A chilled Filly

Thursday 30 December 2010

Sitting on Filly

Yesterday was a good day.
Played with Filly first, some time before she was fed. She started in a bit of a RB mood, finding the end of the school with open slats to the outside particularly frightening. I largely cured this by making it the place of rest during the playing. We did lots of travelling circles at canter and just "happened" to stop and rest at the spooky spot each time. Soon this became her preferred end and she became nicely LB there.
Having sorted this out I moved onto the preparation for riding routine again. I'll write it out one more time

1) Have the horse catch you
2) Halter with savvy
3) Touch all over ( I groom her)
4) Place the feet (pick them out at the same time)
5) Get a good stand still
6) Saddle with savvy (except I'm riding bareback !)
7) Move her around to ensure that the girth/cinch isn't worrying her
8) Do several direct rein/ indirect rein yields on a circle to ensure that I have the power to stop and direct her
9) Couple of rope arounds to get good lateral flexion of the neck
10) Mount her.

This sounds like a lot of steps just to get on your horse, but it ensures that she is in the right frame of mind before I get on, and I have a semblance of control. I intended to wait until Ritchie was in the school prior to getting on, but as I stood on the mounting block she nicely positioned herself and it seemed rude not to get on at that point. Prior to mounting I gently rock her so that she puts her feet in a stable position making her less likely to move off as soon as I get on. Now keep in mind this is bareback so I have to sort of vault on which is kind of a sudden movement. During the mounting she barely moved, She seemed to stay completely LB and relaxed. Her head did come round to see if she could bite my toes of course, such a conveniently placed target must be irresistible to her ! Swinging my leg gently dissuaded her. We then just sat there and relaxed. The look of surprise on Rithcies' face as she came to the gate was great. I was also pleased that the sudden appearance of another person did not cause her to move at all. After a minute or two of giving her withers a nice scratch I got off to let her rest and think about things.
Mounting for a second time she did move a few paces, but she reacted well to a quick lateral flexion and took advantage of her head being near my toes to have another quick nibble. Once she was stopped and relaxed I got off again.
On the third ride I decided to see what her reaction would be to asking her to do something. The obvious was a hind quarter yield. Applying gentle pressure on the lead rope to get lateral flexion, twisting my body so that I was looking down at her hind quarters and then swapping hands on the rope so that I could use my hand to gently tap her hind quarters she took a gentle step sideways, at which point I relaxed and petted her. Throwing the lead rope around her nose the procedure was repeated on the other side, again with complete success.
This was an important milestone. I have just sat on her in the past, but upping the pressure to asking her to move whilst mounted and still having a very calm Filly was a big step.
Ritchie commented that she looked very calm and even a bit "proud" if horse can have such an emotion. I have also noted a huge change in her attitude towards me on the ground. No attempts at biting at all. Her new habit is to put one nostril right next to my mouth and breath with me. I hope this is a good sign !!

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Billy frightened of his own shadow

