Rescuing Rusty

I have been greatly enjoying Alexandra Kurlands articles, or blog or book in monthly chapters? whatever you want to call it, on clicker training.  I started at the beginning and am working my way through, I’ve made it to September second. New ones keep showing up in my news feed but I’m holding steady in my course, I will not read the new ones until I get to them proper like. I’ve heard her writing described as overly wordy, but I like reading and enjoy her style. It was her book, Clicker Training for your Horse, that got me started three or four years ago.

Some, ok all, but some for me more than others, of her stuff enthralls me. The chapter about priming the pump to get a horse softer in responding to cues was fascinating and I couldn’t wait until we were healthy and warm enough to get out and try. Today we got to.

Rusty was not in the mood today. I don’t know what was up but he did not want to  walk, he did not want to fetch I asked if we could try the backing in a square thing. He said no. I convinced him to fetch his chicken a couple of times. Over Thanksgiving we are going to be seeing the uncle who gifted it to our dog, Daisy, and wanted some video to show him what we are doing with his gift. He doesn’t have a computer, or even a cell phone. Gasp! So I have to have the video on my phone to show him, we’ll see how that works.

He did give me a few really good bows and definitely felt like painting. We did lots of that. Thinking about it, I should probably be encouraging more brushing? Instead of working on getting him to put the brush back in the bucket? Kind of going blind here. I might be able to google it, should probably the are usually directions for almost anything if you just ask google the right questions.

Even though I am not even making an attempt to ride right now I had to answer one question she posed. Could I stand my horse on a mat, get on the mounting block and call him to me? Yes I could. I climbed on and slid right off the other side. He hadn’t felt like doing anything else, I wasn’t going to push it with a ride. Did he come at a canter? No, he didn’t. He doesn’t do anything at a canter. Yet.

It’s cold out, snowed a little a couple of days ago. A bit of a shock after being in the seventies. 8 and I are sick, I’m sure the others will be sharing it with us soon enough. All of which leads to not playing with Rusty anytime too soon. So…

My husband has no interest in horses. I like that in a marriage. When most men think they know something they feel the need to impose their knowledge on everyone, wives especially. I always scoff when I see a girl looking for a boyfriend who rides.

I think we have a deeper understanding of each others hobbies without necessarily sharing them. Well I think I do at least, he never really does more than nod, and look confused when I point out the similarities.

He is a computer guy, a brilliant one in my opinion. We have all sorts of unusual technology around our house making life more fun.

He will not be  bound by the constant constraints of Windows. It is common place, beset by viruses, stifling to someone who wants to get the most, the best, out of a computer. I compare it to the old fashion bucking out, rein yanking type of riding. The people who grew up watching John Wayne and think the neck reining involves the horses nose stuck in the air and turned away from the direction they are going, stopping with a jerk of the reins, mouth open, eventually drug to a halt. Never heard of leg cues, and wouldn’t use something so silly if they had.

I was going to say grew up with but that’s not true, I didn’t grow up with any type of computer, so I come from a Mac family and it’s what I use. They are a far better riding type of computer. Smooth, run pretty good. A horse that listens well, moves off your legs, can turn on its quarters and stops pretty good to seat and leg. And that’s how I’ve ridden most of my life. I thought I could make a pretty good horse.

But then I met my husband, he’s a Linux guy. He can make a computer do just about anything. He never keeps things factory, not computers, not phones or anything else that can be tinkered with. He collects Raspberry Pi’s like some people collect, well, horses. He uses them throughout the house for fascinating little projects, music in the kids rooms, our TV, you name it and he can think of a way to make it cooler.

And that brings us to clicker training. Our horses go from a pretty good ride, they listen to us and don’t run away when we go out to catch them, to infinitely programmable. Instead of being stuck with the operating system they come with we can personalize them down to the finest detail.

I’ve taught my horses to paw on command ever since Coyote taught me how and we put it on a cue some fifteen or so years ago. But that is not a Spanish walk. With my clicker and a cookie I can ask him to raise his foot to an exact height at a tiny cue. Theoretically of course, we are close but not there yet. Before I could ask them to move off of pressure by removing the pressure. Now, I still remove the light pressure and offer a click so he knows exactly what he is being rewarded for. Progress is faster and he runs to the gate and begs to come play when he sees me outside.

As with Linux some knowledge of programming is required. Steps need to be broken down into their tiniest parts, we see clearly every line of the programming instead of the user interface. That is in no way a bad thing. Shouldn’t we know how our horses operate instead of getting on, yanking and pushing and expecting them to work?

