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Just arrived in the Hungarian grasslands to roam on horseback for a few days respite from my city wanderings. I was greeted by a big hunk of a mare who was more spry than her size might have you imagine. Lopes to a kiss, jogs to a cluck. Sit back, relax. I’ve never been one to go on riding vacations because Im a one-horse woman (and my horse is a one-woman steed) and Ive never enjoyed riding other peoples horses. But necessity is the mother of invention.... and five weeks away from the smell of leather and horses was too big a burden to bear. So now I am in a lovely ranch in the grasslands of Hungary while my husband toils away in Budapest. The group is quite eclectic, from Sweden, UK, France, Switzerland, and riding habilities vary. Ive been allocated to the fast group. ;-) Four of us took off down the path to the trails of the national park and bird sanctuary and I must say I was surprised that our first canter started on a downhill slope. Anyways. Everything was as safe as can b

Apparently when Emporer Maximilian II brought the cherished 200 mares and stallions over mountains from Spain to Vienna, the local Viennese thought he was a little “touched” but did not want to offend him. They spoke of his folly as being “Spanish”, much like we might say today “Its greek to me”. Hence the name of the Spanish Riding School came to be. While the influence of andalusian blood is strong, the lipizzaners have had their own studbook for over 500 years with early influences from some local carriage horses breeds. The Hofburg Palace The winter riding arena was built almost 200 years later by Emporer Charles II and his portrait displays prominently in the arena where each rider salutes at each entrance. As you can imagine I took full advantage of being in Vienna (Wien) to have a guided tour, watch the morning exercises, attend the gala performance, and have cafe and breakfast in the summer arena twice. The magnificent Spanish Riding School The SRS and the li

We are back in Budapest, this time for an extended stay of 5 weeks. We will be taking advantage of the easy travel arrangements to visit a few cities and the countryside. The city is starting to feel familiar, with the gorgeous architecture and the grit. The weather is remarkably pleasant, with full sun and 16-20C, which makes roaming around on foot so much easier. In two days Ive clocked 12 km on foot. St Stephens Cathedral … so beautiful! Lots of public transit options, including Danube river boats On our first days, I spent quite some time going to different markets and stores to build our inventory of stuff. I am still perplexed on the shopping habits. When do I bag and tag the fruits? When can I pick my own? My favorite place … the Central Market. Yum! Since I was coming down with a cold (thanks to a long germ-infested airplane ride), my next stop was for a warm bowl of soup. This goulash at the every popular Menza just hit the spot. Here goulash is a paprika

It was Spring of 2016, and my 2 year old untrained stud had just arrived to his new winter home from his lavish Florida paradise. I only had plans for groundwork at first, scheduled our first showmanship and halter show for 2 months later and got to work. Q recently gelded and just turning 3 I had an excel list of things to accomplish: cross-tying, ground-tying, tarps, lunging, cavaletti, showering, and of course everything that goes with showmanship (stand square, walk/trot at shoulder, pivot). I had devised a thermometer map to track our progress, which looked like this a few weeks before our show. SMART goals! We had been practicing for several weeks. And, before I proceed, I must say that Q was super quiet at home, and did the showmanship patterns relatively well. He would stand square, back, trot forward, and pivot on his right hind (most of the time). He did all of this on a slack line. So we took the trip to the showgrounds on the day before so that Q could

After my “aha” moments of the week, I decided to venture out to the barn and tackle some tarps and stuff. My tools for the day - Flag - Tarp - Rope halter - Patience Q was not too impressed with my plan. Thanks, but no thanks. I got the snort, the scoot and the jump to the back of the stall when he saw the tarp coming. So by the time I had him in the aisle with his halter on, he was less surprised by their appearance. But he still shrinked away. Then we got into the arena, Q giving the tarp and flag a wide berth until I asked him to approach. You can see how tentative he is. This continued for a while but we eventually graduated to walking and trotting both directions, alternating with some flag work and poll release. I then wanted to get a halt on the tarp, as I believe that the horse doesn't truly "own" the obstacle until he is capable of standing relaxed on the object. It took a few turns, and then he was able to do it. He did struggle with ba

