Western States Horse Expo 2011

In 2010, I planned on heading to the Western States Horse Expo, held every year in Sacramento, at CalExpo. What is this, "Western States Horse Expo", you ask?

I'll tell you. It's a 3 day exposition, with lots of horse related products on display and for sale, from tack to barns, trailers to fencing, and anything in between. Also featured at the expo are horse clinicians, people who have spent years training horses who are willing to share their knowledge.

Last year, I had to work all three days, and ended up being able to go on the last day for around 3 hours. I made the mistake of bringing the husband along, and knowing how bored excited he is around horsie things, I felt rushed, therefore I didn't get any enjoyment out of my visit last year.

This year, I took a day off for the expo, and went alone. All by myself! At least until I ran into my friends and trainer from the barn, which was great because we were all there for the same reason: Horses!

I joined up with them just in time to watch my first clinician ever, Richard Winters. He spoke on "Riding like a horsemen", meaning making a connection with your horse, instead of just riding them.

I only saw the last bit of his talk, but he explained things so easily that I would definitely seek out a clinic of his in the future.

Following his talk, we headed over to Johnathan Field's talk, "Restart your Relationship: Ground Skills to Cause a Big Change." He spoke of teaching your horse respect on the ground, and finding the respect from a horse by using groundwork. Some of his stuff was confusing, though he seemed to be doing fine, the heat and bright sun had me just wishing for shade and a tall glass of water. Here he is putting a horse between two targets to reinforce the respect idea.

After Johnathan Field, we headed over to grab some food, then one of the other boarders and I decided to break off to head to the halls- where all of the shopping was!
She was looking for a blanket, and I was looking for shorter reins, so we started making the rounds. We headed to every booth, and when we got to Clinton Anderson's booth, she spied an entry box and empty ballots. She handed me an entry form and said, "Here, fill this out!" She started in on her entry form, and I figured, why not? I never win these things, and I'll probably end up on every mailing list known to man for giving out my information, but I'm already on Clinton's mailing list anyway. I filled it out and she dropped it into the box. I didn't even look to see what the prize was.
We gaped at purdy saddles and squished and squeezed all of the saddle pads we could. She bought a new helmet and I made a mental note of all of things on my wish list.

I ran to pick up husband so we could come back for that evening's entertainment- the Magnificent 7. It's a reining competition that tests a horse and rider in many events that would be used in the cattle ranchin world...cutting cattle, roping them, and keeping excellent control of your horse. I was very impressed that such control could be had...it's sort of like "Cowboy Dressage". Pretty neat stuff, and if you ever get to see a reining competition, it's great fun. Even my husband's interest was kept.
So that was Friday....Sunday, I came back!!
I met up with HorseFriend, and we started out by shopping! Oh...and I had a teeny tiny little thing to pick up...I won I won I won!!! I won a Clinton Anderson Fundamentals Kit!!!!
It's a very expensive DVD kit, explaining the very basic ideals of groundwork and riding. Perfect for big green girls everywhere!

The box is even green....haha! I'll keep you updated on my progress with my new set of DVD's and booklets.
We then went to watch John Lyons, with "Dealing with our fear, How to make a great performance horse".

He showed that by keeping a horse's focus on his work, and yielding to his rider, fear in a horse can be overcome. I would have like to have seen it in action, like maybe someone trying to spook the horse as he worked it, but he explained that the horse he was working with was green, and he had only been working with her for 2 days, so I can see how that would be a potentially unsafe situation.
*Happy Update!* I was told in the comments below that the horse's name is Bella, and she and her rider are doing wonderful thanks to John's wisdom!
After John Lyons, we headed over to watch Charles Wilhelm, with "How Trick Training Builds a Relationship and Confidence in Horse and Rider". He explained simple ways to begin teaching your horse how to "Park", where his back feet stretch back like a show horse's, and how to begin to teach the bow. It was getting incredibly hot and his microphone started cutting out, but I was enjoying his presentation.
He had an easy way of working with his horse that I liked, and if I see any clinics with him around my area, I'd make it a point to go.

We headed back to pick up some "We're closing and don't want to haul this stuff home" sales, where I found a trail bag that hooks onto your saddle horn. I also tested out a Black Forest Treeless Saddle, and I must say, it was way comfy!!
It was more comfy than anything I've ever sat in, so I'm going to do a little more research on them.

Well, tired, sunburned, and a little sweaty, but all in all, a great horse experience!! A must see for any horse lover!!

Sick horsie....

So it happened. The C word.

Colic.

