I have been continuing the exercises that were started during the lesson with Larisa. The main emphasis is still to get Filly to draw towards me with real energy and a lack of aggression on her face.
To balance these two requirements is very tricky. For example is she comes to me with real impulsion but a sour look on her face do I reward her? If I do then I am reinforcing that the attitude is ok. If I don't she will think "I put effort in and still did not get rewarded, so extra effort cannot be the right answer".
In practise I run backwards away from her, encouraging impulsion with a pull pressure on the lead rope and tags with the stick and string on her sides whilst studying her expression. As soon as I see her ears soften I stop and reward her. The snag is that she can twitch her ears faster than I can react so timing the reward of rest and a carrot can be hit and miss. The problem is missing an opportunity to reward her. If I miss such an opportunity I am inadvertently reinforcing the idea that softness is not the answer.
To mix things up a bit I am also continuing to work on her sideways game. Under Larisa's tutelage she suggested that I needed to get to the point where I could get her to drift out to the end of a 45 foot rope whilst I stand still and only use phase one (body energy only) and phase two (very very light use of stick and string wafted in her direction). The key is too walk to her and reward her with a treat as she moves further and further away. So on the first attempts I rewarded her for a quality step or two away from me. Slowly she has to go further and as of last night we were pretty much getting to the end of the 22 foot rope. Quality is the watch word here. I want lightness and straightness. By straightness I mean that if I pick a spot on the wall over her whithers then she should remain on that line. She tends to drift forwards, and if so I just wriggle the rope gently to get her back on line. In contrast to the draw exercises she is learning this game remarkably quickly.
To balance these two requirements is very tricky. For example is she comes to me with real impulsion but a sour look on her face do I reward her? If I do then I am reinforcing that the attitude is ok. If I don't she will think "I put effort in and still did not get rewarded, so extra effort cannot be the right answer".
In practise I run backwards away from her, encouraging impulsion with a pull pressure on the lead rope and tags with the stick and string on her sides whilst studying her expression. As soon as I see her ears soften I stop and reward her. The snag is that she can twitch her ears faster than I can react so timing the reward of rest and a carrot can be hit and miss. The problem is missing an opportunity to reward her. If I miss such an opportunity I am inadvertently reinforcing the idea that softness is not the answer.
To mix things up a bit I am also continuing to work on her sideways game. Under Larisa's tutelage she suggested that I needed to get to the point where I could get her to drift out to the end of a 45 foot rope whilst I stand still and only use phase one (body energy only) and phase two (very very light use of stick and string wafted in her direction). The key is too walk to her and reward her with a treat as she moves further and further away. So on the first attempts I rewarded her for a quality step or two away from me. Slowly she has to go further and as of last night we were pretty much getting to the end of the 22 foot rope. Quality is the watch word here. I want lightness and straightness. By straightness I mean that if I pick a spot on the wall over her whithers then she should remain on that line. She tends to drift forwards, and if so I just wriggle the rope gently to get her back on line. In contrast to the draw exercises she is learning this game remarkably quickly.
1 comment:
Hi Tim,
just wanted to say how much I enjoy your blog - I found it by googling how to motivate an LBI! after another less than successful with my horse. I seem to be working throught a lot of the same things although with a less extreme horse. I also wanted to say I really like how your organized the framework and play session into charts! That was really helpful! I think one of the things I need to work on is planning and goal setting so those were really great!
Thanks again !
Happy playing!
Julie and Hurricane
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