Funny, if I remember right this is where we started out. Long walks down the driveway trying to keep him out of my space. Yanking and pulling trying to hold onto him without being run over. Things have changed a bit.

He still wants to be in my space, he has never lost that. Now he is haltered, my reins lay around his neck, just in case. In case of what I’m not sure, mostly they get used to say that yes, he does have to go back to his pen when we are done. I do very seldom pick them up to use as a lead. The halter is mostly to say that we are working now.

As we work on more intricate and interesting things I am sometimes, often ;), reminded of basics that got skipped, forgotten about. I don’t mind or care too much when he makes laps around me while we walk but thinking about the things that can be taught with a clicker, leading was high on that list. It is very bad manners to let him walk in front of me. Mostly it is when he is going back to their pen, he says “Lets not, shall we? How about we stay out and eat more? More fun games?” it is still rude though. So I decided to work on it.

So on a warm but windy day we went out for a walk, a lap around the yard.When he walked with his head at my shoulder he got a click and a treat. We stopped and stood, we walked past scary cars and buildings. He would pass me. I would stop and bring him back to position. We are working on targeting my hand, when held out to my side it puts him right where he should be. Just a nose bump I tell him, biting now would be terribly rude.

We walked past the in laws house to that spot that terrifies all horses. Where the yard opens up into fields with trees on both sides. The father in law knocked down a dead tree with his payloader, now there is a stump with a metal sign propped against it. That was more than Rusty could handle. He shot past me, past the stump and down the driveway. There is and electric fence up both sides of the driveway where cattle, now home for the winter, are turned out in the empty fields. We used to walk out in that corner and I’m afraid he wont realize the fence is there now. He runs along it, arched away from the terrifying trees. Slamming on the breaks he spins and comes back towards me. I call him and he passes me into the yard then stops and comes to touch my hand.

Instead of a mistake, or any type of misbehavior I think we have won a major battle. He dealt with his fear and returned to me despite the way home being clear and open. We turned back, away from the scary stuff and circled around the other way. We entered the tree row from the middle, walked down the narrow lane and out past the scary stump going towards home. He was hyped. The trees were blowing in the wind, weeds were swirling around our feet, the noise of the wind out beyond the shelter of the trees was impressively noisy.

Rusty stayed at my side. Not always in perfect position, we really worked hard at targeting my hand to bring him up to, or back to, where he should be. I was so impressed with him that we went back to the house and worked on fun easy things so he could have a break after all that stress.

It seems lately like the things that are hardest for us, that take the most work and concentration are the things that look easy. Going for a walk, moving his legs how and when I cue. I am learning all of this along with him and the learning curve for me is steep. Thankfully he is being patient with me and is very forgiving.

Today it is cold out. The storm all that wind was blowing in is coming closer and I want to stay in where it’s warm as much as I want to go play with him. I’m afraid that warm and playing on the computer are winning out so he is getting a day off. Weather he wants it or not.

Where we went on our walk. I’m sure there’s a more elegant way to do this and my tech savy husband will mock me. But, whatever.

I did not work Rusty today.

We have developed a pretty good routine, one that works very well for me. I step out the door and call him, he pulls his head out of the hay bale and looks at me, ears perked. Sometimes he whinnies, sometimes he just starts walking. He is not one to run to me, or after his ball. I go back in and gather our “stuff” and set it out on the pickup, ready to play with. By the time I’m done he’s at the gate waiting, usually calling to make sure I haven’t forgotten him.

The only problem with this is that the other horses want to come out too. I feel bad about them not getting to, they stand at the gate and look pitiful. Coyote bangs on the gate with his hoof. I give them cookies to ease my guilt.

Today I grabbed a couple of things and stepped out the door. I saw horse butts at the hay bale and called. I called again and Rusty finally turned to look. He didn’t move though. Coyote thundered up to the gate, he had been getting a drink and was much closer. As he ate his cookie Rusty and Onna left the bale and ran to stand in a corner, facing us but with no way through. They were stuck. In the pen they spend most of their time in, that they navigate regularly to reach water, the gate, they were lost.

I was slightly grouchy about their silliness (stupidity), short of time and not in the mood to walk out and show them the way. So we did nothing. This afternoon maybe things will be different for now Coyote enjoyed his cookies.

How I am usually greeted

Suddenly our little accomplishments are not quite so impressive.

