We are what we repeatedly do

Goggles and I have a relatively long saga of sorta kinda tackling trailer loading: 

- Target training

- Existing near the trailer

But when he moved back to JT's in August I started ignoring it as a problem. He went XC schooling but rode with a friend's horse on her trailer and then existed at a show with a friend on JT's trailer. So he had a couple of positive experiences with a reliable friend, but since the first target training session where he (mostly) got over his fear of the actual trailer itself, the issue has been more prominent solo. I think it is two-fold - the trailer takes him away from where his friends are - and he has to exist solo while travelling. 

In January, he moved up close to my house and close to the GY's who are generous in letting me use their farm as a home base for things like chiro, dressage lessons, and farrier appointments that Ben and Goggles share. I thought the frequent, short trips would be curative on their own. But that's what I thought, not what Goggles thought. My husband joined in on this as a project, and we started tackling it mostly with good 'ole repetition. The first couple of sessions we worked on "trailer" as a verbal cue for going in all the way and then "back" as a cue to have him exit before he decided he was exiting. After two sessions like that, we upped the ante and then closed the butt bar and forced him to find his own calm. He actually had us cracking up because he had a mini temper tantrum. He pawed a few times, tried to crane his head around both ways, and stared out the door with lots of angst. 

Then he started angry eating his hay. He loooooooves orchard above all else, so that's what is in the trailer. He flung large chunks of it at us and made some indignant faces still. Once he blew his nose several times and softened his eye a little bit, we let him out and then gave him a quick break and put him back on once more without closing anything in and then ended the session on that positive note. He actually did a little tiny, high-pitched, indignant SQUEAL when I put him back in his field. I am never unclear on this horse's feelings.

We hit it several days a week for two weeks, and he improved. He still wasn't marching straight into the trailer, but he would pause, I'd let him sniff a couple of times, and then he'd go on. So we started going places again, and he went backwards (figuratively and literally). He started taking longer and longer each time. A few trips, I recruited someone behind him to drag the carrot stick on the ground in a snaking motion. This worked, but after getting him on this way and driving him to the GY's, I found him sweat soaked for the first time with bars over the window of the trailer bent, indicating he had SLAMMED his butt into them at some point. 

Enter the cowboy. His method involves standing at the corner of the ramp and trailer, and focusing on straightness. He closed up the escape door and said when those are open they're not going into the trailer, they're going out the door. He also said there are "get tos" and "got tos" and until he is completely confident in the trailer, only "got to" trips are allowed. There are three lines - the comfort line, the try line, and then 1 mm forward of the try line, the fear line. His goal is to move all three lines so far forward that they are well past the nose of the trailer. Goggles was kept straight by a combination of a "rainbow" move with the carrot stick on my side of the ramp, and a gentle flexion with the fingers for the nose and a tapping on the line with the stick for the haunches on the far side of the ramp. Forward motion is requested by "livening up" and turning myself towards the trailer, and then pausing to give him a chance to react before driving forward with light taps of the stick behind the withers. Before he can be asked to step forward further into the trailer, he has to have taken a step back or at least been asked to. If he does it on his own (ie hokey pokey foot forward then back) then that counts. But if he hasn't, then shake the line up and down until he steps back. There is a try line for each foot and for the nose, a more confident step is also a new try. Any try he gives, you stop asking for forward motion. At one point he'd given us the same try line about four times and the cowboy said it was time to push a bit further and keep asking for a new try. This led to some angsty feelings, but those feelings are never to be met by angst on my part. Straightness was paramount, and then a new try. The cowboy ended up taking over at that point because things were happening too quickly for my slow reaction times (just butt and head going in different directions, out of our narrow, straight runway), but then next time we hit the point, Goggles was much more subdued in his reactions and gave a new try. It was like he was relieved that the MAIN focus was on straight and he could in fact just more a front foot another inch forward and then he was given a break. 

Eventually Goggles had head and shoulders into the trailer and our two hour session was up. I was given the tools to continue this on my own, but... I still believe that 90% of the trailering problem is a herd bound problem that will reappear the second the trailer leaves the farm. The cowboy's answer was that when he gets off the trailer, the session isn't over. As he backs off, he has to stay straight, and then he is kept straight to the trailer until he relaxes and shows the "4 C's" that we aim for in everything - confident, connected (to you and the environment), communicating, and calm. 

