Ok - back from the clinic and it was amazing.
My horse was indeed a dragon when we came in, but settled relatively quickly Day 1. The ring was packed, the other horses were varying levels of compliance, and people had varying levels of skill. Buck was actually really attentive and very nice to everyone, contrary to reports I’ve read. My horse got “big” every time a new horse would come into the ring, but behaved himself well and I was able to redirect him pretty easily.
Things I learned - first - equipment really does matter. I had the right rope halter, but had to buy a second flag (long story) and ended up buying one from the very expensive table. The difference was actually quite large. My flag ($14…amazon) had a thicker stem to it, and I couldn’t really get it moving the way I needed to to get the response I needed from my horse. The very expensive branded flag had a much thinner stem, more like the top of a fishing pole, and I could use significantly less effort to really make a difference to the horse. Same thing with the rope halters.
Secondly, I needed to put a lot more pressure on my horse to get to his feet. The difference, once I actually got him with me, was noticeable. I always had felt like he gave me kind of a milquetoast response. Like he was saying “yeah yeah, you’re nice enough so I’ll comply” but not a real respectful response. He was kind of ignoring the pressure from the flag, until at one point I actually got “loud enough” for him to try to escape, and then his feet broke loose…finally.
And then I finally understood what Buck meant by getting to his feet and keeping him on this end of the rope. That’s very different than a horse who can just perform the exercises. It’s a nuance, but an important one, and it was hard to achieve on a very dominant yet sort of compliant horse (which mine is).
And thirdly, we did ride with that many horses in the ring, and he did great. It was a lot to throw at him, horses going every which way, lariats being spun, flags flagging, and a lot of participants. He weaved in and out well on a loose rein without issue. We picked up a soft feel and that went very very well. My horse is actually pretty soft mouthed, just not always attentive, but we got there. And I was the most confident I’ve been since my accidents 10 years ago. Felt like my old self again!
I have a lot of practice to do but we made a huge leap forward. Now I just need to repeat that a few billion times.
