Sailor and the Sled

About eight months ago, after we had had Sailor for a while and were starting to feel really confident around him, Evan and I thought it would be fun to play with some obstacles. Sailor was doing really well with each of the obstacles and we were having a great time.

Noisemaker Obstacle. (Photo Credit: Kyley DiLugi)

Ride Around the Pole (Photo Credit: Kyley DiLugi)

Until, we got to this one...

What happened before what happened, happened. (Photo Credit: Kyley DiLugi)

This obstacle involved dragging a sled behing your horse. The sled was on a rope which was roughly 30 feet long. Things were going great until they turned the corner and the sled came into view on the right side of the horse. Sailor then bolted and threw a right-brained fit leaving Evan to try to ditch the sled, and ride out the madness. Evan stayed on until things calmed down but his saddle slipped at the end causing an unplanned dismount. A few seconds and one broken wrist later, we totally understood why prior and proper preparation is so incredibly important. We got caught up in Sailor's confidence with everything that we ignored the possibility of him having confidence issues in specific areas or situations. To make things worse, from this moment on, Salior became a lot less confident in any new situation, he started to become very reactive and explosive, and especially blew up whenever the sled was moving around him. We had accidentally created a big problem for ourselves. 

While this was a cringe-worthy moment for us, it was a huge growth opportunity for our horsemanship. In adherence to Parelli Principle number 2: Make No Assumptions, we now have a pre-flight plan for Sailor every single time we even think about getting on. Because, we cannot assume our left brain horse is going to be left brain all the time in every-situation. We are working to expose him to more and more new and potentially scary situations on the ground, and have been working on getting him calm, connected, and responsive, both in and out of the saddle. We have also been re-training his brain to respond with respect and without fear to certain stimuli, including the sled. 

Evan has been a phenomenal leader and partner for Sailor these past few months and I am pleased to show you the progress he has made. I wish I had a "before" video to show you exactly how fearful he used to be of this activity, but this "after" video really shows how far he has come. 

I am so proud of these boys!

Throwback Thursday!

We're celebrating "Throwback Thursday"! Here are some photos of our Curly Horse's from back in the day. Sailor and Lilah were purchased from the same farm, but they didn't grow up together. Sometimes, it's fun to take a look back!

Sailor's first ribbon- 2yrs old (before I owned him). 

Photo From: Ride-A-Curly

Sailor as a baby. 

Photo from: Curly Horse Pedigree Database

 Lilah as a baby.

Photo Credit: Silver Storm Farm

 Lilah's sale picture- 1.5 yrs old. 

Photo Credit: Silver Storm Farm

Sailor and Lilah reunited- Sailor 6 yrs old- Lilah 3 yrs old.

Show us your Throwback photos!

Left Brain Love and the Story of the Fly

As we have gotten to know the breed, we are finding that what they say about Curly Horses is true, they are friendly, funny creatures. These horses, especially Sailor, love to be around people, love to be scratched, and especially love being fed. The amicability of the breed is what I love about Curly Horses, especially my own. However, it is also something that I am not used to at all!

When I think about how I expect a horse to act, I think about the classic prey animal behavior. I think about the creatures who are born skeptics, cowards, claustrophobics, and panic-aholics, and this describes my Arabian mare perfectly. This is the horse we are taught about in 4-H and riding camps. We are taught to expect prey animal behavior from our horses, and we either learn how to avoid it, cope with it, or maybe even shape it into something new (My good friend, Emily talks about that more here). However, what about the horses that don't quite fit this traditional mold of the flighty, reactive horse? What about the horses who are thinkers, the ones who are curious (sometimes too curious for their own good), and the one's who will come up with plenty of things to keep themselves occupied if and when you can't think of anything? I bet if you think about it, you probably know a horse or two just like this. Well, these horses are "Left Brain" horses, and my Curly Horse, Sailor is one of them.

My silly boy!

While I might not be accustomed to the mischievous, playful, and fun-loving nature of the Left Brain horse, I am certainly learning to love them. Sailor is pretty brave and trusting of people, he runs to me in the pasture and demands treats and scratches. I must say, being sought out so quickly is a refreshing change from skeptical RBI who took years to fully gain her trust. Alternatively, Left Brain horses require a lot of leadership from their human partners. I didn't realize my leadership wasn't as strong as it should be, until I had a horse who really challenged it. This is what brings me to my next point...