While he became more reliable loading by leading him in after this and had a positively pleasant and chill experience with Ben at the schooling show, I still found myself sitting in a rocking trailer a few days after the show, typing up part of this lengthy blog post. Expectations being the devil that they are, I had expected to start with a relatively chill horse on the trailer and then drive him a few feet. I'd even thought I'd planned for success: load him further away from the barn and then drive the 200 yards to the barn to unload him "at home". He walked right on. But then proceeded to have a two hour temper tantrum. I picked up rocks in the future arena, I scrolled through my phone, I stared temperamentally at him. 

He danced forward and back, craned his head around, pawed, and repeatedly turned his head sideways, anxiously chewing with his mouth. He ignored the hay and the water bucket and did everything he could to try to leave. I had put the ramp up but hadn't closed the escape door. Two hours in, my "loads of time before I have to leave for work" had vanished, and I was wondering how to end on a positive note. I had inadvertently pushed him way past the fear line and was using the equivalent to the cry it out method. The cowboy had before said there wasn't anything wrong with that method when it came to having him exist in block one faaaaarrr away from the other horses. But had also cautioned that I'd better have all day because if it took six hours and I gave in at five, the next time was gonna by seven hours. 

I ended up standing in the front portion with him and insisting on relative stillness. He could stomp his feet, but no pawing and no rocking forwards and back. He actually responded well and ate a few bites of hay. I called it quits and tossed him back out in the pasture so I could rush home and then rush to work. 

Two days later, I picked it back up again. I started by putting him all the way in straight out of the pasture using my usual leading in method. I didn't close the butt bar and just backed him out again once he walked all the way forward. I was relieved to note it didn't take very long to get him in even after the meltdown two days prior. Then I rode and we worked on canter transitions and getting all his parts straight in the canter. He was pretty tired by the end of it. I walked him on to the trailer again, still tacked up, and then backed him out and got him hosed off. 

I worked on block one while he dried, which really just amounts to standing around these days. He knows exactly how long the rope is and doesn't pull. He also knows better than to come into my space, so he eats and I... Take pictures and think meditative thoughts? Lol. 

After ten minutes I put him through the rest of the blocks- line up behind me, shoulders and then hips, go forward, back up, etc. Then we walked over to the trailer. 

Compared to the session with the cowboy, he was taking WAY more confident steps on. He also went halfway on before he accepted my invitation to take a step back before  I asked for a forward step again. 

My view

Eventually, within 15 minutes or so, he was calm AND all the way in. He sniffed things for a little bit once he made it all the way in. He backed out but then went smoothly back in within a minute or two. Then he stood and ate hay. Woohoo! I hadn't ruined him with the two day prior "cry it out" method. I touched the butt bar and he slowly backed out. I put him back in and he ate hay again. I touched the butt bar and that time he stayed in and kept eating hay. GOOD BOY!! 

And that's where this tale ends, for now. We went to the GY's two days in a row last Thursday and Friday, and he loaded more slowly each time. BUT... he was pretty chill in the trailer. Not eating hay chill, but he wasn't shaking the whole thing. Progress, I think. 

Goggles turns FIVE!

My what a year it's been!! 

One year ago. The phlox are blooming again right now, I guess that's his birthday flower (I always knew about birthstones but very recently found out about birth flowers)

Looking at his neck here, I can see how far we've come

Solo trail rides from the GY's

Alllllll legs

Then he moved back down to JT's

And starting learning how to hop over things

And how to line up his shoulders and butt with JT's help

Then jumping got more exciting so he needed a few training rides about being polite after fences

And he got a lesson in manners and a wonderful friend

Then we went XC and actually jumped things

JT rode him in poles and cross rails at his very first horse show

We hung out a lot and played tug of war like a dog

In January he moved to his new farm. He got two acupuncture treatments which made his neck so comfortable! 

We played at a HJ show over some more crossrails

And he also did some fancy trotting there 

Then he took on cross country SOLO

And was so GOOD! 

He's also been getting some good miles under AT

He wrapped up his last few days as a four year old with a combined test

That I would definitely label as a success

Bringing it all full circle with a solo hack through some phlox from his farm right by my house

Emotional Support Animal

Trailering post still coming... I keep wanting to wait until we've got it "fixed" but that's probably a silly urge given how horses work. 

