Introduction Part 6 (Heartland Part 5)

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One of the experiences at Heartland that sticks out in my mind was the opportunity to work with and help rehab rescue horses.  When I was there, in the middle of winter, Heartland accepted about fifteen rescued Spanish Arabs.  The story goes that there were about thirty horses in a five-acre lot, eight dead horses in the lot with the live ones, and all the horses, stallions, mares, babies, were all together.  

For the first week, our main concern were two mares and their barely few weeks old-babies.  They were kept inside where it was heated because with how skinny they were, we weren't sure if the foals would survive the cold.  It was a different experience, and I wish I had taken more pictures.  

These two pics were of the the mothers.  The clips below shows both them and their babies, and how skinny they were.  

                                   

Most people don't realize what a responsibility it is to take care of horses that are that sick, and have never been around them.  When horses are that sick, they smell.  And not in the good, horsey smell that we all love-they smell like death.  Like something rotting.  

It's horrible-it's something that most people would and do push to the corners of their minds, but there are horses out there that are this skinny-far too many in this economy-and people out there who do starve their horses and deny them basic care thinking it's perfectly okay.  The horses that were brought in to Heartland Ventures were for the most part unhandled.  They pushed, they shoved, they were scared out of their minds and untrusting of people.  

I thanked my lucky stars that my own horse had been well fed and well cared for his entire life every time I looked at those horses.  He had never, and will never, have to go through the hell that those horses went through.  Please, to those of you reading this, if you consider sending your horses to auction or to some strange buyer, be aware that they could end up like this if you are not careful.  These horses were lucky and had a happy ending-they were all fed until they gained weight, and then resold to working homes and breeding farms.  

Honestly, I'd rather just put mine to sleep than risk it if it came to that.

Introduction Part 5 (Heartland Part Four)

The other person who was one of my main influences at Heartland was Erin McCord.  I'd always joke about how I wanted to grow up to be a mixture of Farrah and Erin.  Erin had spent over a decade at the racetrack, and she was a 'been there, done that' kind of person.  She definitely kicked my butt when I needed it.  She taught me what the words 'hard work' and 'responsibility' really meant.  I thought I already knew, but as it turns out, I didn't know what I didn't know.

One of the little things that this incredible woman taught me that had more to do with the lesson behind it, rather than the action itself was putting polo wraps on a horse.  Coming from the racing industry, she had a lot of experience putting polo wraps on horses, and she would sit there and be firmly particular about how I put on polo wraps on any of the horses I worked with.  At first it drove me up the wall, because I didn't see the point, but I now know that spending hours and hours getting the polo wraps on 'just right' taught me patience and how important it was to pay attention to detail, as well as exercise my non-existent emotional fitness at that point.

Erin was also one of my long time inspirations as a horsewoman.  As a rider, she was infallible.  She rode horses in a way that made it look like she was just gliding along-I was incredibly envious and I hope to one day hold a candle to her riding abilities.  

She was dedicated to all things horse, and helped open up my perspective irrevocably.  Horses weren't just about horsemanship and being an owner-it also entailed learning about their feet, the way their body worked,   head to to and tail, and everything in between.  Being an experienced horse person and having been in the racing industry for so many years, she had enough knowledge on horse physiology to choke a vet.  Being near someone like this, I was able to soak up some of the information she had to share, and realize just how much I had yet to learn.

  

Introduction Part 4 (Heartland Part Three)

Chase slowly turned from being the center of my frustration to being my best friend, soul mate, partner, whatever you want to call it.  He was my comfort from home away from home when I was home-sick, my playmate when I was bored, and an endless source of learning opportunity.  We were only level 2 students, but something had happened, something had changed between us.  And the strength of our bond was beginning to show. 

In November, Farrah had us film our level 2 online.  It was a big step-Chase and I hadn't ever filmed anything satisfactory to send in, and I was proud of our progress.  You can watch the video we sent in (a year later, oops) here-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wocvZlOozVs
We passed with a level 2+.  Farrah also had me film my level 2 freestyle, on an arabian I had been playing with named Silver Chief.  You can watch that video here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-BXoFMPRaA.  I passed my freestyle audition with a level 2++.

