cause and effect

The Cause:

A regular garden hose

The Effect:

Can you find the damage?

Today was absolutely beautiful! Half day of work, awesome lunch with coworkers and a coworker who went to work in Pennsylvania and came back to visit. Sun, nice weather. . . what a perfect day to work with the pony, right?

Wrong. 

I took my time grooming Shyloh and trying to get as much hair out of her as possible, while eating as little hair as possible. Then I hooked her up to her cart. I stood at her head to turn her around when the shaft brushed the hose. Shy felt it and lurched forward. The hose got caught and off Shy ran. And ran. And ran. And ran. She ran a million miles an hour with the cart behind her. She ran and bucked and was just wild. 

But Shy finally stopped herself and some other people at the barn caught her. I was shaking I was so upset. I didn't know if Shy was hurt, if the cart was totaled, if anyone else was hurt. . .all I knew was that the whole winter I spent working with Shy was gone. Gone. Damn, I could have spent all winter warm in my house and not freezing my ass off with Shy. And the cart needs to be welded and needs two new wheels.

After me and two other people checked Shy up and down, we concluded that she amazingly did not get hurt. No cuts, no scratches, no heat, no swelling. She will probably be a little sore, so I gave her some bute (the first time I ever had to use it with her) and continued to keep and eye on her. 

Then I had my meltdown. I cried. And anyone who knows me knows I am not a crier. I can't even remember the last time I shed a tear. I was beyond upset. I was going to have to start all over. At the beginning. After we had come so far. I sat on the ground crying while the people at my barn got my cart, brought my horse over, gave her some hay, and were just awesome. I love the people at my barn. 

With the meltdown, came the doubts. Doubts that Shy could be a cart horse or even a riding horse. Doubts that she can do this with me teaching her. Doubts that she will ever be a safe horse for me.  While I was wallowing in my pit of doubts, my crazy horse seemed to sense I needed cheering up and started doing this:

Silly. So hard to stay mad at her!

But I pulled myself together and my Shy work. I put her harness back on and took her line driving. I took her line driving everywhere she ran. She had no reaction. She was walking with her head down, stopping and standing when I asked, no problem steering. She was a little clenchy with her butt and when I dragged my feet she scooted a bit, but other than that it was like nothing happened. 

Pretty tail

Maybe there is some light at the end of the accident tunnel. Maybe we won't be put back quite as far as I thought. I have some great friends in Ohio, here in Michigan, and at the barn that are all willing to help. We might just get to that place we are searching for yet!

training to drive

Gotta take the bad with the good, right?

I would call today successful overall, but with one major mishap. Shyloh got away from me. Again. But we got through it.

I got to the barn early to enjoy this beautiful weather! I cannot believe how nice it is outside! I got Shy and gave her a mini spa treatment. . .coconut oil on the hooves, Healthy Hair Care Moisturizer for the mane and tail, and some new braids. Then we ran through the exercises we have been doing all week. See the sled, click and treat, go around the sled, click and treat, move the sled, click and treat, walk next to the sled on both sides in the halter, click and treat. Shy was acting like a pro!

Whachu doin back there?

The next step was to drag the sled with the blinders on. I put the driving bridle on, showed Shy the sled was not going to eat her, and we went on our merry way. I was still walking next to her at this point. Shy was unsure for about half a second, then it was no big deal. She did spook once, but it was more of a start. It seems that when people just appear in her line of vision, especially if she can't hear that they are coming, she starts. It is in place and stops her, but she recovers quickly. I did the sled dragging with the blinders on while walking on both sides. Shy was amazing!

So I decided to take it to the next step. But first, I gave Shy some down time. I knew she was not physically exhausted, but I thought she might be mentally tired from doing new-ish things. We took a break for a while.

Why you down there sittin on the sled?

Then I went over line driving. Shy can gee and haw without me even using reins. She knows what she is doing. We went through our trouble spot from the days before with no issue. We went through the outdoor arena and the manure spreader, a tight squeeze, no issue. Lots of people were at the barn, horses were being ridden, golf carts were cruising around, barn machinery was making noises. . .no issue. I was so proud of my pony! 

You sure you wanna do this?

Then I decided to try and drag the sled behind me while line driving Shy. I prepared her that it was going to happen. She took it very well. Yay! We were going around and someone walked in Shy's line of sight. She started. Then a golf cart was going by. And a truck pulling a trailer in was coming through. And more people were walking by.  Shy pulled forward. I stopped her and made her back up. Perfect. Then she pulled again. Stop and back up. It was too much for Shy. Too much going on at once. Since she was a superstar all day, I thought she could handle it. . . I thought I could handle it. . .but she pulled hard and took off. I got rope burns (bad me, no gloves. . .I hate gloves!) I am so glad the sled was not attached to her. She didn't go far and some people caught her and I went to get her. She wasn't huffing or puffing or stressed in any way. I had left the sled and we went back to line driving.

