Lukas

I have a trainer again! It's taken me this long to find one, on a recommendation from S. He's a young, body-arted gay guy, very young, but a student of some of the professionals I respect most in Deutschland. S says he's reliable, on time, and good with people and horses both, something to be desired!

He showed up and spoke to me informally, although as his employer he should not do that. Ah, the younger generation. I eventually asked him, as was my right, if we can speak informally, which he nodded yes, very relieved. (To be honest it's a niche thing - if you meet another horse person, or scuba diver, you un-formalize to express your shared passion. But I'm old fashioned. Someone needs to ASK to speak informally.)

OH, and it was my birthday, yesterday, so that was a perfect birthday gift to myself, my first lesson with Mag and a trainer.

The donkey was all over him, putting her huge head against his chest, begging him to rub the crud out of her ears. Mag stood there next to us, eyes half closed.

Lukas told me that he has several clients who have no riding arena or roundpen, and they work with what they have. I said, "Then it's gonna be either the street, our driveway, or a hiker parking lot nearby, cuz our pasture is completely slanted." I walked him out to confirm that. He seemed to think he could in fact work there, but he didn't actually walk down to see how crooked it is. And although it's totally dry at the moment, it can switch to slick mud in a moment.

So the driveway it was.

I asked him if he'd be so kind as to switch Mag out of leather halter and lead into rope halter and NH line, while I had to bribe the donkey into the stall, because Bellis becomes destructive when left alone. I told him trying to train a donkey is like trying to train a cat, and I'm not gifted in that.

In the driveway he immediately started doing in-hand work with Mag, and to my surprise, he asked him to do shoulder-in at the walk. And to my surprise, Mag did it. I told him I've never done that with him. He has such a gentle, quiet manner with horses, Mag was completely relaxed. That is one criterion for me, for a trainer, that the horse finds peace and relaxation during training, and not only stress (although there is always a level of stress in training).

Another trainer criterion he passed when he said, "What do you want to work on?" That is the most important question, I think, for trainers to ask. I said I'd like to work on some ground work refinement, and riding in the woods.

He showed me how to get a nice turn on the haunches, using our house itself as a wall. Then he let me try and it went OK, not perfectly, and he said, "The horse is only 5, he has no sense of balance, he simply cannot do the exercise yet perfectly." OK.

He showed me some in-hand bending exercises, trying to use the little English he has, "Bending, right?"

Then he showed me how a finger touch to Mag's chest can cause a shift in his weight to his hind end, rather than his front. Curious, I'd never seen anyone do that before. Ask a horse to simply shift its weight from fore to hind! Mag's eyes were half open, and he started to relax even more.

He walked forward with Mag and then backed up and Mag matched his stride, backing with him. Yah, Mag's good at that. That's perhaps his top skill: )

Lukas said he's incredibly "fine" - meaning sensitive. I said, "You own two Arabians and you are surprised by this?!" I'd asked him when I met him and he said he has a Haflinter and two Arab/Berbers. He should not be surprised by sensitivity. But he insisted, "Look how little pressure I use and your horse rocks back onto his hind legs."

I asked him to evaluate Mag's character by doing the "circling game" (lunging on a small circle) because Mag always resists by suddenly stopping and changing direction, and I was told that Mag simply doesn't understand the exercise, but my instinct says he's rebelling against it.

Lukas took him into our street (letting cars pass when they must) and circled him, and even stood perfectly still, not pivoting, that Parelli way of trusting that the horse will continue the circle even behind the person. Huh. Mag did it, but needed a few corrections. Then after 4 circles Mag said NO and switched. I asked Lukas what that is.

Lukas said, "He thinks it's a stupid exercise. He is not mentally challenged by it, so he refuses."

I said, "But I'm not asking for 20 circles, I'm asking for exactly 5, and I never get there."

Then he handed me the line and I did that standing-still lunging thing where the horse passes behind me independently. And Mag made 5 circles, and I praised him enthusiastically. Both ways. Lukas told me not to circle the rope over my head, rather to pass it behind my back. I laughed at Mag and said, "See, I have to learn stuff simultaneously!"

Lukas asked why I don't come to S's rented arena for lessons and I told him it's one hour there by foot, and one hour back, and it's all city streets, nothing pleasant. He said, "Oh, and by the time you arrive, your horse will be too overwhelmed to learn!" I said, "No, I disagree. Mag can learn after walking an hour. We've walked several hours many times. I use stumps and benches to lean across his back and teach him to hold still. I fake-tie him to trees so I'll be able to picnic one day. I break the hours up by letting him graze for 30 minutes straight." I think I blew Lukas' mind. He said nothing, but I felt disdain. He says he always tries to allow the horse's personality in, that it can express itself. I said, "I also disagree with Clinton Anderson's methods, the robot-producer." (He didn't know who that is.)

Finally I asked his evaluation and he said that Mag is easily bored and needs challenges to cooperate.

I followed his instructions to do an in-hand shoulder-in and found it very uncomfortable because I don't usually walk at Mag's shoulder, and he was leaning into me, which in my mind is a sign of dominance/testing, so I backed off and said I'd need another way, perhaps with a dressage whip, to keep him from leaning into me as I ask. Lukas seems flexible and said he agrees I should do what I find best for me and the horse. 

He'd tried to ask for more shoulder-in in-hand and eventually Mag was swishing his tail in annoyance. Lukas said, "We've just crossed his time boundary, we've gone on too long."

He's also a heilpraktiker (alternative practitioner (*sigh*) and physiotherapist, so he helped me evaluate my saddle fit, and agreed with me that it's bridging a bit, and that when Mag develops shoulder muscles, it will be too tight up there.

I'm happy that this guy seems flexible and amenable to my agenda. That is, he doesn't come with his own agenda, that every horse and owner must proceed through. He agreed to go into the woods with me and said he often starts horses for the first time, so he's ready.

He also put his Spanish saddle on Mag (a Hidalgo, very nice) and I said I'm sorry I just don't go for that style, although I admit the design is very, very good. Short in length, adjustable panels (with velcro like my own), a V-billet system that equalizes the girth pressure.....I may even suggest he put it on Mag and ride in it sometime.

Before he left he pulled out his cell phone and asked me to confirm the spelling of my name. I focused my very long, German last name, and counted the s's and m's and then stopped and teasingly said, "Hey, you're German, you shouldn't have to ask!" and he said...

"Um...the FIRST name."

I said, "Oh, what? Really!" I'd never in my life had to confirm my first name. No one in America would ever misspell that! I have to laugh, like my husband's name back home, my name is nearly impossible in this country.

All in all, he seems to have the qualities I seek in a trainer, especially after I told him I will not pay someone to make me cry, and he said, "It's been proven that stress impedes learning." Amen. So he's not a "nazi trainer", that's good. And he was much more gentle with Mag than you could ever fathom, slow and easy. No stress there. And he is flexible about doing what I request. That's what I pay for!

As my first male trainer I must point out the differences I noticed. He never asked my horse's name. Not that that is a big deal, but women usually want to know.

Also he's the first person who's ever met Mag who hasn't exclaimed how beautiful he his. OK I don't need to hear it, I think it, but....OK, maybe he prefers bays like I do: )







Following me in off the grazing strips. They're eating a ton of hay right now because it's hay season and our pasture is busy doing that. There's a lot of land for them even on the strips, but lately they need hay too.