Bingo Shows Some Signs of Understanding   

Everyone at Debbie’s stable was upset when I arrived Wednesday morning, because the 30 or so year old pony, Lily, could not get up.  For a week or two, with two people pulling and pushing, they had been able to get her to stand, but on Wednesday they could not get her up on her feet at all.  Debbie, of course, was with Lily, waiting for the veterinarian to arrive, all the way back on the other side of the riding ring.  Mia was brought in for her cough medicine so I could have ridden her, but she had a paroxysm of coughing so I just groomed her some, making sure to groom her itchy head and brush out her mane.  After that Debbie sent a message that I could have my lesson on Thursday, so we went home.

On Thursday, we arrived to hear that the veterinarian had put Lily down and Darryl had buried her.  Lily was a fixture at Debbie’s stable; Lily had introduced hundreds of kids to the joys of horseback riding.  Some of the stable mothers had gotten together and sent a beautiful bouquet to Debbie; it even had peacock feathers!  The bouquet was on the partition between the wash stalls, and when Bingo was led into the wash stall; he was not too sure about the bouquet and stood as far away from it as he could.  He just did not know what to think about the bouquet.

Since Debbie had not arrived yet I started grooming Bingo’s left side, the side next to that scary bouquet.  Bingo was tense and he sort of flinched when I started currying his neck.  I lightened up and worked my way down to his back and he relaxed some.  When it came time to curry his right side Bingo just would not move over so I asked Sam, Debbie’s daughter, to move the bouquet.  Then it took a few requests to get Bingo to move over so I could continue currying him.  When I got to his barrel Bingo finally sighed and relaxed and I was able to finish currying and brushing him.  Debbie drove up when I finished, and she picked his hooves while I approached him with my BOT poll cap.  Bingo still acted head-shy at first, but once I held it against the base of his ear he relaxed and Debbie had no trouble getting it on him.  He seems to LIKE the poll cap, and once it was on he acted a lot less head-shy than before Debbie got it on him; she had no problems getting the ear bonnet on and he seemed more cooperative when she bridled him.

When Debbie saddled Bingo I told her that I was just too tired to do anything but walk since my exhaustion is getting worse as my physical condition continues to deteriorate.  Since Bingo’s girth became so loose the last time I rode him I changed to a shorter girth, and Debbie had trouble getting the buckle up to the lowest hole on the billet strap.  Debbie led Bingo out to the ring as I walked slowly behind them, usually I try to get to the gate before they do, but Thursday it took me a minute longer than usual to get to the ring.  By the time I got to the ring, Debbie had tightened Bingo’s girth up to the third hole on both sides.  Bingo REALLY “blows himself up” while being girthed up and it takes him a while to relax, and by the end of the ride his previously tight girth miraculously became quite loose.

I got up on Bingo expecting to use a lot of leg to get him moving, but he started walking the second time I squeezed him with my legs.  That was a great improvement over last week when he either balked, tried to move to the side, or backed up, so of course I praised him to the skies for moving forward.  Bingo started off by giving me nice contact, which continued as long as he was going straight ahead.  I then started going around the jumps in the ring, and, like last week, he was resistant to turning in response to an opening rein, more to the left than to the right.  I told Debbie that when she gets the chiropractor out again he would probably find a problem on the right side of Bingo’s neck up by the third vertebra.  Bingo seemed to understand my steering leg aids better, and by the middle of my ride I was able to turn him using my outside leg (thigh alternating with my lower leg,) with only a light opening rein.  I told Debbie that turning Mia was like turning a sports car with power steering and that turning Bingo was like trying to turn a tractor that had been sitting in a field for fifty years.  She laughed.

Then, after a minute or so, I tried to stop him.  I alternately twitched my little fingers with no response.  I gave him the normal two-handed direct rein of opposition with immediate release, and he hardened his jaw.  I “set” my hands lightly and he hardened his jaw even more.  Debbie yelled at me to make my seat still when I gave my hand aids, and he slowed down a tiny bit the next time I asked for a halt.  I finally had to set both hands firmly with my fists closed tightly, he would slow down a little bit and I softened my hands. The fifth time I did this he finally stopped, and I immediately loosened the reins completely and I praised him for being such a good boy!  After resting for a minute I squeezed my legs and he moved off promptly (GOOD BOY!), but the next time I tried to stop him I ended up running him into the fence before he stopped (I WAS trying to stop him in the middle of the ring!), with his head and neck over the fence and his breast almost touching it.  He was not praised that time, I do not want Bingo to think all he has to do is run into the fence and he gets to stop working!  With some difficulty I got him moved off the fence, went back walking around the jumps, turning him more and more with my legs, and then I asked him to halt again.  My seat was still, I made sure my legs were inactive, I started with my lightest hand aid and worked up to setting my hands firmly and he kept on walking.  Debbie yelled at me to run him into the fence again but I did not, I tried setting my hands again and he finally stopped in the middle of the ring.  I loosened the reins completely, I praised him voluminously for being a clever horse for figuring out my hand aids, I scratched his neck thoroughly, and I told him he was a WONDERFUL horse for stopping in the middle of the ring.  After that, he was easier to stop.

I am ashamed to say that during all these tries that Bingo opened his mouth and he was gaping when he finally stopped.  Since I do not use nosebands, he was perfectly free to open his mouth as much as he wanted to.  Debbie told me that he was opening his mouth early on in the ride, but she let me go on working on getting him to halt even if he was opening his mouth.  Since the Wellep bit effectively becomes a Mullen mouth bit when both reins are used at the same time, I was not squeezing his lower jaw in a vise and the center joint of the bit was not digging into his palate.  Bingo may have been uncomfortable with my set hands, but I was not torturing his mouth.  Still I felt really bad about it all, but Bingo has to learn to stop even when he has a metal bit in his mouth (apparently he does much better with his hard rubber jointed D-ring bit.)

After that, the next time we walked, he gently stretched his head almost down to the ground, I think he was telling me his neck was getting tired and he had to stretch the kinks out.  I did not try to get him to raise his head and just concentrated to getting him to turn as we wandered around the jumps, and when he raised his head on his own I let him walk a few steps before telling him to halt.  This time he was much more cooperative and we did not end in a tug of war since he stopped the first time I set my hands.  After a few more minutes of walking, I asked him for a turn on the hindquarters to the right and he did it, not perfectly but he was moving his forehand around his hindquarters.  I went up to Debbie, got him to stop softly, and I gave Bingo the ultimate reward of GETTING OFF, in the middle of the ring, of course.

And as we walked through the gate, Debbie smiled at me and thanked me for working with Bingo.

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran