Leather

What continues to amaze me about Oliver is his paradoxically relaxed and also acutely sensitive nature. On the one hand, he doesn’t seem at all fazed by some crazy new things: on Wednesday he was introduced to both a saddle pad and surcingle, both of which he took in stride. Literally. He is increasingly comfortable being groomed, mane and tail included, and though he sometimes seems to question the need for conditioning spray on his forelock, he basically acts as if being brushed and picked at from all angles is old news. At the same time, minor changes such as an unexpected breeze or the rustle of the hanging tarp across the arena can put him on, albeit momentary, high alert. He also responds almost immediately to even the smallest changes in my position and posture when we are working in the round pen (though not always the changes I want him to notice). True to his nature he lets these things go quickly, and once I correct and reposition he adjusts his movement. It is almost as if he needs to remind me every now and then that even though he is a gentle, trusting animal he is also still a wild horse in all sorts of wonderful ways.   

Wednesday was a big day for Oliver because after I worked with him the round pen for a bit with some coaching from Sean, we then switched places and Sean introduced Oliver to his first real equipment. Since he did so well with the tarp, neither Sean nor I was terribly surprised to his adjustment to walking around with a saddle pad on his back. He did question the situation at first (looking back, subtle shudders), but he did not protest and after 20 or so repetitions of Sean taking off and then putting back on the saddle pad (at different speeds and from different angles) it was clear that Oliver had settled into the expectation. After walking around successfully with that on for a few minutes, Sean brought over the surcingle, starting first with it draped on Oliver’s back. Again, he noticed, but he kept moving forward and Sean was able to cinch it up a little (not too tight) and Oliver moved around the round pen as directed, transitioning from walk to trot and back down again without events of any kind.

Sean explained as he worked that with the new pressure of the surcingle, he would only ask Oliver to perform tasks we know he understands well. Additionally, Sean was careful only to ask for walk-trot transitions because every new change or increase in demand compounded with the novel sensation of leather encircling his chest might create cause for panic. The approach is to build on small successes and not to push things to a point of major protest of panic. Oliver did beautifully and I am able to see his confidence growing and understanding (though at times short-remembered) deepening.

We rounded off the day with a walk around the property. Oliver was interested but not too excited by the goats and chickens and he seemed curious about the new BLM mustang (yet to be named) who lives on the other side of the ranch next door to Rory. I really enjoy watching Sean and Bryce (the mustang’s owner) work on fundamentals of gentling. We got to skip over some of that with Oliver because his experience of people differs so greatly from this beautiful gelding’s. But that is a story for another time; there is a whole lot to it.

Six-year-old BLM mustang who arrived at Spirit Heart Ranch this past week. Name TBD, but he seems to fancy himself a Lipizzan.

I was also able to introduce Rory and Oliver and they managed to be sweet to each other long enough for a photo. Rory then moved on to wondering why there was another horse's lead rope in my hand instead of a treat for him, but that is not unexpected. I enjoyed most seeing their similarities (mostly in color) and also the stark contrast in their statures. Oliver seems to be the size of Rory's head.

Introductions.

Today, I worked with Oliver on my own again with a plan to stick to basics after all the newness of the previous session. I was planning to take a lesson with Sean but I was secretly (or not so secretly now!) relieved that he had another lesson booked at the same time, mostly because I had been fighting a headache throughout what was already a long day and I knew I wasn’t in best form. I won’t dwell on or whine about it; in fact, I only bring it up because, despite the fact that Oliver could care less that I forgot to send something in for taxes and that I was just starting to lose what had become a pretty significant afternoon eye twitch, he was quite aware that my focus was fuzzy.

The relationship between Oliver’s learning and my own is remarkable. I watch how he responds to things, notice what he remembers, and in turn, can see how much I am able to carry through from what I have learned in my own lessons. He acts as a mirror as long as I pay attention to his responses. Today, my precision was off a bit. Thankfully, this two-year-old gelding is both a patient student and teacher and once I slowed down a little and corrected some of my usual bad habits (with, of course, some sideline reminders from Sean) we both did pretty well. I kept it simple--choose a direction, move him forward, transition, disengage, back up, offer a new direction, move him forward, transition, repeat (first with a halter and then without).

The effect of these small successes was remarkable and I am not sure who benefited more from our work this afternoon, though I would like to think I furthered his training if only incrementally. I left barn thinking to myself (almost out loud) how lucky I am to have the gift of working with this horse each afternoon. He does not allow me to dwell on the nagging thoughts that are, in the grand scheme of things, entirely unimportant and mostly out of my control. He reminds me, if not demands of me to remember, that what is important is being in the moment with clarity, connectedness, and truth. If only we could think more as horses, what a world this would be.

Oliver enjoying the warm Colorado sun Wednesday morning. Moment generously captured and shared by Courtney McCall.