A good days training today. Started with Filly with the intention of riding her. It was only about an hour before her dinner so she was not in the quietest of moods.
She is now very confident in rolling when I am close to the extent that as she tries to roll over I have to be careful not to get knocked by a flying hoof. Today she "exploded" as she got up with shear exuberance. This is fairly common and I have to watch carefully as she stands again to see what sort of mood she is in or risk being run over. To date she has always been careful to run around me, but I don't want to take any chances.
I turned this outburst of energy into a circling game which I continued until a bit after she had had enough. Thus I am not shutting her down and being the bad man saying no all the time, I am allowing her to do what she wants but asserting my dominance by making her move for just a little longer than she really desires. This calms her down really quickly and gets her in a learning frame of mind.
Next came the modified figure of eight game which enabled me to check all the driving games were working well, which they were. Then I moved into the preparation to ride.
This starts with getting her to stand still and be touched all over. To give this a purpose I gave her a quick groom. Then came placing the feet to establish control over each hoof. Again purpose was generated by picking out the hooves. Next would normally come saddling but we aren't using one at the moment. I then ask her to move around and establish the fore quarter /hind quarter yield pattern which she is getting very good at. Initially she tried to come through me when asking for the forequarter yield section but she now nimbly skips around out of my way.
At this point the feed wagon arrived and Filly got very very excited. Thoughts of riding were dropped, but with the yard girls watching a bit of showing off at liberty ensued. Not her best session, but still, compared to a traditional horse, pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old.
After a break to catch my breath Billy was brought in.
I wanted to do lots of circling with him to get him more relaxed and confident with a simple task. All I am asking for is him not to change gait, not change direction and look where he is going WITHOUT me continually nagging as many people do when lunging their horses. Ideally having set the direction I just stand in the middle and pass the rope around me as he circles. Should he break any of his responsibilities then I correct as gently as I can but as firm as required to get him back on track. To make this more interesting I ask for the occasional change of gait from walk to trot and back to walk. Walk to trot is easy, just requiring me to raise my energy and extend my arm in the direction of the circle a little. Getting him to walk again is trickier. Gentle wriggling of the rope applies pressure on zone one which should slow him down. I also have to make sure that I am looking in front of him and my belly button is pointing in front of him. That way he is having to push into all sorts of pressure. Unfortunately horses have what is called opposition reflex, they tend to push into pressure. That pressure maybe a lions claws, so pushing back is probably a good idea, but not what we desire. As a result applying pressure in zone one tends to make him speed up as he pushes against it. The wrong thing to do at this point is take the pressure off as it would teach him that pushing works. Thus I have to keep the wriggling, gaze and if needed a gentle waggling of the stick and string way out in front of him going until I get the desired response, or the slightest try in the direction of the required response. This could just be a slower trot or walk rather than the change of gait I desire but it is always a good idea to reward the slightest try and refine later.
Now to get to the subject of this blog. On a right circle Billy kept spooking at the same spot so there had to be something there to upset him. Now this part of the circle is where he is running towards a white wall with a big spotlight behind him. As he gets closer his shadow appears to run towards him and get rapidly larger. As horses vision is best in the black and white a shadow is a very large visual stimulus and so a shadow looming up the wall must have been quite scary for him. To start to overcome this I did the approach and retreat tactic, making him circle up to the point he started to be unconfident then backing away from it. Slowly we got to the stage he could touch the shadow and get curious about it. I then allowed him to just "play" with it. It was actually quite funny, from a human point of view, watching him try to sniff it, touch it etc. We are not over the problem yet but well on the way I hope. Using the philosophy that we always train for tomorrow I was pleased with the progress.

All in all a great day !!

Monday 27 December 2010

Progress report

Christmas is over and I finally have time for a quick update, not that the horses have had time off ! I had to go to Calgary on Christmas afternoon but still managed a quick session with Billy. Ritchie was already in Chicago so I had a little spare time !

To start with Filly is getting much much less dominant at last. The key has been total consistency in responding to her dominance attempts. Not only in the school, but in all my contact with her. This concept is important. To Filly all contact is of significance, but it is easy for the human to only focus on the contact within the schooling environment and let things lapse in the stable and even when leading around the yard ( to and from the field for example ).
Any attempt to nip is met with a reaction from  me that matches the phase she has used on me or is a little stronger. To start with this was usually requiring a fore quarter yield out of my space, but today it had reduced to me just having to up my body energy and maybe raise a hand if her head came towards me with that predatory look. The challenges were still regular of course but not as aggressive. I reckon they have reduced to no more than one every 5 to 10 seconds which is a considerable improvement.
As to the other games I play they are going very very well. I invented a new figure of eight pattern using 3 obstacles in an L shape. Unlike the normal 2 cone pattern which is very predictable the 3 cone pattern means that Filly has to ask the question at each cone as to which side to go. Thus rather than her just doing the pattern like an automoton she has to look for and react to my direction at each cone. This resulted in a much more interesting game for her and gave me the opportunity to direct her motion which as we know is a major way of gently asserting leadership and dominance over her.
I also spent a long time sat on the low mounting block. I did this to test that I still have control when I am much lower than her. To start with she tried to take advantage of the situation with more nipping, but quickly learned that my apparent stature did not change the nature of the relationship. By the end I had her circling on the 12 foot rope and even changing circle direction all whilst I was sat down.
Just to add more significance to the session today Ritchie was playing with Bonitao in the school at the same time, but with a few minor instances I managed to keep her attention on me the whole session. Ritchie and I now have a few days off so I hope that if all goes well the riding training can progress.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Billy more confident. Filly less dominant

