When Crazy Ideas Become Bad Ideas

Well, riding in a rope halter a good idea, until it wasn't anymore.

It really was a good idea, in theory. Let her relax about bridling, give her some time to sort through her issues, do something she understands... right? I thought so too, and I was almost right. She, on the other hand, absolutely did not agree whatsoever, and it didn't take very long to find that out.

I normally don't bother to lunge her before I get on, simply because lunging her seemed to heat her up rather than cool her down - kind of like shaking up a fizzy soda drink before opening it. She had been very hot the ride immediately before this one when I first mounted, so I went ahead and lunged her for awhile before I went to get on her. She looked so cute bopping along in her halter... awww, precious, this is going to go so well, I can feel it!

After she was ready, I hopped up on her. She was very good for the mount, and stood quietly until I asked her to move on. She realized suddenly that there was no bit in her mouth, and that the steering actions were very different (even though I had just put her through the motions of flexing and steering from her halter right before I got on), and stiffened up. Uh oh, I thought. Well, let's turn right.... she sped up. Okay, small circles... we're okay sweetie, we're fine... slow down honey, let's just halt for a second... we don't need to rush. I asked for a whoa, and gave her a very slight rein aid for it. Something about that absolutely short-circuited her brain, and she exploded. Barring somebody sticking a cattle prod directly up her nose, I don't think she could have reacted harder - she blasted a snort as she flung her head into my lap, launching into some sort of ninja Mortal Combat capriole, going from 0 to about 9000 miles per hour in less than the blink of an eye. Or, at least, that is what I assume happened - literally from one second to the next, she completely vanished out from underneath me, and was on the other side of the pen before my butt ever even hit the ground. It happened so fast that really don't even know what she did - one second she was there, the next she was GONE from underneath me!

I NEVER fall off. I count myself as a sort of Miss Stickability, someone who can tough it out no matter what... my skill is not quite to the Andrew level, but many years of riding out Gogo's antics gave me a very good seat and the ability to ride out most anything a horse can throw at me. But when she turned on the afterburners and flung her head in the air, man... I guess I was just bested at my own game! Lucky for me, she was just as surprised as I was, and stopped to face me with a big giant question mark on her face. Undoubtedly it scared her, but she allowed me to walk right up and catch her, and I got right back on and tried again.

But that rope halter... oh man. I couldn't touch her face without panic, I couldn't steer, and I couldn't stop. Once I was back on board, it was all I could do to just sort of hold on and wish that I hadn't had the nerve to try again. I had thought that the lighbulb would go off and she would get it, but she was having absolutely none of it, at ALL. Somehow, I managed to get her into a corner of the pen long enough for her to stop moving, and I got off. I felt a bit like I was risking my neck, and I didn't want to get launched for a second time. Instead, I went and pulled out my backup, a simple bridle that T (S's husband) had rigged up for me. The simple bridle involved nothing more than just a headstall and a rubber bit with a slobber strap, and that was it. She loves my mullen mouth Happy Mouth, so we figured we'd give this a shot - there wasn't any guarantee she'd accept this headstall any better than she had the other one, but it was worth a shot.

Lo and behold, getting that thing on worked great! All I had to do was unbuckle it, put it over her neck, shimmy it up behind her ears, and put the bit in and buckle. Voila! No fuss, no panic, no nightmare. Unfortunately, she did NOT agree with that bit in the slightest, and I did not have much in the way of steering or brakes. I walked around for a little while, did some circles in both directions, and called it a success. Back on the ground, she was as cheerful as ever, the cheeky monkey. (Which I am thankful for... she could be terrified of me as an alternative!)

As for my poor, poor butt, it did not come out of this ordeal unscathed. I have the world's most magnificent bruise, and a HUGE, hot, squishy goose egg from where I probably landed on a rock. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be clotting or getting hard... gross. Hematoma FTW!

And that is from yesterday. You should see it TODAY.

S was feeling bad for me that evening when I came back to feed, so she gave me several glasses of wine in order to ease my limp, and somehow convinced me that what I needed most was to get on P and ride some more, "to loosen it up." Several glasses of wine of course made that sound like a great idea, and we rode for two hours, me with Immy in tow the entire time. We'd take a lap around the field, have a glass of wine, take a lap around the field, have a glass of wine...

