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 !!
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 !!
1 comment:
Awesome pictures :-)
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