meal unfinished.  I knew the time was getting close then because eating was the single-most important thing in her life. I wanted her to tell me when she was ready and maybe she was but she'd also tell me that she was interested in bunnies and fascinating smells. At the time I probably thought there was more left of her life than what there actually was. I hope I don't make that mistake again, of waiting too long, but I probably will because animals show profound joy in life and I have to wonder if the last hours of agony are the best trade-off for the moments of joy beforehand.  Perhaps so.  I hope to know that answer someday so that I can make better decisions on their behalf.

On what would've been Jodee's 15th birthday (best guess as she was a pound hound puppy), we adopted two kittens.  Kittens that brought joy and laughter into the house after too much sadness and the weight of the dark and wet time of year. Today is the six month mark of their adoption.  We think they were born in mid-July (again, adoption from a shelter). Harley and Herbert are two little black stinkers who surprise and amuse us every day.

The horses: Odin suffered a deep hoof abscess and is still recovering, although he gallops around the pasture with his best friend Bragi when I let them out together.  Bragi is an opportunist and when Odin was suffering greatly, he used the time to practice establishing his leadership. I separated them so that I could treat Odin's hoof and increase the possibility of the dressing staying on. Now that I'm allowing them out together again, Odin isn't putting up with Bragi's attempted bossiness but Bragi is a colossal pest so I still separate them except for pasture time.

Odin and I are still working on feeling comfortable in the trailer.  He gets in just fine but staying in is hard for him.  So we practice hanging out.  Since his abscess is still resolving we do more groundwork than anything and are trying to work on lateral moves.  He's getting them.

Bragi and I are working on leading.  He's a very forward horse, which is good but I prefer that he stays out of my personal bubble.  We've been working on leading, focusing on me, stopping when asked, and backing up.  The goal is for him to think about backing up a step or two when we stop.  So far his stopping consists of taking a step forward after I stop but at least he's backing up with a soft ask.

This summer I'm hoping to get out and try some things with Odin, maybe a cavaletti clinic, introduce him to cattle to see if he has an inclination to boss them around, and get out on the trails with some girlfriends and their horses. Maybe I'll introduce Bragi to trailer loading.  He did it before with his TIP trainer and obviously arrived here in a trailer.  I also hope to update this blog more frequently, now that I have words again.   Speaking of words, I've had a story brewing in my head for a very long time.  Maybe I'll try it out here.  Stay tuned!

After my last update I trailered Odin for a short jaunt "around the block", which is maybe 5 or 6 minutes.  Even after that brief time on the road, he was lathered in sweat.  Time for some help because I'm only partially getting his training right.

My favorite trainer, Meghan Valenti, recently had a little time in her schedule to come over and give me a lesson.  Usually I have my horse ready to go when starting a lesson but I wanted her to see the beginning to identify any holes in my training process.  Plus she needed to meet my new little stinker, Bragi the Mustang, a 2-year old Warm Springs Mustang who arrived in March.

When I haltered Odin, an 8-year old Cold Springs Mustang, and started walking from the barn to the front where the trailer is parked Meghan noticed that Odin was already checking out, looking around.  Aha!  That's a big thing that I have missed because we get from the barn to the front several times a week and I'm frequently thinking about something and not noticing that he's not paying very much attention to me.

Immediately I got a refresher in ground work, which is fun because you get to play sneaky little games, like if you're looking over there, Odin, I get to tag your booty!  Oop!  What a surprise!  My booty's been tagged!  He does it again and I get to tag it again.  This is fun!  Except he starts noticing when I sneak sideways to tag his booty and pays attention to me.  Ding ding ding!  Winner!  Can't get away with that anymore because he's watching me.  This little 5-minute game involved tag, no pulling, no shaking the leadrope, no whacking with my stick.  Just simple little playground tag.

Up the drive we go toward the trailer.  Odin puts his head in the air like a giraffe.  Obviously he's worried.  Meghan takes him to get a feel.  He leans into her with his shoulder, she asks him to get out of her space.  This is an important safety measure because while he would not intentionally hurt her, if he gets scared he may be looking at whatever is scaring him and run over his handler.  That's why we insist on safe space so we have an opportunity to get out of the way if necessary.

