Driving lesson #13: Solo!

Yup I got to go solo for a little while! Just a bit while Sensei helped get a horse off the trailer and settled in. Still I was driving my horse by myself for the first time! AND I get to drive her solo when I want between lessons. Of course this is with a few stipulations, after all I have to use his wagon, as mine is at home, and his harness and all that. Still I am really excited! Of course after he told me this I managed to some how flip the end of one of the line out of the wagon, not a good thing. Luckily I hung on to the part in my hand, but it was still rather funny~ in a scary sort of way. *edited to add that normally I sit on the ends of the line. Never know when you are going to drop and line.*

I have not been blogging as much as I would like for several reasons. I have been actually out doing stuff, like everyone else. Also I have been dealing with some personal issues. Some major ones actually but I am on the right track now. Help is a good thing to ask for. So hopefully I will be on more now. With pictures I don't know, having a few computer problems.

The thing with lessons are they are so insightful for me right now. Many of the problems that I have with Corrie are just a microcosm of issues in my other life. One thing, Sensei tells me, work on one thing at a time. When working on "a" don't worry about "b". We will have to go back and work with "b" but I can't do everything at once. Sometimes if "b" crops up I might have to stop "a" and deal with "b" first. I tend to want to do it all now.

Being consistent, so hard for me. From the moment I put her halter on in the field until I let Corrie go after our time together. Sensei often refers to his training program as boot camp for horses. He also trains all the way up to the gate. Why miss training opportunities.Just being consistent on what I am asking from her. If there is one thing that Sensei is trying so hard to drill into my head, sometimes it is really thick, it is this. If she is not leading well, she is not going to drive or ride well. Issues don't disappear just because I climb on her back or pick up the lines.

Of course this is just a few issues, but I see how they work in my daily life too. Just as Sensei says, doing ground work helps with riding and driving, drive helps with riding, etc. And lessons help with the rest of my life.

Driving lesson #12: With my new wagon

I drove in my new wagon Wednesday; I have actually driven the wagon before but now it is mine. It is the cutest little wagon with nice bucket seats in the front and a wooden bench seat in the back. I wish I had charged batteries in my camera. I need to get some picture of Corrie driving it. My goal is to do some trail driving with it this fall. My mom can actually get in it too and I think she would really love to drive; she used to ride when she was a kid.

Corrie was very "up," shall we say, today. I guess proving that she can be if she want to be. She did not like a car that was driving rather scarily down the road. She was having trouble focusing on what was in front of her, and has some difficulties keeping herself at a walk for a bit. Actually all that is pretty normal for her. She is such a sightseer.

Apparently she does not like polka music either. Can't really blame her, not one of my favorites either. Actually it just goes back to noise that she can't see the source for. Someone was playing loud music, polka of all things, behind a row of trees. That was scary on so many levels, I have to agree with her on that one.

I am getting ready to bring her home, maybe next month. My driving lessons are really important so that I feel comfortable driving her around my little part of the world. In fact she is not coming here until I get the okay to drive her alone. I will probably do a few solos there and then bring her here. I don't know if I will ride her when I get her home, but I will definitely drive.

Riding might have to be put on hold, at that point, until late fall early winter when I take her back. That will depend a large part on how this month goes. I have so many more issues in the saddle then in harness. Oh well.

I promise to get pictures soon.

Driving Lesson #11: Uggg

Well that was a big ol' sucked!

I am not remembering the way I should.

I feel frustrated that my skills are not where they should be, but it has been years since I seriously rode. And although I am new to driving I shouldn't be sucking this bad.

But really I had a hard time driving Corrie at a walk up a hill and in a straight line. What the hell is wrong with me?

This is not one of my positive days, obviously.

I am just feeling lonely, depressed, and clueless.

Sorry this is a sucky post.

* * * *
Edited after Breathe's comment:

I am sorry for the negative post.