My horse and I have an issue with plastic, shavings bags, tarps, and plastic kiddy pools. I can usually get Q to accept my fascination with tarps in a session. But every new session starts out the same with snorting, and a reluctance to have me drape the tarp over him. So I take it slow and we eventually are trotting and cantering over it, and moving it all over. But its exhausting tedious work. After several days of despooking clinic, my husband was tired of hearing me categorize horses into sensitive/reactive vs dull. Well how else do you explain to the non horsey type how a draft cross just plows through the mattress and tarp combo on the first try, while the OTTB jumps from side to side then leaps into the air to finish into a canter pirouette succeeding in completely avoiding the offensive obstacle? He said : “It seems like you use the term reactive/sensitive as an excuse for a horse that needs more training.” Umm ... but, but ... let me explain. You know Q and tarps and anyth

After four days of despooking clinic and some reflection time, I want to share my broader perspective on what despooking can teach us. Only humans dwell - sometimes you just need to go with the flow. Horses have wonderful lessons to teach us in this regard. Their desire to be one with the herd, to establish hierarchy and rules, and to be in the present moment forces us to reconsider our thoughts and actions. Being such generous and forgiving souls, horses begin every moment as a new one. They dont dwell on past issues, they dont cry over lost relationships, they dont get angry over spilled milk. They lock in to their surroundings, feel their environment, find the path that leads to safety and grass. They are fluid. Let us learn to connect with the “herd”. Dont focus on the obstacle, focus on what you are doing. Obstacles are everywhere, physical and psychological. Some are created in our minds (“Im not good enough, Im not worthy, I cant do that”) and we fixate on them. We give ou

Day 1 of the second edition, this time with 16 horses. Aside from the first hour of craziness, things proceeded in an orderly fashion and it IS possible to have so many horses in a tight space with multiple obstacles. Makes you go hmmm. In the first hour, after being fussed over with pool noodles and pom poms, the horses very quickly progressed from the scariness of the first plywood plank to the multiple obstacles including the combo tarp over mattress with the funny squishy sounds. Funny, so many horses had issues  with the bubbles. Nobody thought the dancing man would be possible when they started. Now look, calmly proceeding as a herd.

Drill formations? As an effective way to despook a horse? That’s a new one. How does it work? Let me count the ways #1 to improve your control over your horses movement #2 to increase your own spatial awareness and become one “with the herd” #3 to distract you and your horse from a worrying object #4 to approach and be approached by threatening objects (“my horse kicks”) and become desensitized #5 to keep you focused on an important and complicated task (thread the needle) and reduce your anxiety #6 to help you (and your horse) feel successful and confident, because progress is generally quick and measurable #7 to feel the camraderies of the other riders and find joy #8 to teach your horse to fit into tight spaces and survive / thrive # 9 to “save the girl” and find a higher purpose #10 to remember that forward is always the right answer Say what you will, I found the horses and handlers to be more controlled and confident on the se

Some interesting developments on the despooking clinic. Full disclosure, I write this from the comfort of my sofa, with heating pad and anti-inflammatories. My back pain reared its ugly head this week and after three hours of riding and walking, I was d.o.n.e. Having done obstacle training before I had a certain approach down pat. Introduce obstacle from the ground, ensure the horse respects your space, and reward every try. But do not let the obstacle be ignored. This is not a negotiation. Eventually the confidence builds and each new obstacle becomes easier. But most new obstacles are introduced from the ground. Here, it was very different. First the context. A smallish arena (60x120ft) with the back door opened for auditors, housed under a temporary shelter with tarp cover. Hellish gusty wind blowing through the tarp. 11 horses and handlers, most of which were hot, reactive, and lacked training. All of the walls and corners had obstacles, tarps, mattresses, stuffed animals. Br

I’ve been exposed to some bad human behaviour of late. Lies, disceptions, misdirections. I did not expect it, and was surprised by a certain turn of events. But now it’s time to turn the page, Seger-style. This week is the excitement of a 2 day despooking clinic and I just received the pre-read workbook. It seems like the course will be emphasizing a certain level of equitation skill through group drill exercises. Sounds like fun, and smart. First we develop basic control over pace and direction, then we add obstacles while actually focusing our attention on the group drill work. That should keep us distracted from the fire, smoke and sirens. Because, this is despooking, the mounted police way.