A chilled Filly

Wednesday 30 March 2011

A Purpose for Filly

Sitting in the dark in a hotel in Calgary so time for a longer post before breakfast time comes around.
I had been getting a bit stuck on progressing with Filly. She has not really grown enough for me to ride and I have had trouble finding anyone else who has the time available, and the Natural Horsemanship Savvy to help (though one maybe appearing soon !). So what to do with her. A friend suggested the obvious answer. Work with Filly to improve my ground skills, keeping in mind that they will also have to have a practical application in preparing her to be ridden (things should never be done to a horse, only for or with them. So just "using" her to practise on is a big no no, and probably immoral).
In addition I have the problem of getting her socialised with other horses enough that she can be turned out in a field. So all in all there is much work to be done with Filly.
I have recently been taking her around the fields, but staying outside them, to get her used to other horses. This has been done in a "me and my shadow" mode, which basically means allowing her to decide where to go with me just tagging along to look after her. This has been an interesting exercise. We have a longish track at the yard with paddocks either side, mostly with one horse in each of them. Taking her to the track she has the freedom to wander up and down visiting each horse in turn and also graze on the track verge. She is always excited to visit all the horses but gets mixed responses. One or two actively charge her with ears back and heads stretched out. She started off getting very worried about them, but quickly realised that they could not get at her through the fence and much to their chagrin she almost ignores them now. But this hardly makes for a useful horse friendship we can use to turn her out. The other common interaction is for her to start with normal horse behaviour of nose sniffing, then working towards the withers. However as soon as the other horse opens it's mouth to giving a grooming type of nibble she reacts with fear. Normally a squeal, wide eyes, spook and sometimes a kick out. I position myself very carefully relative to the pair when this is taking place. She is getting much more settled around other horses as these sessions have progressed but we are nowhere near being able to confidently turn her out with others yet. In the meantime it is giving me a fascinating insight into horse body language just watching them.
On the other side of playing with her I am making a concerted effort to get back on track with ground skills training. The main topics at the moment are to get her straight on a circle and sideways games. Both of these are strongly connected and I will try and describe how.
To start with let us look at the concept of straightness. James Roberts has recently emphasised to me how important this really is. He said he has only just appreciated the importance of straightness in all things following several months of being unable to ride, but observing his staff riding instead. Straightness on a circle sounds a bit odd, but it describes the concept that the horses body should be bent such that looking down on the horse the body describes the same arc as the circle being performed. For a race horse this lines up all the power elements and will make them run more efficiently. For a dressage horse it just looks right. Filly at the moment tends to circle with her nose tipped to the outside of the circle. I do not believe that this is because she is looking to the outside for escape from me as at liberty she does the same, but tends to do small circles around me and draws in at the slightest cue. She just has not learned how to be "straight" on a circle.
There is a saying that the "better a horse goes sideways and backwards the better it will do everything else". With this in mind I have been working on Filly's sideways game, both online and at liberty. The online section is to try to get her to move sideways whilst circling. To aid in this I place a pole on the ground and send her in a circle that lands at around the middle of the pole. Just as she approaches it however I start asking for her to go sideways such that she goes around the far end of the pole. The reason for the pole is that it gives us both a focus to work towards. She gets to associate the approaching pole with a cue from me, I can use the pole as a visual test of the effectiveness of the sideways. This is going pretty well and we are getting several nice crossed through strides. To achieve the desired result is a difficult balancing act however. A signal with the stick and string to drive the hindquarters away is needed along with porcupine pressure in on the halter to prevent her just turning to go around the pole. Too much pressure at either end and she will quite correctly hindquarter disengage, turn and face me. No need to criticise her for this, it was my fault.
Liberty sideways is also helping. I am setting this up in the same way that we ask for online sideways by circling her into a wall I am standing next to and then maintaining momentum asking her to go sideways down the wall with hind and fore quarter driving. What I have found is that she tends to turn away from me down the wall and just walk in a straight line away from me. There is the nose tipping away again. Online it is easy to prevent this with the lightest pressure on the lead rope of course, but as they say the truth is found out at Liberty and I had been relying on that pressure to keep the sideways going. What I do now is start with my fingers lightly on the halter to apply the pressure and once the sideways is going then let go and try to get a few nice paces before stopping and rewarding by getting her to turn and face me.
So how does sideways help with straightness. Well if she is circling with her nose tipped out and her hindquarters tipped in on the circle I need to get her to sidepass her hindquarters out onto the circle a little. So in fact the correction is just a very slight sideways movement on the circle. In addition I hope that the Liberty work will teach her not to tip her nose away from me when circling. All these "Parelli games" are connected the trick is just working out which one to use in any particular situation to get the desired result. The answer is not always that obvious either !
The proof is that all this is beginning to pay off.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Billy feeling pooped