It was really frustrating to walk up the hill over and over and Corrie would veer to the barn as soon as I lost my focus for a moment. She would start to trot and I guess my left hand is stronger than my right so I would inadvertently pull with that hand too hard, which was bad because she wanted to go to the left ( toward the barn) anyway. Well we would go up the hill, half way would be great, I had my focus on where we were going. Then the wind would blow my hair in my face. I'd focus on that for just a second and Corrie would veer to the left. Then I would focus so hard on her not trotting that she would veer again, then as I corrected her she's trot. Arg. Or a dog would trot by and she would want to trot. Or she I'm sure you get the idea.

It ended up being one of those things that I became hyper focused on and would try to micromanage and well that never works, then she looked drunk.

Well with personal issues and what not, I just felt overwhelmed and stressed. But tomorrow after work I am going to go out and ride again and have a great deal of success on this matter, only I will be riding.

Driving Lesson #10: WHY??

Wow back behind the horse again and was she gassy! Now that I can ride as much as I want, I am doing driving lessons again. After all I can't drive without my trainer, I have nothing to drive except for the horse. Well sort of, I think we have worked out a plan, but she will won't be mine until the end of the month if I can scrounge up the money and she isn't sold as part of a team.

So I got out there early and started grooming Corrie. I love this part of getting to know a horse. She has dapples. Her blaze as two little points on either side. She needs a good bath to see what her legs really looks like, socks or just lighter. All the little swirls and cow licks on her face. Those are the little things that when I notice I think, I wonder who else knows that Corrie has a long cow lick in the middle of her face? I just feel that much closer to her.

I had her all groomed and harnessed up. R rush in through after another lesson. As I was getting her into the shafts, with a bit of difficulties, he ran out again. He was in and out but felt that as I had every thing under control, this was just something that Corrie and I had to work out for ourselves. We did. When he came back she was standing calmly in the shafts, nice and centered.

It was a beautiful day to drive! Sun shined down on us without excess heat. Very little wind. Just a nice day to drive down the road, discussing the ins and outs of driving, riding, and life in general. I guess that is one reason that I like to drive. Instead of needing a horse for every person, one horse can be shared by many. Like sitting at booth in a restaurant, chit chatting about life while sipping on coffee, driving has the same relaxed feeling.

Well it can be relaxing unless you have someone next to you asking you why you do everything you do. EVERYTHING, "Why did you do that?" "What was that supposed to accomplish?" I love that question when what I meant to accomplish really didn't work. Oh that was sarcasm if it didn't come through clearly enough. And I pay for this! This is all meant a bit tongue in cheek. I really do learn a lot about why I do what I do and why I should not do some of the things I do. I leave and think. I tend to get wrapped up in thoughts anyway, so these questions make me ponder the ins and outs of riding/driving.

Today I was feeling a bit frustrated. First of all Corrie was being a bit sluggish. Not uncommon for her but we are working through that. But R was making me think a bit outside the box to get her moving, as well as wondering why I wanted her to move out a bit more. Not that he didn't think she should be a bit more forward, but I have to think about why.

At the same time, since we are not always on the road, I have to think about keeping her at a gait I choose, not letting her trot just because the terrain got uneven or she sees a lawn mower over at the church. Not to mention keeping the reins even over uneven terrain. So she accidentally slips up into the trot, grrr. Response, "you knew at least three stride before hand that she was going to trot." Well yes I did, but. . . What this really tells me is that R holds me to a high standard, and that is good. But grr anyway, because I get frustrated with myself when I am not doing as well as I think I should.

Now to be fair, I did a lot of things right, we got Corrie better at stepping out and worked on transitions. She seems to have an odd lawn mower fetish, she is not scared of them, but really interested in them. I think she is jealous that they are eating grass when she has to work. Looking all around her is another thing I am trying to correct and as smart as Corrie is, she is a mare. I love that about her. She is not hot, but she is not simple.

So the lesson was good. Reminded me that as simple as driving seems some days, it is that complex on others. But life is good. I am working with a horse again.