Herro! Emotional Support Horse reporting for duty. Insert cookie payment now please! 

For the time being in our trailering journey, we're relying on friends. Which is a crutch. But more so a crutch in the sense that it provides support while the basics get stronger. At least I hope that's what's happening. My husband pointed out that it's easier to establish good habits than break bad ones. He had a bird dog who was afraid of the gun shot his whole life because he hadn't taken the time in the beginning. With that in mind, I'm desperately trying to make all of Goggle's longer trips involve a trailer buddy. As mentioned before, I failed to line up someone to go show with us, so I took advantage of Ben's current unemployment and put him to work. Goggles and Ben have shared the trailer going to a lesson and as temporary encouragement. 

Side note, when finding the second post and pictures, I read the line at the bottom of the post "He comes out ready to learn and is so far the easiest (and largest...) baby ever."  and had to snicker at myself a bit. While he ABSOLUTELY comes out ready to learn, I stand corrected on the easiest baby part. Anyways, naivete aside... 

Why no, I don't have a type, why would you ask? 

Ben is not necessarily the BEST choice for a trailer buddy because he isn't a particularly relaxed traveler. He doesn't eat and instead stands and flings his head consistently or sits on the butt bar. But I'd noticed on the way to our lesson in January, Goggles doesn't actually care. He doesn't feed off Ben's nervous energy and is just thrilled to have another horse in the trailer with him. This held true this trip as well and while Ben flung his head around, Goggles tore into his alfalfa. 

Ben is a case in point of what I DON'T want Goggles to be - an anxious traveler 

I was very glad I had brought Ben when we got there. Ben might not travel that well, but he is definitely a pro at hanging and eating at shows. I purposely parked close to the warm up area so that Goggles could take in those sights while relaxing. They chilled together while I checked in. Once off the trailer, Goggles kept his pretty chill vibes intact. 

Wild white eye showing

Every time I see a side picture, I barely recognize him, when did he grow up??

Upon his return from dressage, he got tucked back in and they were given a bucket of water... Goggles then DELIGHTED in drinking AND flinging the water through the tack room window. He and Ben took turns shoving their faces into the water bucket with hay. They were most pleased as was I. 

New skill unlocked: drinking at shows 

Then came the time where I screwed up... I had 4 hours between dressage and stadium. I had brought Ben's tack, so we went for a little dressage school with wide circles back to the trailer sometimes to make sure Goggles wasn't tearing it to pieces. Goggles did a variety of things while we were gone, but at one point I did see him eating a bite of hay, which is a win as well. Then I put Ben up and reunited them. 

About an hour before I was supposed to jump, I figured I would take Goggles to hang by the stadium ring for a bit. I brought him in his flat leather halter and plain 10' cotton lead. Mistakes. 

He ate grass for a second, but then started screaming, then started spinning. I quickly moved him away from the arena so I wasn't THAT person. Dressage warm up was now empty, so we found an area there. And I proceeded to fly a LARGE horse kite for the next 30 minutes. I was able to be really zen about this and just use the cowboy's method (approximation of since I was an idiot with a short lead and flat leather halter) and hang out. Goggles lept, reared, kicked, squealed, bolted at one point (and I barely held onto him) and flung himself down on the ground several times. I figured when AT showed up to help us warm up if that was still what we were doing, it was what it was. But eventually I recognized the signs that he was checking back in with me. He stopped ONLY pointing himself back towards the trailer (towards Ben who was SO HELPFULLY screaming for him) and started kinda nuzzling up to me.

We were able to head back to the trailer at that point with him walking politely behind me. I tried to get him cleaned up since he was now sweaty and covered in sand and grass from his rolling. I also called that good enough after a few minutes of stiff brushing, and we headed over to warm up. 

