How This Crazy Horse Made Me a Better Horseman

In February of 2009 I was looking for my second project horse for my newly started horse training business, Fire and Ice Horses. I was 4 years away from starting the horse rescue and was just finding my way on my own without the help of another trainer. I knew I wanted another Thoroughbred (TB) but I had no idea where to look. So I went all over CA and NV looking at every TB high and low. I finally found a place called Tranquility Farms in Tehachapi, CA. The rescue had over 50 rescue horses, 20 of which were ready for adoption. The choice seemed impossible, but somehow I was able to narrow it down to two horses. One called MC Sugar Baby and another called Jitterbug. This was MC at the time

He was 3 turning 4 and was the sweetest horse in the world. He did not want to leave my side the entire time I was interacting with him and he had a very easy way about him. However, he was not without some major red flags.

#1- It took three of us about 30 mins to get him to walk into the round pen

#2- He spooked at every shadow and puddle on the way to the round pen

#3- He only had some race training, and not very much of that

When we finally got him into the round pen he was very compliant and willing to please, and I can say that was the main reason I decided to take him over Jitterbug. Even though Jitterbug was bold and brave, he had a little bit of a mean streak in him that I thought would be hard to deal with. So I went with the big red mental case.

I came back a month later to pick him up and he was just as anxious as I remembered. It took 4 of us almost an hour to get him into the trailer. Then once he was in the trailer he panicked and fell down in the trailer on the way back to Vegas. Then once in Vegas, it took me about 30 min to get him out of the trailer. And so on and so on….

I could go over every explosion and blow up that happened over the next year but that would make this blog 20 pages long. Lets just say that MC was a horse that would have massive panic attacks. For no foreseen reason he would panic in his stall, start trembling, and become immediately drenched in sweat. And that was just in his stall. All of that nervous energy was even more present when he was being worked. The only time he would stop grinding his teeth was when he was having a complete melt down.

So I fast forward to Just over two years later to February 2011. I thought I had MC going pretty well and I thought I was managing his anxiety well. Well, I was wrong. I entered us in a clinic with Greg Best and the rest is history. For those that don’t know who Greg Best is because you maybe on the young side; he won the silver medal in show jumping, he had a horse called Gem Twist (called the greatest show jumper of all time), and he is one of my idols.

blog 1 from Jennifer Osborne on Vimeo.

That is video of me and MC at the Greg Best clinic and a quick shot of MC’s first time going through water. At the end of the clip you can here Greg Best suggest maybe sedating the horse to get some kind of training on him. Best, who had seen and worked with 1000s of horses all over the world was shocked by how nervous MC acted. He said that he noticed there were times when the horse was “almost uncontrollable and unrideable”; and the funny thing was that he saw MC on three of his best days. He did not see him at his absolute worst melt down state.  Best mainly recommended that I find some way to desensitize the horse.

So at that point I was at a loss. How in the wide- wide world of sports would I even begin to desensitize a horse who one of the leading horseman called one of the craziest he has seen in his lifetime. I knew I couldn’t sell him (no one else wanted to even get on him) and I didn’t want to give up on him. I was in the position that most people are in when they have problems with their horses. WHAT NOW? But I shouldn’t be in this position. I had a Bachelor’s Degree in Equine Science, been riding for 30 years, and trained with some of the best people in show jumping on the East coast; surely I should be able to do something, right?

The problem was that I rode English all my life and in doing so I was never really taught how to start a horse from the ground up. Now, the next few statements are going to be sweeping generalizations. I am sure there are a million people out there who ride English who have had a different experience. With that said, there are people who ride English that are not taught any type of fundamental horsemanship. We as English riders, mostly just try to ride the problems out of the horse without a distinct program to follow for problem solving.

In Las Vegas we have a horse park that is shared by both English and Western disciplines and the difference in the horse behavior is startling. On the western side all the horses stand quietly tied to trailers all day and are respectful and obedient. On the English side, not so much… So why the disparity in training? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because most English trainers send their horses out to be started by western trainers and miss out on the crucial stages of instilling fundamental horsemanship.

blog2 from Jennifer Osborne on Vimeo.

That is video that I compiled of four very different horseman, but they are all saying the same things. I could have pulled endless clips of them saying exactly the same sentences but that would have just been boring. And also I want to save some stuff for the next post.

George Morris– A living legend who has been called the father of American show jumping and has been in the game for over 60 years

Buck Brannaman– The original horse whisperer

Denny Emmerson– A legend in the world of eventing and has also been training horses for 60 years

Clinton Anderson– Amazing horseman who won Rode to the Horse 3 times and gave the horse world a method to train horses

So I turned to all of theses masters and many more for the answer to my horse problem and I found out my horse problem was me. I had to change from the ground up how I was doing things. It was humbling and crushing at first because I had always considered my self pretty knowledgable about horses (bachelor degree and all…) But I had to learn how to start a horse in a disciplined and organized way.

In the first clip Buck talks about fear and what it would be like to not be afraid of any horse. Although I was never afraid of MC; I was definitely afraid for MC. If I failed him, if I failed to teach him, what would happen to him? If I failed MC, he would most definitely end up in a dire situation because most people and trainers would not want to take on a horse that was so reactive and nervous.

The next clip is George talking about the inherent risk of riding. In fact all four trainers talk about never riding with anger but riding with discipline. All of them make the claim that if you as the rider manage to bring horsemanship into riding in a real way; then you as a rider can make yourself safer and happier. And as Buck says next, the best way to do that is to increase knowledge about the horse and how they operate. George then echoes him by saying not to get down on yourself but to educate yourself to progress in horsemanship.