Tanna came over to play! I was going to say that we seldom get to see her but she’s been here helping move cattle. Maybe it’s that she’s not here just to play very often. School and a fun busy life get in the way, sad for me happy for her.

She came to help move cattle this time too, a tiny little bunch of cattle a very little ways across the yard, with a fence made of a small portion of the father-in-laws semi and vehicle collection to run them between. Not much of a move really and very farmer style, of course it went smoothly, there was nowhere for them to go. As the men undertook the task of putting all those vehicles away we went off to play with the horses.

She brought her new saddle to try out on Onna, it has stirrups long enough for her to reach! and I hopped on Coyote without a saddle and we went for a nice little ride. Then she wanted to see Rusty bow and do his Spanish walk.

We brought him in and he was a little worked up still from being left alone. He didn’t run for his mat like usual, but did go stand on it once we all got there. We brushed some of the dried caked sweat off of his sides, being left alone is traumatizing. He was grabbing frantically at anything he could reach in the back of the pickup but was not interested in fetching his chicken. My daughter was helping too. She stood in the back of the pickup offering his target. He was watching it wave about occasionally touching it sometimes even getting the required reward. It was going to be a difficult day.

Not to mention that my great accomplishments of the week paled at the prospect of an audience. Overcoming hurtles in the privacy of our driveway all by ourselves suddenly seems like a baby step when people are watching. He waved each foot when asked while trying to run over me. Our audience was not impressed, I don’t think they knew we had done anything. He bowed nicely on each side. My daughter was disappointed that he didn’t put his legs behind him like she does with her hands.

We moved on to painting.

He was a painting fool. Splashing water all over the playhouse. I asked him to come do something different, he said no thank you he wanted to paint. So we decided to try it with…. paint!

It met with mixed success. We all got covered in paint, the playhouse even got a little. The paint was a big change and threw him a little. Back to the basics, again. Soon he was back to it and we all had a blast. As usual it was a family thing, at least today there was no child strapped to my back, made it a little easier. We had fun and maybe next time there will be some painting involved.

It’s those little things. And the little things come together and build the big things, but the little things are sometimes the big things.

I had been having a mental block. Spanish Walk was beyond me. Still is maybe, but I feel like we’ve made a big step in that direction. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how to get him to move his feet. I can get on and we can go, I can walk beside him and he follows. But moving in the careful, controlled, one leg at a time sort of way that the Spanish walk requires was beyond me.

Then I realized, all I had to do was ask him to move his feet. Sounds stupid doesn’t it. It’s not all that easy though. It isn’t the hardest thing we’ve done, bowing is physically more difficult. Mentally, for me, this is harder.

He’s been doing a simple bow forever, I stand beside him and put one leg forward. He puts the leg forward on the side I’m standing on. So we started with that but I wanted him to put the same leg forward as the one that I extend, both our right legs or both left. Not just the side I’m standing on, and I need to differentiate the cue.

First I made sure that, standing on his left side, I used my left lag to cue his simple bow. And Instead of placing it on the ground I stood balanced on my right leg with the left stuck out in front of me. Equine assisted yoga, I think is what we’re doing instead of training, that’s not easy.

After he spent some time putting his left leg forward with my left leg cue I stuck my right leg out. He put his left leg forward. It was what he has been trained to do, I wanted to untrain him. It baffled him not to get a click and a cookie for it. I reached across and tapped his right leg until he lifted it.  Then big reward. We spent a long time standing with my right leg stuck out. He started out barely moving that right leg, then started getting the idea. By the end of one session he was pawing enthusiastically right leg and left accordingly.

I’m so proud of him, changing the way he thought and picking up new things. And maybe, just maybe I’m proud of me for figuring out something so amazingly simple. It’s the little things in life.

And so it’s not all text, here’s some pictures of him painting.

I put 8 in his backpack, on my back of course, because he would not be put down and decided that since my hands were free I might as well work Rusty. We had just finished a nice little ride on good old Coyote and were generally enjoying a beautiful fall day. Coyote was grazing the drive around us when we brought Rusty in. He occasionally went to join Coyote but came back when called.

He has been offering a simple bow, begging for a treat. It’s better than pawing and maybe I can keep working on it and get him to offer each leg according to which leg I put forward. I can’t quite wrap my mind around the required steps for a Spanish walk. It is not as complicated as I make it in my head I’m sure and hopefully someday it will just click but for now it’s more than I can figure out. So we will work on easier things like learning to paint.