Chase was a big key in my horsemanship progress because he is my polar opposite.  I had to begin to learn to think in ways I hadn't even tried before.  I had to learn to slow down, and listen.  I had to learn to still be provacative mentally.  I had to learn to be creative in my horsemanship-up until then, all I had been doing was running him around in circles, which is one of the reasons our partnership didn't work well.  I owe that horse a lot of credit.  If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be nearly as skilled as I am today. 

About halfway through our internship, Farrah came to me and said that we should try backing him for the first time.  Now, before all you horse people go nuts on me on that one (rightfully so), take note that we weren't starting him under saddle.  The goal was to get me up on his back for about ten minutes at a time, two or three days at a time, and he would either be at a walk or eating grain or hay during.  We trotted a little, but it was extremely limited.  Rinse and repeat once every few months so that when he was mature enough to actually start under saddle and ride regularly, having a rider wouldn't be anything new or scary for him.  I would be on my own when we actually started learning how to work together as rider and mount, so this was one of the keys that kept us both safe.  

Needless to say, I was extremely nervous.  I had never been on a youngster's back before, and the one image that came to mind was him exploding and bucking me off, causing possible serious injuries.  But Farrah was patient and confident, and Chase and I had built the trust in each other we needed for this exact moment.  There was no bucking or bolting, and Farrah knew and taught me to look for the signs of when to back off and when to progress.  It was a quiet procedure including treats and me being draped over his back by my stomach, learning to keep my legs together for safety (and learning the necessity of ab muscles for colt starting), and Farrah leading us every step of the way.   

 

Introduction Part Three (Heartland Part 2)

Farrah, as I grew to know her better, became my role model.  I wanted to be just like her-she was kind to everyone she met, seemed to know exactly what to say at exactly the right time, and when she played with her horses, I could sit and watch her for hours on end.  She was like magic.

Being directly under Farrah's charge, I was able to travel and attend clinics with her.  We usually brought Chase, and sometimes she brought another horse for me to ride if there was a riding part to the clinic.  In return, I mixed her horses' grain and hay cubes for her, cleaned out her trailer, brought water to her horses, and helped clean up after each clinic day. 

It truly was amazing, getting to know her and learn from her.  If you ever get a chance to take a clinic with Farrah, do it.  She is absolutely one of the best teachers and friend that I have come across.  I still want to be like her when I 'grow up'. 

Being able to watch and learn from Farrah changed me in a very intimate level.  I began to learn what true leadership meant-and the areas that I needed to improve in, first and foremost, it seemed, was patience, and being able to passively keep persisting.  I remember during a clinic, I was getting silently frustrated because the horse that had been brought for me to ride wasn't allowing me to mount easily.  I was trying to hide my frustration as everyone else was already on their horses and getting on with the lesson, but of course Farrah saw right through me.  She came up to me and said "You shouldn't ride a horse if you're not willing to teach it."
Boy was I humbled.  Just like that-BAM.  My pattern was interrupted, and frankly I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.  But of course I didn't-it was three fourths into the freestyle lesson before I was able to mount up and ride, and if I knew then what I knew now, I wouldn't have been so direct lined about it.  But honestly, what I learned during that forty-five minutes of trying to get the 'stupid' horse to stand still and allow me to mount was exactly the lesson I needed to learn at that time. 

I began to undergo a learning pattern as time stretched on.  Basically, when I got too cocky I was firmly knocked down one way or another, and then when I had lost faith in myself-as was often the case after getting knocked down from my pedestal, Farrah always found some way to raise my confidence up again.  Funnily enough, she compared me to one of my close friends whom she also knew, which makes me wonder if that friend had also begun her learning progress in the same way.  It was mentally exhausting, but the results began to show.  I began to change.  How my horse looked at me began to change.

Intoduction Part 2 (Heartland Part 1)

So it was in August 2010, we set off to Heartland Ventures in Baltic South Dakota, with Fran Latane driving the truck and trailer, and my parents following. 

I had no idea what to expect-I was excited, but nervous at the same time.  I was also hopeful.  The youngster I had no business owning was in the trailer behind us, and I was ready to throw everything I had into giving it another shot-literally. 

