In September 2020, I bought a Horse during the Covid pandemic. Though I only spent just over a year with this older ex-ranch horse, the red roan gelding taught me so much during my time with him.
This is the story
Even though this 15-year-old ranch horse was exhibiting explosive behavior to a couple of people and causing problems when being shod, I felt that if I worked with Cowboy, it would be a good trail horse for me in the end. He was still exhibiting some stiffness in his neck that I was helping him work through with regular massages, lateral flexion, and bending through small circles. After getting to know him and spending Spring and early Winter starting him over like a young horse, I started riding him.
RIDING COWBOY
I rode Cowboy for the first time on February 21, 2021, and while he protested a little at first, I reminded myself that he was an x-ranch horse at 15 years old. This helped me be more confident in myself and that he knew what to do. The work that led up to that day included casual walking around the property while switching directions. I was teaching him to understand where my personal space was and paying attention to me for where to go next. We worked on desensitizing and calming methods. We worked on tight circles and ground poles to help him find his feet and control his canter. He also learned my queues when asking to yield to the leg and to side pass. I continued working with him on what was being asked with the bitless bridle from the ground so that we would communicate clearly while I was on his back.
Cowboy was on his way to becoming the gentle trail horse he was destined to be.
BUILDING OUR PARTNERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION
There are several ways in which I helped to build trust and strengthen the partnership with Cowboy. While riding him, I focused on walking and kept a loose rein on him. I had him turn into the wall and pressed my outside leg gently just in front of his flank (on his barrel) to encourage him to move his hind end away from the wall and reverse directions. This movement was one of many that helped him to be supple in the bridle and to listen to my queues on where to go. He could trust that I wasn’t asking him to enter the wall.
On March 7, 2021, Audrey (the dressage trainer and barn manager) set up an obstacle course for the boarders and horses in training to try out. Even though I was riding Cowboy by this time, I wasn’t ready to attempt the obstacle course while on his back. I walked Cowboy through but challenged him by having him back through some of it. Beth (a friend and one of the boarders there) was kind enough to capture some of it on video. As we walked over the tarp, he handled it with no problem. We wandered through the L and backed back through it again. This showed me that his desensitization and trust in me were progressing well.
Oddly enough, when I rode Moe (my bombproof and, then, 27-year-old AQHA) through the same course, he didn’t want to walk over the tarp. Moe stopped, side-stepped a bit, then sighed as I encouraged him forward and walked over it. My relationship with Moe has developed over the years. He knows me well enough that it isn’t worth fighting me on it. I will just outpatient him until he does what I’m asking. He also has trust in me that I won’t put him in a situation that he can’t handle. Someday, I hoped to have the same relationship with Cowboy.
You and your horse. His strength and beauty. Your knowledge and patience and determination and understanding and love. That’s what fuses the two of you onto this marvelous partnership that makes you wonder, ‘What can heaven offer any better than what I have here on earth?’
Monica Dickens
I’M LISTENING
Cowboy was still flinching when I would reach my hand towards his right ear. I slowly worked with him as I petted his head and then reached his ear. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t going to hurt him, but I also stopped when he pulled away so that he would trust that I was listening to him. I managed to get him to let me touch his ear and work my way inside to rub it when I felt an odd-shaped bump in there. Almost like a hard fungus growing in there that wouldn’t come off with just rubbing. The bump was obviously hurting him because he would pull away each time I got close to touching it. Despite this pain, I brought him to trust me as I haltered and bridled him. He eventually came to know that I wouldn’t push him too hard to where the pain was setting in. He even learned to put his head down for me to slip the halter and bridle on easily through some training.
Throughout the last several months, I had the Masseuse regularly massaging Cowboy. Donna (his Masseuse) worked on his flexibility and helped as I worked on physically, becoming supple and training him for the bitless bridle. At one point, he reacted negatively to being touched on his right hind stifle (just below the hip, behind his flank). He kicked out when I went to brush him for Donna, and I jumped back. He tensed up, ready for a fight, as if I would punish him for the reaction. That’s not how I do things, though. Donna (the Masseuse) saw this and massaged him carefully towards that area. She slowly worked her way up to where he kicked out with me, then eased back as he swished his tail at her. We both showed him we were listening and not punishing him for his behavior. We had a few sessions where Donna and I showed him he could trust us not to fight him. That we were hearing what he had to say and responding. This gained his trust and eventually eased his demeanor.
