It's odd but true that whilst it is easy to learn the principles of horsemanship, of which the title is one, it is not until you really come up against them and start using them properly that you actually LEARN them.
One of the things I have discovered from my visits to James is that I have to be way more alert to subtle body language cues coming from the horse. I was well aware of my own body language, and of course the gross signals from the horse. But some of the more subtle ones I was missing.
Anyway James has changed all that and as a result the training is progressing well. One of the subtle signs from both of them happened when leading them. On asking for a halt they would just both lightly lean on me. Very gently like a caress, but of course they were coming into my space uninvited and testing my resolve to move them out again. To start this required quite firm driving with my elbows on their shoulders, and especially from Filly some fairly extreme reactions from them as they felt a little more of their dominance drift away.
This pressure was applied in phases of course. Starting with a gentle tap and building up. It was noticeable that at the initial light stages they both initially leant harder, they know the game of course! As James says once they have applied pressure I can reply immediately with more pressure than them matching energy. In other words if gentle pressure results in them pushing back don't mess about going slowly up the phases, use their phase plus a bit immediately. Of course if you go in strong to start with then you are not going to teach lightness, the most valuable commodity of all in horse developing.
This is a good example of the Attitude of Justice is Effective. If I went in strongly to start with then I am not being Just because they do not have time to yield. If they come strongly at me however then I can reply with higher pressure because this is Justice. I have noticed that if I get it wrong and apply too much pressure too soon they both resent it, the look on their face says it all. If I apply just as much pressure in a JUST way then they don't resent it, just look at bit annoyed at loosing yet another dominance game.
This all came together last night with Billy. Still being a bit stiff and sore to ride I decided that zone 3 driving would be a good substitute, having strictly followed the plan up to prepare to ride of course. He really had a problem with being driven forward with taps on the rump, resulting in a few big reactions from the hind legs. Passive persistence paid off and soon we were going round in some semblance of control. When asking for a halt however he pushed hard into my space, on one occasion turning his bum to me. This was a pretty high phase of pressure on his part and allowed me to respond firmly. After a few more halts he was noticeably softer. By now I was a bit to sore and Ritchie continued with more zone 3 driving, halts and corrections. Eventually she got a really nice stop, his head lowered submissively and he gave a long adrenalin releasing snort. Job done so we put him away,
One of the things I have discovered from my visits to James is that I have to be way more alert to subtle body language cues coming from the horse. I was well aware of my own body language, and of course the gross signals from the horse. But some of the more subtle ones I was missing.
Anyway James has changed all that and as a result the training is progressing well. One of the subtle signs from both of them happened when leading them. On asking for a halt they would just both lightly lean on me. Very gently like a caress, but of course they were coming into my space uninvited and testing my resolve to move them out again. To start this required quite firm driving with my elbows on their shoulders, and especially from Filly some fairly extreme reactions from them as they felt a little more of their dominance drift away.
This pressure was applied in phases of course. Starting with a gentle tap and building up. It was noticeable that at the initial light stages they both initially leant harder, they know the game of course! As James says once they have applied pressure I can reply immediately with more pressure than them matching energy. In other words if gentle pressure results in them pushing back don't mess about going slowly up the phases, use their phase plus a bit immediately. Of course if you go in strong to start with then you are not going to teach lightness, the most valuable commodity of all in horse developing.
This is a good example of the Attitude of Justice is Effective. If I went in strongly to start with then I am not being Just because they do not have time to yield. If they come strongly at me however then I can reply with higher pressure because this is Justice. I have noticed that if I get it wrong and apply too much pressure too soon they both resent it, the look on their face says it all. If I apply just as much pressure in a JUST way then they don't resent it, just look at bit annoyed at loosing yet another dominance game.
This all came together last night with Billy. Still being a bit stiff and sore to ride I decided that zone 3 driving would be a good substitute, having strictly followed the plan up to prepare to ride of course. He really had a problem with being driven forward with taps on the rump, resulting in a few big reactions from the hind legs. Passive persistence paid off and soon we were going round in some semblance of control. When asking for a halt however he pushed hard into my space, on one occasion turning his bum to me. This was a pretty high phase of pressure on his part and allowed me to respond firmly. After a few more halts he was noticeably softer. By now I was a bit to sore and Ritchie continued with more zone 3 driving, halts and corrections. Eventually she got a really nice stop, his head lowered submissively and he gave a long adrenalin releasing snort. Job done so we put him away,
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