Two Wolves Captures G's Spirit in Leather

I'm not sure if it was the lunar eclipse or if the planets are in alignment or something.....  I sent a bunch of photos to Shutterfly last week for enlargements so I could frame them.  A couple for gifts and an 8x10 of one that I've been meaning to do for a long time as its one of my favorite pictures of G.  I picked out frames and hung it on the wall yesterday....

Back in July Val (loneelk) had asked me to do some touch up work on a photo of Chet Two Wolves' recently deceased horse Red.  And I asked if it would be okay if I did something with it and I created a 12 x 12 scrapbook layout.  I framed it up, sent it off to Two Wolves and it became part of their memorial wall.  Val told me that some day in some shape or form Two Wolves would repay me for my gift.  I told her that wasn't necessary, but she explained that it was the Lakota way.  So to respect Two Wolves and Val, I knew I would accept this thank you.  Well, a couple days ago Val told me to be on the lookout for a package and it came today.  I just about fell down when I unwrapped this beautiful piece of art.....

Words cannot fully express what this gift means to me, truly they can't.  I will cherish it always, as it is not only my heart horse, but when I look at it I will always remember the events that unfolded leading up to its creation; the story of the man/the artist, his lovely wife, and his heart horse Red that left this world too early.

To Two Wolves and Val from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for capturing G's spirit in leather and presenting me with this thank you.  It is just incredible, it truly is! 

If any of you horse lovers out there would love to see your horse come to life in leather, you can contact Val & Two Wolves through their Bonanza booth at http://www.bonanza.com/booths/loneelk

On our Way to Bridleless Riding!

You can view the full size by clicking the link below.

Got out of work early yesterday and headed to the barn (where else?).  It was a typical cold windy November day in the Northeast so I decided to play with G in the indoor arena rather than deal with the biting wind.  

I ordered the Liberty Ring from Linda Telllington Jones (TTouch Training) a few weeks back and finally got a chance to play with it.  What fun!  I think it went well for our first attempt though if I had a do-over, I wouldn't have done it while the horses were coming in from the pastures for dinner.  G is all about food and he knows when its time for his dinner.  I thought letting him have a little hay before we played would apease him, but not.  Each time we headed toward the south doors (camera end) he would get a little braced and his whoa wasn't as good as stopping away from the door. 

I had to edit 19 minutes from the video for YouTube, but alot was repetitive anyway, so excuse the cuts.  I'm just getting familiar with iMovie.  Watching the video was so helpful as he reaffirmed certain things I felt as I was riding, but once you see it in print there's no denying it, lol.  Part of the reason I decided to get the Liberty Ring was so I could start to really concentrate on my seat and leg aids, as I felt like I depended on going to the reins too much.  Kind of like peeking at the keys when you type.  Until you let go, you can't feel it.  G proved to me that he isn't listening to my seat as well as I thought; nor am I controlling his speed with my seat like I should be.  


What I am thrilled with is my balance.  It really felt good to canter without contact!  Sure he could've been collected had I been using reins, but the feeling of freedom was wonderful.  I'm sure he enjoyed it as well.   Without reins he tended to pace, which didn't surprise me.  But he seemed fairly relaxed, as long as we were headed away from the "out" arena door lol.  When I took up the reins, I was able to take enough contact so he came into a more neutral frame and smoothed out his gait.  BUT his head was up more than I like to see.  Had I been using the new Robart bit that he likes so much it may have looked a little different, but I snagged the snaffle.  Maybe the next session.  


So my goals are to learn to control his speed and whoa by seat alone; and to learn how to get him to round up a bit for a smooth running walk rather than the stepping pace.  

Would love comments and input, especially those who do bridleless riding!

Liberty Ring Video  

Herd Hieracrchy and How it Effects Personality

This question was raised a couple of times recently on the GHS message board, and it seemed to be perfect timing, as I’d been pondering why all of a sudden things are finally connecting with me and G. At least it seems like it’s all happening at once. When I mentioned that G was a different horse, I was asked “how so”.   So I pondered....