Given the way that he was acting, I was getting more and more worried about his leg. Shawna (his previous owner) mentioned that he had x-rays done of both his hind hocks, but something didn’t seem right. Maybe he got a new injury from falling down during his groundwork cantering with me, or he could have injured himself in the pasture with Moe. Despite Moe’s age, those two got pretty rambunctious at times. In April of 2021, I had the Veterinarian (Dr. Perkins at Equine Medical Services) come to the Island to look at Cowboy. She took x-rays of both his hind hocks, cleaned his sheath, and while we had him drugged, she checked on his ear for me. The x-rays came out with no visible issues. Dr Perkins and I talked about the previous workups that Shawna had done. He was checked for a kissing spine, and they did a neurological exam because he was exhibiting wobbler-type movement when cantering. They had x-rayed both hind hocks previously, which returned negative for any issues. I mentioned to Dr. Perkins that Shawna had told me she had Chiropractic work done on Cowboy as well, but nothing significant was found in his back (though the Veterinarian had noted his neck was stiff).
I talked to Dr. Perkins in more detail about how he was crossing his left hind over when cantering. I mentioned how I was working on getting him to bring that leg out using the wraps and bell boots on his hind legs. I also worked in tight circles at a canter to call him to remove the leg so he didn’t fall down anymore. Dr Perkins had me walk, trot, and canter Cowboy in the arena for her to watch his movement. She mentioned that Shawna also did the same thing for her back when she had him. Back then, he was more focused on all the possibly scary things in the distance and less on Shawna. Perkins commented that there was a significant behavior shift in Cowboy. A sort of calmness and focus on me. She mentioned that there could be a possibility that there were problems in his gut that could be causing the bucking. However, that couldn't be it since Shawna had him on the probiotics for almost a year before I got him. She added, “It looks like he could use some build-up in the hind end.” we discussed work I could do to help him with that.
We returned to the barn for his sheath cleaning, and she looked at the bump in his ear. She said it was a plaque build-up. Perkins then gave him some meds for it and cleaned it out while he was still drugged from the sheath cleaning. I speculated that the plaque buildup could have been causing his sensitivity to that ear and affecting his behavior. She agreed that it could affect the ear sensitivity, but she wasn’t sure it affected his behavior.
It was good to get the Veterinary work out of the way to help me get closer to what was happening with Cowboy. Some of it was physical combined with mental. The behavior work I was doing brought him along, and the physical issues he could be facing were being treated as we worked through possible causes.
GROUNDWORK AND CABALETTAS
The following day, I visited Cowboy for work, he wasn’t as flinchy with his leg. It was almost as if he never had the problem at all. I went to brush him,, and he didn’t kick, flinch, or swish his tail at me. I proceeded to brush as usual, and he just stood there. I laughed and thought, "Glad I ,paid the Vet all that money to x-ray is perfechisy fine legs a second time.” Though, this is how Cowboy seemed to operate. One day, he’s perfectly fine; another day, he’s not.
That week, we started on more groundwork with the poles. While he had been using one pole and sometimes two poles at opposite sides. As you can see in the diagram below, I continued the smaller circles to help him work on his bending forced him to pay attention to his feet placement. While the poles in this placement may seem easy for most horses, Cowboy struggled initially.
Cowboy shied away at first but then eventually went over the one pole calmly with some work. As he would step over the pole (walk, trot, and canter), he would repeatedly knock it with his hoofs, sometimes tripping over it. He learned to pick up his feet and look downward at the ground, so he focused on what was in front of him. His focus on what was outside the arena eventually turned to me and his feet (the present), to where he went over the poles without needing to look down anymore.
I worked him up to two poles on one side. The poles were spaced just right so that he could walk over them perfectly in the usual circle, then wider for the trot, and broader for the canter at an even wider circle.
Eventually, working him to three poles. As you can see in this diagram, the middle pole is straight to the cross of the circle, with the outer poles slightly in and fanning out for the trot and canter spacing.