Qucik note today as no much to report.
Played with Billy to start with as we can have 2 horses in the school at the same time. So Billy and Bonitao were bought in. Ritchie had a lovely session with Bonitao and I played with Billy. Playing with more than one horse around is good for teaching Billy to maintain concentration on his herd leader, me (sometimes !).
A previous session had Billy being very unconfident but then there had been snow blowing through the indoor school, he had not been out for days and just generally felt unhappy with life. Yesterday they all went out in the fields and as a result he was a different horse. It is important to remember to play with the horse that turns up and not get frustrated because they are not the same horse as yesterday. As a result when he was unconfident I through my lesson plan out and did an impromptu confidence lesson, but yesterday after a quick evaluation I could continue with the lessons needed prior ro backing him.

As for Filly she was much much better, probably partly due to a day in the field. I did all the usual preparation including placing the feet, touching all over but emphasising even more the fact that she moves her feet and I stand still. It is a good exercise in control to try and pick out all your horses hooves making sure that at least one of your feet is anchored to the spot. Even when you change sides ! Same for touch all over. Can you groom your horse without moving your feet ? The principle behind this is control of the horses movement. Don't forget that many of the horses games are lost by the horse that moves its' feet first, so I am mimicking this behaviour and making sure I win.
We then moved to the online direct/indirect rein exercise, but to generalise the submissive behaviour I handed this over to Ritchie.
By generalise I mean that the behaviour should be fixed in different places and with different people. At least 3 or 4 different locations should be used and ideally 3 or 4 people. We can only use one location at the moment due to the snow and only Ritchie is available for the other person !
It was interesting that she also had a few dominance problems, with some spirited attempts to kick her, but after 20 minutes of playing this passed and Filly assumed the same submissive attitude she now has with me. To end the session I had a bit of fun at liberty with her, with just a few little dominance challenges, soon corrected. I am getting more confident that we are moving in the right direction with her and she is going through a stage where she not only needs but wants a little bit if firmness in her training to feel that she has a leader.
We have to balance the "Love, Language and Leadership" trio and at the moment she needs more Leadership. It actually seems to be helping the Love part as well.
Please don't think that I am advocating dominating your horse through fear and intimidation, I am not. However not showing firmness WHEN required and trying to always win through love does not lead to a balanced relationship. It does not demonstrate your leadership qualities to the horse and so the trio becomes unbalanced. There are other important ways to establish respect and leadership including being very provocative in the play, inventing new and exciting games, changing games rapidly (with a LB horse) and most importantly controlling movement.
With a horse like Filly this will be a continuing balancing act. She will always be trying to test her dominance. Every moment she is saying "Am I boss ?" No Filly "What about now?" No Filly "Is it my turn now ?" No Filly and so on. Believe me that previous sentence is exactly what playing with Filly feels like and I love it !! I must be a bit odd I guess.

Monday 20 December 2010

More Dominance games with Filly

First the good news. When I entered Fillys' stable this evening she was much more docile with only a couple of half hearted nip attempts, which a quick finger tip porcupine soon dissuaded. We then went to the indoor school and as she had been confined to the stable all day I let her at liberty for a leg stretch. After a roll she had a bit of fun and then made it obvious she wished to play. We had a great session with stick to me, circling game, circle reversals and even falling leaf all at liberty. As quick as I switched the game she reacted.
When it came to trot in stick to me there was a suggestion of dominance with a good deal of prancing and head tossing. Eventually she played all her cards and gave me a nice kick on the left thigh. Phase 4 from her resulted in Phase 4 from me and I managed to slap her hind quarters with the Savvy string as she went past. This was quite a shock to her, she obviously had thought that phase 4 was her domain.
Now you would expect that after doing this to her she would run away and not come back, and if I had done this without provocation this would almost certainly have been the result. But horses respect someone who matches phases with them as long as it is done within around 3 seconds. After that the incident is over in their minds and any action on the humans part is considered unjustified. After a quick run around she came back and stood neatly by my side again. More stick to me to try and provoke another reaction, which duly occurred.
Another "correction" with the savvy string. More running around and again she came back to me. After each correction I made a point of dropping my energy right down rather than staying tense and high energy. Being able to use high phase and the instantly erase the incident from my mind I find is very important. It is what horses do with each other. A quick correction then back to grazing with no hard feelings.
On this occasion there was a noticeable change in her attitude. Her head was in a lower more submissive position and she stuck to me like glue. We did several more minutes of gentle stick to me with particular emphasis on turns towards her. Very nicely done with no dominance at all. At last I came to a halt and she just stood calmly next to me with lots of licking and chewing as I gently scratched her.
Halter back on for the journey to the box, but it really wasn't necessary