This was my first glimpse of part of the outdoor play area at Heartland.  We arrived at a time where there were a number of people playing outside with their horses.  I hadn't seen that many orange carrot sticks in use at once very many times at all, so it was a bit like stepping into another world.  The place was extravagent-the largest horse facility I'd ever been at, with several twenty-forty acre pastures, an outdoor play area with two round pens, an outdoor arena, a barn with an indoor and over thirty stalls that also had an upstairs viewing area with a lounge, an office, a dorm room, bathroom, and even a kitchen.  To be honest, I never wanted to leave. 
I was there with two other interns at the time, and settled into a schedule quickly.  Five days a week we'd work and take lessons until about 5, and then we'd usually have free time.  The first month I crammed, knowing I'd have time to soak once I got home, not knowing my stay would end up being much longer than expected.  But this trip was exactly what I needed, and not only in horsemanship terms.

 

The people I met are absolutely unforgettable.  I learned so much about interacting with others, and started to learn about the different perspectives people can and do have-at a deeper level than I ever had before. 

 

At the end of the first month, Farrah Green (three star instructor) came up to the dorms and asked me if I wanted to stay longer-for an undefined amount of time.  The answer was of course-yes.  I went back home briefly to say hello to my family and quit my job.  It was a risky move financially, as I wasn't going to be a paid employee, but I had and do have a firm belief that you can't half-ass going after your dreams if you want to achieve them.  Chase would be moved into the same forty acre pasture as Farrah's horses, and I would be Farrah's charge from here on out.

 

 

Introduction-Part One

Sunchaser-or Chase, aptly named, is the first horse I've been blessed to call my own, is my polar opposite in personality, aka horsenality, and my forever partner and friend.  He is a soon to be (as in a couple of weeks) four year old, left brained introvert. 
I bought Chase as a weanling from an experienced breeder named Sharon Prestegard who had been in the halter show world for quite a few years.  I got a deal on him, as he was only just halter broke, and in two weeks she had been planning to take him to auction. 

I met him for the first time the day after he been weaned for the first time.  I had been looking at a couple other horses at the time, but the breeder who had the palomino I had been looking at back then insisted that I take a look at this one before I made my decision. 
He was first off-the brightest, shiniest red I had ever seen on a horse.  AND he had a blaze and four strikingly white stockings.  Every girl's dream-or at least mine.  He was extremely shy of people at the time-when I entered the stall that he was in to meet him, he stayed in the corner farthest from me, too timid to look most of the time, but once he came over and sniffed my hand before darting back into that corner.  He was a lot younger than I had been looking for, and I went back and forth a few times before deciding-one of the pushing factors was that my family was tired of looking and were ready to retract the permission they had given me to buy a horse. 

So it was two weeks later, the private facility owner I had signed a boarding agreement with brought her trailer, and I stood by as his breeder and my new boarding manager loaded my very young, long legged red colt up into the trailer-more along the lines of almost picking him up and putting him in. 
Driving back with 'Manny' in the trailer, I didn't feel as I was expecting to feel.  I'd imagined getting my first horse would be full of happy tears, the like, ect.  It felt like we were driving someone else's horse to the boarding facility instead.  'Manny' and I were still strangers.

Over the next few months, the newly named Chase and I began to bond.  I was afraid of him at first-when he got comfortable around me he started really playing around me, and it was intimidating.  There was this one particular move that he'd do when we played-he'd run up to me like he was going to plow right into me, and then veer off at the last minute kicking and bucking and tossing his head like any other colt.  It was pretty awkward learning how to teach a young horse to be genuinely handled at first-there were a lot of moments where I really didn't know what I was doing, ect.  The first year, we developed a relationship, but not necessarily a positive, each respecting the other one kind of relationship.  I grew to love him, of course, and he'd nicker and meet me at the gate, but when I tried to play with him, I didn't have nearly the leadership he needed.  There were times when I really wanted to give up-he got especially good at yanking the rope out of my hands when he got bored, sometimes to the point of dragging me along the ground when I tried to hang on.  Looking back, I really, really did not know what I was doing at that point.

We kept hitting a dead end-I had no idea how to get him to listen to me long enough for me to try to make things interesting.  I bought the Liberty and Horse Behavior set, ect, and studied for hours, but didn't really 'get' it. 
When I felt like I had gone far over the end of my rope, so to speak, my friend Fran told me about a breeding facility in South Dakota that happened to be taking in interns.  And it just so happened, a three star parelli professional was living there at the time.  Pretty convenient, huh?
More in Part Two, which will be posted tomorrow.