I shared the nice pictures in the other post, seems like time for this hilarious video snag

Lesson learned - take him out EARLIER in his rope halter and WITH GLOVES to break the umbilical cord. I'm still quite glad I brought Ben, I think the hangin' that they did was SO GOOD. We have plenty of time to work on the obsessive attachment (and maybe with another horse who doesn't participate quite as much, thankyousomuchBEN!). The fact that I did spy Goggles eating hay while Ben was gone also makes me feel like maybe he will start viewing the trailer like he views his stall - a place to relax. At home, he may be REALLY missing the other horses and pacing in turn out, but will immediately chill when brought into his stall. And, in spite of still wanting to be a bit hysterical about where Ben was, he did warm up and then DO HIS JOB in the ring. When he was trotting distractedly towards the oxer in warm up, I told him that "Do your job buddy" and he seems to kinda know what that is these days. 

First Forays

While Goggles has technically been to two "shows", one was a very casual jumper show and the other was an equally casual HJ show. Which meant that his Wednesday trip to the Majestic Oaks Schooling Show felt like his first real show as an eventer in spite of the fact that we entered a combined test, not the full three phase. 

With Ben as his emotional support animal, Goggles relaxed on the way there and ate hay. He chilled on the trailer while I checked in and then was relaxed while I was tacking him up. 

Dressage was objectively not good, but subjectively I was thrilled. We warmed up focusing pretty exclusively on tempo. I generally tried to keep him bent the proper direction, but that was about it. He squealed a few times, his trademark "I'm being wild!!" move and hopped around a bit a couple of times in the canter, but otherwise was relatively chill. There are two areas to warm up at Majestic: to the left and right of the in gate to all 4 dressage arenas. Most people form a crowd to the left, so even with Ben who handles traffic pretty well, I usually go to the right. Goggles and I had that space almost all to ourselves with just one other horse doing a few circles. I gave us about 30 minutes to warm up, but realized about 20 minutes in that it was about 10 minutes too long. He'd hit a plateau in improving in relaxation and more work was just going to make him tired. Fortunately they were running early, so we headed in. He gave the barrel at A that marked the ring number a wide berth, but wasn't spooked by the judges car or the woods behind the judge which was great.

I really like the entry test and much prefer it to the days of riding intro C for starter. We had a few moments of relaxation on our left trot circle. The left lead canter was a canter, so that was a win. The free walk had good over track the whole time, but pretty limited stretch, given how many things he wanted to look at. The right trot circle was again okay with a few nice steps. The right lead canter quickly devolved into bucking for about a quarter circle, but he did come back to the trot reasonably. Our final halt was a bit rough and crooked, but again, it happened. He walked a quarter way out of the ring on a loose rein getting lots of praise before he picked his head up and squealed and I had to pick up contact again. I expected around a 45 and we ended with a 41 with our only 4 being the bucking right lead canter. 

The judge was so positive and constructive, I love her comments. I also would hate to think how it would've gone if I wasn't ALREADY thinking so much about tempo hahaha. 

After dressage I wandered over to stadium and looked at the course. The map still had an option for 7, which at least for the N and BN was a liver pool. While I definitely was not planning on choosing the liver pool, I was even a little concerned he might spook badly enough at it that he'd have a run out at the regular 7. I planned to trot his right side near it before starting and then ride positively and confidently AT MY JUMP and tell him to DO HIS JOB. My slight mental anguish turned out to be unneeded because they removed the whole thing for entry. 

By the time I went to tack up for stadium, Goggles had decided Ben was his BFF. Ben did not help the matter by screaming for Goggles from the trailer, so warm up was a bit spicy. JT's assistant trainer arrived and I said "We'll see how this goes". She helped us through a super productive warm up in which Goggles proved he is in fact trained. While pushing the already kinda bouncy horse further forward was the last thing I wanted to do, we did it. Then we jumped and he was shockingly civilized. AT (Assistant trainer) told us "He has to do two things in the ring - jump all the jumps and come back to you after". And wouldn't ya know, he did those two things! Without even a second thought about the standards or things around the arena. GOOD BOY!! 

Overall a very successful first outing as an eventer. There are CERTAINLY a million things to work on, but when are there not, y'know? He tried soooo hard for me though and proved that he is in fact a little trained. He did not launch and buck after a single fence! I was very proud of how his brain managed to function even when he was internally (and sometimes externally) screaming for Ben. He also got some good eventer show mileage in by learning how to chill in the trailer. 

I'm tentatively planning on the POP schooling show in May for our first 3 phase. They do XC schooling the day before, so it would be great to let him see all the XC jumps (and function out in public) before doing them. 

