Alice's trip to South Carolina: First week at Avalo

I arrived at Avalo Farm last Monday (7th April) or technically Tuesday morning- a flight delay meant I didn't get to the farm until 2am! So I have now been here for a week. I'm really enjoying it so far. There's a fair amount of work to do everyday and we start at 7, so I have been going to bed at about 9pm! Its peaceful here, especially compared to New York, as we aren't near any main roads and few people are around. There are 21 horses, a few owned by people from outside the farm, some are here for training, some have been rescued, and some are Michelle's competition horses.

First thing in the morning we feed the horses (we do this by driving the Chevrolet around the fields, so I've learnt how to drive it), then we have our own breakfast. During the day we do chores, like tack cleaning, and we work the horses by either riding or playing with them 'on-line' (see below.) The last thing we do every day is the evening feed which starts at 5.30 and takes about an hour. After that we have free time. Every few days we have a lesson from Michelle, and we get 2 half days or 1 full day off per week. Occasionally we have a day doing something completely different, for example on my second day here we all went to a show that Michelle and one of the other working students were competing in.

Learning Natural Horsemanship is really interesting. From what I've seen so far the horses seem to be happier and more relaxed than other horses, and more interested in people. The methods all make sense and follow a horse's way of thinking and herd mentality. I already feel more confident when dealing with the horses in the field, and have realised it is all about body language and making yourself the leader of the herd. 'On line' is working with the horse on the ground- we do 'games' with them such as porcupine game which is where you get the horse to shift sideways by putting your hands on its side, hopefully with only very light pressure, or yoyo game which is where you stand in front of the horse and get it to come towards you or back up away from you using your body language. When doing this the horse is wearing a rope halter attached to a 12ft long rope that you hold, and we carry a 'carrot stick'- this is a stick with a rope attached to it. We have to make sure the horse isn't scared of the stick and is completely relaxed with the stick being rubbed all over it, so it isn't used to scare the horse, its more an extension of your body. A lot of Natural Horsemanship is about pressure and retreat/release, so for example if you want the horse to move its hindquarters over, you might tap the carrot stick on the ground near the back end of the horse to create rhythm (a sort of pressure), and as soon as the horse moves over, you stop tapping, and so you release. What you do with the horse on the ground can be transferred to the saddle, and you can learn a lot about a horse before riding it if you do some work on line. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, its hard to explain!

So far I have ridden two horses, Teddy and Rhapsody. We had a jumping lesson that was really fun, and that was the only time I have ridden in a bridle so far here- normally I use a halter. I didn't realise you could have so much communication with the horse without a bridle- it's easy to forget that I'm not using one. I am learning a slightly different way of riding- for example if the horse slows down when not asked, instead of closing my leg on again and 'nagging' (which in the long term results in a horse that only goes forward with constant leg aids), I have to let the horse stop but then immediately ask it go again but in a tougher way (e.g. instead of just sitting up and closing my leg on, I flick a rope over my shoulder as well- not so that it hits the horse but to create rhythm and pressure) and then hopefully the next time you ask the horse to go, all that is required is the minimum- just sitting tall and bringing my energy up. This all makes sense to me and should result in much easier horses in the long run, but I found it frustrating when I hadn't got my timing of the new method right and I struggled to keep the horse going (something that I really should be able to do, and can do using traditional methods!) I need to work on being more assertive both on the ground and in the saddle (my personality in general is not assertive!) and Michelle also noticed that my body is crooked- I collapse to the left side and tilt my head down and to the left, so I always have to remember to keep my body and head straight, even when I'm walking around or sitting down. Now that it's been pointed out I can see where it has caused problems in my riding in the past.

There are two other working students- Emma who is from Michigan and is permanent, and Anni from Germany who has been here for a month already and will be leaving on the same day as me. They're both very nice and have been showing me how everything works. I am living in a bunkhouse that I share with Emma. There are loads of cats on the farm (it is also a cat sanctuary-there are literally about 100 of them) but only one in the bunkhouse which is good as I am allergic to cats! I have to cook my own food which has been easier than I thought it would be, and American supermarkets have more healthy food than I thought they would (they just have everything! They're all huge. The only thing they don't have is marmite so lucky I brought my own!)

It is quite hot here (temperatures in the high 20s) and really sunny. I didn't think my skin tanned but spending the whole day outside means I have a farmer's tan (so basically my hands are way browner than my legs...) Emma has introduced me to Gatorade (a rehydration drink) that I love! It's so good when its hot and you've been sweating- it contains the electrolytes that you lose in sweat and it tastes like its just what you need. They sell it in England but I've never had it before. Today it has been raining and it was quite stormy during the night so we aren't riding today and are only going outside to feed the horses. To be honest if it was this weather in England they'd probably be going ahead as normal, but rain seems weird here compared to the usual sun!

I'm now off to have a lesson about 'horsenalities' - horse personalities :)