Lesson 4 with Kati

Woo, another fun lesson with Katja. As I tacked up, a huge gust of wind shook the walnut tree and I said, OH BOY! The weather report warned of an incoming storm. That sounds soooo nice to me. Some little voice said, "You don't want to ride in such wind!" "Shut up, of course I do!"


(Old pic, sorry, I have nothing new.)

Mag does this thing when I put on his Easyboots, when I struggle to get them on, where he threatens to fall down, he leans back like a cat and then starts to lean on whatever leg I have. Oh no you don't, he got in big trouble for that (I smacked his belly) and was very apologetic after. I was still waving my finger at him when Kati arrived. I said to him, "You want to try *horse shoes* sometime!? You have no idea."

I was dreading this lesson because I wanted to go down to the scary valley that Mag always has trouble in. I think it's the landscape, it could be all the water (ponds and stream).

On the way there, I was leading Mag down the street and when cars would go by we'd stop to let them pass, and Mag didn't grab branches when he could have. Kati said, "This is amazing, how different he is now. Remember how he was before, he couldn't go one second without trying to eat something?" I sure do! I purposefully tempted him today, stopping by the tastiest of roses, etc, to see if he'd take a bite. No, he's a good boy, he'd rather have praise than yummy roses.

At one point she said, "Careful, he's looking at the grass!" and I turned around to face Mag, "Mag, are you looking at grass?" He looked at me, "Grass? Me? No way! I'm a good boy!"

It's nice to hear praise from Kati, it's not only Mag who basks in it. And I must be honest, Mag did grab branches/grass twice today, successfully. But twice is so much better than COUNTLESS.

This guy with a tail-less, leashed dog turned into the woods just before us, then he stopped, "OH, did you want to go in too? Do you want to pass me or should I go first?  How fast do you want to go? Probably faster than me!"

I said, "Probably slower, go ahead, thank you!" Wow, some people are just nice.

Kati held my stirrup while I mounted; wish she was always there to do that. Then we just stood there, me asking Mag to touch my stirrups with his nose, me letting him bite them, me praising him. Me commanding, "BITE THEM!" and Kati saying, "You want him to bite them?" Sure, he can't hurt anything with those cages.

Then we had this awesome, almost slow-motion walk. Kati's talent as a teacher is that she's always doing something, even when it looks like she's doing nothing. She was walking at old-lady pace, and Mag was matching her. It was so cool. Then we practiced halting, backing, and serpentining across the trail. She doesn't like it when I'm not doing something actively.

At the turnaround point she said she wanted me to circle her where the trail split. It was a hillside intersection, so not easy for Mag, but we did it. At first he refused, "What, is this some stupid game? Why would I want to make a circle here?" But we did, both directions, with some stopping thrown in to push his limits.

On the way home, he wanted to Be Home Now and his walk was not slow anymore. But it wasn't rushing. Well, it was not quite relaxed, either. He was fully in home-mode and every time we halted him, he started to fuss.

When walking, his poll was flexed (probably overly so) and she said, "What a stallion you are! Prancing and flexing your neck like that!" I said, "Mag, quit flexing." I remembered vividly the times people have told me how gorgeous Baasha was-----when naughtily jigging.  I don't need gorgeous, I need relaxation.

Then, upon stopping, Mag showed us nearly his entire dark side: sliding sideways, backing up, pawing the ground, and even the frantic head-tossing that Mara used to do (but she did it constantly, psychotically). Katja stood there and told me to laugh at him. She said, "I know it's hard when you're sitting up there and your horse is fussing like this, but try to laugh about it." I think I managed to force a smile. If I'm going to laugh at his worst behavior (I know, could be worse), I am going to have to try to find humor in it.

She noticed how I would reward him and let him proceed before he would escalate, and said, "Very good. It's hard to know the exact moment sometimes." He's not making it easy.

With Katja standing there it's hard to get too worried about Mag's behavior escalating into what I know he's capable of. He almost ran her over a few times and I was worried about her feet that were in Converse*, but now that I think about it, I needn't have worried - she was probably purposefully letting him get impolitely close to her, to show him he cannot make her move. (* - She wears Doc Martens and Converse. She's a German me!)

Furthering my theory about the valley/water, as soon as the trail started to climb out of the hole, his walk slowed to a dreamily sleepy pace. Wow, I told her, I need to spend a lot more time with him down there, doing very little.

It was a nice way to end the ride.

I offered her ice water, I always carry two bottles of ice water, but she again declined, she says she has her own water in her car. OK. I took some of mine and Mag wanted some too. Lately he's become interested in my plastic water bottles. When he grabs them with his mouth, I squirt. ICE COLD water sprays into his mouth, and somehow he likes it? He's so not German! Today he showed me he prefers to bite it and then have me spray, as opposed to me sticking it in the side of his mouth like wormer and spraying. OK then. He's seen me drink from my bottles so much lately, and it's so un-livably hot lately...it makes sense that he'd like an icy mouth-rinse.

Katja's hosting a liberty clinic this weekend and invited me to come watch. I said, "It will depress me - I have nowhere to practice liberty work." She told me I wouldn't have to pay, because I'm a student. Well...hm....: ) As I cleaned up my pasture today I noticed that my upper triangle grazing area is bone dry, perfect for lunging or liberty work. If I do it right now, before the storm*lol*

Tomorrow is my weekly ride with Ani, we'll see if the storm lets us ride. People die from lightning often around here, so I'd understand if she cancels.

As Katja drove away today, I texted her as I always do, my thoughts about the lesson, and thanking her. I told her how glad I am she experienced his dark side, so now we can really focus on it. That's why she gets the big money: ) (When I say big I do not mean America/Canada big, I mean almost twice what she charged me in Wuppertal, sigh.)

She may not be an expert trainer, but she's exactly what I need right now. And I'm grateful.




I have no photos from this week but I have to repost this one because after my lesson tonight, I gave Mag and Bellis a bag of hay, and then went to clean up poop in the pasture. Halfway through the wooded path, I heard trotting hooves and Mag was chasing me. I started running and he trotted right behind me til I had to stop to rest, and he stopped too (so polite), and then I took off running again and he trotted right beside me all the way up the hill. He's so much fun. I think he'd love liberty (well, he'd love it more if I were a jogger, and let him come along for my jogs). But liberty stuff would be fun with him. Someday...

Update: The moment I clicked publish, the storm came. RAIN!!!