Sorry there has been no update for a while. I had to go to Calgary for work and managed a pretty, but very very cold walk up to Lake Borgeau. The radio was suggesting a windchill of -28 c ! Driving to the mountains I passed several fields with horses in. Of the 50 odd horses I saw only 2 had rugs on. They breed them tough up there.
Back at home Sunday was the great day that Billy finally had a home for the night. I arrived at the yard just in time to introduce him to the barn. He was a dream to lead up from the field, no need for a chiveny bit that had been used in the past. He settled in really well so we left him to explore his new home.
Very early next morning Ritchie and I set off for 1 1/2 days of spectating at James Roberts Foundation Station . Ritchie had been on a confidence riding course at Stoneleigh Park with him last summer and then a follow up weekend last month. She was very impressed with his facility and thought it a good idea to go and see him. How right she was.
James specializes in colt starting (which I really want to do myself) and helping problem horses and their owners. There is almost too much to report on the things he taught me so I will try to summarise them here
1) Have a purpose for your horse. In my case they will both be racehorses one day, maybe. So that will be my focus, but with a dash of reality I want to put a firm general foundation on them in case they don't make the grade. I would hate them to be put on the scrap heap early in their lifes just because they can't win races.
2) With a purpose a training plan can be devised. As an example he had one guy there who is a polo rider James was getting him to practise roll backs on line. Being able to spin on their hind legs and run in the opposite direction is not really desireable for race horses so this will not be a focus of my training even though it looks really good. As a result the plan has to be relevant to the desired end result and not get side tracked into doing stuff that looks great but has no relevance.
3) Always know why you are doing an exercise. I must be ready for Ritchie to ask me at anytime why I am doing something. This disciplne will let me visualise what I want the final shape of the exercise to look like and where it fits into the 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle of training. She may not agree with my reasons, but that is irrelevant, the discipline of having a reason is the point.
4) Stick to the riding plan which step by step leads you all the way through your whole training day with the horse and gives a structure to the lesson.
There was much more than this. All I can suggest is that if you can only get there for a days spectating DO IT. I think it had such a large impact on me in particular as he has a similar way of thinking to me. The concepts are similar to those I have used in training for glider racing (strange as that may sound !).
On the way home this afternoon Ritchie and I sketched out training plans for Filly, Billy and Bonitao, each tailored to that particular horses needs and end purpose. For example I have determined to do a fair bit of confidence training with Billy as he is a RBE (at the moment) with the aim of making him LBE in time, whereas for the pushy little Filly this is not really needed !! Filly needs a firmer hand to reassert my leadership so that we can get her back into a learning frame of mind.
To this end on arrival at the yard I took Billy into the indoor school for the first time. I had all the toys in there, the tarpaulin, ball, cones etc. He was initially a bit wide eyed about all of this as I expected. In addition I had switched from using a savvy string on the carrot stick to a bright orange plastic bag. A lot for him to cope with in one hit but to progress I thought it worth the risk.
What a session, To start with I had to desensitise him to the bag, which was done in around 5 minutes using the classic approach and retreat method. This is easy of course with a bag at the end of the stick as a flick of the wrist acieves all the movement required. The trick was to remove the stick just BEFORE he became unconfident so this requires close reading of the horse. Of course I also walked away from him dragging the stick (predators don't retreat so it can't be a predator). This desensitised him whilst he was moving. I have discoverd the hard way that acceptance of an object when the horse is still does not mean it will be accepted when he is moving.
I now had a really convenient signalling tool. I find it easier to use than a carrot stick and string, especially if the horse is at close quarters.
Thus armed I moved onto playing with all the other toys. In particular the tarp. The technique here was to make the tarp a place of rest for the circling game. In essence I asked Billy to trot on circles and only allowed him to rest next to the trarp. As a result the side of the tarp transformed from a scary place to a sanctuary to be sought out. I did not force him onto the tarp but just quietly waited as he rested for his curoisty about it to kick in. On a couple of occasions his front feet brushed the tarp as he was sent on a new circle, which to start with invoked a big spook, but slowly they lessened until he stood calmly with his front feet on the edge of the sheet.
I also indulged in some figure of eight patterns to establish the stick/bag as a true signalling tool and also to give relief from the tarp training. A quick session of sideways along the wall and the training was over for the day.
He was truly fun to train today, very attentive with the distraction of the other horses removed, very open to new things whilst looking to me for comfort.
As for Filly, she is still on box rest. A quick bit of training to allow me to move her tail wherever I wished with no resistance from her was all I really had time for. Oh, and placing the feet as well of course before I get a rude comment from James !!
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