I didn't feel all that awesome the next day, but it was great at the time!

Up next: January goal recap, February goals, and Immy gets ponied under saddle for the first time!

A Crazy Idea

I have a crazy idea. Readers, as relatively sane people (for the most part), I am relying on you to tell me whether or not you think it is a good idea or a terrible one.

Immy is doing very well under saddle. With a good few more rides under her belt, I can safely say that she steers well, stops well, and responds to quiet, gentle aids well... her only real issue is that she really would rather be trotting at 9000000 miles an hour instead of walking. She does try to break to the trot a few times when she first starts out, which is the exact same thing she does when lunging or grounddriving, but that isn't surprising or concerning - when you tell her to slow it down, she does.
The big problem here? The bridle. While everything else has improved massively, bridling has only gotten worse. Once the headstall is on, she is fine, and she takes the bit no problem. But getting the headstall over her ears? She outright wiped out and got stuck upside down against a stall in the barn aisle the other day in an effort to get away from it when I was removing it. She is thankfully unhurt, and so am I, but it didn't help her fear. The dentist was supposed to come Monday for her teeth, but he was a no-show and is not returning our calls. The other dentist I wanted to use just left to go to Houston for 3 months, and won't be back until spring. Everybody else in the area does a hack job and will only make any problems sh has even worse. The craniosacral therapist is also going to come out as soon as she can, but she is in California for at least another week. There isn't a chiropractor in this area that I like or trust. I am feeling very stuck here.

I'm backing off the bridle for now... what we're doing isn't working, and we need to take a serious step back in order to work on her headshy issues. She is reluctantly letting me touch her poll and ears with my hand, but she does not like it and if I do so much as sneeze while I am working up there, she is gone. I worry that this is going to affect her work under saddle - if she starts to worry about saddling because she knows bridling is also going to take place, or if she goes into her riding work all freaked out because we've just been workin on bridling, that is going to be a disaster. It is time to shake things up a bit, and try something new while we separate the bridle/ears/headshy issue into its own exclusive category.

I had a crazy idea, after thinking about it for awhile. I want to continue to work with her under saddle and get her out into the world (on the trail, in other arenas, etc.), and I want to make it all a very positive experience for her. I want her to NOT ever see me coming and think, "oh crap here coms that lady who touches my ears every day!" and stop being catchable or stop enjoying her time with me. Yes, we have issues to work on with the bridle and her head, but I don't want that to be this huge hurdle we are fighting to get over while we wait around for saddle time, because that will just frustrate the both of us. And then it hit me - why don't I ride her in a rope halter?

English folks will think I am crazy, and I understand that because I used to have the same mindset (how can you control that horse without a bit?). Having seen lots of trainers down here starting their babies in rope halters, I have a new appreciation for it - it saves their mouths should they do any stupid baby antics like buck or run off, and it has plenty of whoa in it should you need to stop. You can't really do dressage in it (in the legal way, anyway - you need a bit to show), but you can teach them to be soft, responsive, and solid citizens. I do all my groundwork in a rope halter now, so she is very familiar with the idea of it. Why not? I will be able to get her out experiencing new things and enjoying her saddle time, and can work on her head and bridling and whatnot as a totally separate issue. That is assuredly going to take a long time... I had no idea how extensive it was until now. The girl is an emotional trainwreck about it, and it will be a long process until she isn't anymore.

I joked with Jen yesterday that with her love of trotting as fast as she can for as long as she can, I should make her into an endurance horse. That way, I could ride her in a rope halter, never have to clip her, and let her mane grow wild and free (she is not amused with my constant pulling, braiding, and taming).

It was meant as a joke, and obviously we can't just skip around issues like clippers and bridles. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to like the idea. Why not start her out as an endurance-type horse? And once she is through her other issues, then progress into the sport of our choosing? She'll have saddle time, experiencing on the trail, experiences with strangers and new places, and it will give us time to sort through her other fears and problems. And we'll both be doing something we love, which is the best part.

Why not? The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.