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The before picture, part 2

Blue and Corny are doing great with their ground manners.  They are able to be handled by their inexperienced owners, and are relaxed around the ranch.

I like to make sure that there horses in training with me understand several concepts of human partnership before I climb aboard.  The first day I worked with the brothers, I had a pretty unsuccessful time longing them.  I knew I was going to have to start from scratch with this concept.

On week one, day two I put the horses in the round pen.  At first I only cared about the direction they were going on the circle.  Corny tried to change direction once on his own, but was otherwise content to do as I ask.  Blue challenged my leadership about the direction of travel several times, but eventually settled into the routine. 

 Next, I worked on establishing a cue to go to the next faster gait when I lift the finger on my driving hand.  When working on the ground, I refer to the driving hand as the one closest to the horse’s tail (maybe holding a whip).  I refer to the leading hand as the one closest to the horse’s head (maybe holding a line).

To get a horse sensitive to my gesture to change gait, I go through the following process. Each step takes about two of the horse’s strides.  I stop the process when the horse moves to the next faster gait.

  1. Lift my index finger on my driving arm
  2. Lift my driving arm
  3. Lift the butt of the whip
  4. Point the whip at the horse’s haunches
  5. Tag the horse with the whip

This process teaches the horses how to go forward from a light cue before being ridden. Its consistent escalating sequence gives the horse a chance to think about the initial cue without waiting so long that they forget about it.  Done with repetition, most horses pick up on this quickly.  The brothers were no exception and understand the concept after this first session.

The last thing I worked on was changing direction. I made sure the horses would stop and turn towards me when I stepped in front of their shoulder.  They did this well, though Blue did try to run past me a couple times.  

I was looking for signs of relaxation in the horses.  I didn’t see many once we went faster than the walk.  I want this to improve before I consider mounting.

The next day (week one,day 3) I reviewed these concepts in the big arena instead of the round pen.  I asked for direction changes, changes in gait, and drawing the horses towards me.  Sort of like a turnout/roundoen hybrid session.

It’s taken long enough, but behold the before video of the horses moving free on the arena!

Here is Blue, see if you can spot his subtle signs of disrespect.https://youtu.be/1q-mH96EUXM

Blue cocking his hip at me.  I’m just out of frame but you can see my shadow

And here is Corny https://youtu.be/tLji4dp1RVw

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The before picture,part 1

Every makeover show worth its salt has a “before” reel.  Since Blue and Corny are aiming for the Thoroughbred Makeover in October, I figured they should have one too.

Initially we weren’t thinking about the makeover, and I’m kicking myself for not getting footage of their first day in training with me.  Instead I’m going to have to paint you a word picture.

To give some perspective on timing, I work with the brothers three times a week.  November 2 was our first day together.  Initial assessment of their training is as follows.

Cross ties: it is unknown if the brothers had every been straight tied or cross tied before.  Owners Ann and Mark have never seen them tied up in any way.  Both horses showed separation anxiety to one another.  Blue weaved in the cross ties, Corny gaped his mouth, flipped his head and even pulled back once.  The pulling back wasn’t a big deal, we have breakaway cross ties and the brothers wear leather halters. 

Grooming: Blue was hesitant to pick up his feet, and very sensitive to brushing.  Corny kicked out a bit when I was working with his hind feet.  He’s also ear shy

Leading: They both have pretty good manners.  Blue likes to get in front of his handler and Corny nearly mowed me down when Blue went out of site.

Longing: so long as I could conform to their ideas of what longing is, it was kind of ok.  Both horses tend to turn and face me when they feel the slightest pressure on the halter.  Sometimes horses with a Parelli background do that.  I don’t want my horses to do that.  I had to walk along with them, and niether horse wanted to canter.

I planned to address each one of these topics.  My next couple sessions were done in the round pen.  I really got a feel of the brothers’attitudes, and boy are they different from each other!

Blue was the successful racehorse of the two.  He ran for the years and won several times.  He still has that warrior mentality.  Since there’s is no one to compete against in our sessions, he’s trying out competing against me.  He hasn’t done anything major, but I see him cocking his hip at me, snaking his head, and trying to choose our direction of travel.  I get after him for each of these little infractions so he doesn’t escalate these behaviors.

