Mylo & Myka

Finishing off the year with a nice hack round the farm ride while playing with a Christmas Pressie GoPro. Come ride with us! But excuse the very poor camera skills. First trial.....

Super pleased with how relaxed she was. Just one very minor silly spook at tractor tyres of all things. Especially happy with her polite half-passing to let me press the buzzer to open the gate at the end! I want her to be an easy horse to hack - which means good gate skills. I think this is a pretty encouraging start.

 
Mrs. Glittery Jingle Balls said:
I noticed the tractor tyre thing - didn't really bother her though did it, just a very elegant little half step to one side. I would settle for that any day from a youngster. 😊
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Oh no she was very restrained. I am delighted with her. I just thought it was funny that literally the only thing she reacted to at all was a tyre track. Not the squirrel that run in front of us, not the noisy pheasant in the bushes. Not even the tractor itself! She's fab.
 
Well our time at Somerford is coming to an end and I’m picking her up tomorrow.

It’s been brilliant but I wouldn’t be on livery there permanently. The turn out is all individual which is ok for short periods but she likes playing with others. The other liveries seem to decide to stay in quite easily too - she was meant to be out today but no other horses were going out (liveries choice not YOs) so she had to stay in too. After riding I walked away and she was neighing after me as if to say ‘hey you’ve forgotten to put me out!!!”

Bless her. I’m stupidly soft but I felt so sad and I can’t wait to turn her out with her old pals tomorrow.
 
Actually - correction: some horses are out together but that depends on friends agreeing, or 1 person having 2 or 3 horses. If I could afford to keep Mylo and Amber there in a herd of 3 with Myka, it could work. But that’s never gonna happen!!
 
What a fabulous six weeks Myka has had at Somerford! She has made so much progress. I wanted to keep a record of our time there all in one place, so this is an overview of her whole stay, even though I’ve shared snippets along the way on the forum.

When I picked her up from Alisha’s, I was really pleased with how she felt. She was noticeably calmer, more accepting of new experiences, and in a good headspace for learning. A big part of Joe and Alisha’s approach is learning how to learn: ensuring the horse always knows there’s an answer, rewarding the correct response with well-timed releases, rewarding the try, and communicating clearly and consistently.
Joe always said that although she was sensitive, one day it would click and she would be away. I didn’t expect that prediction to come true quite so quickly, but Myka hasn’t put a foot wrong at Somerford for six weeks.

When she left Alisha’s, she was only just beginning to canter. She hadn’t hacked out, as hacking directly from the farm involves roads, which didn’t feel sensible at that stage. The focus there had been on helping her relax, expanding her window of tolerance, and improving the quality and responsiveness of her schoolwork in walk and trot. A few 7.5s in a walk-trot dressage test on her final day, with lovely comments, showed just how well that work had paid off, as did her positive attitude.

She then went to Somerford, with its world-class facilities, and the focus shifted to learning new "stuff" in a busy, buzzy environment. And she has learned so much. I truly believe the reason she has progressed so quickly is because she was mentally ready to accept new experiences. That bit seemed to take a while! But it's paid off in how quickly we have been able to crack on since then.

Over the six weeks, she has walked, trotted, and cantered around the farm ride many times. Yesterday I took her the “scary” way past traffic hidden behind a hedge and she didn’t bat an eyelid. She has confidently popped logs and roll-tops out on the farm ride. She was introduced to cross-country fences in the all-weather XC arena, and in just four sessions she went from “er… there’s something in the way, I have to stop” to confidently linking fences up to 80cm, including skinnies, hanging logs, and combinations. We introduced poles and show jumps, first from trot and then canter, finishing with an oxer of around 70–75cm. She ended each session positive, confident, and taking me happily into the fences.

She’s coped brilliantly with awful weather, tractors harrowing arenas, other horses schooling and jumping around her, and horses leaving her behind on the farm ride. She’s also handled periods of restricted turnout and no riding without losing her mind when I got back on. In fact, after three days off and in, she felt no different at all, which is a massive change.

Everything the pro has done, I’ve also done (albeit smaller!). I’ve cantered on the farm ride, jumped XC and SJ fences, hacked in company and solo, and today I finished off our stay with a jumping lesson on the XC arena. No safety blanket of someone else riding first. I tacked up, hacked down, warmed up, started trotting and popping, and finished by jumping a mini course of eight linked fences. The feel she gives me is fantastic.

I feel safe on her and eventing this season no longer feels wildly ambitious, but actually feels achievable. Considering that before Somerford I was still wondering if I’d ever do more than grit my teeth, get on, walk around a bit, and get off with a sigh of relief, the turnaround has been astonishing. As my husband says, Myka is suddenly just a normal horse doing normal things!

I couldn’t be more pleased with her, or more grateful for the support I’ve had from everyone, from those who prepared her so well for Somerford, to the pro there who has done such a brilliant job with her during her stay.

