Hairy Situation

Nox is shedding like crazy.  When I curry comb him, clumps of long winter hair fall off him and wispy strands float through the air.  The hair gets everywhere - all over my clothes, up my nose, in my mouth, and in my eyes.  For three days in a row, I pulled long hairs out of my eyes after they got stuck up inside my eyelids.  After that painful experience, I'd had enough.

The next day, I showed up at the barn armed with laboratory goggles and a face mask.  I donned my personal protective equipment, grabbed the curry comb, and stepped into Nox's stall.  He took one look at me, snorted, and back into the corner.  I spoke soothingly and dropped a few carrots in his bucket, and he was happy to let me curry him in my goofy get-up.   

Let me tell you - I look odd, and the other boarders might look at me funny and think I'm silly, but I'm no longer pulling hair out my eyes and mouth!  Nox is looking sleeker and shiner than any of the other horses, and I'm willing to bet that when everyone else is eating horse hair in a few weeks, they'll be asking to borrow my goggles and mask! 

Best Husband Ever helps me groom Nox, but he declines the goggles. 
He took a picture of me wearing them instead. 
Goofy? Yes. Does he love me anyway? Yes.

I can read his mind...

Though I'm not a professional trainer by any means, I really enjoy working with animals.  I trained Moose, our little Yorkie-poo, to do all the normal obedience skills, plus a few extra fun tricks for our entertainment.  When you point your fingers at Moose like guns and say "Stick 'em up", he will stand on his hind legs and put his front paws up.  It's just about the cutest darn thing ever.

Moose was very motivated by treats and verbal praise.  Like many dogs, he really wants to please his people and he understands that a treat can be a reward for completing a task.  He learned most of his tricks in less than five minutes.

Nox, like most horses, is motivated by finding the easiest route, or the path of least resistance.  If he thinks it's easier to walk around a pole than over it, that is what he'll want to do.  I've been training Nox to free lunge in both directions and he is doing very well.  At first, it was easier for him to move to the left because he has better balance in that direction.  When I asked him to go to the right, he resisted because it was difficult for him.  He tried to spin around and go the easy way.  My job as a trainer was to make it even more difficult for him to spin around to left.  I would shout and wave my arms and lunge whip, blocking his way and putting pressure on him to turn around.  After several hissy fits, rears, and bucks, he'd eventually move to the right. 

I've kept this up for several weeks, insisting that he walk and trot in a circle to the right so he can build muscle and learn to balance.  Nox's balance is improving, and now I can lunge him to the left, turn him around, and lunge him to the right with hardly any resistance.  I have to pay close attention, however, and watch for signs that he's getting frustrated.  A few days ago, I had him cantering to the right.  Cantering in a circle is difficult for a horse in training, especially an ex-racer who is used to gradual, wide turns.  Nox had completed 2 1/2 laps and I could sense that he was feeling uncomfortable, but I wanted to push him to complete the 3rd lap before asking him to slow down.  Big mistake.  Nox felt off balance and frustrated, and so he escaped his situation by dashing out of the circle, bucking and kicking, and spun around to move to the left.

I was mad at myself, because I knew it was going to happen and I didn't take control of the situation.  I should have told him to slow down to a trot as soon as I sensed he might break.  I would have kept his attention and faith.  Instead, I had to start over, convincing him to move to the right again.  I kept the session short, so we could end on a good note, and it all ended well.  I learned a good lesson - trust my senses and stay one thought ahead of Nox.

Looking good!
Nox is shedding out his thick winter coat and looking sleek and shiny again.

 

         

Working Hard, Going Well

Nox is progressing well, despite the cold, stormy, snowy weather.  I haven't ridden in a few weeks, since the temperatures haven't been above 20 degrees and Nox has been bouncing around the ring like a ping pong ball.  Instead, we've been free lunging and practicing ground manners.  Nox is still having a tough time lunging to the right.  I'll start him going right and he protests; attempting to change direction and racing around in an uncoordinated fashion.  I keep the pressure on him until he's sort of moving in a circle, and then I make him change direction.  To the left, he can walk and trot smoothly without any hesitation.  He's learning to balance better at the canter as well, and I increase his canter time each session.  After I've worn him out a little going to the left, I turn him around again and make him go to the right.  The second time is always better, and usually Nox will walk and trot to the right in nicer circles.  I haven't asked him to canter to the right yet.  He needs to build up the muscles on that side and I don't want to make him sore by asking too much too soon.

Nox still asks to have his tongue rubbed at every opportunity.  Best Husband Ever and the barn trainer are the only people besides me that will indulge him - everyone else thinks it's too odd or gross!

Hopefully, spring will arrive soon and I can start riding again.  I don't mind giving Nox a break from the saddle - it's probably good for him, actually - but I do miss it. 

Below is a video of Nox doing his "Black Beauty" impression.  I did not teach him to do this, and he has never done it while I've been riding, but he loves to rear when he's turned out.  Sometimes it seems like he's trying to stay up as long as he can, and other times he'll finish the rear with a twist and leap... he looks like the famous Lipizzanner horses I saw when I was a teenager.  It's fun to watch!

Reunited!

