Ponying to Improve Riding

The horseman’s journey plays out in two dimensions, the mental and the physical. I normally help folks with the mental dimension, with understanding the nature of the horse and how they can use that nature to reach their goals in safe, effective, and moral ways. There’s lots of meat there and I can talk for days about that. On the other hand, the main suggestion I have for success in the physical dimension is incredibly simple: Ride more. That’s it. Just get on a horse and ride. Anytime, anywhere, for any purpose, and on any horse.  While you’re at it, forget the old saw, “Practice doesn’t make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect.”  This just begs the brain to get in the way. I find that most people who want to improve their riding are not seeking perfection; they’re seeking greater enjoyment of their riding.

One activity I’ve found that is practical, fun, and perfect for getting your brain out of the way is leading (ponying) one horse while riding another. I did a fair amount of this a few years back with our baby, Sarah. She had a lot of energy, which took a lot of my attention. Sometimes she got out in front of us on the trail. Candy and I would canter along behind her for minutes on end like a skier following a ski boat. What I remember most fondly about that experience is how free I felt, unencumbered by any worry about riding correctly. Yet my riding improved. Lately, I’ve been doing something similar when I walk our mares in the neighborhood.  We keep the speed down to a walk or trot and I vary which horse I ride. Oh yes, I’m doing it bareback, which has dramatically improved my confidence about riding without a saddle. Before ponying, my brain had me firmly convinced that I didn’t belong on a horse’s bare back. Sometimes thinking is overrated.

photo of Marty Marten by Jennifer Denniston for Western Horseman

Facilitating Learning



Although I often call myself an educator, it’s a lie. Okay, I’m being overly dramatic. It’s just not the most accurate way to describe what I do. I don’t educate people; I facilitate their learning. If you train horses or raise kids, you probably get the distinction immediately. The best we can do for either is set up a situation wherein learning can occur.

When I talk about learning, I’m talking about more than just memorizing facts. That’s a superficial level of learning, much like gathering the ingredients needed for baking a cake. Doing something with those ingredients is where it gets interesting. Whether the process results in a yummy cake or insights produced through reflection and activity, we end up with something much more desirable when processing is involved.

Recently I gave several talks before packed crowds at Equine Affaire in Ohio. The lecture is a classic way of offering up the ingredients for a learning experience. If my lecture is relevant and thought-provoking for my audience, chances are pretty good that ideas will start rolling around in some noggins and a bit of processing will occur. For those folks who talked to me one-on-one about their horses, the likelihood of learning increased dramatically, and not because of anything I did. It was what they did. They became active learners, formulating questions, taking in my responses, breaking apart ideas and putting them back together in ways that made sense to them. In the language of constructivist learning theory, they were creating meaning, a much higher form of learning than simply memorizing facts.

Now just because creating meaning is a high-level form of learning doesn’t mean that all learning must be active. For example, if I ask you for directions to the airport, I want unadorned facts to flow from your brain into mine. I learn the directions by simply accepting what you have told me. When I drive that route, your directions may take on new meaning as I view the scenery, but that embellishment wasn’t critical to what I wanted to learn.

Final thought for today: Natural learning occurs every day as we interact with the world around us. It’s effortless and highly effective.  The challenge facing education today, in my humble opinion, is understanding exactly how natural learning occurs and how it might be used to produce the outcomes we want. If we can facilitate that kind of learning, everyone wins.

You can read more at my learning blog:  http://ricklamblearning.blogspot.com/

Good pen. Bad pen.

A few years ago, I witnessed a neighbor’s horse die from an injury sustained in an unsafe pen. (See “Death in the Alley” in Human to Horseman.) Ironically, the pen was designed very well, with an open feeling, good air circulation, shade, water, and plenty of room for the half-dozen minis and full-sized horses that lived there together. It was the execution of the design that was the problem. Used materials and poor construction made the pen an eyesore, and a sharp edge somewhere in that tangle of tin, rusted pipe and weathered wood cost a horse her life.