A couple of days ago I again rode Billy. Earlier in the day this time so no dusk light spookiness. Again all the preparation went off with no problems at all.
Analysing the previous sessions I decided to introduce weave pattern and figure 8 pattern to give more purpose to the direct and indirect rein when ridden. To prepare for this we practised online first of course. The principle I use is to simulate what I intend to do when riding whilst playing online. Again these simulations were very good.
On mounting however he was not in such a good mood. Lateral flexions were still a little mouthy on my boot, and indirect rein resulted in a small buck. We had taken advice from James Roberts on this problem and he gave the following advice. Really concentrate on starting with turning the eyes, then the belly button, then very lightly add pressure with the heel (using the hair, skin, muscle, bone phases) then if required use the rein. I also gained from a Chris Cox DVD that I must ensure that the weight should be on the opposite seat bone to the leg I am using. Combining all this advice I got some very nice yields with virtually no pressure on the leg at all. He had been telling me to lighten up all this time, but I had not been listening. Horses teach humans indeed, but only if they listen.
Despite this little advance I still had an upset Billy who was not feeling cooperative at all.
After around 7 or 8 minutes of frustration on both our parts he suddenly pooped. It was like riding a different horse. He offered to follow the rail with very few corrections needed. Indirect rein became really good and we both felt relaxed. After a few minutes of this I rewarded him by getting off.
Now the question is : Does he suddenly relax and feel that he can poop, or does the pooping cause him to feel more comfortable and relaxed ?
I should add that all this relaxed riding took place with the field next to the school being very noisily harrowed. Other riders didn't even ride their experienced horses whilst this was going on, but by maintaining my focus Billy just ignored it.

Friday 25 March 2011

Difficult ride on Billy

I wound up riding Billy quite late tonight as my day filled up with other things. As a result it was getting to dusk and we had the outdoor lights on casting shadows. This made him less confident than usual, but he still passed all the pre-flight checks with no real problems.
Once I mounted however he became quite difficult to ride. He was making it clear that he was not happy with my leadership in this new environment. Lateral flexions went OK but on the first few he still tried to bite. I countered by just waving my leg around until he pushed his nose into my toe and got bumped. Note I did not aim for his nose with my boot, just waved it around. He tried to bite it so moved into the toe all by himself. The physical result is the same as if I had kicked him, but the psychological difference is huge. As he in effect did it to himself he did not harbour a grudge towards me, just sighed relaxed and stopped trying to bite. One such incident did not cure him of course, but the improvement after two or three was huge.
He really did find walking the rail difficult with the dusk light and we had a big spook in one corner with a little canter across the school. A one rein (rope) stop soon calmed him down to a nice halt however. Not having huge amounts of riding experience I was pleased that I reflexively did a one rein stop, it would have been so easy to pull on both which would probably resulted in me being bucked off.
He just felt on edge for a lot of the ride. On several occasions whilst at halt I felt his hind quarters rise up as though he was going to poop, but nothing happened. After some more edgy riding he finally pooped. Afterwards the difference was amazing. He was so much more relaxed and comfortable. We did a bit of figure of 8 as a calming pattern having concluded that the edges of the school were to spooky in the half light. A nice 9 step backup and a few acceptable indirect reins. With that I decided that we had a relaxed left brain Billy and it was time to quit.