Sunday 19 December 2010

Overcoming a dominant Filly

It is now very cold here. -16 c as I write and -6 as we played at the yard. But still and dry so with exercise it was possible to stay warm ! Due to the cold weather and deep snow the horses had not been let out today so they were all getting a turn in the indoor school. As a result I could only play with Filly for around 20 minutes.
Waiting in her stable for my turn it was obvious that she was in a very dominant, biting mood. One of the girls said that she had reared at her earlier. Filly really does not do well on box confinement and is also in season, but that is only making excuses for her and this behaviour had to be dealt with.
We had a fine time in the box with her attempting to crowd my space all the time and bite, but keeping a watchful eye on her teeth and legs I stood my ground and made sure that she was the one who always had to back away, mainly using fore quarter porcupine with my fingers. In the box this was a bit of an extreme sport though and so I was glad when the school became free.
On entering the school I started with the YoYo game to make sure that I could back her out of my space. This went pretty well but she obviously thought that as games go this was a bit boring, so I switched up to circling game. Again this was ok but not really tackling the dominance issues.
Next I moved onto travelling circles. These make her think and so give her little mind less capacity to dream up mischief and also was a stepping stone to the pattern I really wanted to use, the Falling Leaf. This is a travelling circle but with a circle reversal every half circle so that she circles in front of me and to the side, but never behind. On the turn reversal she turns towards me and as I am continuing to walk forwards she has to be smart in getting out of my way. To an extent this is part of the purpose of the pattern. It is making her continually move out of my travelling bubble of personal space. If she tries to push into that bubble or even brush me I then have to be quick to use the driving game with the carrot stick, my elbow or whatever else is convenient to move her out of my space. To start with she was very very pushy as she came past the front of me, teeth flashing and the occasional mock kick attack. Of course these high phases from her just allowed me to match her energy and make it uncomfortable for her to be in my bubble. In situations like this it is very important to stay calm and not harbour a grudge from the last pass when she "attacked" and you failed to react fast enough. If on the next pass she is good and you then get in a revenge for the previous pass she has just been taught that attack is good and passive is not !! DO NOT play this game with any emotion. Just pretend to be a robot reacting as needed then immediately forgetting the past. Remember this all has to happen whilst walking with focus, giving the "aids" to change direction, swapping hands on the rope and stick. It takes practise, some of which I have done in the past using mental visualisation techniques, and some on less dominant horses like Bonitao and Billy.
As we played a change suddenly happened. She was no longer in my space on each half circle, mouth was actually shut (!) and no more little kicks. This took maybe 10 minutes and many passes up and down the school, with the odd full circle thrown in to keep her concentrating and not making assumptions about the pattern. The change was profound, and so mine had to be as well. I became much quieter with the "aids" and the stick stayed neutral. At last she found a position of peace, and she actually looked quite relieved about it. The ears were still pricked and mobile, eyes blinking and soft so this was not a fearful surrender. She had temporarily found a leader who did provocative games and defended his space as a herd leader should. That is what most horse look for to keep them safe in the wild, and for a while I provided.
Leading her back to her box was much easier than to the school and as a bonus there was her food on the floor. Just to keep the dominance going that bit longer I prevented her from getting to the food for a few minutes until again she again softened, then I let her eat in peace.
I know this battle will have to be fought again and again as horse are always striving for dominance in the herd. The trick is to not let this anger you but just to accept it and work with it. The alternative is to beat the spirit out of her so that she fears me, but then she would no longer be Filly and that would break my heart. Her fiery spirit is why I find her such fun to be around and play with. Complete consistency on my part will I hope make the challenges become less frequent and gentler.............

Well I can hope can't I ??