Odin gets offended when Meghan asks him to respect her space, tosses his head, backs up, squirts sideways and generally demonstrates he has forgotten all of his manners.  This is when Meghan tells me that I need to be more bossy because I let him invade my space (to a point) all the time, which is why he's a little emotional about the correction.  I doubt anyone has ever advised me to be more bossy.  My parents would say that I was born bossy.  My sister would likely agree.  As an adult, I don't like to think of myself as bossy but perhaps confident, assertive, and fairly clear on what I want to do.

Except I'm not that way with my animals because I wuv them and their velvety noses and soft eyes and I want them to be near me all the time. Sometimes you have to mean business when introducing animals to an uncomfortable task for the sake of safety and leadership. And that's what Meghan's advice meant.

She started with a little groundwork near the trailer to establish connection and direction. Odin got himself worked up emotionally and started trotting around.  Meghan let him work out that no one asked him to trot and he's free to walk when he gets his brain back.  She explained how he needed emotional control in order to feel comfortable in the trailer eventually and she was there to help him figure out how to get back to calm by establishing a few rules, asking him to pay attention to her, and make choices.  Go in the trailer?  Ok great!  No, not comfortable yet?  That's fine, we can do a little groundwork, get our brains back and try again.

To be clear the groundwork is not punishment.  Groundwork is to achieve connection, focus, and establish a few ground rules for safety.  It is also for a little exercise.  If Odin wants to back out of the trailer, that's fine, we can practice a few other things. He makes two or three circles at the walk or trot, changes direction for a couple circles then is offered the trailer again.  We are not running him around, making him go fast for a long time.

By the end of that session, Odin was getting in the trailer for me and waiting a second for me to back him out.

Since that day we have practiced a few more times: invite Odin into the trailer, hang out for a second or two.  If he says no and backs out, he does a couple circles near the trailer and tries again. His circles and upward and downward transitions are looking good: he's soft and round rather than frantic with his head and tail in the air. And he's beginning to change his mind about the trailer.  Maybe he can trust me when I ask him to load and he can wait until I ask him to unload.

The other day during our practice Odin was willing to wait inside the trailer, so I shut the divider, shut the door, and drove the circle around the driveway.  I expected him to be anxious about getting out but he wasn't; he waited for me to back him out.   That was a major win, a clear shift in his thinking.

Hopefully short road trips are in our near future.

One thing I realized today during Odin's trailer loading session is that only recently have I set clear expectations while he's in the trailer. When I started trailer training, my expectations were a bit fuzzy: get in the trailer and stay there. It's only when I started teaching positive reinforcement that I understood clear expectations because in order to reward at the correct time, the handler (I'm going to use the word "teacher") needs to know what behavior deserves reward. And the horse may have a lot of questions about what behavior earns a reward. A recent session went like this:

Odin: do I get a reward if I only put my front feet in?
Teacher: yes, but only the first time.