Today there is a different problem at that address. The original pen and owner are long gone and the new occupant is an older woman with a safe but equally inappropriate home for her single horse. The living area is as sturdy as a prison cell, with a similar feeling to it. A five-foot solid block wall defines the perimeter, blocking both view and air circulation. A single brown mare lives inside, isolated from the world and other creatures in it. When I walk down the street with my horses, she hears us and runs over to the wall. She nickers at us and tries to peek over the top. It always saddens me.

I try to remember two things at times like this. First, horses are extremely adaptable and this horse will probably be just fine. Bored, yes, but in any real danger? No. Second, it also matters what the human is getting out of this deal. There is a reason my neighbor went to the trouble and expense of building this little horsey prison. Maybe the little mare is bringing something very special to this human’s life. I wouldn’t deny that to anyone.

So why even bring this up? Because it’s an opportunity to tell you what I would have done. I would have spent a fraction of the money and put up a v-mesh or non-climb wire horse fence such as those made by Red Brand. This is not a commercial for Red Brand, I promise. That just happens to be the product I would use. This would give the horse a view of her surroundings and allow air to circulate through the area, which is absolutely critical when you live in the desert as we do. I would also get the horse a companion. Another horse would be ideal, but a mule, donkey, mini or goat would be fine. Even a chicken or duck could provide companionship for this horse. Horses have a primal need to live in a herd. Any kind of herd.

I do not know the new neighbor. We said hello one time as I walked by and she seemed nice enough, as is usually the case. Most people don’t deliberately abuse or stress their horses; they just don't know any better, and there's no shame in that. Every good horseman I know grieves for the horses he or she failed along the way. Growth requires stretching, reaching for something better than we have and are. All I can do is hope that my neighbor continues growing.

Riding Boots

Woody asks on Facebook: What are your thoughts on laced boots vs pull on boots when riding in the arena or on the trail?

Rick’s answer: Hi Woody. Choice of boot is largely personal preference. However, in competition, there are sometimes rules about what you wear. For recreational riding, there are some pros and cons with each design. I like the ankle support of a lace up boot and I don’t mind the extra few seconds needed to deal with the laces. I wore black lace ups while trekking in Iceland last summer. They looked great with my stretchy black riding pants! However, some people consider lace ups – or any boot that doesn’t come off easily in an accident – a safety hazard. As a young ranchhand, Dr. Miller was dragged across an arena before his tight cowboy boot came off. Now he recommends buying riding boots a size too large. Of course, wearing boots that don’t fit can be uncomfortable and that's definitely a down side for me. When the cameras aren’t rolling, I usually wear these old Justins with the short Roper heel. They’re loose but not too loose. You can see they’ve given me many years of service. Bottom line for me is that riding should be enjoyable so I wear boots that make me feel good.

Spooky horse

Barbara asks:
I have a mustang/Morgan who is sweet, kind and respectful but a little fearful of things like smoking burn piles, moving noisy electric gates with plywood figures on them. He refuses to go past them unless lead. The real issue is my friend says I should wear spurs and force him to go on. The smoke had him trembling. She says I’m letting him call the shots. I’m 63 I don’t need to get dumped. Should I force him when I know he’s scared? He minds me pretty well and will even leave my mare while she is screaming for him and goes down the road alone with me. Thank you.

Rick's response:
Barbara, you have good instincts. You are observant and thoughtful. You are trying to come up with the best deal for both your horse and yourself. Most important, you are not allowing someone else to pressure you into doing what you feel is wrong.

Now, let’s get to work. First, your friend's analysis is partially correct. Your horse is not completely confident in your leadership or ability to keep him safe. However, spurring an already frightened horse is liable to escalate the fear. I don’t think that’s the right approach for you. Instead, give your horse a job to do to take his mind off what scares him. This requires that you be an active rider, not a passenger. This will change how your horse sees you and how he sees the scary object.

Let’s say the scary thing is the burn pile. First, expect your horse to walk right past it with no problem. Visualize your horse doing that and carry yourself as if that is happening. Often horses live into our expectations of them. If your horse still spooks, stay calm and direct him away from the scary thing. Be careful here because he might want to pick up speed. Put him in a tight circle and disengage his hind quarters repeatedly if he does. Once he is calm, trot around where he feels safe. I don't mean a dainty little Western jog. Get him really moving and using his air! When he gets a bit winded, let him walk toward the scary object. Even let him stop and rest there. Repeat as needed until he is calm near the thing that scared him.