If Blue was a person

In contrast to his warrior of a brother, Corny raced only a little bit.  With him it’s more like they gave a kid a sword and sent him into battle.  He doesn’t seem to have any agenda towards competition.  He wants to figure out what I want and keep tabs on his brother.

If Corny was a person

So my work needs to help the horses become more confident in themselves and learn to understand what I am asking for.

To address Corny’s ear sensitivity I did some flagging with him.  After he accepted the soft flag over his ears while he was standing still and in motion it was much easier for me to rub him slowly and he was able to keep his head low for bridling after about a week of this.  
To address Corny’s issue with kicking out, we practiced lifting his feet with a rope.  This kept me out of harm’s way, encouraged his feet to yield to pressure, got him comfortable with ropes tangled around his legs, and started to develop his sense of trust in me. 

Corny quietly yielding to the foot rope.  

I did all this stuff with Blue too.  I also sacked them out with a saddle pad to help them not be so flinchy about putting on the saddle.  While Corny seemed to have bigger issues that were resolved with these exercises, Blue also benefited from them.  It became easier to handle Blue’s feet, he became less ticklish to grooming, and began to engage with me in a more positive way.

The brothers got rapidly better in the cross ties over the first two weeks with this sort of work.  In my next entry I will talk about learning to longe.

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What I was hired to do

While the focus of this blog is my goal for thoroughbred makeover competition in October, that is not the reason Mark and Ann hired me to train the horses.  In my first session with Mark and Ann I asked them for their individual goals.  They both expressed that they want to get more comfortable working with the horses.  Mark wants to ride someday, but Ann doesn’t think her back will tolerate it. 
I asked about the goals for their horses.  They stated that they want their horses to be happy.  That means that I need to train the horses to do a job.  Mark and Ann aren’t picky about what job that is, they want me to explore their horses’aptitudes.

This all sounds like a lot of fun!  These ex-racehorses have to be among the luckiest ones in the country to have owners that are willing to do this for them.  Seriously, Blue and Corny have won the lottery.

My job is to make sure they remain in good graces with their owners.  That means impeccable ground manners on the horses, and good unmounted instruction for the humans.  Luckily the brothers are pretty well behaved already, and the humans are good students.

4 year old Corny waiting with 7 year old Talia for his dental appointment… These horses have exceptional temperaments.

After they took the first week to settle, learn to cross tie, and wear boots, we got to work.  After the first month in training Ann and Mark can now do the following things with their own horses:

  1. Halter 
  2. Lead
  3. Crosstie
  4. Groom/clean feet
  5. Turnout/bring in
  6. Apply/remove boots
  7. Blanket/unblanket

Blue out for a walk around the property with his owner, Mark

Ann and Mark have made great strides in their unmounted techniques this month. In my next entry I will start talking more about the training  I have been doing with the horses.

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Management Strategies, part 1

Blue and Corny are the two geldings I’m hoping to take to the 2017 thoroughbred makeover in Kentucky.  This blog is documenting our journey together.

These full brothers are owned by a lovely couple that is fairly new to horses. Up to now, they were not involved in any horse management decisions. It’s a big change from racehorse life to bring a sport horse prospect.  Some changes have to be made, or at least assessed.  The brothers came in to training with me on November 2.   Here’s what we’ve done in the first month to support their transition from ex-racehorse, to sport horse prospect.

Housing

The brothers shared a paddock at the farm where they were let down after race training.  Their owner, Ann, said that they were bonded and wanted them to stay close to each other.  She selected adjacent stalls at Indian Hills so they could maintain their relationship as bffs.


The first day I worked with the horses it became clear that they were too attached to one another.  They would be fidgety and anxious without their brother near by.  They would call for each other.  In general, they were not pleasant to be around.

Anxious over his brother leaving him, Blue began to weave in the cross ties

While I prefer for horses to live in pasture 24/7, these horses have good reasons to be in stalls.  Their owners are beginners and want to learn how to handle and care for them.  I’m not about to send a beginner in his/her 60s with a bad back out to catch their young ex racehorse in a muddy cliff-side pasture. Maybe later, but not today.