O: do I get a reward if I back out?
T: no.
O: do I get a reward if I look around?
T: no.
O: do I get a reward if I get all the way in the trailer?
T: yes.
O: do I get a reward if I look behind me while I'm in the trailer?
T: no.
O: how about if I face forward?
T: yes.
O: how about if I look behind me now?
T: no.
O: how about if I try to back out?
T: no.
O: how about if I take a bite of hay?
T: yes.
T closes the divider at this point and stays in the trailer with O.
O: do I get a reward if I put my face right next to yours?
T: no, and move your face away from mine.
O: how about now?
T: no.
O: now?
T: no.
O: how about if I back up against the divider?
T: no, and come forward.
O: now?
T: no.
O: how about if I face forward?
T: yes.
O: how about if I face forward and take a bite of hay?
T: yes.
T ducks under the divider and shuts the door to the trailer then stands at O's head outside of the trailer.
O: can I have a reward if I look behind me at the divider and closed door?
T: no
O: how about if I face forward?
T: yes
O: how about if I press my butt against the divider?
T: no
O: if I face forward?
T: yes.
O: face backward?
T: no
O: face forward?
T: yes
O: face backward?
T: no
(Repeat 4 or 5 times)
O: face forward and take a bite of hay?
T: yes
T leaves post, gets in truck, starts it and drives a slow circle around the driveway, stops, sets parking brake, turns off truck, and resumes position at O's head outside the trailer.
O: oh hi, you're back. Treat if I face forward?
T: yes
O: face backward?
T: no
O: face forward?
T: yes
O: face forward and take a bite of hay?
T: yes
T leaves post from outside trailer and opens trailer door then stands outside of divider until O faces forward. T ducks under the divider and stands next to him.
O: treat if I face backward and look at the divider?
T: no.
O: face forward?
T: yes.
O: face forward and take a bite of hay?
T: yes.
T holds lead and opens divider.
O: can I back out now?
T: no
Taps him forward with arm extender (stick).
O: face forward and wait?
T: yes
Rewards then backs him out to the edge of the trailer. At the edge, T says "step, step" so that he knows to step down onto the ground.

The clear expectations are questions Odin asks and receives the "yes". The mistakes I made before I realized this were that I dreaded trailer training as much as Odin and if he got in, I'd back him out right away without asking him to wait. He could ask any question and the answer would be "yes, let's get out of this horrible place". That's not the correct precedence and doesn't help him get comfortable in the trailer. Or if we arrived somewhere, I'd let him out without setting the expectation that he would a) face forward, b) wait for my signal to back), and c) back out straight with his face away from mine.

When Odin takes a bite of hay inside the trailer, I know that he has briefly accepted his current situation and it might be time for me to ask a harder question. I am prepared for a "no" answer to my more difficult question, if he says "no, I'm not ready, can't do this right now" to my question we can go back to easier questions, like "can you face forward?" and "can you wait a moment ?".

Odin will say yes if I ask fair questions and that has made trailer training a lot easier for both of us. I think we'll get to go somewhere soon without as much trauma and drama as we experienced in the past.

Sometimes I love self-discovery.  Sometimes I just want the answers.

Self-discovery is easier if you have a straightforward horse that gives you consistent answers when you ask similar questions.  However, when the answer is consistently "No!" and you've run out of tools in your toolbox where do you turn if you aren't consistently paying a professional?

Eventually I will run out of tools in my toolbox and have to consult with a professional when it comes to certain aspects of riding.  I am perfectly capable of riding on a trail without professional help, at least with Odin the Mustang.  That same exercise simply was not true for my late Thoroughbred, Beege.  He had more things to be afraid of than I could possibly address.  Sometimes the goblins were the same thing day after day, month after month.  He had too many other issues, likely related to arthritis and a gut slowly going bad, for me to move beyond simple target training and sometimes he preferred to worry than engage. Eventually, maybe after the Stay Home Stay Healthy order is lifted, Odin and I will take riding lessons so that we both understand body control in order to safely navigate jumps or ride patterns or try mounted archery.  I can teach him basic steering but there will be a point when the maneuvers are more advanced.

In the meantime, my favorite resources are:

1) Alexandra Kurland, The Clicker Center: My favorite tools are her book The Click that Teaches and her podcast, Equiosity. The book offers a step-by-step approach to positive reinforcement with a lot of photos.  I have been able to move fairly quickly through the book with Odin the Mustang and started target training baby mustang, Bragi the Mustang.

2) Stacy Westfall: She wants to teach all of us to train our own horses. Mostly I listen to her two podcasts, the one on Horse Radio Network and her own.

3) Shawna Corrin Karrasch: She also has a monthly, podcast on Horse Radio Network that teaches the listener how to use positive reinforcement, step-by-step.  The podcast format has an introduction and then a "laboratory" portion where you can listen and train your horse at the same time that Shawna is working with one of her horses.