As Cowboy became comfortable with the more complex setup, we worked up to the single pole on the opposite end. This way, he wasn’t getting too confident in focusing on just one spot on the circle and relaxing for the opposite end, then focusing again. This kept his focus throughout the entire circle.
While I primarily ride in Western tack, I was lucky enough to be boarding at a place where there were a lot of dressage riders. I say this because not only did we have poles around to use, but we also had cabalettas to work with. As Cowboy became more and more comfortable with the poles, it was time to raise them up a bit.
As you can see from my badly photoshopped photo here, this horse is focused on lifting its hoofs up higher, which then builds up the hind muscles.
I worked Cowboy up through the various patterns I had done with the ground poles but using the raised cabalettas. He became increasingly comfortable with both the poles and cabalettas, which were building up his hind end beautifully.
His Masseuse, Donna, continued to work with him regularly and was really noticing a difference in him. He wasn’t flinching in his hands anymore; he was more flexible and looking forward to his sessions.
At this point in our time together, Cowboy wasn’t falling down anymore, and his left leg wasn’t crossing his right at the canter. He was doing a great job being calm, paying attention to me,, and focusing on his foot placement. He was off his gut supplements, and I had asked Audrey to also take him off SmartCalm® pellets from SmartPak. It appeared he didn’t need it anymore. Cowboy was coming along well, and I was proud of him.
TROTTING UNDER SADDLE
From February to May 2021, I worked Cowboy 4 to 5 days a week. I switched up his program and gave him a day or two in between each day for rest and contemplation, as it has been shown that a change in routine and time off benefits the horse. One day a week, we would do our essential groundwork, which consisted of the switching-up strategy I used while leading. Keeping him “in tune” (as I like to call it). We also worked on bending his neck, yielding to the leg (using the touch of the stirrup from the ground), sidestepping, etc. For 2-3 of those days, we would work on the ground poles or cabalettas, both with the saddle on and sometimes without it. I would get on his back 1-2 days a week, and walk him around the arena. The idea behind just walking was that the work under the saddle wasn’t supposed to feel like work to him. I wanted him to be comfortable with the saddle and possibly look forward to it and with me in it. Occasionally, as I walked around the arena with a loose reign, I would ask him to change directions quickly. I would turn him into the wall, and sometimes turn into the middle, similar to this video from Hannah Kaufman – the only difference being she asks for rapid and forward movements while I kept Cowboy walking calmly.
Cowboy was progressing well. With all of the work we had been doing, he was calm, feeling confident, and trusting in his partnership with me. Our connection was growing stronger every day. My end goal with Cowboy was to take him out on the trails once or twice a week, so I wasn’t in a big hurry to do any heavy training.
On May 7, 2021, I walked Cowboy into the arena as usual and started him with his lateral flexion stretches and walking calmly in a small circle. While walking him, Audrey came in with her cute little lesson horse and a young woman. At that moment, Cowboy continued walking with his head level and being calm as always. As the woman stepped up the mounting block to get on, the Mare stepped away, and Audrey quickly corrected her. Cowboy continued to walk in his circle and to the left. Audrey and the young woman talked louder and louder as the lesson began, and the other horse walked to the other end of the arena. Audrey sat down in the corner with the chairs, put the microphone in her ear, and started talking again. I asked Cowboy to come into me and switch directions. At that moment, he pulled and took a step back,, planted his feet, and froze. I stepped into him and calmly said, “Come on, let’s go.” He raised his head while looking down at me. He was ready for a fight. I took a deep, calming breath, looked at him, and said, “What’s going on with you?”. While the women continued to talk across the arena, I relaxed my shoulders, stepped to the side, and encouraged him forward. He took a few quick steps,, eased back into his circle, and walked calmly.
As the lesson continued, he was calm and did everything I asked, as usual. I heard the woman asking the lesson talk about how her hip was healing up, but was a bit stiff riding again. I remembered the story of the woman that Cowboy bucked off before I bought him. That woman had broken her pelvis in several places from the odd way that she fell, and she wondered if that was the same woman. When we wrapped up, I walked him to the middle of the arena to have him do some of his bending, but he was stiff in the neck. It was as if he was calm, but his body had underlying tension. I asked for some bends and gave him a good rub down to settle him. He licked and chewed, then put his head into my chest and sighed as I took a deep breath. I then walked him back to his paddock and put him away.