So I decided to keep the brothers in stalls, but move one of them three stalls down.  Ann was concerned that Corny would work himself up too much being separated from Blue.  I assured her that I would watch him for several hours to make sure he calmed down.  Mark encouraged Ann to trust the trainer and to do what I say.  Hooray for Mark!  

Corny had settled by the end of dinner time, and their separation anxiety drastically deminished over the next week.

Feed

The brothers were currently eating only alfalfa hay and some type of stable mix pellet.  Holy smokes!  I want to live through training these horses, and I want them to live as well.

100% alfalfa hay is not a recommended diet.  Nutritionists know it doesn’t provide enough fiber top meet a horse’s daily requirements.  It also has an inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio, which is linked to developmental bone  disorders.  Furthermore, alfalfa hay has been linked to the formation of enteroliths in thoroughbreds.  No thank you!

Enteroliths in the GI system of a horse.  If these cause discomfort to the horse, they must be removed surgically.

People like to feed alfalfa because it is a high energy feed, and helps put a nice top line on a horse.  For a racehorse, I get it, they need lots of energy.  Right now, the benefits of alfalfa don’t out weigh the risks for Blue and Corny.

So I made a plan to switch them to all the grass hay they will eat over the course of two weeks.  After about three weeks we are now adding in triple crown complete to balance their diets.

Turnout

I can only work with the horses three times per week.  That’s not enough time out of the stall for any horse. I signed the horses up for daily turnouts.  

While they are on dry lots, they don’t get the benefits of grazing, but they have reportedly been moving around and playing quite a bit.  Turnout is crucial to every horse’s mental health.

Blanketing

I’m generally in favor of horses going naked if they can.  However, the chestnut thoroughbred is not known for its lush winter hair coat. I don’t intend to clip the brothers this year, but I still wanted them to have blankets.  Why?

  1. Horses generate body heat via movement.  This is hard to do in a stall.
  2. They live in the coldest stalls on the property.  Indian Hills Ranch is situated in the hills just above the southern tip of the San Francisco bay.  We can count on a cold breeze coming up from the bay every evening.  It’s great in the summertime, but can make for some chilly winter nights.
  3. Horses generate heat via digestion.  Grazing horses always have good in their bellies to digest and generate heat.  The brothers are getting hay twice a day, and typically finish dinner before the sun sets.

Deworming

*Getting up on my soap box* The American Association of Equine Practitioners no longer recommends rotational deworming.  Instead, they recommend bi-annual fecal egg counts to determine what sort of parasites a horse is carrying and performing targeted deworming.  You can read about their recommendations here.  I’m not going to argue with a bunch of vets, so that’s what I do. *Down from my soap box*

I was able to send fecal samples out for Corny and Blue in their first week, both came back negative.

More poop

I also did a fecal float to determine if the horses were carrying sand in their gut.  Blue had a mild colic there week before, so it seemed prudent to check it out.  

The way I do a fecal float is to put on a rectal sleeve, pick up a big handful of fecal balls, then invert the sleeve.  Then I fill the sleeve with enough water to float the fecal balls above the fingers of the glove.  I hang it on a railing for about half an hour.  If I can feel sand in the fingertips of the glove after that time, I do a course of psyllium. 

Monster Hands!  Just kidding, these are fecal floats in progress.

Blue didn’t have any sand in his glove.  Corny had a little bit, so we are going to do psyllium for him.

We can still optimize their health a bit more, but this is what we did on week one.  Look for “Management Strategies, part 2” in a week or so.

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After publishing this post on Facebook, it received this comment from my friend Dr. Clair Thunes.  Clair is an independent equine nutritionist and an industry expert in her field.  