Billy Resists Indirect Rein

Another fun day riding Billy. I am speeding up the plan a little bit to allow more time for the riding. This is possible for one main reason. Because I have been completely consistent with the plan Billy now knows what to expect during each section and as a result he is almost immediately confident with what I am asking him to do. For most of the plan sections confidence is the desired result. For example if he is immediately confident with the circling game at trot with the saddle on there is no need to keep circling at trot. In fact it will be detrimental to our relationship as he will fail to see the point in endless circles and not see me as a good leader with a positive plan, just as that annoying person who drills things he already knows well.
James makes a real point of keeping the ground training relevant to the required task, which is another way of saying the same thing. If he can confidently perform a task further drilling is not relevant.
We did add in some more circles at canter last night as I wish to start trotting the rail soon. Why canter when I want to trot. Well if he misinterprets the aid and shifts to canter by mistake I don't want to find a horse that is unconfident in canter with a saddle on whilst I am on his back. Hence I looked for a nice relaxed confident canter on the circle, which actually took a little while to achieve. I was looking for a relaxed body and gait, and also no pressure on the line. Never having lunged a horse I don't know the mechanics but my observations suggest that a lunge line off the ground is looked for, which means that the horse is pulling slightly away from the person. I am looking for the line to drag on the ground a bit proving that it is the horses connection to me that keeps him on the circle, not the line which is just a safety net. If he pulls out on the line it is a sign to me that he is not confident in my presence and what I am asking him to do and is seeking escape. Not the frame of mind I want a horse I am going to ride to be in.
On mounting I asked for the lateral flexions as usual, which whilst light resulted in him chewing my boot and trousers with an angry look on his face. Not the desired result at all. I spent sometime working on this mainly by just flapping my leg around. If his face got in the way, well then it shouldn't have been there.
Having reduced the biting attempts we moved onto follow the rail at walk. He is still not staying perfectly on the rail, requiring frequent corrections in direction, but he is much more consistent in his gait now, stopping infrequently and moving off with the slightest aid. If you remember I was using the savvy string to slap the air with, but now have transferred to the lightest squeeze of the legs if needed. Usually just a lift of the rope rein (loose of course) and tensing of my buttocks is enough to depart into a walk. A slight squeeze is a later phase.
We now moved onto indirect reins and the biting issue re-emerged. I did get some nice yields but they were not without resentment on his part. We worked on this for sometime, but only got a few really nice ones. Remembering the phrase "If you always do what you have always done, you'll always get what you always got" and running out of ideas I quit when we had a really good yield to allow me time to consult with others to get some ideas. Knowing when to quit is one of the arts of being Savvy.
As for Filly her season is coming to an end and she seems happier in her skin. She seems to be in real pain during her season with a very tender tummy so I just do friendly things at this time. Yesterday she was lying down in her outdoor cage so I joined her for a good 15 minutes, just being with her and gently stroking. Horses really can purr !!


Sunday 20 March 2011

Riding Billy Outside

Riding Billy indoors was all very well, but he is a big horse and it is a small school. Following the rail was a bit pointless from his point of view and I can't say I blame him, six strides and he was across the narrow side. In light of this I felt we had now outgrown the indoor and needed to get outdoors. One added advantage from my point of view is that the surface outdoors is rubber and so should allow me to bounce better.
To prepare for the outdoors I of course followed the plan. In the prepare to ride section we did loads of circling until he was confident in all parts of the new surroundings and also zone 3 driving to check for spooky parts of the schools edge. He was a little unconfident in one area so this became the area of rest and relaxation between circling and driving games. The first day I did not even attempt to ride as it took at least and hour to get him into the state of mind where I would want to be on top and by then it was getting dark. Since then however I have managed two very pleasant rides, only at walk but with confidence and reasonable obedience.
The first one I just concentrated on Follow the Rail. He offered it with no compulsion from me. After all these weeks of getting him to go forward I was hardly going to chastise him for walking on this occasion. Time to get particular about such things can be left to the future for now.
I have just started reading Mark Rashid' book, "Horses Never Lie" and he has a brilliant description of why riding with focus is so important (though he doesn't call it riding with focus). I knew that it was important from James Roberts clinics but the behavioural aspects had not really sunken in. Mark puts it well and I thoroughly recommend getting a copy.
Riding Billy with focus is really key. Riding actively with my seat is also important, but in a way is the same thing. Now, I am not pushing with my legs, seat or anything else, I am just trying to move in rhythm with his body and stay out of its' way so that we ride together rather than me riding on him (if that makes sense ?). Should I fail to keep up my end of this bargain then he stops. This is actually a desired outcome of my stopping riding so again there is no criticism from me if he does the desired thing because I get lazy.
The second ride was on our bareback pad as Ritchie is trying to sell our saddle to pay for a western one. This really helped with staying in rhythm with his body as I could feel it so much better. Not recommended for a long ride however as he is very bony even through a pad. On this occasion I introduced walk to indirect rein and we managed some very nice changes of direction. We then moved to indirect/direct rein and again it all went more or less as advertised with just a little resistance at times.
I am not claiming that all of this looks very pretty, follow the rail is not exactly straight yet but we have started learning our ABCs of the language of riding.