I asked Audrey later if that was the woman who was bucked off Cowboy, and she confirmed it. The exciting part about Cowboy is that his communication is so subtle. He is reactive but tries to hide it, almost out of avoidance of a fight that might have happened in the past. He wants to please, but it’s not because he wants to; it’s more because the alternative hasn’t been pleasant. What I continued to try to do with him is to help him understand that while I will be asking things of him (even insisting at times), he can let me know when he’s not ready or if it’s uncomfortable, and I will give him a moment. Our relationship is a little dance as we learn to talk and listen to one another.
Around that same week, just 8 months after I bought him and 3 months since I started riding him, Cowboy was coming along so well that I felt comfortable trotting him in the saddle. I always rode Cowboy while there were other people at the barn. That way, if anything were to happen,, someone would be there to help if I needed it. That first time I trotted him, I didn’t want too much excitement while anyone was in the arena, so I just walked him around while they worked on their dressage patterns. When they were finished, out of the arena and putting their horses away, I trotted him in a big circle and then back to a walk. Once again, not expecting too much from him while under saddle. We walked a bit more, and then I dismounted, gave him a good rub down with love, and put him away.
Cowboy was becoming the horse I envisioned him to be. Soon, we would ride out on the trails and enjoy the sunshine together.
It takes a good deal of physical courage to ride a horse. This, however, I have. I get it at about forty cents a flask, and take it as required.
Stephen Leacock
I WENT FOR A WILD RIDE
On May 29, 2021, I saddled Cowboy up like I had any other day. While putting the saddle on, I noticed his nose was crinkled up as if he wasn’t pleased about it. I’m used to the Mare Stare (as some call it), where a Mare will pin their ears, show the whites of their eyes, and crinkle their nose in protest if they are unhappy (or when they are telling a boy to get away). However, Cowboy’s ears were everywhere. I tapped him gently on the nose and kissed it, saying, “You’re fine!” and proceeded to put the saddle on him.
That day, I was planning on just walking around the arena, but when I got there, one of the young ladies, named Rumor was there getting a lesson on a beautiful Morgan/Friesian cross from Audrey. The young woman’s Mother (Alyce) and I were (and still are) good friends. Alyce was in the arena watching as Audrey was guiding Rumor around the arena. I walked up and asked how long they would be. Most of the time, when there was a lesson, and we couldn’t use the arena, I would just walk Cowboy around the property casually and come back when they were finished. Audrey told me I could come in this time, though, with no problem.
I led Cowboy into the arena and closed the gate behind me. I walked him around the middle a little bit, and when the other horse was at the far end, I parked him at the mounting block and got on. Audrey told me I could use the far end as she would have them do some work in the circle near her.
I casually walked Cowboy around in a circle, sometimes stopping and backing up. Sometimes, switching directions. Sometimes, he bends his neck to work on his lateral flexion. All of our usual easy and casual stuff.
Audrey shouted, "She’s going to canter around the entire arena so be ready.” At that point, I walked to the middle of the arena and stopped Cowboy, then gave him a loose rein to relax for a moment while we watched.
The Moresian (as some call it) had a very forward-moving canter with much power behind it. He grunted and snorted as Rumor held him back and kept him in line. Cowboy perked up for a moment. Trying to take a step forward, I could feel he was taking in the energy of the powerful Moresian. I gathered the reigns,, took a deep breath,, then leaned down and spoke to him calmly. Cowboy settled back down, and I gave him the loose reign again.
As the lesson finished, I was ready to trot Cowboy in a circle again before putting him away. I took him to the far end for a quick trot, then walked to the gate as the Moreisan was leaving. Just as we were walking along the rail up to the gate, Cowboy became nervous about the corner where the hose for the sprinkler was stored. I knew I couldn’t get off of him since he had this energy again. We needed to be calm (both of us), so I circled him a bit just next to the hoses until he focused on me more and was comfortable with the hoses again.
Just as he settled down, Audrey walked over to me, and we started talking about Moe (my other horse). Moe’s feet were getting bad, and I needed to do something about it. I knew I needed to have the Vet come out again. Cowboy was relaxed and on a loose reign as Audrey and I continued our conversation.