But don't worry, he's ok now!!
Sorry, didn't mean to totally scare the heck out of you, but trust me, I was terrified. I got a call from my barn manager on Saturday- "Horse isn't acting right, rolling alot, not feeling well and not wanting to eat. The vet is on his way down."
She called the vet for me, and I raced down to the barn, which was the longest 30 minute drive of my life, considering in my panic to get into my car, my jacket caught on the turn signal lever and SNAP, awesome, my left turn signal was now stuck ON.
Me, driving as fast as legally possible traffic would allow, with my left ticker on the whole way.... tick, tick, tick, tick....."eye twitch".

I grabbed my husband for moral support and we got to the barn to find my kid standing in the round pen. Just standing. I walked up, and gave him my usual greeting. He didn't move.
Didn't even twitch. Just stood there, head down, tensed lips, ears back. He rolled a couple of times, and finally settled to the ground, just laying there. Thankfully the vet arrived right then, or I would've started crying, seeing my big guy like that.
The vet checked his gut, and found a huge gas bubble on his right side, and let me listen to it. He had Altivo stand, and then got the long glove out. Rectal exam time, sorry horsie!!!
He didn't feel any impactions, so he gave him a shot of pain meds, and then some mineral oil through a tube in his nose that snaked down to his stomach. Altivo felt so cruddy that he didn't even fight any of this, just stood there stoically. The vet told us to observe him, and let us know how he progressed, since he had to rush to another horse colic. We put him into a stall and offered him some food, and by now, his pain meds were kicking in, and he seemed interested in the pellets we offered. Husband and I needed to grab some food, so after watching him for a while, we decided to go get something to eat and come back immediately. Horsie seemed ok, not rolling or thrashing, so we decided to run in to a store really quick for some cat food (cats do NOT appreciate starving just because a horse is sick.) and around that time, got another call. Altivo was down again, rolling and kicking at his belly. Barn manager offered him a nice mash with tasty things in it and he turned it down. One of the barn girls was handwalking him while the vet was called back and we rushed back down to the barn. Sorry kitties, you have to wait on dinner!!

We got back and the vet had arrived shortly before us. He said his pancreas seemed a little swollen, gave him more pain meds, and another rectal exam. He pulled out some icky stinky feces and said there were still no impactions, and that things should start moving soon. If they didn't start moving, our next step would have been surgery. For those who don't know, surgery for colic is ginormously expensive. Like, more than 4 grand expensive. Yikes.

I walked him around the arena, since, oh yeah, it was storming like MAD and freezing cold to boot. We walked for a few minutes, and I hugged him and told him to get better or else.

The pain meds made him mildly loopy but he still wasn't feeling great. I put him back in his stall and we ran home to let the dogs out, feed them, and put on warmer clothing. Husband was wonderful, and even though he probably could've found a million better things to do, he insisted on going back to the barn with me. We sat at the barn for about 3 hours, watching my horse's every single move. I looked up from checking my email at one point and didn't see a horse standing there, so I peeked into the stall. It's not a great picture, but here's something showing sick pony-

Normal Altivo: hungry, mouthy (bad habit), hungry, outgoing, hungry, interested, hungry, curious, hungry, and friendly. Oh, and hungry.

Sick Altivo: listless, disinterested, sad, and sadly, not hungry.

Around 10:45 that night, I grabbed about a cup of pellets and threw them into the feed bucket. He was standing, and heard the pellets drop. He turned around, sniffed them, and then dove in like a crazy person horse, chomping and munching until they were gone. He looked up, and said, "got any more?" I gave him a little bit more, and he drank some water after eating them. We were cold and exhausted, and decided to head home for the night. Barn manager is an angel in disguise, since she got up a couple times that night and checked on him, and he was fine each time.

We got back to the barn early the next morning, and walked up to the stall. He nickered, walked up to the front of the stall door and tried to search me for food. "He's back!" we said. I walked him around and then gave him more food. He was the Normal manifestation of my horse. During the day, we had a commitment to go to, and the barn kept an eye on him. He had a relapse of rolling and unhappiness, and I was too far away to get back to the barn to be of any use (I'm fairly useless in a barn anyway, lol) so I had him walked and my barn manager gave him some electrolytes and he seemed better but still ill. We finally headed to the barn and when we got there, he was seemingly well, wanting food, and I gave him about a handful, knowing the barn staff had been feeding him small meals, and I didn't want to throw a wrench into his diet. (Though he would probably try to eat a wrench if I did give him one...)
He couldn't eat those few pellets fast enough, and was drinking and wandering around his stall, so when he finally settled down and took a nap, we went home to sleep and get ready for work the following day.

The next day, it was as if nothing happened. He was bucking during his turnout, eating like a champ- trying to eat everything and everyone, and had no issues. I went the following day to see him, and he wanted to know where his treat was.
So where does that leave us?
Well, apparently, an enlarged pancreas can either be an angry pancreas, a pancreas getting shoved around by intestines that are gassy, or perfectly normal in certain horses. This means that this issue could rear its ugly head later on, or it may never be an issue. We won't know until it decides to happen again, which could be never.