As for Filly. She is heavily in season. As with many such Fillies, handle with care and compassion !!

Thursday 17 March 2011

Overreactive Filly

I had been asking for Filly to be allowed out in a field and the other day I arrived at the yard to be informed that they had tried (I had hoped to accompany her for the first few times). Apparently she had been put in a field with another mare and they had waited with her for 20 minutes. As she seemed settled she had been left there. Five minutes later a very hyped up Filly was back in the yard having jumped the electric fence !
When I heard this I decided to take her back to the field on a 45 foot rope and observe what the problems were.
To start I had trouble getting her through the mud at the entrance. She has always been distrustful of mud, which is a inbuilt fear horses have. The trouble with mud is that is does not give a good footing and as their primary means of defence is to run away anything that inhibits this is viewed with deep suspision.
Having persuaded her through the mud we spent a very pleasant 45 minutes exploring the field. I just let her go wherever the mood took her and she was generally fine. She did react when I gelding (P) in a neighbouring field came at her with her ears back, but other than that all went pretty well. She even trotted towards dogs playing ball in another field to watch them. As it was getting cold I decided that as a field introduction it had gone fairly well and it was time to leave. Then the trouble started.
As we left the field, with more problems at the mud both P and a horse on the other side of the track came at her with head low and ears back. She absolutely flipped. She ran for the yard with me in tow until I could slow her down a bit. I needed to close the fence as it powers the electric to the other fields. She was unhappy to stay in the area. P sensing weakness mounted multiple charges which I had to fend off by driving him away. Filly was now very high on adrenalin and took sometime to settle down, whilst my fingers throbbed having been caught in a coil of rope. To cap it all she even knocked my hat off, an unforgivable crime !
At least we now know exactly what the problem is. She severely over reacts to any aggression from other horses. I am sure that all P expected was for this precocious Filly to yield away a bit but was delighted to find what effect a minor charge could have and so repeated the exercise.
I now have the problem as to how to get her confident around other horse. Last year she was in a field, but only with a very old, small pony which she could dominate. This did nothing to increase her horse sense.
We have started socialising her with Bonitao whilst she is in her box. He is so patient with her. She does not know how to groom properly and just licks him. He is trying to get to nibble her gently as all horses do. But if he tries she again severely overreacts as if he is trying to attack her. He seems to understand the problem and really gently licks her moving onto very light nibbles. Slowly she is getting better, but I fear this process is going to take a very long time.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

A new project horse

Just kidding. But we have been made the godparents of a lovely little miniature Shetland Pony Stallion belonging to one of the workers at the yard. I feel very honoured that we have been chosen to look after the little guy should there be a problem.
We did get a chance to play with him for a while today. Great fun. He really has the mind of a 17hh stallion in a rather small body.
Cue cute photos

Wonder if he could be house trained :-)