Driving Lesson #9

MuddyK asked a wonderful question in a comment on my Management and Labor post. I promise I will answer that question. I have a post started but I have not finished it yet.

Today was a lesson day and I had a blast. R. just got a pony for his granddaughter and I got to drive it. Cute little thing and very well behaved. I felt amazing confident. None of the nervousness that comes from any other equestrian sport. I know a lot of that has to do with the size of the equine. Just trotting around the arena, figure 8's, circles, and whatever. It was great to feel confident in myself. Not worried about a run off, I probably would have laughed if I had one. I am just not fearful of driving the little guys at all.

R. has these blue barrels in his arena. They are used for various reasons. They make great obstacles. We were sure what would happen if the pony hit one of these, which can happen when a youngster is learning to drive. So I started to hit them. The pony spook a little at the first one, but just took it all in stride after that. It was actually a lot of fun, and a lot more challenging that one might think. Then we worked on backing. Poor little pony didn't have a clue. So we did that a bit and called it a day. It was fun and good experience for working with my own little guy.

Again it was so nice to be involved in an equestrian activity that didn't leave me on edge. It is fun, just pure and simple. I want to ride and I want to drive the bigger horses, but for an hour I felt confident and had a lot a fun.

After that we talked about Kinsey.

Okay if you don't like sad stories, you might want to skip this part. Kinsey had her first ride yesterday, finally. Monday did not work out at all. She was really spooky about the stirrups, a known irritations of hers. So they had to work through that issue. Yesterday they actually got on. Apparently Kinsey took the bit in her mouth and just took off. Something she started to do on her last ride, at least the last ride I know about.

So many questions have been raised in my head. I have paid for another week of training. I have no idea how to go from here, I can't afford to keep her in training. I'll just have to wait to see how she is then.

Driving lesson #8

Lesson is a day early this week. I have an appointment with someone at the house tomorrow and had to take my lesson a day early. That appointment is also why I have not been blogging. I have to make the main level of the house look presentable. I hate cleaning. I really do. So I have been setting aside time every day to clean. I clean an area and then read a chapter in book, my reward. Then clean the next area, and read. I actually get a lot more done that way. Anyway, I digress.

I drove Corrie single again. Corrie is on the larger size for a haflinger, she is on the wide side too. That wide load sign we have on the back of the cart really fits. Now I am not picking on Corrie, she is a good driving horse. I like her personality, albeit she is a bit marish, but like me Corrie enjoys her food a tad bit too much. R actually said he thought that overall Corrie would be a better match for me than Drew. She actually does ride too, Drew is not fond of driving. During my next riding lesson R said he would ride Corrie. I guess she is steady under saddle, but doesn't know a whole lot.

We went out "driving fences". I like to do practical thing when I am working with my horses. I don't know, maybe I am just more of a farmer at heart or what, but I love to haul logs, check the fences, and spread hay instead of just practice maneuvers. As we rode along the hot fence we looked for places it might be shorting out. R would hop out while Corrie and I waited. R mentioned that I seemed a lot more relaxed now.

I guess I have hit a good place. I was not really worried about Corrie running off, I would have freaked if she had, but at the same time I know I can handle it now. I have lost that feeling that at any second my horse is going to spook and run off. I am starting to really have confidence in both myself and my horse. Reason one to get a horse you can have confidence in.

When I first started taking lesson with R he said that he probably has a 100 run offs a day. At least I think he said 100, doesn't really matter. What he meant was how we prepare and react to the horse is more important that if the horse is ready to spook or not. He does not actually have that many run offs, just that he is prepared and stops the run off before it is even in the horses mind to do it. Stopping that run off might mean not even getting on that horse, or hitching that horse to today and working on ground manners. It might mean taking a tighter rein to reassure the horse that you are there as soon as his ears start flicking this way or that. With Corrie it means keeping her focused on her job as she tends to like to sight see. I understood the concept before, but now I am starting to really understand how I can apply that.