4) Mary K Kitzmiller Horsemanship: Another monthly podcast host on Horse Radio Network, she answer listener questions, sometimes live during the show.  I called in one time and received great feedback on helping Odin the Mustang load in the trailer when I was about to move him from one location to another.  Mary is able to explain when and why to use positive reinforcement and when you might need to apply pressure and release training.

5) Horse Radio Network: if you are a fan of all horses all the time podcasts, this network has at least a dozen shows that are educational and entertaining.  Show topics range from specific disciplines to horse care and nutrition to marketing and entertainment.  I never would have entertained the idea, much less adopted two mustangs, if I hadn't listened to hundreds of their podcasts.

These are all my go-to resources for where I am right now in the training process.  Eventually I hope to use my books on arena exercises and be able to describe those successes when I get there.

It's raining.

Governor Inslee extended the Stay Home Stay Health until the end of May.  Nowhere to go, don't want to make mud by riding in the pasture, I am finally forced to face my trailer demon.

I hate trailer loading because Odin doesn't like it.  Odin doesn't like probably because he can sense that trailering is a giant hole in my horsemanship tool box.  I am simply not confident with it as I did not grow up with trailering.  When I grew up we rode to trails over hill, over dale, through empty pastures and down two-lane roads with no traffic then into the forest.  I was that lucky.

As an adult, I've mostly boarded my horses at places with riding arenas and access to at least short trails.  I've shown a little and paid for the trailer ride to shows.  I simply did not have to deal with trailering.  I had people for that.  How posh.  Ha.

When I re-embarked on the horsemanship journey almost 5 years ago I wanted to learn how to teach my horse(s) how to do x, y, and z.  In grad school I learned that in order to teach, you had to know your subject inside and out. Horses are more forgiving than undergrad students but I learned to avoid making many mistakes and to refer to an expert on a subject if I didn't know it.

When I first got Odin the Mustang I boarded him at a stable and spent a good month of training on trailer loading.  He would load with my trainer because she is confident about trailering.  I gained some tools for my tool box but then it was up to me to practice, do my homework.  Horses know when you're faking confidence but how to move forward when you a) have the goal in mind, b) have a few tools, and c) need to exude confidence?

The answers are: a) practice what you know, b) forgive yourself if you make a mistake and go back to what you know, and c) practice until you're bored.

What do I know?  Positive reinforcement.  As I've said before, my favorite resource is Alexandra Kurland's book, The Click that Teaches.  She has a short section on trailer loading, which I avoided reading until this morning.  Luckily I practiced a lot of exercises that lead up to trailer loading: targeting, standing on a mat, and leading.  She points out that trailer loading is just an exercise in leading.  She also points out that many people and horses are afraid of trailer loading because of previous bad experiences.  Her exercises make it easy, make us all feel confident.

What to do?  Put a familiar target and a familiar mat in the trailer.  I put the orange and yellow flag for a target and the red mat in the place where Odin would stand.  I put a blue mat near the entrance to the trailer.  We hadn't worked on that mat yet but this would be a good place to start.

First, we practiced putting on the fly mask because buzzing flies aren't going to help if we're annoyed and distracted.  Then we practiced fly spray, which he views as acid touching his precious skin.  Both of these were at liberty because Odin loves positive reinforcement.  I doubt he would go near the trailer without the halter and lead rope at this stage and the point isn't to drag him into the trailer.  The point of the halter and leadrope is just so he doesn't go back to eating grass because he'd prefer to ignore me and the trailer.

I also need to mention that Randy was weed-whacking nearby with the gas powered weed whacker for extra distraction, which is good for knowing how to proceed when the environment is a little busy.  It's good practice for having your horse's attention when you're in an unfamiliar location and asking him to load.

Halter on, he snorted all the way to the blue mat that was in front of the trailer door.  Snorting is a sign of being over threshold, which is not the goal but he kept walking forward.  He was telling me he didn't like it but he recognized the stand-on-mat exercise and was interested.  Then he stopped so I brought the mat to him and we began that exercise: stand on mat with two feet, click and treat.  He's good at that game, even with weed-whacking nearby, which is a very good sign.