The Story of the Fly:

The key to Left Brain horses is to utilize their brain. These horses are thinkers and are ready to outsmart you at every turn. Using psychology, for any horse, rather than fear, force, and intimidation, is how you will achieve real results. Part of this psychology is determining what motivates them, and for Left Brain horses it usually requires some creativity!

To drive this point home, Linda recounts the story of a particularly "stubborn" mule and his owner attending one of her courses. Linda states that in order to get lunch, the students must jump their horses out of the small (maybe 1 foot) railing encircling the dressage arena in which they were playing. Most horse/human pairs accomplish this with ease, but the Mule and his partner are left struggling. The mule is entirely unmotivated and refuses to jump despite the man upping his phases and adding more and more pressure with his stick. After observing the couple for a few minutes, Linda jumps in to help. While watching, Linda noticed that while the man's pressure on the Mule's hindquarters with his stick hardly phased the Mule, a tiny fly landing on the Mule's nose caused a big reaction from him, leading him to shake his head violently. With this, Linda took the man's carrot stick, and starting at phase one (suggesting with her finger, that the Mule go over the jump), she increased her phases until getting to phase four, at which point she gently, but accurately flicked the end of the string across the Mule's nose, achieving the same unpleasant reaction as did the fly. After a few times of this, the Mule was so motivated by the unpleasant sensation on his nose, that he jumped out of the arena when Linda suggested he do so by pointing her finger.

So, what is the point of this paraphrased story you might ask? The point is that phase four (what you have to do to be effective with your horse) might look very different for different horses, and for Left Brain horses, in particular, you have to be creative. This is something I am still experimenting with every day. I do feel pretty good about how willing Sailor is to play with me and express his opinions, and now that I have the strategies and knowledge to understand and influence his behavior, I feel must more equipped to be the strong and provocative leader that he needs me to be!

Comment below: Is your horse Left Brain or Right Brain, and what have you learned from your horse's Horsenality™?
To learn more about Horsenality™ and strategies for your individual horse, please click here.

Sailing Away With My Heart: Sailor's Arrival

Last night our new Curly Horse cross, Sailor Bloom was delivered safely to the farm. Today he got to spend some time exploring his new surroundings and getting to know us and his new pasture mates. We already can tell he is one special horse and he is definitely sailing away with my heart! <3

As most Curlies are, Sailor was immediately comfortable around us. He rolled almost right away!

Handsome man. :)

He had just a little bit of energy

Meeting the other horses was a non-event.

We love him dearly!

A Whole New World

My first introduction to Curly Horses was in a breed book that I had as a child. It was in this book that I learned of the hypoallergenic trait of the American Bashkir Curly. Being so unique, they are not a breed that I could easily forget about, but at the time, I had no idea how important these special horses would become in my life.

My freshman year of college, I did not have a car on campus and had no means of keeping my horse with me at school. My boyfriend, Evan and I had talked about his allergy to horses (among other animals), but it wasn't until a year later when I was able to bring my horse to school with me, that I truly understood the magnitude of the problem. Just walking in the door of our apartment after I had spent an evening at the barn would cause Evan to sneeze uncontrollably. It was so bad that I started bringing a second set of clothes to change into before getting into my car to come back to the apartment, and even then, I would have to shower immediately upon returning home. After a few months of this, however, Evan seemed to be building up a greater tolerance and was even able to ride in the car to the barn as long as he wore a medical mask over his face.

Eventually, Evan was able to stay at the barn as long as he did not touch any of the horses and was not around them while they were being groomed. Evan seemed to enjoy coming with me and learning about horses and Parelli Natural Horsemanship, and I was overjoyed to be able to share my passion with him. As the months went on, Evan began to see how powerful my relationship with my equine partner is, and he started to become sad and discouraged that his allergy was preventing him from having the same relationship with a horse. Enter, the Curly Horse.

Once I knew Evan was serious about getting a horse, I told him about the breed I had read about in my book, the hypoallergenic American Bashkir Curly Horse. We both searched for as much information as we could about these horses, which led us to find Curly Horse Country, and eventually, Silver Storm Farm. After much deliberation, saving money, and searching, in January 2011 we made the trip to Tennessee intent on bringing home a horse. One day later, we were headed home with Evan's new horse, Lilah Rose, a horse that he could touch and play with and not have to worry about not being able to breathe.

We are so grateful to have found an option for Evan that allows him to enjoy the magic of horses, despite his allergies. We are even more grateful to have been introduced to this incredible breed of intelligent, and people loving horses, that have forever stolen our hearts. After being immersed in the curly community and getting to know our own Curly Horse, we knew this was just the begging of a whole new world.