She is home now, reunited with Mylo. They are peas in a pod. I’m so excited for the future with these 2 amazing horses.

Video of our adventures below. I’m sure you can tell which bits are the pro and which are me! But I do feature in both cantering and jumping clips!

 
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Don't forget to take some of the credit yourself. It was after all you that chose the people who have helped you along the way 🙂

Followed this thread from the start, don't often comment, an incredible difference in Myka?
Looking forward to seeing the next steps.
 
She looks great and I take my hat off to you, I'm looking at my rising 5 year old and thinking I really don't want to be the one to get him riding away :D
 
Michen said:
She looks great and I take my hat off to you, I'm looking at my rising 5 year old and thinking I really don't want to be the one to get him riding away :D
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Thank-you but I have done very little of the starting myself. She's had a LOT of direct input from the pros. And they have done all the 'firsts' First sit, first canter, first jump, first hack etc. Very grateful as I was ready to throw in the towel not that long ago. I had lost all confidence in what we were doing. And I was terrified of her. But I am glad I kept the faith! I had a time limit in mind before changing direction and we were not far off it....
 
It's amazing to see her now compared to last year! She's a credit to you - and you're a great example of someone who has brought in experts before you got to the limits of your toolset / bravery. Well done, it will be fun watching your journey together this year!
 
So progress has inevitably slowed down since getting home. A lot of 'Life Stuff' has got in the way and I have had to cancel Joe sadly. I really wanted him to give me a lesson to guide my schooling! She was a bit wired when she first got home but has calmed down now. She has had 3 days off and today I rode. Just like at Somerford she no longer regresses after a short break. She may be fresher but that;s all. Which is good because trying to never give ner more than 1 day off in a row is unsustainable! And I don't want anyone else riding her right now either.

I recently revisited the work of Mark Rashid. He was the first person who sparked my interest in what might loosely be described as natural horsemanship, though I have always been uncomfortable with that phrase. It’s intrinsically vague and often taken to mean a very specific set of tools or branded methods (Parelli, carrot sticks, or whatever), which was never what drew me in. What mattered to me then, and still does now, was the clarity of communication and the relationship he described.

Re-reading Whole Heart, Whole Horse, I was struck by how Mark’s teaching approach differs from Joe Midgley’s, even though I imagine they ride in very similar ways.

One of Mark’s central ideas is the distinction between lightness and softness. Lightness, in his terms, is the outside of the horse: what they can do, their technical skills, their responsiveness. Softness is the inside of the horse: how they feel. A horse can be light without being soft, but for Mark, true harmony only arises when the inside and outside match, when the horse feels as good on the inside as they look on the outside.

This distinction shows up in how Mark teaches. He almost never teaches “how to” in a literal, technical sense. He tends to use metaphors and images rather than biomechanical instructions, saying things like “ride like the cows are getting out,” rather than “lift your energy by engaging your diaphragm.” His teaching is about communicating a feeling, an energy, a vision, rather than prescribing precise physical actions.

Joe, by contrast, focuses much more explicitly on technique. He gives structure to the what: what to do with your body, your timing, your aids. I am confident that Mark is also technically very precise in his riding, just as Joe also communicates feel and energy extremely well. But the emphasis is different, and that emphasis shapes how I learn and apply those lessons.

Re-reading Mark’s work took me back to the time before I had a trainer working in this tradition, when I was essentially figuring things out on my own with Mark’s books as my guide. And, I did ok really. I backed a horse using only those ideas, and she turned out quite well. Then working with Joe refined my understanding enormously, particularly on the technical side of things, giving clarity and consistency to actions that were once more intuitive and improvised.

So I started wondering what it would be like to revisit Mark now, with that technical foundation in place. How would his emphasis on feel sit alongside Joe’s invaluable support with the mechanics of what to do, when I ride Myka?

What I’m finding is that the combination feels very promising. Two different but complementary approaches coming together. Mark’s work helps me stay out of my head and more present in my body, moment by moment. Joe’s teaching ensures that what my body is doing actually makes sense to the horse! For example Mark's instructions for riding in a straight line are: you pick a point, fix your attention firmly on it and ride to it. That's it! That simple approach has made Myka so much less wobbly. It's bizarrely effective!

The result is that I feel more grounded and less mentally busy, and Myka feels softer, more consistent, and clearer about what I am asking. And that feels very much in the spirit of what both teachers are aiming for, even if they arrive there by different paths.

Looking forward to seeing how things progress.

Love my ‘fire’ horse pics. It was a foggy day byt the sun just broke through catching her mane.