Thursday 16 December 2010

 Cold day today. It took some fortitude to go to the stable! Not like the cold in the USA, but a damp cold. Still, horses still need training whatever the weather and so we arrived at the yard around 3:30pm. Started with Billy today as Filly gets fed at around 4:30pm. For around an hour before that she gets pushy and excited, not a good frame of mind for learning. It's a shame that all the horses get fed around the same time everyday as it develops and expectation in them and lots of stress. However on a large livery yard doing it any other way would be too difficult to organise so the trick is to be savvy enough to realise that there is a potential problem and work around it.
Billy is not that worried about dinner time so can be worked during the feeding frenzy. We started with all the usual games and then worked up to putting the bare back pad on again, but cinched a little tighter this time. We then played all the games again whilst I pretended that there was nothing on his back. The idea is for the pad to be as accepted as well as a rug is, and not to immediately associate it with being ridden. We also worked a bit on the hind quarter driving game, which was not up to speed. Once this was going well I started on hind quarter yield towards me. This is a very useful manoeuvre when using a mounting block. Rather than chasing the horse around the school with the block the horse is taught to approach and stand next to you when you are on the block. This has many advantages. The main one is that the horse is then used to standing still next to the block and so after mounting is more likely to remain still rather than immediately move off (a potentially very dangerous habit which many people let their horses develop). Hind quarter yield towards is achieved by lightly tapping the horse on the far hind quarter until the hind legs step towards you. Now Billy is kind of tall so this presents a few problems. To start I reached round his chest so that I could tap with the tip of the stick on his hind quarter. If he tried to move into the pressure then I increased the strength of the tapping, if he stood still then the taps were gentle, as soon as he even seemed to think of moving in the correct direction the tapping stopped instantly. Timing is of the essence.
Filly finished dinner and was in a mellow frame of mind. Time to work up to sitting on her again. This followed the usual formula and today included the fitting of the bare back pad. She was also made to move around with the pad on, finishing with the rope around manoeuvre to check that the neck flexion was working well in case it was required to stop on movement when mounted. Ritchie and I took it in turns to lie on her back for increasing lengths of time until she would stand still easily. We found during this exercise that it was actually easier bare back than with the pad. The pad was too sticky and prevented being able to smoothly slide on and off Filly. After removing it I again sat on her properly, but for a longer period this time. She did look a little unconfident, but did not move more than a few paces. I sat very quietly, trying hard not to squeeze with my knees, until her head lowered. Recognising a sign of relaxation and submission I rewarded this by quickly dismounting. A few more sessions of this and I hope that all signs of unconfidence will be gone. I know that this is very very slow progression by the standards of many, but this is the first horse I have trained and I am perfectly willing to take a very long time over it. As a reward, we finished off again with a session of Liberty which Filly loves so much. Another good day!