It was heartbreaking to watch him in pain, and not be able to do anything about it. I now know the signs of colic, what to do while waiting for the vet, and what to do after the vet has come. I'm grateful I have a support network of horse people to help me out during these things, since I had NO clue what to do, ask, or anything.

This is just a reminder of how much I don't know.

Husband Horse!!

So when I was reading sale ads for horses, dreaming of owning a giant beast, occasionally the term, "Husband Horse" would come up, as a positive trait in the horse.

Basically this means that the horse being described is so well behaved and amiable to a complete idiot riding him, and therefore, can be trusted with one's idiot, er, husband. I jest! I guess because it seems in the horse world, unless a guy is out there making a gajillion dollars a month on training/rodeo/dressage/whatever, (think Monty Roberts/Clinton Anderson/Ken McNabb, etc)  he's not into horses at all. Therefore, he must be relegated to a boring, bombproof, and reliable mount.
So, one day while perusing CraigsList, I mention this term to my husband. Would Husband ever consider a horse of his own, at all? I got a shrug of disinterest, a "I dunno", and nothing else. I asked him if he'd ever consider riding with me. He said, "Sure!! On my motorcycle!" hm.
Where am I going with this? Well, I suppose I could describe Altivo as a husband horse, but really, he's an anyone horse. Oh, I got sidetracked again.
Ok, here's the story-
I was on the phone with my sister one day, who isn't really into horses, but she mentioned to me that she'd like to ride Altivo someday. I told her that could be arranged, since he puts up with me on him, I figured he probably wouldn't notice a difference in the horsemanship level between her and I. Well, I hung up the phone, and turned around to see my husband looking at me. I looked back. I asked, "what?" His facial expression didn't give much away, but he said to me calmly, "I've never ridden Altivo."

Whatwhat??!?!?!?!?!?
Of course he'd never ridden him, he never asked!
So last weekend, I plopped my helmet on his head and told him to hop on. He did, and he meandered around on mah pony.
Would you know that my stoic, unaffected, food driven horse was watching me for direction??? Holy My Little Pony, he kept his eye on me the whole time, almost asking me, "hey, is this what I should be doing?"

He didn't stress, he listened to what Husband was telling him to do, but he still kept turning his head to watch me....and at one point, I went around the side of the arena, out of sight, and Husband reported that while Altivo still followed his directions, he kept his eye on the corner where I had disappeared.

So I guess that's what horse bonding feels like? I wasn't sure he had even gotten attached in any way to me, as he never nickers at me when he sees me, he doesn't seem to "perk up" or get excited when I show my face, unless I have food in my hand, and even then he just wants to relieve me of it by any means necessary.

But to know that he looked to me for direction was a wonderful feeling- I hope our bond grows even stronger!!

As for the Husband- He's not into riding, but I will say that he does go to the barn with me occasionally, and helps me groom and tack up so that I can ride. And I think I'm ok with it that way....Some days that I ride by myself, I have a chance to be in my own mind, focus on the horse, and even occasionally, just sit up on that big guy and we zone out together, him almost dozing off with me laying on his neck. It's a good place to be.

Where has BGG been?

I'll tell you....she's been working!!! Work has gotten crazy lately, and when I come home late, blogging is on my mind, but I end up passing out before I make it to the keyboard. I am fail.

But Altivo is NOT fail!
He is good. He is teaching me alot about horse behavior, and I'm starting to recognize certain personality traits and am figuring out how to respond in the right way. My instructor says he's a good match for me, and I would like to think so as well. He is a Percheron, and very laid back. Some horses have a lot of "go", meaning they like to move, are energetic, etc. Altivo has a lot of "wait and see". He doesn't spook easily, he doesn't tend to react quickly to things that I've shown him or done to him. If it's an Object, he likes to sniff it or see if it's food. That's his main goal in life, to eat.

I looked at the Parelli horsenality chart and I think, according to that, he's a left brain introvert. He's calm, food driven, has a tendency to stop and is low key. He's not incredibly stubborn that I've noticed, but I suppose he could be if I let him.

So until last week, since I haven't bought a saddle yet, I visited him every day with the occasional day off, and I'd halter him and work on something with him on the ground. Whether it was picking his feet up, standing while I brushed him, working on his mouthy-ness, or taking him for a walk, I made sure to do something with him everytime I set foot in the barn. I also lunged him on a lead and without (free lunging?). He already knew everything I asked of him as far as changing direction, stopping when asked, but the first few times of doing any of these exercises, he tested me. He'd move away from me, bend down to mouth whatever part he could reach of me, chew on his lead rope, or refuse to pick his feet up by planting his weight squarely on all four hooves. He also wanted to try to be in my personal space, or he'd try to run ahead of me while leading. Verbally correcting him and checking him with the lead line worked for the most part, but for the cases when he stopped listening to me altogether regarding the nipping, lead rope chewing, or running ahead, we got Mr. Spanker. Please don't think I beat my horse, nor do I take pleasure in having to use Mr. Spanker, but I needed a more aggressive approach to the 2000lb animal that was taking advantage of me. So here is Altivo meeting Mr. Spanker for the first time. No, I'm not hitting him! I was letting him sniff it and become acquainted.