From Dr. Thunes:. Love the fact that you mentioned that horse sin stalls can be colder than out. Something a lot of people just don’t realize. They assume because they are inside they must be warmer! I’m not sure that meal feeding hay really makes a huge difference in heat generation vs constant grazing because hay stays in the hindgut where it is fermented for over 24 hours so it is being fermented constantly and thus constantly generating heat. It is a good argument though for feeding more hay and less grain in winter. I often hear people say that they feed alfalfa in the winter when it is cold because of the higher fiber but this isn’t true. While alfalfa has plenty of fiber just as much as grass hay, it is higher calorie pound for pound over grass hay so you are feeding more calories when you feed alfalfa vs grass hay and this helps them maintain more weight in cold weather. From the perspective of causing more fermentation there is no reason to feed alfalfa over grass hay. It is interesting that these boys were on 100% alfalfa because most race horses are fed 0% alfalfa only timothy. I suspect this was done for their let down and most likely to reduce risk of ulcers and possibly as a way to get more calories in to them while not feeding much grain.

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What’s in a name?

In yesterday’s post, I introduced the two geldings I am hoping to take to the 2017 thoroughbred makeover in Kentucky. 

As any of my clients can tell you, I love calling horses by diminutive names.  Usually it’s some bastardization of their barn name, but my long time clients know that I really just call them whatever pops into my head.  Previous examples of the horses that have fallen victim to my scheme include:

  1. Donnie=Donna
  2. Susi=Snoozer
  3. Sparty=Smarty Pants 
  4. Pacifico=Paco the Taco
  5. Bandita=Band Aid
  6. Giorgio= Old Fig

You get the picture.  Often their nicknames are also a reflection of their personality or behavior.  

Olympic Blue and Olympic Maize have names that harken to their parents, Olympio and Blue Corn.

Olympic Blue’s barn name is “Blue” and that’s great!  I like the name Blue for a red horse.  Someone told me once that Australian cattlemen love to name their blue dogs “Red” and their red dogs “Bluey.” I love  Australians, so I was pretty happy with that.  


In working with Blue, I’ve been trying very hard not to call him “Blue balls” because that is inappropriate and disrespectful.  Instead I end up calling him is “Bluebell.” That name suits him because he’s very sensitive, like a delicate flower.  I can also say, “oh no, I didn’t call him Blueball, I would never!  I called him Bluebell!”


Blue’s brother on the other hand, never really settled on his barn name.  He’s registered as Olympic Maize.  Ann, his owner, said “Maize”doesn’t quite suit him.  They call him “Baby Blue,” but who wants to go around their whole life with the identity of their big brother defining them?  Personally I would hate it if I had to introduce myself like that, “Hello, I’m Baby Byron.” Yuck!

Luckily, Olympic Maize made his personality known right away.  He loves twisting his head, making funny faces, and playing with his lips.  Now we call him “Corny.” It suits him perfectly and sets me up for plenty of further diminutives.

Corn cob

Corn hole

Corny Collins

Corn Maze

Cornholio

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Meet the thoroughbreds

My big goal for 2017 is to take two horses to the 2017 thoroughbred makeover competition in Kentucky.  I’m going to be blogging about the process as a fun way to document the kinds of things I like doing with the horses I have in training.

So who are these two horses I want to take to Kentucky?  Meet full brothers Olympic Blue (b. 2010) and Olympic Maize (b. 2012). 

Aren’t they adorable?  They belong to Mark and Ann Janlois.  The couple purchased Blue as their first horse and raced him for three years.  They liked him so much that they purchased his full brother in hopes that he would be just as fast.


Olympic Blue had a solid career on the track, and while I don’t know much about racing yet, his owners have been educating me.  Some stats I’ve heard are that he won 9 times in 38 starts, making about $200,000.  He was a grade two stakes horse ranked 22nd in the nation out of 28,000 horses.  I might have said some of that wrong, but you get the idea.  Olympic Blue was a serious racehorse.


Little brother, Olympic Maize, wasn’t  so fast.  He raced once or twice, but would give up after four furlongs.  He didn’t win anything.

When their racing careers ended, the brothers headed back to the farm where they were born.  Mark and Ann had decided to keep them as pets.  Some of the gals at the farm played with them a little bit while they were there, maybe doing some Parelli training.  They didn’t get ridden much at all, which is good for me.  In order to be eligible for the thoroughbred makeover, candidate horses need to have 15 or fewer post tack rides before January 1, 2017.