Thursday 10 March 2011

No Bucks

Another day of riding Billy. Whilst it was a much better day than yesterday I find surprisingly little to report. The plan was followed again and we found a little sticky spot getting Billy confident trotting on a right circle during the prepare to ride section. Soon fixed however by throwing in some travelling circles and change of circle direction.
We have now moved up a stage in the plan to "Follow the Rail". Billy was very happy to go forward today with virtually no sticky spots. We also followed the rail in both directions which I had not attempted yesterday not wishing to jeopardise the progress we had made.
I guess a few comments on "Follow the Rail" are in order. The aim is to get the horse to live up to its responsibilities of 1) Maintain gait (walk in this case), 2)Maintain direction (keep walking around the edge of the school in the same direction). As these are the horses responsibilities it is my job to only interfere IF a responsibility is broken. Thus I will only adjust the direction with the reins IF Billy fails to stay on the rail (edge of the school). At the corners I direct a turn initially by looking in the direction we should turn, then twisting my body so that my belly button points in the new direction, then use leg pressure to ask for the turn, and finally if required a direct rein. For gait I will only interfere IF he (in this case) stops or trots. The ultimate aim is get a complete lap with no interference from me at all with him maintaining gait and following my focus for directional control. We are not there yet, needing lots of directional adjustment, but it did improve during the session.
Like it says in the title there were no bucks at all today, it all being very gentle and confident. I feel the little bucks only occur when he gets frustrated not understanding what it is I am asking. They are not designed to get me off, just to get me communicate with him better. That after all is what Natural Horsemanship is about, communication.

Good day with Billy

Finally I was fit enough and had Ritchie around on the same day. Time to put another ride on Billy.
Again I religiously followed the plan (see link on right). Everything went really really well. In the prepare to ride section I did loads of zone 3 driving again, which was very relaxed and confident. This gave me confidence in turn that the riding section would go well. Just to check his tendency to buck I asked him to go over a very small jump with the saddle on, which he popped over like a dream. He is a bit clumsy with his feet still and did knock it down on the second attempt, but unfazed still continued to jump after this knock. On the circle his direction changes are becoming amazing, so light in the porcupine game with the halter. Lateral flexions were added to the pre-flight check stage, and are as a matter of course now.
He willingly came up to the mounting block and stood there very calmly with almost no input from me. Mounted from the right side this time as that is what he voluntarily offered. Stepped up and down a few times keeping all my weight in one stiirrup. I don't want a repeat of the saddle slipping I had on Bonitao recently, it hurts !
Once on we stood still for a few seconds and relaxed before I asked for lateral flexions. As on the ground very light.
Asking Billy to move forwards has always been a challenge, so just to test his confidence Ritchie lead him around the school with a 22 foot rope with me acting as passenger. No problems at all. Lead rope off and I asked for forwards. Small buck, and I mean small. Direct rein to unstick his front feet and I get a few paces then stuck again. More direct rein to get him moving again, stuck again. Try indirect rein, a bit difficult to get, a few paces of walk and then stuck again. This is a repeat of previous sessions and is getting us nowhere but frustrated.
Remembering the phrase "If you always do what you have always done you'll always get what you've always gotten" I decided we need a completely new tactic.
To start I got Ritchie to walk around in front of us, no lead rope. He willingly followed her with ears pricked and confident. Snag was ears were pointing at her not me. He was in effect ignoring me. Could I use this following behaviour to my advantage and get him to listen to me at least a bit.
I asked Ritchie for a savvy string. In Pats level 2 freestyle video the phases he uses to get forward motion where 1) Lift up reins and extend arm forwards 2) Smile with all four cheeks 3) Squeeze with the legs 4) Smootch a kiss noise 5) Swing a savvy string around his back so it hits him not the horse.
Well phase 1 to 4 were not working and I had been a bit reluctant to use phase 5 on a green horse, but then his Standstill section is really good now with way more commotion than a savvy string being waved about. With Ritchie in front of me ready to lead off I went up the phases and we had motion with a small buck at phase 5. Ritchie walking on ahead kept the walk going. We did an entire circuit of the school in this fashion with the odd string swing to keep things going. He did do another few light bucks, but soon settled down. After a while I got Ritchie to stop and just continued on past. A few sticky spots around the school where he tended to stop, one stop for a very relaxed poop and we were confidently walking the rail. We must have done 3 or 4 laps on our own the last ones with a nicely lowered head and relaxation. Not that I was looking at his head of course, I was maintaining a strong focus in the direction I was going (that should avoid a fine for not focussing from James Roberts next time I see him!). The advantage of a training partner is, if they can read horses, they can give verbal feedback on progress.
Finally I turned down the length of the school to stop in the middle and sighed to a stop, at which point he gave a small buck. After all this time getting him going he was annoyed when we stopped. I could not allow this so asked for a few more steps of walk, sighed to a stop again (no pressure on the reins at all). On stopping he gave a huge adrenalin release snort. My cue to get off to reward the relaxation. After dismounting I quickly released the girth as a further comfort giving reward and made a good fuss of him.
In many ways I would count this as his first real ride where he accepted a rider. Before we were really in the accept a human phase working towards accept a rider, but not there. As a result this is a real big deal for the both of us, I hope that it continues as easily.