How can you not name a riding crop something silly when it looks like that?? So Mr. Spanker came out and all I needed to do was wave it at him and he would cease his naughty behavior. I think he has met Mr. Spanker before in another time and place. He learns quickly.

So then last Sunday, my instructor pulled out her Abetta Wide Tree Saddle, and surprisingly, it fit him!!! So we all cheered and then I called it a day and went home.

Are you kidding??? Did you actually fall for that??? Of course I didn't go home...I got on mah horsie!!!

Oh, and I asked Mr. BGG to come and take pictures, and I don't like any of them...you'd think he had no interest in horses or anything, but I got a good picture of him!! Wanna see Mr. BGG?? I bet you do.

Here he is, with Altivo.

Isn't he cute?
Ok, ok, here is one picture...proof that I actually rode him!!

When I ride him it's like sitting on the comfiest couch on earth, with an amazing view of the world. My bit and bridle hadn't arrived yet, so we left him in his halter. I wasn't sure he'd be ok with that, and it made directing him just a little more difficult, but overall he was very responsive. I'd like to go bit-less with him eventually, once I know more about what I'm doing and he is more familiar with me. Oh, and don't worry, my instructor was there the whole time to correct me, give instruction and advice, and to generally make sure I didn't hurt myself. She lunged him while I was on him so that I could feel his trot, and afterwards Mr. Lazy Altivo was a little sweaty....out of shape horsie!!

I have more to say, but I'll put that in another post later tonight or tomorrow.

Lesson 4, The Freedom is Mine!!

At tonight's lesson, I dragged the Husband along with me, to be my papparazzi. I got tired of putting up others' photos, and thought it'd be nice to prove I can haul my cookies onto the back of a horse. Unfortunately, husband failed. He whined about not having a flash on the iphone and that the camera we'd brought along wasn't working properly. So....my next day lesson I'll have him take more photos. Ugh. At least I got one....this was during the "follow the leader" part of the night.

As the riding portion of the lesson was starting, I looked up, and my husband was smirking at me as I talked myself into mounting Casper. I talk myself through alot of things in front of the horses. This is my basic mounting speech:

"Ok, get on the mounting block. Stand up straight, put foot in stirrup, pointing to the left. Now swing right leg up and over horse quickly, but gently, and down. Now go."

Keep in mind, this whole thing is said aloud, while I'm standing on the mounting block, not moving a single bit. Just standing, telling myself what I expect my body to do.....not sure if it helps or not, but I sound darn confident when I'm chatting it up. Even on the "now go" part, I still haven't moved. I'm sure my teacher thinks I'm a nut.

I learned about moving the horse on the ground with body language, commands, and touch, how to back him up, move his rear over, and move his front over. I don't feel like I'm getting the body language thing down. My husband said it looked like I was overthinking it by way too much. I'm way too worried about which way I'm supposed to face that I end up confusing the horse in the process.

As soon as I did all of the motions correctly, I mounted up (after my mounting speech, of course), and I was given the reins. I started off by following my instructor, which was easy, since the horse naturally wanted to follow her, but it was good for me to get used to putting the reins in the correct position.

After a few circles around the arena, she stepped back, and I was free to maneuver my horse anywhere I pleased....What freedom!!!

It was only walking, and my horse, being a lesson horse, made everything way too easy, but the feeling of working as a team with a horse was awesome. We turned in every different direction, practiced stopping, starting, and turning.

I got all proud of myself- my teacher said I look really balanced in the saddle. I feel balanced too, I don't feel like I'm going to slip off, and I don't feel nervous on a horse either, so I hope learning groundwork gets better, since I hope to have a horse someday.

Oh, Trivia Answer!!

What's the difference between a horse and a pony?

In some cases, ponies are under 14.2 hands or less, and horses are more, but it's also about ancestry and breed, since some horses are shorter just like people are shorter or taller.

WikiAnswers says this, "Different ancestry, living conditions, and conformations. However, the technical distinction relates to height. Anything measured 14.2hh and under is considered a pony anything measured 14.3hh and over is a horse.
However there are anomolies. For example a in the game of polo all equines are referred to as 'ponies' regardless of their size or breeding."

Oh, and a "hand" is 4 inches. So if a horse is 15 hands, he's 60 inches tall "at the withers", which means that's how tall the highest point of a horse's shoulders are, which is that spot right behind the mane...sometimes there's a bump there. 

Till next week, happy riding y'all!