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.
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.
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