The mat kept moving closer to the trailer until finally it was easier to put the mat in the trailer.  We spent a lot of time with two feet in the trailer then back out.  Repeat.  Then he put all 4 feet in without my asking and stood there.  Great!  Click, treat, back out.  Take a break.  He grazed while I futzed around in the garden.

Generally I can get Odin in the trailer but staying in there is another issue for him.   Front feet in, pause, click and treat.  Repeat.  Four feet in, pause, click and treat.  Repeat.  Ok, now go touch the target at the front of the trailer.  Pause, click and treat.  Repeat a couple times then we are done for the day. If I'm bored with the game it probably means that I am confident enough.

These are fun games to play while it's raining to build and reinforce confidence.  I'm hoping that by the time the Stay Home Stay Health order is lifted both Odin and I feel very confident about trailering.  Half the challenge is loading.  The other half is staying in there so we will practice the how-long-can-I-stand-here game when we get to that point.

Odin's obstacle course

The trails are closed and so are most arenas.  We cannot go anywhere to train or ride and frankly I frequently do not have time to go very far anyway because I have an old dog.  Sure the old dog can be in her crate, in the truck for a few hours, but I would rather not leave her unattended for that long.  She will not live forever so figuring out how to train with what I have right now has been good practice for Training during the Time of Covid-19.

Numerous times I have mentioned that when I get stuck for training ideas I turn to Alexandra Kurland's book on clicker training.  She explains why clicker training can safely work for anyone, what tools you need and likely have available, i.e. your tongue to make the clicking noise, grain or carrot pieces for rewards, pockets for storage, and anything can be used as a target.  I use empty plastic grain bags, rain barrels, old bath mats or towels, a bucket lid, an old lacrosse stick, dog toys that old dog does not use any more — just make sure the item does not have sharp or pointy edges.  Pretend the toy is for your precious 6-month old niece or nephew — too big to swallow, lots of holes to prevent suffocation, and too blunt poke themselves.  The book has a lot of pictures and step-by-step procedures, as well as what to do if things go wrong.

This book has helped me take goals I have with Odin (ride him long and far and fast some day, maybe herd cows, maybe shoot bow and arrow at stationary targets, maybe go drag hunting and jump over logs) and break the steps down into the tiniest pieces.

The first step is obvious: get on horse.  What do I have to do to accomplish that?  A million things: catch him, lead him nicely, ask him to go into the barn where the saddle is, ask him to stand still while I brush his coat and remain standing while I pick his feet, put on the blanket and saddle, accept a bit and bridle over his ears, lead to to the mounting block, stand still while I get on, move off nicely when I ask, be brave when he sees a scary plastic bag or garbage can or another goblin, ask him to be reasonable if I make a mistake, like let the lead rope drag over his butt or between his hooves.  Riders ask a lot of horses and it continues to amaze me that horses are willing to do all these things that are against their instincts and have little benefit to themselves, except earning that paycheck of regular feed, water, and shelter.

That list did not seem like it amounted to a million; however, when you break down each step into the tiniest of steps it seems like a million.

For instance, the first thing on the list is catch him.  What if he does not want to be caught because he would rather continue his nap or he simply is not ready for you to be in his space?  How do you catch a horse that does not want to be caught?  Let him catch you!  Walk toward him until he looks at you.  Then stop, maybe back away.  If he looks away as soon as you enter, he may be telling you that he is not ready for you to be in his space.  Be polite, stop, and give him a moment.  When he looks at you back away.  Pretty soon he will take a step toward you. Click with your tongue and offer him a treat.  This is the beginning. Do this repeatedly over the next several days or week and soon he will walk up to you when you come in.

Break down the rest of the steps and then this happens:

So handsome in his English tack.

And then this:

Odin aiming for the next target, duct-taped lacrosse stick, with me on board.

What is next for us?  Maybe some trotting to each obstacle after the mud dries out.  Neither of us need our confidence shaken by him slipping in mud. Eventually we will get to his nemesis, the horse trailer but we are not in a hurry.  We can do a lot of preparation here and still take care of the old dog in the manner that she deserves.