Mark and Ann enjoyed visiting their pets, but they were struggling with the 70 miles commute to see them.  They started looking for a place to board the brothers closer to their home.  One of the gals who had been playing with the brothers at the farm had met the Parelli trainer at the barn I work out of, and sent them this way.  Mark and Ann loved Indian Hills, but found that my program was more what they were looking for.

Mark and Ann want their retired racers to be happy.  They understand that for horses, that means having a job.  They were attracted  to my varied program as an opportunity for the brothers to pick their own discipline.  As Santa Clara University alumni, they were excited that their horses might get to be part of the dressage team I coach one day.

So that’s how the brothers got from the track to my barn.  

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A New Goal

Recently, I obtained a sponsorship from Custom Saddlery.  As part of the deal, I had to provide a photo of me riding in a Custom along with a short biography.  The photo part was no problem, thanks to my friendship with up and coming equine photographer, Kathy Colman. The short biography, however, was proving to be more difficult.


I consulted my Custom Saddlery representative, Robyn Drake, and she gave me some advice.  She said the bio should be anything I wanted people to know about me.  It could be about the horse I’m riding, where I’m based, or my goals.  

So my immediate reaction to that was more confusion.  In following the criteria listed my biography looked something like this,

“Ali is based in the hills above silicon valley. She’s pictured on Lafitte. He had a fantastic career as a four year old, but everything got tenser and more explosive after that. Ali’s current goals are to learn how to get horses to come to her, figure out a two rein hold with a bosalita and bit, and get better at teaching horses flying changes”
Yeah, not exactly worthy of continued sponsorship from a major dressage saddle company. Luckily for me, and my excessive facebook habit, an algorithm put an ad for the Retired Racehorse Projecf on my feed.  I thought to myself, I’ve got two thoroughbreds in training who are eligible for their Thoroughbred Makeover competition…. After a brief chat with their excited owners, I have a new goal for 2017, and inspiration for a suitable bio!

With some help from Sarah Senn, this is the bio I ended up submitting, “Ali Kermeen is a USDF silver and bronze medalist, multiple all-breeds awards winner, and L graduate with distinction. She has been certified as a US eventing association instructor, and CHA Master instructor

Based in Milpitas, CA, the tip of the silicon valley, Ali enjoys teaching clients of all ages and abilities in a cross section of disciplines. She coaches the Santa Clara University dressage team and is also very involved with pony club.

Ali’s ongoing goal is to continue to improve communication with all her horses through meaningful and mindful interactions. In 2017, she is hoping to take two horses to Kentucky for the Retired Race Horse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover competition.”

That looks better, right?  So I’m serious about this competition (I sure hope my application is selected) , and I’ve seen enough makeover shows to know that documentation of the process is important.  I’m going to get serious about posting to this blog.  Janet Sturgill has set me up with a cool way of integrating it on my website, so here we go!

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Eight things horses have taught me about parenthood – So far 

 

Smiley meets his littlest sibling.
Smiley meets his littlest sibling.

My little daughter is only 3 months old.  Over these months, I’ve been thankful for the lessons and experiences that my life with horses has given me.  They sure have come in handy!  Here are some parallels I’ve noticed so far:

  1. I’m used to my body being used as someone else’s handkerchief.  Spit up is less gross than horse boogers.
  2. I know how to go over another creature daily and notice problems. Is this baby/tendon hotter than normal?
  3. I understand non-verbal communication and how to watch for signals that the tide is about to change. A fist that unclenches is similar to a horse licking and chewing.  That’s the time to try something new.
  4. I can accurately apply a salve to a wiggly creature.
  5. Less is often more. Don’t overstimulate the baby or over face the horse.
  6. I have experience with worrying to varying degrees. My horse has put me through a lot of worry with his health problems.  Vets have told me on two separate occasions that I should consider euthanasia.  These experiences were absolutely horrible, but did help me temper my anxiety when my daughter had a predicted fever after her vaccinations.  I wanted to freak all the way out, but I didn’t.
  7. I can make a big deal out of a small victory. Did my horse finally make a transition without bracing against my hand?  Woohoo!  Did my daughter do 30 seconds of tummy time without crying? Yippee!
  8. It’s about the journey.  I enjoy the hours of caring for my horse, hard work, responsibility, and dedication that it takes to have a thriving and happy horse.    All these elements are needed in caring for a baby, and I’m glad I have some sort of experience. 