Wednesday 9 March 2011

Liberty fun with Filly

I got home after a very long flight from Dar Es Salaam, so having had little sleep for 36 hours thought a gentle liberty session with Filly was in order. I took her to the indoor school noticing that she was even more mouthy than usual. Taking off her rug she immediately started to groom herself and had a long roll. I scratched where she had started and mounds of hair came off.
It then occurred to me that she had started moulting before I left 4 days ago, because she does not go in a field at the moment she never has her rug removed and so had not been able to groom herself to get rid of the winter coat. She must have been itching like hell. Her mouthing was a desperate plea to get me to groom her. I dashed to get a stiff brush and made a start. Enough hair to "stuff a pillow" came off while she kept moving to indicate the next bit to be done. This must have been heaven for her, but made me sneeze a lot.
Again this has reinforced for me that if your horse is acting "badly" then rather than just blame them look for an underlying cause. It may be them desperately trying to communicate to you, and probably getting frustrated when you don't understand what in their eyes is such a simple request.
After a long session of grooming it was back to the serious business of playing. To start we just did some circling game, but with 4 days of pent up energy to use it was fast and exciting with loads of exuberant bucks, broncs, kicks. I just stood in the middle laughing and showing that I was enjoying it as well. Her body language gave off pure fun. In particular her ears where mobile, with one on me, and her eyes soft, not stary. Thus I knew this was just exuberance, not dominance or fear. With some difficulty I could even get changes of direction which meant she was still paying some attention to me. But what changes !! Great leaps into the new circle.
As she settled down the circles became controlled and very, well, circular. I have seen this pattern before, as the adrenalin falls she circles very tight on me at canter or trot. I like this as it shows her strong connection to me, although some of the circles can get a bit adjacent causing me to remind her of my personal space bubble. Eventually with the slightest bow of my head she hind quarter disengages and stands facing me or by my side. This is a dangerous period from my point of view. After a minute or two she nearly always gives a great adrenalin releasing snotty snort. You don't want to be in the way or it is home to wash the hair again !!
We then played loads of stick to me at walk and trot. I can't run fast enough for canter. Her stops where almost slide stops. From trot I give a notice of stopping by inhaling deeply and then relaxing to a stop as I exhale. If I stop suddenly having given her this notice she snaps to a stop alongside. Looks at me with the obvious request "more, this is fun".
I also worked on her draw at liberty. I have been concerned that she is getting a little head shy. If I put my hand up to stroke her head she snaps at me. I needed to gain her trust with the head again as well. Facing her I backed away and asked her to follow me keeping both eyes on me. If her head turned such that I could not see both eyes I used my carrot stick with a bag on the end to gently drive her head around so that I had both eyes again. Backing away of course reinforces the fact that I am not acting in a predatory way, whilst the driving shows that I am still being particular about what we are doing. On stopping I gently raised my hand to stroke her forehead. If she tried to nip I just evaded, if necessary using the carrot stick to drive her head to give me both eyes and tried to stoke again. The transformation after 5 minutes was incredible. She was following my every turn with a brilliant draw (at liberty remember), on stopping I could gently stroke her forehead whilst she lightly nibbled my coat at worst. I very gently discouraged even this of course.
All in all a fun session. Not making the progress I would like to make with her towards riding, but then her size and my weight don't lend themselves to that anyway. Building a strong relationship is the best I can really do for now, but this should help in the long term in any case. Trying to keep her sane whist she is confined is actually quite an achievement in itself at present.