Home at last

Home a day late. Flying on standby travel means you have to remain flexible.
We got home yesterday afternoon and after quickly unpacking went to see the horses. Too tired last night to blog though !!
Yesterdays session mainly consisted of some friendly game with the "kids", but we did manage some tarp training with Billy. This consisted of gently throwing the folded up tarp on Billys' back and then wrapping the 12 foot line around his belly to simulate the girth, but one it is easy to release. He was almost completely unfazed by this and just stayed still looking around with curiosity. I have seen others doing similar things but keeping the horse on a tight rope. They are curious beings and it is only fair to allow them to see/investigate what is being done to them, so when his head looked round to sniff and chew the tarp on his back this was not discouraged. This allowed him to categorise the tarp as harmless and not worth running from, which was the desired result. Preventing the investigation would have lead to a feeling of claustrophobia and fear of the unknown. Don't forget that with women and horses first impressions are very important due to their phenomenal memory so make a new experience as pleasurable and nonthreatening as possible !!
Filly was a bit difficult yesterday, but then she is in season again and wanted to a) move and b) dominate. Remembering that the leader of the herd controls movement I used a) to make her move a lot ! We did loads of circling at trot and canter. When she asked to stop I refused and made her do several more circles thus asserting my "right"  as leader to make her move. Eventually the permission to stop was her reward and she approached me looking for comfort which I willingly gave. Thus using a) we overcame b) !
Today I was determined to build on yesterdays success. Filly first. She was even more difficult to start with today, so to demonstrate my trust in her I removed the rope and for the first time in a while we played at liberty. Remember the previous post on this. What a change !! After a few moments of exuberance she was my old fun Filly again. We ran around the school at liberty with ,almost, slide stops. Her ears came up and she really ENJOYED life. It wasn't perfect, but who cares it was so much fun. Even changes of circle direction were performed with ease. After a while I put her back on the rope for some more mounting block training. She willingly positioned herself next to me and I lay on her back several times. She was so happy with this I decided to throw a leg onto her back as well. No problem at all. Forgetting that I had no hat on I fully mounted her and she barely flinched. Then I asked for a neck flexion and with almost no effort her head came round and she gently chewed my boot toe ! Enough for one day so I slid off the opposite side. WOW, I have fully mounted Filly and she was completely cool about it !!
Trying to reduce my adrenalin rush Filly was retired to her box and Billy brought out. In short he was also a star. The training with the tarp was substituted with the bare back pad. After the usual preparation of 1) touching all over 2) placing the feet 3) rope around 4) hind quarter and fore quarter yields the bare back pad was repeatedly thrown on his back and removed. Once there was no reaction to this the girth was pulled under his belly and released several times. Finally the girth was tied in place with just a little pressure on the belly. He was then worked in the normal way. Circling, sideways, hind quarter and fore quarter yields, trotting, walking. Any motion that I can cause that might make the girth feel odd was made to happen. I want Billy to be totally happy with the pad before we try to mount him. Adding the sensation of a saddle and rider in quick succession would be too much for him to process in one go, so I am using the concept of "successive approximation". Using the concept anything new is introduced in logical stages, with each building on the next to approach the desired conclusion. It is very important to read the horse in this process, they are in control of the time line. Pushing too far or too hard will be counter productive. If the process is pushed until the horse gets really right brain and then the lesson is stopped the horse learns that right brain behaviour stops the undesirable stimulus and thus the reaction to the stimulus is fixed. Reading the horse carefully and pushing to just prior to this point is the perfect scenario for rapid progress but risks pushing a bit too hard, the best trainers in the business can do this reliably and that is why they train so effectively. For the rest of us stopping short of this point is the best policy. We take longer to get there but do it safer and with fewer self generated problems to fix.
In summary: A good day. First proper sitting on Filly and bare back pad on Billy ! 

Saturday 4 December 2010

Next update on the 14th

Hi All
Tim is going away on holiday for a few days so don't despair the blog will resume around the 14th December.
I hope I don't forget all the training in the meantime. Horses of course have a much much better memory than us and forget nothing. As I have mentioned before they can't afford to in the wild. They don't get repeated attempts at learning what is a dangerous situation (they get eaten!) so must learn and memorise situations very efficiently, whereas a mistake by a predator just leads them to going hungry for a day !
Snag is they also memorise undesirable (in our view) responses quickly as  well, which is why complete concentration when working with horses is essential to avoid accidental teaching the wrong thing. No texting on the mobile !!
Imagine how good your memory would be if the cost of forgetting something was to become a lions dinner.

Thursday 2 December 2010

Good day with both

Started with Billy today as he has been a bit neglected recently, save for cuddles ! Set up all the usual toys in the school, tarp cones etc. No sooner had we entered when two of the yard girls, Perry and Amy came in on horses that needed exercising. They were happy to ride around us, but Billy was more than a little disturbed by their presence. He was very right brain for a good period of time. For me this was very interesting. This is the second horse I have introduced to horses that are being ridden, and the result has been the same on both occassions. It seems that until they are exposed and habituated to it the sight of a predator on a fellow prey animals back produces a real flight response. Logical when I put it like that, but not obvious until you see it !! I wonder if anyone can comment on similar experiences, it would be interesting to get a sample of more than two.
It would follow that prior to riding a horse for the first time they should be exposed to as many ridden horses as possible so that they get used to predator on prey. I have read that horses with a stall from which they can see other horses being trained are easier to train themselves. Relating this to the wild this is obvious. Observing another member of the herd evading a predator, for example, should result in a learned response without direct experience. In the wild one mistake leads to death and no breeding. Behavioural evolution should therefore select strongly for those that have the ability to not only learn by experience, but also learn by observing others experiences.
I have to say I was very impressed by the way the girls managed to ride the various bucks/spooks that Billy provoked without being unseated.
After they left things calmed down a bit and I was able to continue with the lesson. Preparation for being ridden was high on the agenda, with particular emphasis today on standing next to me whilst I was on a mounting block. Apparently around 95% of all human injuries occur during the mounting/dismounting phase of riding. Getting Billy to stand still for extended periods of time next to the mounting block is therefore a vital if saftey on the first few rides is to be acheived.
After Billy I had time for a quick session with Filly. Again preparation for riding was uppermost in my mind and to that end I used James formula upto saddling (although I used a bareback pad). This then progressed into lots of motion with the pad on to get her used to the feel of the girth as she moves. All the usual games including sideways were used. We also did lots of playing with the ball, which I am sure she is going to puncture soon. It it a pilates ball and needs more air. At one point she manged to pick it up with her teeth and trot round with it!! Ritchie and I also had fun throwing it over her back, bouncing it on her etc. She just chased after it and kicked it around like a little cat with a ball of string. No right brain moments at all. This may all just sound like a laugh (which it is) but the serious point is to get her used to a large object bouncing all around her and on her back. One day that large object will be me !!