Of course when I’m not trying to film it goes smoother, and we will continue to work on perfecting his technique. He was picking the brush up and dropping it so I with held the click and after a few attempts he sat and thought about it. Then he picked up the brush and rubbed it all over the board. All by himself! He’s getting the hang of it fast. Smart little horse. Soon we will add paper and probably even paint but small steps.

We also have plenty of tries that look more like this:

Coyote and Rusty don’t get to graze the yard anymore. The cattle are coming home for winter and feed is being gathered. There are piles of ground hay and piles of DDG (dried distillers grain) that spilled when it was being augered into the grain bin. All kinds of things they shouldn’t get into. And Coyote found the open gate into the alfalfa field, he never forgets things like that. I tried turning him out by himself, hoping he would want to stay by the others. He immediately took off for the gate. I took off for a four wheeler and brought him back.

Rusty is a different story. I let him graze in our backyard when he is in to work and he gets a little more as a reward after and he’s not quite as smart as Coyote. It may be his youth, Coyote has had many years to perfect his rottenness. Instead of running for the gate Rusty meandered towards the other horses and hung out, very well behaved, until it was time to put him away.

I was getting out of the car with my lead rope handy as he came over to greet me when it occurred to me that the rope was probably superfluous. I sat back down and shut the door. He stuck his head in the window.

I was sick of being a responsible adult. I was tired of scraping and painting windows, sick of doing laundry and washing dishes and a little sick of a certain small child who has given up sleeping lately thus leaving me too tired to work with Rusty even when I had time. I ran away from it all and went to play with Rusty. He came running when I called him and he got a good thorough brushing. We hadn’t had a real work out in weeks.

As I got situated he grabbed his rubber chicken out of the back of the pickup and asked to play. Who can turn down someone that cute?

I hadn’t even noticed that Daisy was there. Poor girl, I should have given her a cookie.

After his warm up we got to work on other stuff. Even without doing much of anything for so long he hadn’t forgotten. We’ve been doing quick short sessions. I bring him in for a couple of minutes and we do a few bows. I decided we shouldn’t spend all of our time bowing so I added another trick. Because I had so much time to play with him why not add more?

Trying to avoid his feet the new trick involves his mouth. If we get better I will get some video, until then I guess it’s a secrete 😉

He is getting so good at bowing! On his right side especially. He was so fun to play with and doing everything I asked, I couldn’t think of anything else to do. So I got on.

I’m supposed to wear my helmet and check in before and after when I’m going to get on him. They are very reasonable and necessary precautions. I didn’t do either. I only wanted to get on for a minute, they would take longer than my ride. It’s no excuse, I have small children depending on me. But we survived. Rusty was excellent, stopping on an exhale and turning off my legs both ways. Then I slid off and we were done.

It felt good to be back.

Not with Rusty, I haven’t hardly had a chance to touch him for a couple of weeks now. I’ve been pushing hard to get some much needed work done to the house, between that and the children I haven’t had time for fun horse stuff.

Tanna came over and we got to move cattle on the other two horses though. It’s getting to be time to bring them all home from summer pasture. This bunch were a few miles away, across the highway. The guys rode fourwheelers over and we rode to meet them. They went on the north road, gathered the pasture and headed them back towards home on the south road. We road out the south road and met them to help get  the cattle across the highway, past the neighbors yard that they always like to play in.

Apparently today was opening day of pheasant season. Shot guns were a constant background noise as we rode. I wished I had left Daisy at home she is terrified of guns, even Coyote and Onna were flinching from the blasts. I worried about the ride over taxing my poor old Coyote, he’s nearly twenty and out of shape. They mostly plodded. All the way. Slowly. I was afraid we would be late to the highway.

We weren’t. We passed the highway and kept going down the dirt road. Still no cows. We were nearly to the pasture when we started to hear them. They finally topped the hill, the leaders at a run, the tail dragging and a line of hunters following behind.

As soon as we turned the horses they went insane. Especially Onna. She spun circles and scattered herself sideways. Tanna sat up there with no stirrups and rode her like a pro. But the cows moved nicely, they went right past the yard and crossed the highway without even seeing any cars. Onna settled down a little but it was still a mad rush down the lane towards home. My poor old horse managed to find plenty of energy for the ride once it was in a homewards direction. I was still worried about him but for different reasons. He lived as did Tanna and once home we got the calves worked then turned back out with their moms. And all in time for lunch.