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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Sydney Goes on a Field Trip

1/3/2012

 
As I consider how to categorize this post, I realize that it fits in many areas: California Barn Life, it was 82 degrees with a low of 36 - unusual even for here.  The national high, 88 degrees, was in Riverside, just three hours south; Trailering, although the post didn't intentionally go that way; or simply Training.  Wherever it fits, thanks for reading!

Now that I board within walking distance of my trainer (and no longer condition/compete in endurance races), I am finding that I rarely need to trailer out anywhere.  Super convenient of course, but not great for teaching horses to be dependable travelers.  Speedy is already a pretty good traveler.  Oh, he dances around in the trailer at the lights, but he hops right in every time, and he'll stand tied all day long.  Sydney has traveled in my trailer maybe a half-a-dozen times.  I brought him home in July, he went to the vet later that week, he trailered out for a handful of lessons, and then he went to the Ride-a-Test in October.  And that's the last time he's been anywhere.

I have been remiss in this area of his schooling.  I am fairly confident that in his previous life as racehorse and hunter/jumper he was trailered quite a lot.  But it has been my experience that not every one trailers their horses like endurance riders do.  We (or I should now say, they) have very high expectations as to how horses should approach trailering.  We (they) insist that horses should load quietly.  So quietly in fact that they should want to get in even when you haven't completely opened the door.  They should try to open the door themselves to save you the trouble.  In fact, they should attempt to close the door behind themselves.

And that's not all.  Once you've arrived at base camp, oops, I mean your destination, they should come off the trailer in exactly the opposite way that they loaded.  They should look over their shoulder and really study where they are.  They should ask at least three times, are you really sure that you want me to get off?  And once you've convinced them that, yes, you do want them off, they should do it very, very slowly and immediately upon exiting they should drop their heads and look for something to eat.

And that's still not all.  (I told you that endurance riders have tremendous expectations!)  Once everyone is unloaded, your horse should be delighted to stand at the trailer all day long.  He shouldn't mind that his buddy has walked away.  He shouldn't mind that other horses are calling to him.  He should have his head so far into his hay bag that he has completely forgotten about anything else.  And when he pops his head out of the hay bag to get a breath of fresh air, he should look around for YOU, his trusted partner, and whicker at you softly when he makes eye contact.  His whicker will say, Oh!  There you are.  I love you and trust you to take very good care of me.  I will not run away, even if my rope becomes loose because I love standing by this trailer.

And when it's time to go home, your horse should nudge the door open and load himself while you're struggling with the hay bag that you refilled and are now trying to cram past his big butt.

That's how endurance riders trailer their horses.

I don't think that has been Sydney's experience, and I have been a bit remiss in his education.  So I decided that I had better get to work.  Fortunately he does have some pretty good experience already, and I have already done quite a bit of load and unload practice to help him navigate my pretty tall step-up.  While I haven't driven him around, I have spent some time asking him to load quietly and unload just as quietly.  My work must have paid off because he did both things very well on Monday's field trip.

Cha Ching's Mom boards less than ten miles away.  It's an easy drive with two stop lights and three left turns. It seemed like the perfect destination for Sydney's first trip of 2012.  He loaded up without a single bit of hesitation and unloaded even quieter.  When I got in position to unload him, he looked over his shoulder and out the door for several seconds.  He took a couple of short steps and listened for my cue that the step was coming.  Just as he got to the edge of the floor, I reminded him to steeeeep, which he did.  One foot hit the ground, the other foot hit the ground, he paused for a moment, Good boy, and quietly shuffled the rest of the way out.  He didn't look for anything to eat, but I did have a horse treat in my hand that he took happily, if not completely focused on me.

I led him around the barn area for a few minutes waiting for his head to come down and for that deep breath to escape his body.  Within just minutes I could see the tension slipping away.  He was still quite curious and a bit of a lookey-lou, but I was okay with that.  I saddled him up, put him on the lunge line for just a few minutes, and then did as quiet of a ride as I could.  My goal for the trip was for him to never get excited. (There's a post coming about that in a day or so.)