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Yeah, exactly. I've had one clinic with Mark, and one lesson with Joe, and I have read a lot of their stuff in-between. I find Mark more helpful for muddling along, winging it, making it up as you go, general philosophy when it all goes pear-shaped, whereas Joe was very precise, very technical, but unless I had him or someone of his calibre giving me hackamore lessons every week (do I? do I f999ck), that level of technicality isn't going to get me very far.

The way Mark actually trains you in a clinic and presents things in his books is far more useful, for me anyway, with my totally f----cked up brain, to fly solo.
 
Yes the other aspect to learning is how long a lesson 'lasts'.

Most lessons with most of my instructors historically have been more or less supervised schooling. Maybe some homework. I can get good work with moment by moment instruction but find it had to sustain it longer term. Though learning how 'correct' feels is useful, and builds muscle memory.

Joe works on 2-3 areas in a lesson, enough to figure out what the problem is and find a way forward. Once there is a plan we move on. With the actual practicing of the solution happening between, and not in lessons. Each lesson keeps me going for a few weeks.

Mark's lessons keep me going for years! Luckily as it's been years since his last visit to the UK.

Myka thinks walking is a break. She does not seem to recognise it as a gait! So I want her walk to be much more purposeful. I was going to focus on that in my Joe lesson. But that was cancelled so instead I am using a recalled lesson Mark gave a sluggish walker - before you even set off be clear in your mind what walk you want. Ask for THAT walk. (Aim is to be able to use her legs as your legs - so just imagine marching off and take her with you). You won't get it so keep asking till you do. Stop - full release of everything and pat. Start again. Pretty quickly you'll get the walk you want right off the bat - sustain for 3 strides. Stop, release. Repeat with slightly longer sections of quality walk, 5, 7 ,9 etc. The key really is knowing what walk you want and making sure you get it. Or the horse just thinks a half ar$ed walk is perfectly fine. And to be fair she used to make me so nervous I have taught her to think ambling is acceptable because I neither wanted not asked for any more. Certainly not with any degree of clarity or assertiveness..

Let's see how that goes....
 
Ambers Echo said:
what might loosely be described as natural horsemanship
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Mark Rashid has never classified his work as "natural horsemanship"
Nor has Mark's teaching and training remained the same throughout his career.
It changed particularly when he took up martial arts.

Ambers Echo said:
Pretty quickly you'll get the walk you want right off the bat - sustain for 3 strides. Stop, release. Repeat with slightly longer sections of quality walk, 5, 7 ,9 etc. The key really is knowing what walk you want and making sure you get it.
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This again is not exact, or at least is horse dependent. As with humans at the gymn, a horse needs to build up the muscles and stamina for the movement you want, so one begins with a very few steps and with rests, and then builds up the number of steps day by day.

I kept very careful notes (for a friend) of all Mark's clinics I spectated, except of course when I was myself riding with him in Colorado.
 
Skib said:
This again is not exact, or at least is horse dependent. As with humans at the gymn, a horse needs to build up the muscles and stamina for the movement you want, so one begins with a very few steps and with rests, and then builds up the number of steps day by day.
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But surely that is what Ambers Echo describes. Of course all schooling methods are horse dependent, but AE is describing how she has used that guidance with her horse. The very act of asking for a correct walk, repeatedly, when schooling is by default building the muscle and stamina required to correctly walk in a willing and soft manner that can only improve with repeated practice in further schooling with the horse? Well, that is how I read it anyway.
 
I mostly have similar 'types' of horse to Myka but have very different aims for them (think upmarket hacking ponies that need minimal rider input and wear tack to be road legal). Nevertheless have really enjoyed following AEs progress first with Lottie and now with Myka (both here on the 3/4yo thread) and love the thoughtful and considered way she goes about getting help that aligns with her ethos / aims for the horses.
 
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I guess it depends how you define 'repeatedly'. No Mark does not drill horses. But he does repeat an exercise till the penny drops for the horse, on the basis that the release is the teaching point. And initially the horse does not link the release with the correct response. Re 'gradual' not sure you can get much more gradual than starting with 3 steps and building slowly from there. And Myka has been under saddle for months and done a lot of walk hacking to build up already. The best thing about Mark is he teaches a set of principles and guidelines along with encouragement to think for yourself and adapt. So I am aware of the changes over the years but there was plenty good in his early work too which is worth sticking with, in my view.

I experimented with walk today and suddenly new stuff is falling into places. Or rather other 'old' stuff is making more sense!

Joe's approach to getting a correct response - say a good quality halt-walk transition - is taught sequentially. Raise energy while lifting diagphragm, squeeze, bump, tap with a stick. (Or on the ground, raise and direct energy (body language), lift flag, flap flag, drive with flag.) 'Ride like the cows are getting out' creates that sequence in about 1.5 seconds instead of 5 seconds. Which is much closer to Buck B who asks with the lightest possible cue then escalates rapidly. He said if the first reaction is absent or sluggish he wants the 2nd reaction to be like the horse has been shot out of a gun. He also says the horse will 'either take the good deal (the light cue) or wish he had'. That all felt so adversarial that I dismissed it. And preferred the sequential approach. But it has occurred to me that I take WAY WAY too long to move from one cue to the next. Which is why I think the overall feel I bring to the request is so important. Ride like the cows are getting out provides the energy/urgency/clarity but with none of Buck's aggression.