And lastly, they all talk about release of pressure as a reward for horses. They all talk about suppling and timing. And they all come to the same consensus; after hard work and experience comes the timing and pressure release that the horse needs. And that is what I needed to learn…

So I stole from all of the greats to get to the training program that I use now. And this is how I got here. Some where in this time period I went to one of Clinton Anderson’s arena shows. At first I was skeptical but when I saw how he was with his horse Mindy I was touched. He was honest about the time and effort he had to put in to get a horse to perform like that. I saw that through all of the gimmicky self promotion was a really good horseman and a really good program. So I integrated Downunder Horsemanship into my training practice. https://www.downunderhorsemanship.com

The first thing I did was go back to the ground. Even though, I had been riding MC I committed to completely restarting him. And that meant going back to the ground for as long as it took to be solid. Once again, that is a very humbling thing to admit as a horse trainer that a mistake; wait no, mistakes were made. So back to the round pen we went to train MC as if he had never been ridden before.

I began using the 4 Knot Horse Rope Halter – 5mm Stiff Polyester Black, Standard to gain better control while in the round pen. I also started following the training steps outlined in Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground, Series 1 2 3. Nearly 24 Hours of Video Training on 13 Dvds,  Horsemanship 101,  and in Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship: Establishing Respect and Control for English and Western Riders. All of which laid out a step by step process on how to start a horse. So I followed it and I focused on desensitizing since MC was overly sensitive.

blog3 from Jennifer Osborne on Vimeo.

The following is a list of the step by step process that I used on MC and continued to use on the horses that followed. I will go into greater depth of each step in subsequent posts.

STEP ONE: Gain control on the ground by free round penning him. I free round penned him with the emphasis on getting him to turn to the inside like in the video above. After that I worked on getting him to face me and come to me.  Then I would flex him on each side from the ground until he became more supple. And lastly, I would work on all of the desensitizing techniques laid out by Clinton Anderson. Although I summed up those few points quickly it is important to realize that those few things took what seemed like forever. The amount of repetition I did on just those few actions seemed infinite. I spent probably over two weeks just on the free round penning and each session usually lasted a little over and hour. And remember, I had already done another version of round penning, but I have to say the Clinton Anderson Method was more effective for my horse.

STEP TWO: Progress to single line lunging. So I invested in the Premium 1/2″ Samson EQ Braid Yacht Rope Horse Lead with Brass Trigger Bull Snap (Black, 14 ft.) and the Tough-1 Clinician Stick Training Whip Black. I later got the Clinton Anderson official stick and string but they all worked the same way. From there the single line lunging simply built on the same ideals from the free round penning. And as Buck said in the video, everything I was doing would eventually translate to saddle work. So I worked on getting MC to respect and listen to me on the single line. I worked endless hours at desensitizing him to the stick and string. I also worked on desensitizing him to being touched so he would stop overreacting to my leg and any movement in the saddle.  I did this by touching him all over and only releasing the pressure when he relaxed. I also worked to decrease his anxiety but sending him on the single line between me and scary objects. Because I was able to do this from the ground I was able to stay safe as he worked out his issues and as I worked out mine. I was also learning how to communicate better with him. And I was learning how to read his subtle cues. And again, as Buck said, this would translate to riding as well. This stage lasted for about another two weeks. In that time I started to see a change in MC and it was directly proportional to how much better my timing was getting. It should also be said that the timing did not get better over night; we had a lot of misreads and mess ups. I tried not to get discouraged and MC hung in there with me. We learned together and both of us healed.

STEP THREE: Reintroduce double line lunging and side reins (Performers 1st Choice Leather with Elastic End Side Reins). This step meant I had to go back to using the saddle and bridle. Because at this point I had already worked with him for about a month, he accepted the tack willingly.  One of the first things Greg Best told me was to decrease the severity of the bit that I was using on MC. He said that a horse as sensitive as MC needed the softest bit in existence based on the sensitivity of MC. MC was in a Mikmar bit which is not a harsh bit but MC needed something lighter. I do love the Mikmar for horses who have raced a lot because it does a great job of teaching them not lean on the bit. But Greg explained that hotter horses need a lighter touch for more control. It was the first time I had heard that logic and I listened and complied. I moved MC into the Myler 36 English Dee with Hooks (5-Inch) and again had success in reducing his stress. The horse that used to grind his teeth from the start of the work session to the end, completely stopped grinding. With the double line lunging I was able to steer MC as if I was riding him but I could do it safely from the ground. I also used the side reins to help him gently supple while moving.

While I will cover the riding exercises in more detail in later posts; I can’t emphasize enough that the ground work was probably the most influential part of this transformation.  And I mean the transformation effected both of us. We were both different. MC was calmer and I was more patient . I felt like I was more able to give him the things he needed because every time I had a question I had a place to turn for answers. Whether the answer came from Clinton, Buck, George, or other clinicians that I sought out I always tried to filter all of their words together and come out on the other side with a plan.  In the end, I felt like all of the great ones are essentially saying the same things. No matter what the discipline, they all sing the same song. And it sounds sweet when you know the words. I tell myself that I was putting work into MC but I was really putting work into my horsemanship and both of us benefitted. Eight months after I saw Greg Best the first time I had the opportunity to ride with him again. I have to say the first time that I saw my childhood idol he was less than impressed. But the second time…

blog4 from Jennifer Osborne on Vimeo.

It meant a lot to me that I received a rare compliment from Greg Best. But it meant way more to me that I now had a horse that was my friend and partner. As Greg said in the video, I would no longer have to be afraid to jump anything. Our journey was just beginning and we would take every step together. And as Buck said, I had slayed the fear animal. Now all I had to do was ride…

http://www.fireandicehorses.org