Second session with Mini and Ritchie came to watch. On arriving at the yard we found we were short of a halter of the correct size to fit Mini. So we took the halter I used to use on Billy, a 17.1 thoroughbred and with a few well placed extra knots we had a nice halter that was Mini size.
Mini is a bit of an escape artist, so he was not found in his expected field, but grazing happily with a couple of mares. On entering the field it was obvious he did not wish to be caught. I eventually worked my way close enough and was about to place the halter on when Mini showed a new trick and lifted the electrified tape with his nose and ducked under to the next field. I assumed that electric must be off so ducked through myself. Wrong, the electric was on and I got a nice shock. Having showed me his trick he was happy to be caught.
We moved to a different field to play which gave me the opportunity to establish a forward walk, achieved by walking briskly and with focus.
Having spent much of the last session just asking for forwards I decided it was time to establish some of the other gaits, in particular backup. He was not at all happy to be pushed in this direction and made it very apparent. Patience and mixing driving with wiggles on the rope and driving with the carrot stick and bag finally got a few steps of backup with impulsion. Key to this was the timing of the phases. I suggested with a gentle wiggle on the rope and then when there was no response, or defiance, quickly brought my energy up and drove with more body energy, walking into his space and driving with the stick and bag. I want him to respond to the start of the suggestion, not 30 seconds into it, so I want him to connect the start of the suggestion with a strong aversive stimuli following soon after. In this way he'll eventually think "I know what comes after the suggestion, so I had better go now". This timing of phases of pressure is something I really work on within myself so get it more effective.
We then moved onto some circling exercises. I found he was rather heavy on the head-collar with probably around 2 or 3 pounds of pressure in my hand. To counter this I could just pull on the rope, but he would probably just push even harder. Much better is to influence the other zones so that the head naturally bends around towards the center of the circle. Proved very effective and soon the pressure was at least halved. Not the 4 ounces I eventually would wish for, but well on the way.
As this is Grand National Day I thought I would add a link to an interesting website http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/. If that number of jockeys were dying in pursuit of the sport would the sport be tolerated. Are we being a little chauvinistic to think that the death of the horse is somehow less worthy of feelings of sadness and guilt than that of the jockey. Just a thought.
Mini is a bit of an escape artist, so he was not found in his expected field, but grazing happily with a couple of mares. On entering the field it was obvious he did not wish to be caught. I eventually worked my way close enough and was about to place the halter on when Mini showed a new trick and lifted the electrified tape with his nose and ducked under to the next field. I assumed that electric must be off so ducked through myself. Wrong, the electric was on and I got a nice shock. Having showed me his trick he was happy to be caught.
We moved to a different field to play which gave me the opportunity to establish a forward walk, achieved by walking briskly and with focus.
Having spent much of the last session just asking for forwards I decided it was time to establish some of the other gaits, in particular backup. He was not at all happy to be pushed in this direction and made it very apparent. Patience and mixing driving with wiggles on the rope and driving with the carrot stick and bag finally got a few steps of backup with impulsion. Key to this was the timing of the phases. I suggested with a gentle wiggle on the rope and then when there was no response, or defiance, quickly brought my energy up and drove with more body energy, walking into his space and driving with the stick and bag. I want him to respond to the start of the suggestion, not 30 seconds into it, so I want him to connect the start of the suggestion with a strong aversive stimuli following soon after. In this way he'll eventually think "I know what comes after the suggestion, so I had better go now". This timing of phases of pressure is something I really work on within myself so get it more effective.
We then moved onto some circling exercises. I found he was rather heavy on the head-collar with probably around 2 or 3 pounds of pressure in my hand. To counter this I could just pull on the rope, but he would probably just push even harder. Much better is to influence the other zones so that the head naturally bends around towards the center of the circle. Proved very effective and soon the pressure was at least halved. Not the 4 ounces I eventually would wish for, but well on the way.
As this is Grand National Day I thought I would add a link to an interesting website http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/. If that number of jockeys were dying in pursuit of the sport would the sport be tolerated. Are we being a little chauvinistic to think that the death of the horse is somehow less worthy of feelings of sadness and guilt than that of the jockey. Just a thought.
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