Suddenly, I was lifted up out of nowhere while still on Cowboy’s back. It felt like I was on a wildly exaggerated rocking horse. You know, the ones we had as kids with the springs? I would shake that plastic horse up and down, back and forth to where I would nearly fall off.
Audrey yelled, “SHIT!” and at that moment, I realized that Cowboy was bucking.
I thought to myself, “Oh… we’re going now.”
I had no means to pull his head back with the reigns to stop his bucking since they were loose and his head was down between his front legs. In this situation, I usually wait for a horse out since most horses give a few kicks and give it up. This time, it kept going, and going, and going. Up one, down one, up two, down two, up three (“Jesus, he’s still going,” I thought), down three, up four (“he’s not going to stop,” I thought), down four.
At the fourth buck, I felt myself leaning to the side of the saddle, so I used that momentum and took advantage of him being in the down position to kick off. I landed on my left side, avoiding my lousy shoulder, and felt that jarring feeling you do in your head when you hit the ground on your butt.
Cowboy continued down the wall of the arena, then across to the other side, to the other side, zigzagging his way to the far end. My friend Alyce (Rumor’s Mother) ran out of the barn to the arena. At that exact moment, she and Audrey ran toward me, asking if I was ok. I couldn’t get up momentarily and saw Cowboy coming back down, bucking frantically. I was worried he was headed right for me, not realizing what was around him. I said, “I’m okay, but don’t let him come towards me.” At that point, Audrey turned around, waving her arms. I jumped up and screamed, “Knock it off!” as he crossed the width of the arena again, and the pad slipped out from under the saddle, hitting the ground. Audrey screamed just after, “Knock it off!” and Cowboy stopped bucking, then went into the far right corner and stopped. He just stood there looking at the horses in the paddocks on the other side of the wall.
I walked a few steps feeling sore but told Audrey and Alyce that I was ok. I said laughingly to Audrey, “Whoo, I stuck it pretty good, huh?” She said, “I think that was 8 seconds!”.
I wanted to get the lunge whip and push him around the arena a bit, but Audrey doesn’t allow us to free lunge. She doesn’t like having to drag the arena after the horses run around all crazy-like (not to mention all the mirrors the poles, and other stuff stored in corners that the horses could get into). So, she said, “No”. My best option for the moment, and for Cowboy, was to let him know that I wasn’t mad. That I was calm and still loved him. I walked halfway to the other end where he was and asked him to come to me. He looked back towards me (as his butt was facing me) looked at the other horses again and then turned towards me. His head was down, and he was calm but breathing heavily. I took a few steps, and he stopped. I stopped and asked him calmly again, “Come come,” while signaling. He started walking again, and I walked to meet him halfway.
I got a hold of the reigns, tied the outside one up to the saddle horn, and walked him in a circle. We worked in circles calmly towards the other end, and then I asked for a trot. He trotted a few circles, and then I requested for a canter. I worked with him for a few minutes while keeping his energy calm. I gave him a rub down, handed him a treat, and had him bend his neck for lateral flexion, yield to the leg (the stirrup), and back up. Then forward we went as I hobbled out of the arena with him. Audrey was cleaning the paddocks on the hill, and I yelled up to her, “Maybe we should put him back on his meds.” (meaning his SmartCalm® pellets) She laughed and said, “You mean Cowboy shouldn’t be off his meds?” We both laughed.
I continued hobbling slowly when, thankfully, one of the ladies at the barn, Beth, had put her horse away and asked if I needed any help with Cowboy. I giggled (uncomfortably) and said, “I’m ok.” Then I hobbled a little more when she insisted she take him up the hill for me to his barn.
At that point, the pain was setting in, and I had a feeling this was going to take a while to heal up. My hip and lower back were in pain and making crunching sounds. On the drive home, I got nervous, so I called my family to come help. My brother and his family were visiting my parents (who live 5 minutes from the barn and me), so he drove me to the hospital. I spent the night in the ER getting checked up, finding that after all the X-rays, everything was okay. The Dr. said the pain and crunching were most likely tissue damage, so he gave me some good pain meds and sent me home. That was the last day I rode Cowboy, but our story didn’t end there.