Many of you have been parents for much longer than I have.  What are some similarities that you’ve encountered between horses and children?

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Summer Guest Instructor, Ellen Eckstein

HC Equestrian student Michelle talks about her first lesson with Ellen…

Michelle and her Anglo Arab, Firefly
Michelle and her Anglo Arab, Firefly

As a horse-loving and horse-owning adult who is always trying to better her riding for the benefit of the challenge and the workout, I jumped at the chance to take a lesson with guest instructor, Ellen Eckstein.  Everything I’d ever heard about Ellen encouraged me to take the chance if it ever came – “She will change your riding” was the sentiment I’d heard from all my fellow HC Equestrians who had ever trained with Ellen.  I had initially signed up to take a lesson on another horse I’ve been riding in lessons for the last 6 months or so with HCE – a big moving, 7-year-old Hanoverian with fabulous training and beautiful gaits.  When I found out that he may be unavailable during the week that Ellen would be doing her HCE lessons, I regretfully emailed Ali to cancel.  Her reply was one that I had not expected … Do my lesson with Ellen on Firefly.  “Firefly!?” I said to myself.  “But he will only have about 30-45 days of under saddle work!  How can I do that!?”

Firefly is my 4-year-old Anglo Arab that I purchased as a long 2-year-old during my search for a eventing prospect.  I knew I wanted a horse I could bring along myself with the help of some fantastic trainers.  Our training has been going well but I never thought I’d be taking a lesson on him after less than 60 days under saddle.  Ali encouraged me to use my own horse for the lesson and I can’t thank her enough.  He is not the first horse I’ve started under saddle but is the first I’ve started using dressage principles and the first I’ve personally brought along this far.

Ellen’s lesson expanded my toolbox in ways that I could not have expected.  I honestly had no idea what to expect going in.  She focused on teaching him what the bit truly means and refining my cues to get the response that I’m looking for.  Ellen was in the arena with us during the lesson, helping from the ground – a strategy that I really value when starting a young horse.  Coupling my rein aids with her encouragement from the ground to augment my aids, Firefly quickly picked up on what I was asking for.  After just 15 minutes, he was traveling forward better even without doing a lot of work on the actual act of going forward.

Ellen’s philosophy, particularly with a young horse, is to teach more of a “come with me” approach, giving a young horse direction, instead of “we’re going forward now”, using body language and cues.  I’ve had a few more rides on Firefly since our lesson and I really feel like our lesson with Ellen led us to a breakthrough.  Firefly, being part Arab, loves a good puzzle and seems to be enjoying the challenges I’ve put before him.  Every ride yields better balance and movement.  Ellen is due back to HCE at the end of August and I can’t wait to ride with her again!    I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to get some insight on my young horse from her.  It’s a long road ahead for Firefly and I (we have big dreams!), but I know that Ellen has made it at least little bit easier.

 

HC Equestian hosts clinics with Ellen Eckstein in addition to the summer guest instructor sessons.  Go here to learn more about Ellen.

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Summer Guest Instructor Sarah Vernlund

Sarah was Ali’s eventing trainer for 8 years, and her employer for 4 years. She took Ali from her very first jump, all the way to preliminary level eventing. She has competed internationally in eventing and was long listed for the Olympics in 1984…on a 15.2h Quarter Horse. She has brought several of her home-bred horses from foals to Intermediate level eventing, and she has coached riders from beginners to advanced level competitors, B level pony clubbers, and 4′ A circuit jumping champions. Sarah is a USEA certified instructor through preliminary level.

Ali credits Sarah for being responsible for her affinity for crossbreds, as she works well with all breeds and combinations there of!

Check our calendar for lesson dates with Sarah.

While Ali is on maternity leave, Sarah Vernlund is stepping in to keep the jumping riders sharp. Thanks, Sarah!
While Ali is on maternity leave, Sarah Vernlund is stepping in to keep the jumping riders sharp. Thanks, Sarah!