Triple Whorls

By Neversummer January 29, 2024 Horse Whorls, Uncategorized No Comments
This post on triple whorls is brought to you by very talented guest rider, Jillian McGinnis. You can find her on facebook at Y Knot Performance Horses.
Hello to all! I’m here to give a little post on my experience with the triple swirl(whorl) horses!
I have had several of these horses and truly enjoy them! They tend to be friendly, but independent. They are big time thinkers, and almost human in how they process. I have found them to be very gentle, but also sensitive and potentially reactive if they’re handled a certain way.
The ones I have had have been sort of “born broke” and took immediately to riding and loved to have a purpose. I would say that they are not for beginning or tentative riders, or even for the riders who are experienced but maybe expect a horse to do only as they’re told.
The triple whorl horses are independent thinkers and work best if they are gently guided but also patiently allowed to work and process at their pace. Which is generally a faster pace than most if handled well. I am a fan of multiple whorl horses, they suit me very well as they are usually higher spirited and more driven.

Walking

By Neversummer January 11, 2024 Sunshine No Comments
We had a beautiful last couple of days. Nothing like the eastern part of the state that has been buried in snow. I got outside as much as I could. Starting today the weather is going to be miserable for the next week or two.
Sunshine and I did a little actual work. The main part of our session was a nice long walk around the yard.
We need to get out more. He is a high strung little guy and gets worked up in new places. He wants desperately to please, just can’t quite control all those emotions yet.
The walk gave him a chance to get used to new places and things. He started out bouncing around quite a bit. After plenty of rewards each time he checked himself in a spook or came back to check in with me when he got worried, he was starting to calm down.
He reached a point where the leadrope was staying loose most of the time. Until we headed towards home. He did some trotting. We both did some circling. He got rewarded for staying at my shoulder. We ended the walk at a nice walk, with the lead loose again. And finished up with some tricks done in our very scary yard.
Just going for a walk may not seem like an in depth lesson but it is exactly what he is needing right now. Once we start getting highs above zero again we will take many more walks together.

Cheek Whorls

By Neversummer January 11, 2024 Horse Whorls No Comments
Whorls on a horse’s cheeks are said to be a sign of debt and ruin.
Superstitions are fascinating to me. Some of them are so out of the blue it’s hard to figure out where they could have come from.
Others are so painfully easy to see, looking back with a modern knowledge of dentistry and veterinary practices.
With whorls on a horse’s cheek we have the perfect storm. The whorls are placed directly over nerves connected to the TMJ (temporomandibular joint). This is the joint where the jaw bone connects to the skull. It is an extraordinarily important spot in the horse. Issues here affect everything from chewing to soundness throughout the entire body. Especially if there is only a whorl on one side. This exacerbates everything through unevenness.
The whorl over these nerves seems to cause tightness and tension on the TMJ. This in turn can cause tightness and tension through the entire body. Try to relax while clinching your jaw if you are curious as to how this works. Then open your mouth and move your jaw around to see how much more relaxed that makes you feel.
We can help our horses relax in the same manner with some simple body work. A very useful practice if they have a cheek whorl. You can find all sorts of examples and techniques online.
This same tension can also lead to irregular chewing. In some, fortunately rare, cases there will even be teeth missing or malformed in the location under the whorls. Either of which cause the teeth to wear unevenly. Which causes pain and pain related ‘bad’ behavior if the teeth aren’t checked and problems resolved.
Now think about unrecognized pain behavior in horses before good, regular dental care came about. You have horses who act in a dangerous and unpredictable manner, seemingly without cause.
If you depend on your horse to make a living and they have a tendency to suddenly explode out of the blue, or are unable to hold condition because they aren’t able to eat properly, your living will be strongly affected. You wont be able to work. You will lose money. All leading to debt and ruin. This superstition is so fascinating to me. We can see the cause clear as day. If only they were all so easy to see, and fix.

We are still here!

By Neversummer January 8, 2024 Sunshine No Comments
Sometime I wonder about that myself. With the kids home over Christmas break it’s been hard to work horses and impossible to get any video ready to share.
Sunshine has been doing great. I sneak out and get a couple of minutes with him once in awhile. In those quick little sessions we’ve been working on Spanish walk.
He’s a natural with those high stepping Morgan legs.
Trying to encourage him to keep the hind legs up underneath himself. And to walk next to me instead of behind me. That’s the hard, and rather dangerous part.
We’ve also been doing a bit of beginning cutting lessons, in the very beginning of the video. Getting him focused on and following me, while also setting back and turning on those hind quarters. Not something we achieved here. 😆

By Neversummer January 2, 2024 Rusty No Comments
I was walking home after feeding the other day when I looked across the pen and saw Rusty hanging out with a flock of birds.
Can you see them? I had to zoom in quite a bit to get him clear across the corral.
Then I didn’t think any more about it.
Until I brought him in to work with him. He was COVERED! The huge flocks of birds look pretty swooping and diving, but do they really HAVE to spend so much time hanging out with my horse? 🤣

Oops

By Neversummer November 29, 2023 Sunshine No Comments

I had THE best session with Sunshine today.

I threw a blanket over his back, at liberty, and he was fine with it. We worked on that for 3 lessons? way back in August. He’s so brave.

We got a few steps of Spanish walk. In a row. Not with him aiming for the bridge with those big stepping feet. He even added a few forward steps to it!

He stayed very nicely on the bridge. Long enough for me to walk all the way around him even, without trying to follow.

Such a good smart boy.

Then I went to shut off the camera. Only to find I hadn’t turned it back on after he started out the session by trying to eat it. Then, while I cleaned snow off the GoPro, trying to stand on the flimsy plastic tub I was using to set the it on.

Somehow after all of that I forgot to turn it back on.   🤦🏼‍♀️😭😭😭

 

Blanket And Rope And Bit!

By Neversummer August 16, 2023 Sunshine No Comments
Sunshine has been worked three days in a row! That’s a first for him 😆
We’ve been getting used to the rope, then the blanket. Today both were combined. Next time I’ll put a saddle on him!
Well. A bareback pad. Not going to risk my saddle just yet. Not even as good as he’s being. Small steps.
Today he also took a bit for the first time!
Yesterday we targeted it and made sure he was comfortable with the headstall over his ears. Today I slipped it in while he was chewing.
He was so busy getting used to the feel of the bit he could hardly concentrate on anything else for the rest of the session. Maybe that’s why the blanket was such a complete non concern.
The bit wont be touched for a long time. He will get plenty of time to get used to it and comfortable before it ever gets touched.
If he doesn’t like the bit, well go bitless. It’s up to him. I would like a horse that can go in the beautiful bit I found in one of our barns, so it would be nice if he could be my eventual bridle horse.