It's been a few days since the last blog, but that does not mean nothing has been happening. Quite the reverse.
Filly gave the perfect lesson to one of the stable girls, "W", a couple of days ago. We started with some more zone 3 driving which went so well I decided it was time to teach the "Catch me game". I felt this might help W in her day to day work of bringing the horses in. Some horses can be difficult to catch using traditional techniques.
Filly knows this game, but W doesn't. The psychology behind it is simple really. Let the horse off the halter in a reasonable sized arena and observe it's behaviour. If it moves away or ignores you, make a game out of it, start stalking it like a predator aiming to tag it with the carrot stick and string on it's rump. So look menacing like a cat, bend forward, stare at the hind quarters and stalk. However if the horse pays any attention to you at all, like pointing an ear or eye towards you, straighten up turn away by the shortest direction and walk away casually. This makes use of the Psychology of Causing the Wrong action/behaviour difficult and uncomfortable (moving away from person) and the right thing easy and comfortable (moving towards to be with the person). Use peripheral vision to keep an eye on the horse, or a helper to give you information. As soon as the horse stops paying attention circle around to stalk the hind quarters again. Getting a tap with the stick/string is the aim, but reading the horse and turning away at the right moment is the skill.
Gradually ask for more than just the attention of an ear, wait for both eyes before turning away. Then wait for a step towards you and so on. This again is the principle of successive approximation. We want the horse to follow us "at heel" around the school, but we start with just an ear.
Anyway Filly was a wonderful teacher. She did not wait for W to get the timing or stalking perfect, but required her to show sufficient skill that Filly could give her the reward without feeling too generous. Soon they were trotting round the school together with a proper bond. Even Liberty circling game went well, and remember this was Ws 4th or 5th go at playing using the principles of natural horsemanship. She texted us the next day to say that with no prompting Filly had followed her across her field as she went to clean the water troughs. Don't forget principle number 7 "Humans teach horses and horses teach humans".
Now to a more serious topic, the anatomy lesson. Billy somehow got trapped in wire 2 days ago. He managed to seriously injure both back legs. One had a 6 inch by 2 inch flap of skin hanging down and the other had a nasty looking slice into the fetlock joint. The slice whilst visually smaller was the more worrying as it could have let an infection into the joint, which would have been very very serious indeed. Obviously the vet was called and we were lucky to get one of the best equine vets in the area turn up. An inspection showed that he had not damaged his extensor tendon. The vet injected fluid into the side of the fetlock joint to see if any liquid was forced out of the wound indicating a puncture of the joint. To our relief none appeared. Lots and lots of stitches later things looked better and a large bandage was applied to both legs. Yesterday he was reluctant to move his hind legs at all to the extent that he would not walk to his hay net. The vet arrived to change the dressing and inject some more antibiotics. They made him walk outside and once moving he walked with virtually no lameness. I think the reluctance to move was just a loss of confidence in being able to. Something I can relate to with my hip injury. Lots of TLC given to Billy surely helped to him acting and feeling a lot brighter later on. Today he was moving much better, but has been given so many treats he is tending to mug anyone who passes his stable. We are not out of the woods yet with him, but I feel more confident than I did two days ago.
Filly gave the perfect lesson to one of the stable girls, "W", a couple of days ago. We started with some more zone 3 driving which went so well I decided it was time to teach the "Catch me game". I felt this might help W in her day to day work of bringing the horses in. Some horses can be difficult to catch using traditional techniques.
Filly knows this game, but W doesn't. The psychology behind it is simple really. Let the horse off the halter in a reasonable sized arena and observe it's behaviour. If it moves away or ignores you, make a game out of it, start stalking it like a predator aiming to tag it with the carrot stick and string on it's rump. So look menacing like a cat, bend forward, stare at the hind quarters and stalk. However if the horse pays any attention to you at all, like pointing an ear or eye towards you, straighten up turn away by the shortest direction and walk away casually. This makes use of the Psychology of Causing the Wrong action/behaviour difficult and uncomfortable (moving away from person) and the right thing easy and comfortable (moving towards to be with the person). Use peripheral vision to keep an eye on the horse, or a helper to give you information. As soon as the horse stops paying attention circle around to stalk the hind quarters again. Getting a tap with the stick/string is the aim, but reading the horse and turning away at the right moment is the skill.
Gradually ask for more than just the attention of an ear, wait for both eyes before turning away. Then wait for a step towards you and so on. This again is the principle of successive approximation. We want the horse to follow us "at heel" around the school, but we start with just an ear.
Anyway Filly was a wonderful teacher. She did not wait for W to get the timing or stalking perfect, but required her to show sufficient skill that Filly could give her the reward without feeling too generous. Soon they were trotting round the school together with a proper bond. Even Liberty circling game went well, and remember this was Ws 4th or 5th go at playing using the principles of natural horsemanship. She texted us the next day to say that with no prompting Filly had followed her across her field as she went to clean the water troughs. Don't forget principle number 7 "Humans teach horses and horses teach humans".
Now to a more serious topic, the anatomy lesson. Billy somehow got trapped in wire 2 days ago. He managed to seriously injure both back legs. One had a 6 inch by 2 inch flap of skin hanging down and the other had a nasty looking slice into the fetlock joint. The slice whilst visually smaller was the more worrying as it could have let an infection into the joint, which would have been very very serious indeed. Obviously the vet was called and we were lucky to get one of the best equine vets in the area turn up. An inspection showed that he had not damaged his extensor tendon. The vet injected fluid into the side of the fetlock joint to see if any liquid was forced out of the wound indicating a puncture of the joint. To our relief none appeared. Lots and lots of stitches later things looked better and a large bandage was applied to both legs. Yesterday he was reluctant to move his hind legs at all to the extent that he would not walk to his hay net. The vet arrived to change the dressing and inject some more antibiotics. They made him walk outside and once moving he walked with virtually no lameness. I think the reluctance to move was just a loss of confidence in being able to. Something I can relate to with my hip injury. Lots of TLC given to Billy surely helped to him acting and feeling a lot brighter later on. Today he was moving much better, but has been given so many treats he is tending to mug anyone who passes his stable. We are not out of the woods yet with him, but I feel more confident than I did two days ago.
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