The "Multiverse" is a physics theory that involves infinite universes where infinite copies of people live out alternative lives.  If you come to an intersection and turn right, somewhere your alternate copy #1,002 turned left.  If you chose a tuna sandwich for lunch, #803,458 chose turkey, etc., etc. 

In some alternate universe, alternate Star enjoys flights that are always on time and never turbulent.  I'm really happy for her.

I left town for 5 days to be with my family on the west coast.  It's very difficult to leave home these days.  Best Husband Ever is confident that I will return and Moose has learned that I eventually come back from wherever I've been.  Nox, however, is a different story.  The last time I left him for a few days, I came back to an angry, obstinate horse.  It took a week for us to get back to our previous routine and I made the mistake of being too lenient, forgiving his bad behavior too long - see the post on "tough lessons".

I finally arrived home this evening (a day late, thank you Chicago) and after kissing Moose and feeding him dinner - Best Husband Ever is working, otherwise he'd get kiss and food as well - I drove to the barn.  I whistled for Nox as I walked into the barn.  Most of the time, he nickers excitedly back, but tonight I only heard the stomps and snorts of the other horses.  When I turned the corner, Nox was looking at me through the stall door, but it wasn't his normal look.  He looked at me like I was a stranger, and my heart sank a little. 

I went through our normal routine - carrot in his bucket, halter on, turn him out in the ring, and clean his stall.  Nox went through the motions like I was a new groom in the barn.  After I cleaned the stall, I joined Nox in the ring and hooked the lead rope to his halter to walk him around.  He immediately dropped his head to bite the lead rope - an old bad habit.  I smacked him on the chest with the lead rope and the expression on his face was priceless.  It said, "Oh! Ha Ha! Silly me, of course I remember you!"  He snapped back to his old, sweet, respectful self and stuck his tongue out for me to rub.

It's good to be home!

 

A picture is worth a thousand words...

A lovely horse is always an experience....
 It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words. 
~Beryl Markham

Glory Days

I just wanted to share this picture of my wonderful Christmas present from Best Husband Ever.  I searched around on the internet and found a couple of photos of Nox from a race he won in NJ in 2010.  Best Husband Ever contacted the photographers and purchased a few of the prints and had them mounted for me.  Nox's racing colors (called "silks") were green and yellow.  There is a brass plaque on the bottom that says "Nox - Evenings End" on it.  We have it hanging up in the living room and I love looking at it.  In the bottom photo, you can see Nox's tongue hanging out the side of his mouth!

Nox winning a race in NJ, 2010.

 If you'd like to see the rest of the photos, click on this link: Nox (Evenings End) Racing photos 

Photos 1-6 are of Nox (the last three photos are different horse).  The first picture of the trainer and owner and their families celebrating in the winner's circle with Nox makes me a little sad.  I realize that horse racing is a business and if the horse can't run, he can't make money - but come on!  How could someone let such an amazing horse go?  I'm grateful they did, or he wouldn't be mine now, but do any of those people wonder where their winning horse is now? 

I'm also amused by the picture of Nox stumbling out of the gate.  He's all the way down at the far end of the line of horses, with his nose almost on the ground.  I guess he's always been a klutz!  And he still won the race, despite the stumble!

Its fun to see these pictures of his life before he came to me, but I'm so glad that he's mine now.  I'm very lucky.

Starting the New Year "Right"

I'm so pleased with Nox's progress.  The difference between the way he moved six months ago and how he moves today is amazing. 

At first, I only let Nox trot in straight lines, because circles would put too much pressure on his injured hoof.  As his strength has improved and his injury has healed, I've gradually introduced circles.  The past few weeks I've been "free lunging" him in the indoor ring on days that I don't ride.  Free lunging is when the horse walks/trots/canters in circles around a person standing in the center of a ring, but the horse is not on a line or rope.  It's a great way for Nox to build strength and stamina, and also helps him learn to balance himself in smaller circles than he's used to.

Nox quickly understood what I was asking him to do when I free lunged him the first time to the left (his racing direction).  After one session, he would walk, trot, and "whoa" on my voice commands.  When I asked him to turn around and free lunge to the right, he completely fell apart.  He raced around like a maniac and kept trying to change direction.  A few times he refused to move forward at all. 

Some trainers think that horses do not have any right-to-left brain connection - meaning, if they learn how to do something going in one direction, they cannot carry over that knowledge to the other direction.  They have to start over and learn it from the beginning.  I'm not sure that I believe that.  I agree with other trainers who think that horses have a favored "side', like a human is right or left handed.  Horses are usually more comfortable moving in a certain direction when they are moving in a circle.  As a rider, you can feel that their gait is smoother going in one direction than the other.

Since Nox was a race horse, it makes sense that he would feel more comfortable moving to the left.  The left side of his body is noticeably more muscular than his right side.  I'm sure that he feels very unbalanced when I ask him to go to the right.  It would be like forcing a right handed child to do everything with his left hand - the discomfort would eventually boil over into frustration!

I think that's what happens when I ask Nox to move to the right when I'm lunging him.  Without a rider to help him balance, he feels uncomfortable and acts out.  I've been working with him for a few weeks now, and yesterday he finally walked, trotted, and cantered in both directions calmly.  He's still a little hesitant to the right, especially at the faster canter gait, but he understands what I want and he's trying hard to please me - and that's good enough for now!