Shy was not going to get out if this. If that was her game, I was not playing. I line drove her through the spot she took off at, past the sled, and all around the property again. No problems. Then we went back to the sled. I showed it to her then let her know I was going to drag it again. We were going to end this on a good note. Not once did Shy try to take off this time. She did keep stopping, but I'll take that over a bolt any day. I had her go back to the cross tie area, stopped her, gave her a ton of praise and untacked her. I think we can do this!

Shy's got this sled thing!

monday musings by shyloh #45

Why is Allie intent on scaring the living daylights out of me? I had to show her (again) why she should not do that!

Ima scared!

Allie brought out the tire again. Didn't I tell her last time (in a not so subtle way) that I did not like that tire at all? I guess she does not care about my poor Haflinger feelings. I made my thinking noise at the tire to show my disgust with it. It is kinda like a grunting sound. But then I realized that this tire is not going away. Also, it was not moving, so it might be okay. . .I bent down to sniff it, grunting at it the whole time. I had to show it I was boss!

Please don't hurt me tire!

Then. . .Allie moved it! Whoa! Maybe I am NOT the boss! Tire on gravel sounds suspiciously like mountain lions. . .I think. I have never met a mountain lion in real life, I am just hard wired to be afraid of them!  I took off running and found my herd. 

Help!! There is safely in numbers.

They all came up to the gate to protect me. Once I realized I was safe, I did my acrobatic moves to graze, 'cause my overcheck was on.

I'm the most flexible Haflinger there is! 

Allie got me back and took me through the barn, but I was on to her game. So I refused to walk out the barn doors. Ha! That will get her! But then she got my "best friend," aka the whip. After a few taps of that and some tugs, I burst through the door. I guess that was not acceptable and we did it again. And again, I refused to walk through the door. I just knew that tire was out there, getting ready to eat me! Or creep towards me, mountain lion-style.

We did this a few times and I just kept getting more nervous and tense. I was jumpy. I tried to run back into the barn and almost ran Maryann (Dulce's mom) over. Oops, sorry! But I was scared! I have heard that Haflingers are quite meaty and tasty treats to those mountain lions!

Allie then made me walk through the door until I stopped pushing into her (hey, I was trying to save her from the tire! It might like people as much as it likes Haflingers!) and walked nicely. Then I was done. Back to the safety and security of my stall.

Or so I thought. . .A short while later, Allie brought the big guns out. . .Beth! I knew this was serious now. Beth made me keep going out the barn door until I stopped refusing. I realized my stopping was futile and I think Beth is way more stubborn than me, so eventually I stopped stopping. At least I got to stop something, right?

Going out the door

Beth made me go by the tire and around the tire. Each way and lots of times.  I tried to tell her how scary it was and run away from it, but she would not let me. We did this a ton and I realized that maybe the tire is not so scary. I still don't want it chasing me, but right now I am okay with just going around it.

Had to do lots of circles around and around the tire!

Then Beth made me walk in the barn. Yeah! This is what I was all excited about, so I hurried up. Well, this was a mistake and I had to walk right back out again. This time Beth walked too close to the tire, so I tried to push her out of the way. I guess Beth thinks she can take the tire in a fight and made me do it all over again and again until I stopped pushing her. 

Being pushy, but really  I am trying to protect Beth! I promise!

After my turn with Beth, I had to do it all over again with Allie! But I was real good and it did not take long. 

I'm perdy

Whew. What a stressful day! I grunted a whole lot with my disapproval at this exercise. But we all made it through and no one was eaten by the tire, so maybe it is not so bad. . . maybe.

Finally done!

~Shyloh

climbing a mountain

Well. . .maybe not a mountain, but Shyloh made it up a giant pile of asphalt, pulling a tire.

With the heat wave that we have been having, I decided to work Shy outside. I hooked her harness up and worked on some line driving. Shy was doing great! She was responsive, forward, and just plain awesome. We even did some trotting.

So, I decided to grab the tire and hook it up to Shy to see how she would do dragging it outside. Here is where things went south. . . 

I had been using a regular bridle to work with Shy (as opposed to the driving bridle with blinders). She seemed more comfortable being able to see behind her and my goal right now is to get her comfortable pulling stuff. But since I wanted to work outside, on grass, I knew I needed the overcheck or I would have to fight the good fight against the grass. Clever Shy, never one to be denied grass, figured out that if she bent way over to the left and leaned down, she could grab the grass. 

Since I am only one person, I could only concentrate on one thing at a time. . .grass or hooking up the tire. I chose tire. I got the right side hooked, when Shy took a step to the side. I tried to tap her back over and she took a step forward. Now, I know she saw the tire and she knew what was going on. She is far from a dumb horse. When she took that step forward, she must have felt the weight of the tire on one side of her body. 