Prior to our barn move back in April, G lived his day time hours in a paddock by himself, with horses on either side of him and across the aisle way between rows. At night he spent his time behind bars with only the view of the highway in the back and the two horses across the aisle from him. During those 6 years, as much as I worked on bettering our communication, G always had to challenge things. Some times it wasn’t a direct challenge or at first request challenge, but in the course of working it would arise. I chalked it up to G being the personality that he was, and since I was continually maintaining the passive leader role, what other explanation could there be?

Since we moved G to the new barn this April, he lives in a herd of five geldings during the day, with a mixed herd of six in one adjoining pasture, and a mare herd of six on the other side. He is the #3 horse in his herd, and he appears to be content where he’s positioned as he never challenges #1 or #2. At night he is stalled but the set up here is quite different. He has an open stall door where he can hang his head out into the aisle way and see the comings and goings as well as any other horse that happens to be “hanging out”. Now the back of his stall houses a double dutch door, which leads out to a nice sized turnout. During the summer and most of this fall, he has been able to come and go from his stall at night and play with his best buddy Irish over the fence rail. Within a month G started to become a different horse in small ways. He's more trusting on the trail; calmer; is loading nicely in the trailer; responding faster to my requests and cues and overall a much more relaxed horse. He’s even happy to come to me when I arrive at the pasture, which is something I was sure I would lose once he had pasture to graze upon and buddies to play with.

So my conclusions over all this  is that when G was paddocked by himself, even though he had horses on either side of him, that he was the boss of his herd of one. So when I showed up at the barn, he would continue to try and maintain that position in our herd of two. Now that he's #3 horse in a herd of 5, I think that this has taken a little of the wind out of his sails so to speak.  He's learned that if he doesn't challenge the #1 or #2 horses he has quite the content life right where he's at. Now as I maintain my status as #1 in our herd of two he doesn't feel the need to challenge it any more. So maybe I’m reading too much into this, maybe not. But whatever “it” is, I’ll happily take it because this reward just seems so grand in our 7.5 year journey.

Stewards of the Animals

Yesterday I received a message from a fellow horsewoman so poignantly written, that it got me to thinking (such a dangerous thing). In it she stated that we as horse(wo)men should see ourselves as the stewards of the animals whom we bring into our lives. I believe in this statement, and I (we) also believe that others should do the same. When we see something happening with another horse person that goes against all that we feel is in the best interest of the animal over the course of 7.5 years repeating itself over and over, do we stay silent and let it pass, or do we stand up and make our feelings known? Even when we know that our thoughts will be construed as a personal attack by others, no matter how worded?

I am by no means a perfect human being and have never professed to be one. But there are some things I do know. Like knowing the difference between what is good for a horse’s psyche and what is damaging, and understanding that there are basic steps in looking for our lifetime equine partner. Knowing enough that if I were to make a mistake in that process that I would need to review my prior actions and rechart the course for the next time, not simply repeat the same mistakes over and over.

Horses are not shoes that are tossed aside if they pinch a little. They are not perfect beings, even the best of them. If a person isn’t willing to put a true effort and time into them, they will receive nothing in return. My friend Beeswood’s favorite saying is “Show me your horse and I’ll tell you who you are” and it has become one of my favs too, because it is so true. We leave our marks on our horse’s behaviors and personalities, as they do on ours. Just as we do with our children, they are, in most instances, a reflection of the effort we put forth.

God blessed me with more common sense than book smarts, and although at a few times in my life this has bothered me, today as I see many highly intelligent humans making serious errors in judgment over and over again, I thank God for the gift that he gave to me and I will never question his decision again.

So truly when is enough enough? How many horses should one person go through in 7.5 years searching for their lifetime partner? And how does one know a particular horse is their heart horse in the first 30 days and then have a change of heart and decide its unsuitable 90-120-250 days later? And most of all when you see someone go through 7-8 (I’ve honestly lost track) horses in this time span; should you stay silent when another is sent packing back to the seller or remain an enabler? I would love to hear your thoughts.