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11/13/2010

Turn the Tide

Today I was able to try Dream for the first time in a Dr. Cook bitless bridle, borrowed from my friend from MD (who is becoming my neighbor on Monday when she and her husband purchase property behind ours!)

 I don’t think I transitioned him properly: I should have released more quickly when he turned his head to the bridle’s pressure. He really did NOT know what I was asking for, at first. I don’t know if this is why, but the first half of the ride was a little crazy-- crazier than usual.


I’d ridden him mid-week, in just a halter and lead ropes (no chain!) and on top of 3” of crusty snow, and he was as responsive as my rides with a bit. In some ways, he was even more responsive. And I do think riding bitless is calming him down.

I was in the soccer field in front of the barn for the beginning of this ride. The soccer field is about 75 yards long and 25 yards wide, sided by an upper barn on one side and a row of blueberries on the other.

This is the first time riding that I’ve just had Dreamer ‘freeze up’ on me. He simply refused to move. Scott offered me a crop, but I declined. Thank God. I think it would have made him explosive.

I had to circle him a few times before that because he was trying to ‘boss me’. But he could hardly understand the circling. That is when he stopped moving at all.

At one point, I did an old John Lyons trick and just let his head be turned left, with his feet planted fore. Sooner or later, he will want to straighten his head, and usually a horse does that by taking a forward step, in which you immediately release the pressure and viola, you’re walking again. I’d used in on Ebony dozens of times when training her.

Well…John Lyons will also tell you a horse can go in 6 different directions: up, down, left, right, backwards, and forward. Dream chose backward and a dodge under me to the left. I was caught behind the motion, but stayed on. The line of blueberries prevented him from going far. Whew! But we were walking again…

After that, according to Scott, is when things started to improve. I got Dream to go into a trot nicely (another story) and then I walked him further and further from the barn in ever increasing circles, another 25 yards from the top of the soccer field to the top of the hill, down the hill a bit and back again—just walking and getting him relaxed. He started to drop his head and take longer strides. I praised him regularly.

At one point the mailman decided to stop at our mailbox, 50 yards down the hill and to the left, near the road. Dream thought this was cause for immediate Ranch Patrol: stand up watching, alert, not moving, not hearing me a bit. I hope to God that one day this horse learns to trust me as his leader. Until then, I know he is not a safe ride. The mailman was soon dismissed as a non-threat.

Another time, our new neighbors drove up the road at the bottom of the hill, an easement access to their acreage. It was the guys, hunting. Dream was fine with me stopping him and saying a quick “hello”.

I didn’t ride much longer after that because gun shots are one of 3 things that Dream hates. Before we ended, we went to the “Adventure Cone,” a cone I put at the furthest point of my goal in barn-bound training, and there’s an apple or some other treat in a bucket there. It is so much better in a bitless! I don’t have to cut the apple or worry about choking anymore. Nor am I breaking the ultimate “No Eating in A Bit” rule.

Get ready to laugh: just as we were closing and walking so calmly and proud of ourselves back to the soccer field, out of the back door comes my soon-to-be 13 year old son, Seth, who did not know I was riding. (Mental note: make sure all children know when Mommie is on horse in yard.) Seth had been upstairs reading and out of the loop. He saw his brothers out at the barn, and for some reason in his almost-thirteen male adolescent brain, this is reason to slam the door as you run all out, yelling like a wild Indian at the top of your voice and waving your hands through the air like your house is on fire, in a primal greeting to one’s brothers.

Seth, age 9-- he will be 13 this Thanksgiving Day

You’d think that with 3 ½ years living in the yard adjacent to my children, Dream would have seen it all by now. But I guess that’s from the safety of his barn and his herd. Anyway, he almost bolted, he definitely spooked, until he realized it was one of his boys. It could not have been too bad, because I had the time in my gatherings to yell an un-Christian thing.

In conclusion, maybe today was going to be an ‘off’ day anyway. I do think the bridle confused him and it was my fault. I may get another chance to try with my friend’s bridle, or I’ll have to order one for us just about immediately.

Ebony’s turn to try the bridle is tomorrow. She seems to be out of her fall heat.
(That was this past Thursday, when she wanted to kill me and at least reach the farrier. Another story…)


Turn the Tide (IRE) 1974
 

2 comments:

juliette said...

Allison, Double check that you have the bitless in the proper position. Did your friend fit it for Dream? I make sure that the nose band has two fingers perpendicular to the back of the chin like I do with a regular bridle, and I keep the criss-cross in back slightly loose. I reach down from time to time (yes, leaning over precariously) and pull the criss-cross loose again if it gets too tight. Also, make sure there isn't too much pressure on the pole or ears. Basically, in normal riding mode, the bridle is like a halter with little pressure on them. If they shy, my reins lately have gone flying, but they are supposed to tighten, and then I release the criss-cross after the adrenaline (mine) is done. All in all, it still seems like you did well. I want to try the Nurtural bitless too to see if the boys like it better. I rode Pie with nothing - no halter, no saddle, no reins - in the pastures this spring and he was terribly mixed up. He listened to my leg, but he was so sure that he was doing something wrong. Dream might have been confused too, although if the halter ends up working best I would use that! Other people might tell you different, though. I am slightly nuts about not hurting the horse at my own risk.

Allison said...

Thank you Juliette, that is all really helpful. My friend was not able to fit the bridle on so your information helped a lot. :-)