And that is when she shot off like a cannon! Down to the end of the outdoor area, back again, through the cars. . .all the while with the tire bouncing behind her and lines flinging away. I called out "Loose horse!" because I knew someone was in the barn with their horse out. She had all the horses looking out their windows on that side of the barn, cheering her on. I wasn't worried about Shy going anywhere, but I was concerned about her hurting herself with all the lines flying behind her. I didn't panic, because panicking would have only made the situation worse.  Then, I came out from between the cars and I saw Shy. . .

My extremely accurate drawing on the actual piles of asphalt.

. . .standing on top of the second pile of asphalt. Shy drug herself and that tire over one pile and onto the top of the second pile. I have to admit, it was kinda cute. I tried to get a photo, but when I got close enough, down the hill she went. She went back and forth a few more times, then tore into the barn. At this point, the rope that tied the tire onto her harness broke. As Shy rounded the corner at top speed, upending wheelbarrows, she ran into the fan on Dannon's stall, knocking it down. 

Broken clip

Finally, she stopped, dead center in the aisle way. Poor Shy was scared and tense. She knew she did something wrong and was not sure how I would react. I untangled all of the lines and checked Shy over. Just a minuscule scrape on her nose from all of that.

I made her go back outside and worked her some more. We did not drag anything, but we did line driving. She was a little jumpy at first, but settled down and was able to get back to good. She was a little hard on the right rein, but we worked through it. I just wanted her to know that freaking out will not get her out of work, she still has to do it. After the holidays, I will go back out and have her drag that tire outside. I am thinking I will have someone hold her head so she can't eat grass. As funny as that was (after the fact) I do not want a repeat!

Oh yeah. . .and Shy had a mouthful of grass throughout this whole ordeal! Kept it and tried to eat it once she calmed down. 

bad pony

I guess I can't go on a vacation because Shyloh acts like she can do whatever she feels like when I am gone. Bad pony!

I knew Beth was going to take her on a walk around the property with Casi and Kathy. I was excited for all of them, and kinda bummed that I couldn't be there, but hey, I AM in Florida! Then I got this picture sent to me from Kathy with the words, This was after our ride. She was a handful today.

Um. . .the main thing that stuck out to me was that Beth had a helmet on. Beth rarely wears a helmet! What happened?? Then I got this text. She bolted when we were walking in the back by the field. Beth was fine, but she was hanging on. She is gonna let you know herself. It all ended good though.

So, I waited and waited and waited for Beth to call, all the while anxiety was sitting in. It didn't help that I was 1200 miles away, so I kept thinking of the worst case scenario. Beth was going to tell me that Shy is too dangerous. Beth would say that Shy can't be fixed. Beth might mention that I would never be able to ride her safely. Yeah, my head was in a pretty awful place while waiting to attend this reception for dental students at my husband's conference. 

Finally, Beth called and she did not say any of those things. She told me what happened and her thoughts on correcting it. 

Beth had said Shy was doing real good at the start of the lesson, relaxed and walking a loose rein, until they got to the back field. Then, for no reason that anyone but Shy knows, she bolted. Like whoa! No spook, she just took off at lightening Halfinger speed. Beth lost a stirrup and was practically leaning straight back with all her weight on the reins to get Shy to stop.

And Shy kept on going, completely ignoring all aids from Beth. Beth seriously thought they were going to run into a row of pine tress when Shy finally decided to stop. Scary. And very unacceptable horse behavior. Apparently, Shy lifted her head in the air and clamped down on the bit so it had no effect on her whatsoever. Luckily, Beth is sticky and was able to stay in the saddle. I am so grateful that no one got hurt!

Shy got her bit changed to the shank bit, but she was being a brat with that, too. At this point, Beth had put her helmet on, just in case. Beth said Shy was openly defying her and avoiding the bit, but at the same time, she was incredibly nervous and a ball of ready to bolt again energy. Shy was brought in the arena and the lesson did end on a good note after a lot of circling and bending exercises.

The training plan has now changed. We need to teach Shy some collection and flexion, and to accept the bit. Dressage-type stuff. This new and out of the blue behavior has really put a halt on my trail riding plans, but I'd rather have a safe horse who listens to her rider! The good thing though is that Beth said Shy was not being mean and not trying to dump her. 

Beth had said that this behavior is fixable, but we need to get back to basics and work Shy differently than she has been working her.  She is young and she probably was not started at two since she never was a show prospect. She was probably started around three and that only gives three years of probably not the most consistent, stable training, if any. 

Beth believes that Shy did not just discover evading the bit tactic, she learned this some time ago, way before I got her. Shy also does not have a good grasp on the foundation of riding. Maybe she was testing Beth. Maybe she was trying to get out of work. Maybe this behavior has worked in the past to get her out of doing things she didn't want to do. No excuses though, that behavior is unacceptable. Who knows? Only Shyloh. . . 

But, on the plus side. . .Shy does sweat! I had been worried because she has yet to sweat from any of her rides with Beth.