Out of three, but a FOD for our first eventing outing is pretty great. Please excuse the reuse of this picture, it's just so dang cute I had to. 

WW: a number not a letter

 

Fix It Forward

I have no pictures of me riding, but a few from his training ride and some randoms sprinkled in to break up my text wall. 

Monday Goggles and I headed down to JT's for our first lesson in... a while... we last lessoned on February 29th. We had a grand total of two lessons in February. Compared to my prior usual schedule of once weekly lessons, this was quite a change. We did get down to JT's once in March, but it was for a training ride. The lesson in February that prompted the training ride in March was a bit disheartening. We were tackling the liver pool which has spooked him for a looooooong time. But he would.not.stop. bucking after going over the jump. He felt wholly untrained pretty much the whole ride. 

Goggles being a pest, ft. DAPPLES!

Then our chill school at Sweet Dixie also involved some bucking after fences, although much less. More concerning, there was a solid refusal on his part to a BN cabin that I thought was within our capability. It was spitting rain and the ground was WET, and I didn't press the issue. 

He was a bit much while tacking up. Not actually anxious, just READY TO GO!

But... but... the lesson Monday was AMAZING!!! We started with changes of direction and bend while warming up. She was really pleased with the trot, but in the canter wanted more forward and wasn't having me stick to just circles. She had me doing a 20m circle or two and then cantering him straight down the long side. She said to make the canter quality and fix it by going forwards. It occurred to me I really haven't cantered this horse in a straight line in a loooong time if ever. Part of lining the body parts up especially in the canter is MOVING forward. It helped straighten out some of the twisting he wants to do. We've made the trot SO much better, now time to focus on the canter more.

We moved on to jumping a cross rail back and forth and he was quite agreeable. Then we moved to the liver pool. He has met the liver pool in many forms now and has grazed at the edge of it while I've stood on it. The lesson in February was when we told him to get over it with the aid of JT snaking the lash on the lunge line on the ground behind me, gradually getting closer. He needed this again on Monday, he stopped about six strides out and started to say Hell NO. But then he went. And with a lot less drama after. She instructed me not to let him pull me down towards it as he approached. I have to be giving over the jump, but letting him lean his shoulders and neck down at the ground right before jumping isn't actually useful. I focused on keeping my shoulders up and counting our trot tempo, the same one we've been practicing this whole month. It worked really well and I was still able to release pretty well and go with him over the fence. It was even easier to go with him from my shoulders back and up position than if I was really tipped forward as he stretched down to sniff/stare at the fence. 

Next we tackled the minion painted barrels. Again, about six strides out, he slammed on the brakes and tried for sideways. She didn't have me jump it from a standstill because it was an oxer x-rail over the barrels, but we turned and re-approached and she snaked the whip behind him and over he went. We hopped that back and forth a few times before stringing together a course of four fences including a red, white, and blue panel gate. She was nearby in case back up was needed, but he popped over after just a hard look on the way in. The last two fences were unicorns to the minions on a bending line. I let him keep cantering after landing from the unicorns. He thought about exiting, but it was pretty easy to direct him over the minions. We did the whole course one more time and just added on a left hand turn after the minions to a crossrail with new X filler under it. He popped over that with no hesitation at all. GOOD BOY!!! 

JT and I were chatting and think a few things really came together in the lesson. One is that as I've said a few times now, I have gotten MUCH more exacting in my aids and expected responses. Another is her assistant trainer's training rides on him. She is a great rider and it is really helpful regardless, but I think her jumping him at the GY's where he is more relaxed and he's going over their less exciting jumps is also really helpful. My impression is that it is allowing him to really figure out how to use himself athletically in a lower stress environment, so he has that basic foundation to fall back on when things get more exciting. He's jumping soooooo much better and is therefore much more comfortable to ride. It is also really helpful for me to watch these rides because she does such a great job communicating with him up to the jump then staying out of his way over the jump but then immediately landing and asking him to do something. I also just had a much more relaxed mindset than last lesson where I ended up frustrated that he wasn't further along. And guess what? Not being frustrated about something makes for a much more productive time with more learning opportunities for BOTH of us. 

He was being absolutely WILD before I loaded him up to go to the GY's the morning of his most recent training ride...

He did stop at this the first time, but went nicely the second

Cutie

Looking really nice