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Filly allowed out at last. More cuddles with Billy

At last Filly was allowed back into the big wide snowy world. Only a dusting here but cold. Apparently she behaved well with just a couple of frolics. Unfortunately I was not there to see the occasion as did not get to the yard until 5pm. However that was a good time for a quick play session.
Ritchie helped this time and we concentrated on the hind quarter to fore quarter yield using indirect rein to direct rein whilst online on the ground. Sounds complicated and so I will try to elucidate.
Whilst riding an indirect rein controls the lateral movement of the hind legs whilst the direct rein controls the front legs. To perform an indirect rein one's head is turned to look at the horses hind quarters the hand is moved up to the belly button on the same side as the reining hand. This should move the hind quarters away from the pressure of the gaze and we have a hind quarter yield (or disengagement). This is a great way to stop a horse without pulling on both reins (which doesn't usually work anyway !!). If the driving hind legs are moving sideways they can't be driving forward as well and so the horse circles to a stop. Hence why we want a really good response to this prior to riding. We can cause the same thing to happen on the ground whilst working online. To start, the horse is made to circle, I find at the trot easiest. Then putting the rope in the counter circle hand applying a little pressure in the opposite direction to the circle and walking and in towards and looking at the horses hips a pressure is created on the halter that mimics the indirect rein. The horse should then swing the hind quarters away from the approaching pressure and complete a turn to face you. Now we can complete the manoeuvre with a direct rein.
Whilst riding, the direct rein is used to turn the horse by moving the front legs laterally. First look in the direction you wish to go ( this automatically causes your hips to twist which the horse can feel), then extend the arm out to the side so it points the way to go. This provides pressure on the halter in the required direction and the front legs should move to follow the suggestion. Again this can be performed on the ground online. To continue from the point we reached earlier, once the horse has hind quarter (indirect rein) yielded so that they are facing you, extend the arm out to the side in the direction of the new circle whilst also looking that way, not at the horse. The front legs should now yield in that direction and a circle in the opposite direction started. If the front end gets "stuck" then raising the carrot stick to the opposite side of the head and gently waving it helps drive the front end around. This should only be used as an additional phase of pressure. The whole exercise is really about porcupine (steady) pressure on the halter, not driving pressure from rhythmic motion of the stick.
Done well this is a manoeuvre of beauty and satisfaction. To start with it looked more like a Laurel and Hardy sketch with ropes getting tangled round sticks, my legs and nearly every other object in the vicinity. Slowly with Ritchie's coaching it became better and more fluid. Switching from the 22 foot to 12 foot line really helped ! Even Filly seemed to have fun with it in the end with some very sprightly fore quarter yields.
We then checked her hoof putty and found some of it had come out, so the time allotted to play with Billy was now taken up salt bathing the hoof and replacing the putty. Thankfully she now has the idea that she should place her foot in the bowl and keep it there. Must watch her if we pass any picnickers when we go out hacking in the future !!


As a result there was no time to play with Billy, but a quick visit to his pen resulted in more lying down cuddles, even for Ritchie. He loves to bury his head right into my chest and between my legs as I kneel in front of him. As this deprives him of quite a bit of vision and puts the top of his neck in a very vulnerable position this must take a lot of trust. No sign of the difficult pushy horse I was originally warned about at the yard !!