I thought back to the last time I saw Kinsey ridden and she spooked. The young lady didn't react fast enough and we had a runaway. At the time I blamed Kinsey. She didn't react the way I want my horse to. Now I my thinking is that I put too much blame on Kinsey. I am not going to hash out all my feelings about why that runaway occurred, just to say that there was more than just Kinsey to blame. Myself, as her owner, included. And is really could have been prevented. So I am prepared for her next spook now.

Kinsey leaves on Saturday. I will go over with her. See that she gets settled in and generally make a pest of myself. I think I have said before that truly believe horses really need some time to settle in to a new environement. Working with them too quickly just adds additional stress to the already stressful move. R was really pleased that I wanted her to have some time to get used to the place too, really makes me feel, again, that this is going to be a good experience for her. So she is going to just be boarded out there for the first week. Now that she knows me and is starting to trust me I am going to handle her and play with her a little during that week. There is a round pen I am really itching to get her in. Then R will work with her for two weeks and we will see how things go from there.

Oh course, I am hoping that he says she is great and I will be fine with her. So that is what we shooting for. But if she isn't, well it is better to know that now.

Driving Lesson #7

I didn't have a lesson last week because of Midwest Horse Fair. So I should have had a riding lesson, but since I missed my driving lesson I did that this week. Not that it matters all that much, but I wanted to drive.

Call me chicken, call me more interested in driving. I don't know for sure. I do know that driving is helping me more comfortable dealing with spooks. Really it does. It just tips my nerves up a notch, but not too much. If you remember from the video a few weeks back we need to move into the uncomfortable zone, but not so far in that we end up in the fear zone. For example, today I had to wait while R. did something outside the cart. Corrie wanted to back up. I felt that momentary nervousness because of a lack of control. I knew how to ask her to step forward. So I asked her. We had to do that a few time. She actually was fairly good, some issues, but R said I handled them well. It was little bit of nervousness, but that fact that I could it that helps me feel a little more in control.

I realized that is why I feel so afraid. I have that loss of control because I asked Abby to stop and she didn't. I don't know if I was not forceful enough, or she was just ignoring me or what. It is hard to think back to moments before I fell. I remember it all but analyzing exactly what when wrong is difficult. I do know remember feeling out of control.

R and I talked about Kinsey again. I swear I am starting to sound like Saturday morning breakfast with all my waffling. I think that maybe I should send her over to him for just a 2 week evaluation. He can get on her and see what she is really like and give me an honest evaluation of if she would be right for me or if I should sell her now. She is not a bad horse, she is actually a very good horse and probably has some hidden talent in there. But to be honest, I am not sure if she is still a good horse for me. If there is potential, then she can stay there for a little while, and she will be the next horse I start riding in lessons. If she just isn't going to be right for me, it is still early in the year and maybe I can find a nice home where she would be better used. If she is at R's then we have a round pen and a arena for people to try her in. The alternative is that she sit here for two years and becomes a 12 year old horse that has sat for two years and nobody wants. Honestly that is not fair to her or me. Meanwhile if the right horse did come around I could not get it because I have too many right now. Also working 3 horses a day, taking care of the house, working, and doing everything else that I have to do it really hard.

I will say that we have made some improvements. You can see in her picture, she is licking. Does a lot of thinking that one. (Ignore the rope around her neck, it is a long story and not very interesting) She is getting easier to catch, is doing really well with everything I am asking and I really enjoy working with her. It is just in the back of my mind I am thinking, "Is this a waste of time." Why put all the work into her when she is just not going to be a horse that I can ride when I could just take her to R. and find out. And when I could be putting that time into Ike or Madison. Ya know? To many horses not enough time.

After the lesson I came home and ground drove Ike. I had him pulling a little sled. We walked around and picked up branches and what not from around the yard so we had lots of "whoa" standing while I picked up sticks, scary sounds of dragging the sled across the driveway. All excellent stuff. He was nervous about the driveway, but after we went over it a few time he got much better. I have to order the shafts to fix my cart so I can actually drive whenever I want. That will be fun!