After riding, I unsaddled, groomed, offered more hay and water, and then went to visit with Cha Ching's Mom for just a moment to give Sydney an opportunity to show how he would behave once I was out of sight.  He didn't disappoint me.  I gave him a few minutes alone, and then I stepped into his line of sight and called his name.  He turned to look at me and seemed relieved to finally have found me.  There were no theatrics though and he remained calm and happy.

We loaded up and made the short drive home.  He stepped off quietly and was happy to be turned out for a few minutes to roll and amble in the warm California sunshine.  It was a very successful day.
Picture
Saddling up ... Slightly nervous expression.
Picture
All done and waiting to go home with a much more relaxed expression.
nowthatsatrot link
1/2/2012 11:01:15 pm

Good boy, Sydney!

We keep talking about all the things that are different from one area to another, or one discipline over another... But my trailering expectations are exactly the same. :)

Willie absolutely loves going out and about. If we pass by an open trailer, even one we've never seen before, he will try to load himself, every time.

Karen
1/2/2012 11:07:34 pm

Good boy, Willie! I hate trailering with fussy horses and know that life is much easier for them if they'll load willingly and happily. It can take a lot of work to get them there, but it's worth it in the long run! I am heading over to your blog right now as I had a comment about yesterday's post (a field trip!) that I haven't yet added.

AareneX link
1/3/2012 03:30:42 am

I literally <i> laughed out loud </i> at your description of endurance riders' expectations--absolutely spot-on!

And as you note, not a universal set of expectations: seems like almost every weekend during the summer I see at least one set of horses at the trailhead being "loaded" by somebody holding a long rope and a broom...

Yay for Sydney!

Karen
1/3/2012 06:34:13 am

AareneX - I have said many times that riders from the various disciplines have a lot of useful knowledge to share. Unfortunately, most endurance riders are not given credit for the knowledge base that they possess, and I am not picking on anyone. It's true. For many years endurance riders were given a bit of the stink eye and viewed as the ugly step-child of the equestrian world. I know my friends and are worked hard to promote a positive image to the equestrian community where we live in an effort to educate people about the sport of endurance.

With that said, endurance riders kick butt when it comes to the nuts and bolts of horse management. We/they know a lot of great tricks for producing sensible, desensitized horses. On the other hand, most of us/them don't know as much about "riding" as the dressage riders, eventers, and jumpers do. Since my endurance interest waned, after many years, I needed a new discipline and decided that I wanted to be a better "rider." So now I get to utilize my endurance knowledge to help me become a better dressage rider and competitor!

Thanks for reading and I am glad someone could appreciate how much work goes into getting a good trailerer - is that even a word? :0) Karen

Val
1/3/2012 07:26:11 am

Very funny post!

Other equestrians could learn a lot from you/them regarding good trailering habits and sane, reliable horses. Who could ask for anything more?

Karen
1/4/2012 06:09:27 am

Thanks, Val! I feel like I am half-way done as I can train the reliability part, but I need lots more help with the actual riding part. Enter a good trainer, helpful blogs, and lots of reading!

Erica link
1/3/2012 02:54:05 pm

There is nothing better than being pleasantly surprised with a nice, calm outing!
Glad to hear you are enjoying the weather over there, it was nearly 80 in San Luis Obispo today!

Karen
1/4/2012 06:10:50 am

Erica - I was just telling a friend that I never would have imagine being able to ride for the entire Christmas break. We have had nothing but perfectly diving weather. We're making lots of training progress that we don't often get to make during the winter.

Karen

Kelly RGF link
1/6/2012 04:17:51 pm

Wait, what? 82 degrees???! Isn't it *winter* over there? We're not even touching 70 here, in our admittedly pathetic summer ... sigh. I totally retract that conversation where I tried to tell you our weather wasn't so terrible.

Anyway, Sydney's a star :) As (almost) always.

Karen
1/6/2012 10:20:15 pm

We've had several weeks of unseasonably warm winter temps. We're all loving it, but it's wreaking havoc on our summer water supply!


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
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