You see, horses are naturally worried about things that are not familiar to them. But they are also worried about using up their energy and air. At some point, the latter concern becomes greater than the former. What used to be scary is now a place of rest and comfort, a place to replenish his stores of energy and air. Incidentally, this is a good underlying strategy for getting a horse to load in a trailer. Make the inside of the trailer the easy place to be and the outside of the trailer the difficult place. Final thought: You are your horse's ultimate protector. Never abdicate that responsibility to someone else.

Aussies win RTTH 2012

Let’s see. If you count the two wins of native Australian Clinton Anderson, the three wins of Florida native Chris Cox, who grew up on an island off the coast of Australia, and add in this year’s two Aussie winners, Guy McLean and Dan James, you come up with seven Road to the Horse buckles that have been won by horsemen with ties to Australia. Crikey!

The Aussies of 2012 earned their buckles the hard way. Trailing Team USA at the end of Day One, they suffered a setback when Dan James, scheduled to step back into the round pen at the start of day two, fell ill. While Dan rested and received IV fluids, teammate Guy McLean took the first slot and Dan’s business partner, Dan Steers, advised and assisted from outside the pen. By the second session on day two, Dan James was back in the contest, still not 100% but determined to compete. On day three, the Aussies were the only team to take Tootie Bland’s offer of an extra 30 points each if they would switch horses for the test. Using the saddling pen as a training pen for more than half of the 40 minutes allotted for their tests, each Aussie was able to connect with the horse his teammate had trained and go on to produce a winning performance. The most memorable moment came when Guy McLean coaxed his mount into the optional water obstacle, stood on the horse’s back, cracked two stock whips as fast as machine gun fire, and followed it all up with an emotional bush (cowboy) poem written especially for the occasion.

Jonathan Field and Glenn Stewart of Team Canada got extra points before training began for switching the horses they had each chosen, and they made exceptional progress near the end of the event, but time worked against them in catching the Aussies.

Team USA was the leader at the end of day one, which was actually a bad omen; historically, the person or team who leads after round one does not prevail at Road to the Horse. Team USA faced an additional challenge when Pat Parelli’s colt was scratched for medical reasons after the first day. Per the rules, Pat had to pick a new colt, start over on day two and show up at 5:30 am on day three to get in his second training session. The fatigue factor aside – and it was a factor for all of us at this marathon event – Pat was under the continuous scrutiny of all six judges during that second session, something no other RTTH competitor has ever had to endure.

All in all, Road to the Horse International made a fitting farewell to the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, home to seven of the nine Road to the Horse contests thus far. For 2013, the event will be held in the Alltech Arena at Lexington’s Kentucky Horse Park. Tickets are already on sale. Get 'em early.

Other notes: Publisher Darrell Dodds presented the Western Horseman Award to Dr. Robert M. Miller in opening ceremonies on Saturday. Only a handful of other horsemen have received the award, including two other RTTH judges, Bob Moorhouse and Jack Brainard.

This was the first year that judges' scores were posted on the big video screen during the event. Everyone loved the added suspense.

Finally, I'd like to thank my good friend and 2009 RTTH champ, Richard Winters, for assisting me with the hosting of Road to the Horse 2012. I could not have done it without him and I hope he will share the duties with me again next year.

Road to the Horse!

Road to the Horse 2012 is two weeks away. I’m already hyperventilating! You’d think after hosting the "Super Bowl of colt starting" eight times, it would get easier. It doesn’t. But I do enjoy it more every year and I seem to be getting the job done. Thanks for all the nice comments, by the way. This year is definitely the most exciting event to date. Three countries, six trainers, unlimited possibilities. Another new wrinkle: My good buddy, 2009 RTTH champ, Richard Winters, will be helping me out with the commentary. I couldn’t be happier about that. Click here to see my retrospective of the past eight events. It’s a real trip down memory lane.

Oh yes, this is a soldout event. BUT you can watch it live online all three days. Here’s the link: http://horsecity.com/video-media/webcasts Thanks to the good folks at HorseCity.com
for putting the webcast together.