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Accepting what the horse offers
Last Sunday I got to ride at Lanolin Farm, and I got to ride Mars again. Now Mars had been on an extended years long vacation due to the arthritis in his knees, and finally Mars got sound enough to ride. Mars does not necessarily WANT to end his vacation, he really likes hanging out with his buddy/girl friend Cider in the cool shade in the one place with a nice breeze. He does NOT want to carry me around in the hot sunshine, doing boring circles around the ring. It took Shannon around 5 minutes to catch him in a rather small paddock/yard, at least he warms himself up before I get up on him.
And of course, having decent training, once caught Mars gracefully gives in to the inevitable.
Mars lost a lot of condition these past few years, at first his knees hurt so much that he was hobbling around the pasture and not getting much good exercise. Right now his back is weak, his neck is weak, and he is not too sure about carrying me around. As you can see in my pictures (Mars is the grey pony), Mars is carrying his head low, just as if he was a just backed 3-year old colt. Mars NEEDS to carry his head low, he most definitely does not have the strength to carry his head higher. Mars needs to carry his head low because his back is weak, especially behind the saddle. I will probably (at a half hour a week) have to ride Mars for months before he can confidently carry his head higher. Meanwhile I accept Mars' head carriage because I know that he is giving me all that he can, he is just too weak to give me a higher head carriage.
If I decided that just because I am a "superior" who knows better than the horse I could try to give Mars commands that would REQUIRE HIM TO HURT HIMSELF. I could nag, and nag, and nag the poor pony until he inverted his neck, which would hurt his back, which would completely disunite his movement, leading to panic or defiant resistance (he's a pony after all). If I tried to get Mars in "frame" I would create a dangerous situation for myself, and I would hurt Mars physically and mentally and I would rightfully loose any trust that he felt for me. So I accept whatever head carriage Mars willingly offers me.
You see I have a deep faith, I have faith that when Mars is strong enough he will willingly give me what I ask for. As his back gets stronger, Mars will willingly carry his head higher. As long as I am patient and take all the time needed for this physical improvement it is inevitable that Mars will eventually move as I desire. During this time it is my responsibility to direct Mars in weekly mild calisthenics that will help build the necessary muscles. Acceptance, time, patience, and slow progressive physical conditioning. Combine with soft well-timed sensitive aids and I can end up with a super riding horse or pony.
And he'll trust me, because I never COMMAND a horse to hurt himself.
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Comment
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Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 19, 2009 at 2:34pm
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She sounds like she really needs exercise.
Whenever I was scared to get up on a feisty horse (like first mounting), I would cut the feed BEFORE riding in half. Then I would lunge the horse, and when quiet THEN I would get on. By all means lunge your mare before training to let her get her bucks out. Some horses NEED to buck some to loosen up their backs, just like some horses HAVE to kick out to loosen up their hing legs. Once every thing gets into the right place the horses are a lot more willing to be ridden.
After cooling your mare out by all means give her the other half of her feed.
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Comment by Marti Langley on July 19, 2009 at 1:08pm
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Today I handwalked Maggie down to the arena, about a mile walk down the trail. She ran and jumped and bucked like crazy. Really enjoyed herself. My hubby said she looks in great shape, and I think he is right, I am the one that needs to tone up after 4 months off riding, lol.
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The colt was just weaned last weekend, and went to his ecstatic new owners on Thursday. I never did give my mare much of the mare and foal food, but she did get alot of grass/alfalfa hay. I have no pasture. The colt was very independent and eating his own hay and feed well before I weaned him. I have a great relationship with my vet, and said I was doing things correctly. Yeah! When I say she needs to lose weight I am talking just a few lbs, and mostly needs to get toned up for the mountain trail riding we do. 4 months off will get ya out of shape! I had to start doing my Tae Bo again, so I will be ready to ride, too. The weather has been over 100 every day. So when it cools a tad I will start riding her slowly as you suggested. Thanks.
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I would listen to her.
If she had no injury and you fed her enough to gain weight nursing, ride her slowly for the first week. If there is no ouchiness just do gradual increasing of speed and length of riding. Is the foal weaned? If she is still nursing, the books I've read tend to discourage getting a nursing mare into a heavy sweat (lathered), claiming that it made the milk worse for the foal, but I never got into that situation so I have no direct experience with that.
If she is really gaining weight while nursing a healthy foal, I would consider cutting her food a little, say 1/2 pound a day. We tend to overnutrition our horses nowadays, and they get fat. I assume you are feeding a special feed for nursing mares. If you have good pasture she may be getting a little bit more feed than is healthy I often had to feed my horses less than the recommended amount as they were small, food efficient horses. Of course, if in doubt about anything I REALLY recommend talking to your vet.
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Not my mare in pic, by the way. Mine is a bay Quarter Horse.
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I am just now getting my mare back in to shape for riding after a 4 month layoff to have her foal. I am starting very slow. Did 5 minutes of lunging at the walk and trot, and a bit of groundwork. She could lose a few lbs and tone up, but generally looks really good for having a big colt. Any suggestions?
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Comment by Jennifer Lamm on July 14, 2009 at 5:11pm
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My horse Toby.... he's helping my friend learn groundwork and roundpenning and he is putting up with us in a patient way... but he's not in very good shape either... we keep hoping that we don't break him... we are only asking for a bit but older horses need so much warm up... the warm up can injure them... :)
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Comment by Kevan on July 14, 2009 at 5:10pm
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Well made point Jackie. Too often we allow our own agendas to blind us to the real root of a problem. Then, by applying the wrong "fix" we inadvertently make the issue worse. In some cases the initial challenge can actually be outshadowed by the host of other "problems" we instill.
Remember, horses don't have problems, we do.
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you go girl... what an exemplary example you show to all of us who read this and all the horses who see you and Mars. I have a philosophy of bringing out the best in my horse.... I am sure with your attitude Mars will happily get in shape. Your story is really cute how you wrote about the inevitable, LOL...
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