I am sure Buck's horses don't experience him as aggressive but it would not surprise me if a lot of his students lose the nuance in the way he teaches and either ignore it (like me) or follow it in a way that is overly Seargent Majorish and unfair to the horse. (Woolly cue - BOOT).

Anyway just musing. The walk transitions were much better today. Partly just because I am focusing on them but equally I think I need to focus more on 'what is the feeling I want' before I do anything else.
 
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Myka is an angel and I am an idiot. I rode her today i a gale and she was awesome.
We finished the session, I hopped off, pushed open the arena gate, and led her through, failing to consider that gates in high winds might not stay wide open.

The gate swung back and smacked her on the bum. Startled, she jumped forward straight into me, sending me flying. With nowhere else to go, she promptly trod on my ankle. I also managed to jar my ribs which were injured from the last act of muppetry a couple of weeks ago.

At this point, I let go of her and sat on my arse, gasping, looking at her standing loose about five feet away. She looked back at me as if to say, “Oh no. Sorry about that. Are you okay?”

She didn’t move a muscle or wander off.

Eventually, I hauled myself upright and hobbled over to retrieve her. She stood quietly, and then we made our way back to the yard at a snail’s pace. She matched my shuffling step for step, never once trying to get ahead. Never have I been so grateful for leading practice. Or for a horse who remembers her lessons and is kind enough to not take advantage.

I’m home now with a swollen ankle, but no real damage done. Mostly, it was a reminder that when things go wrong, it’s very easy to get angry with your horse, yourself, or the universe. But Myka offered me a level of consideration today that I definitely did not earn, and which would have been very easy to miss in the frustration of a silly incident.

I adore her. I really do. I had always assumed that she was my project as I wait for Mylo to grow up. Because how could I ever sell Amber's sweet boy? He has such an amazing temperament combined with Amber's athleticism. And I can't afford 2 in long-term. But then again how could I sell on a horse as amazing as Myka either? I need to win the lottery!
 
Super happy with Myka today.

She had a duvet day yesterday, and with the wind still blowing a gale I had all those annoying, pesky thoughts creeping in: what if she doesn’t like the wind? what if she’s fresh? what if… blah blah nonsense.

As it turned out, she was foot perfect. One day I will actually start to trust her. She hasn’t put a hoof wrong in months. Not only has she turned into a “normal” horse, she’s actually more settled, more polite, and more accepting of new experiences than many of the horses on the yard.

Anyway, she gave me an amazing feel in walk and trot. I’ve been wondering when and how to introduce canter under saddle, with a bit of anxiety around teaching the cue. I’m very aware of how easy it is for a canter aid to be hidden amongst confusing rider noise:if she were to react by just running, I’d lose balance, start bouncing, gripping etc and just confuse her.

So I’ve been doing lots of walk–canter and trot canter transitions on a line, just to get her thinking “canter”. Today, I just asked for more trot, then even more, deciding to take whatever she offered. She popped up into the sweetest canter. No loss of balance, no heaviness in the hand, no rushing. We cantered a circle, then I quietly came back to trot,t then rode a trot–halt transition to test my brakes. She was perfectly happy to come back to me. She gives me the most incredible feel. I’m so proud of her. And I even got it on video as another @Fibones was fetching her horse in and walked past so caught the last couple of minutes.

Here is some video. Feels very exposing to share but I I think she's doing ok for 4 1/2. And I hope people look at her and not me!

 
Big milestone today. And she continues to polish her halo. Boxed her to a local venue for a jump lessons. First time she's ever travelled somewhere new and then been ridden immediately. That felt like quite a big ask and I had no expectations beyond traveling her somewhere, getting her off the box and seeing what happened from there. I had told the instructor (someone new to me - just happened to be convenient location and time, with a very good local reputation) that if I got on, walked around a few jumps and got off again with her staying happy I'd count that as a win!

But she exceeded all expectations. She was understandably distracted and looky but at no point did she feel anywhere near losing the plot. She was willing, pretty calm and didn't say no to anything. After a couple of cross poles she started locking on and taking me in. I love that feeling - not rushing but mentally committing to the jump early. We finished up linking 3 small fences and left it at that.

The instructor have me some lovely feedback too, saying he loved her attitude and liked how I was riding her: 'nice, quiet, but not wishy washy'. And that I should be thrilled with how she behaved. Which I definitely am!

No action pics as I was on my own but here's one of her at the box before we started and then at the end.

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