Woo Hoo!! Driving Lesson # 6

Check out this dressage test!


Happy April Fools!


Driving Lesson:

I got out to my driving lesson and there were two horses hitched up ~ a team! Two haflinger geldings that are going to Midwest Horse Fair were hitched and waiting. I got to drive a team. Talk about fun! Talk about different!

It is so much different than driving a single in some ways. Keeping the trees lined up and watching where we were going was a lot more difficult than I thought. If one horse gets ahead of the other, you still pull both reins back, even though you want to just pull the one. The horses can be lined up correctly but drifting to one side. Just wild. I felt like such a beginner, only instead of staring at the horses ears I was staring at the tree.

Yet over all it was much easier to drive two that I thought it would be. Only one set of reins, but they criss cross each other, so although I only have one right rein, that one rein splits and each of those reins go to the right side of the horses. For the first time in a long time I was trying to use a leading/ opening rein. I was laughed at a little bit about that and reminded to "keep my hands in the box." Not sure when the last time I was told that! They only stopped once when they weren't supposed to and we never actually hit the electric fence, so that was good too! Although I never got them to "go" on my word, R had to tell them and then they went. I still get a real kick out of "gee" and "haw."

Most of the time I was in an enclosed area, until I had to start doing a lot of maneuvering. That was when we were outside the fence and putting the sled up. I kept trying to hand the reins off, but told that I could do it. And I did! It was a really neat feeling. One of those things that I have always wanted to do but never thought I could.

Now I am wondering if I should get another percheron or mini to make a team. Totally kidding!

Driving #5 and Riding #2

I did not post about my driving lesson last week. Oops

I drove Corrie. She is a nice mare, but not the most cooperative. She has a bit of a stubborn streak. If you ask her to move up she will take one step with her front feet, but refuse to move her back. She really cracks me up! I actually like her.

We had a good drive until a German Shepard puppy, around 7 mos, came running up to us barking. Corrie spooked a bit. R put on the brakes and I handed of the reins. He kept tell me I could have handled it, which is probably right, but I had to make a quick decision. All in all it went well believe it or not. After that we went and talked to the woman with the dog, he had slipped pasted her and she was mortified. Corrie calmed down and then went about driving.

All in all it was a VERY good experience. It was a spook but we all ended up calmer than when we began. Frankly a spook with someone else there is great. I felt more confident, afterward that I could handle it.

Today I rode again. I rode Drew. Nice horse, not Bill though and I just have to get used to him. I was hoping to trot, but Drew had a little spook. Nothing big, but it was enough to put me on edge again. It was good though. I survived it, I didn't get off, I helped Drew to face what he was afraid of. I am learning how R. had his horses trained. We had some good discussion about training. We don't always see eye to eye, but we do mange to understand each other, or at least accept, the other's point of view.

Both of those spook were invaluable lessons. I am starting to remember that spooks happen. They happen all the time. As R. said once, when driving you may have 100 run aways that never happen because you catch it in time and defuse the situation. It is the same with a spook. Catch it in time and you can defuse the situation. Where I used to think I need to find a horse that doesn't spook, what I really need to find is the courage to deal with that spook and keep it under control.

Mean while back at the ranch:
Kinsey HATES needles. I mean I really should not be surprised, but I was hoping that I would be able to do shots on my own with her and that just is not going to happen. Luckily it was just a matter of finding a way to work with her. She needs to have her eye shielded. She can't see it, it was okay. The vet did a little neck twitch and then she was okay. No butt shot though, so we had to do one in the chest. We even got a coggins out of her.

Ropes don't seem to be a be deal with her either. So that is really encouraging. I would really like to get her working on the ground very well before I send her off. I am hoping to start ground driving her. I think that will be good for the both of us.

I was hoping to send her to a trainer in a few weeks, but unfortunately I had some terrible vet luck this week. It is goat related so I won't mentioned it here, but it put a damper on some future plans. I am going to keep riding and driving lessons though and maybe in a few months I can send her.