Friday 4 March 2011

Falling off Bonitao

Since a couple of falls a few weeks ago, due partly to my lack of balance and largely the saddle slipping I have been toying with the idea of practising emergency dismounts. I tried a couple a few nights ago but decided to really practise last night. Rather than use one of the youngsters we decided to use Bonitao, Ritchie's horse. I was a little apprehensive, but with a couple of the girls from the yard (who now think I am truly nuts) watching felt I had to go for it. I have to say it was actually kind of fun. Bonitao looked more amused than worried as both Ritchie and I repeatedly got on and threw ourselves off. I won't describe the technique here but those interested will find a short chapter in GaWaNi PonyBoy's book "Horse Follow Closely" on how to do it. A book, by the way, I thoroughly recommend. Being a pilot I fully subscribe to the saying "Prepare for the inevitable, the probable, the possible and the unthinkable". It just seems common sense to me to have an emergency procedure practised that might, just might, help save my hide someday. I am slightly surprised at how many people don't do this sort of thing.
Back to the youngsters.
I have played with both in the last few days, mostly just fun things with Filly. For example we spent ages playing with a low jump circling online the other night. Again I used the approach to the jump as a kind of question box, deciding just a few strides before the jump if she was to jump it, stop, go around it etc. This makes it fun for her and teaches her to keep asking me questions. To add spice I laid a few poles on the ground at other parts of the circle to really keep her thinking. By the look on her face we both had a lot of fun and her attitude to me is noticeably changing as a result of these games. She seems to be regarding me as more of a leader and is more respectful. I guess you only really ask questions of a leader after all, not a subordinate.
All these games are of course played as part of the prepare to ride section of the plan. Just because I can't ride her (I'm too heavy) does not mean that the discipline of the plan is not followed. I cannot stress enough how this allows me to analyse what parts of the plan are broken if I have a problem and easily fix them compared with my old scatter gun method where it was difficult to see what was wrong, let alone how to fix it.
To aid in the riding, when it eventually happens, I have been doing loads of zone 3 driving. This is like leading but I walk alongside her and guide her from abeam where I would sit on a saddle. The carrot stick is laid across her withers in a neutral friendly position if all is going well. If she tries to cut in front of me then the stick (with a bag on the end) is used to front quarter drive her onto a straight line again. If she falls behind then the stick is lifted above her rump (phase one) and then in phases waved up and down, then tapping more and more firmly until she moves up to the right position again. Her responsibility is to maintain station (gait), and maintain direction. If she does this then the stick stays neutral, if not then it is used to remind her of her responsibilities (note this emphasis rather than using it for punishment). Should she try to turn away from me then pressure on the lead rope keeps her straight.
To guide her where to go I use the power of focus. I look in the direction I wish to travel in and fix my eyes on a spot on the wall. Just prior to a turn I look in the new direction as a phase one ask for the turn. If all goes well that is all I need to do, if not other forces are bought into play as above. Even if she blocks my view by turning across me I still maintain my directional focus, keep walking in that direction and correct as required with the stick using my peripheral vision. If she manages to get me to break focus she wins that round of the game.
The purpose of this game is many fold. It teaches her to maintain gait, maintain direction and look where she is going, it teaches me to use the natural power of focus. It also puts her in a position of being out in front, but still accepting me as the leader as would happen when riding.
Last night a special thing happened. She voluntarily moved forwards putting me in zone 5 (behind her tail). She still readily accepted my direction and we had a great time zone 5 driving. Even halts were snappy. At times she amazes me with her sudden spurts of learning. It really seems that learning occurs in a plateau/jump system rather than steady continuous progress. The jumps make it all worthwhile.
I have been doing similar games with Billy. He seemed to have pulled a muscle in the field recently so I have not been riding him. However my riding experience suggested that he did not understand what a tickle with my hand on his rump meant, resulting in a few little bucks. Using the plan I could work out that zone 3 driving needed fixing. As expected when I tapped his rump with the carrot stick to ask him to go forwards he bucked. This is not naughtiness, he just did not understand what I meant. After lots of zone 3 driving, with a light tap just as we moved off, he now associates the tap with "move forwards" and the frustrated bucks have all but disappeared. Tonight we had some really good driving game, even at trot, with some very smart trot to halt transitions.
Some more of the plan is now written up. All the boxes to "Indirect/Direct Rein" are now completed, with some editing still left to be done. I am away in Dar Es Salaam for the next four days so no updates, but maybe some more plan completed.