A chilled Filly

Saturday 13 December 2014

Strength to strength

Filly is now doing really well. Over just the last two weeks her feet have noticeably changed in shape, particularly the sole. All the feet are becoming much more concave (which is what we want) and the frogs are looking stronger and stronger. I wonder if this is because the hoof wall growth that started when she was at Rockley farm has nearly reached the ground. Hoof growth starts at the coronet band of course. Once started it then moves down the hoof as new hoof growth occurs. Exactly like a finger nail on humans. So although the changes in angle and density were started at Rockley we have had to be patient for them to get to the ground. They changes are not at the ground yet, there are several months growth still needed for that, but I think that as they are getting close to the sole they are influencing the way the sole is forming.

So we are back to playing properly with less concern for her lameness. I make sure no movements make her lame of course, but the range of things we can do are growing rapidly.
Yesterday we worked on her responsibilities on a circle. She was maintaining gait ok but her direction was not good. She was making ovals rather than circles. The classic circling game of standing still in the middle only happens when she is keeping her responsibilities. My standing still is actually her reward for doing the circle well. If she doesn't keep her responsibilities up then I will do whatever is needed as lightly as I can to correct her. Yesterday that meant spending a fair amount of time where I had to turn with her and correct her movement. But I was always looking for the slightest opportunity to go back into neutral and stand still in the middle thus rewarding her for her good performance.
The balance of when to correct and how firmly is of course the key to this and only comes with experience. It takes practice for both you and the horse. The "game" you are playing with the horse is getting the horse to work out what to do in order for the human to remain in neutral at the center of the circle.

I was watching a video of Pat Parelli the other day and he noted that the big mistake many make is not doing enough circling with their horses. He expects his to do forty (yes 40 !) laps at walk, trot or canter whilst maintaining gait, maintaining direction and looking where they are going. That's quite a standard to set us students to emulate.

As Filly needs lots of work on a circle at the moment to build muscle and also stimulate the hoof to promote its growth this is a perfect opportunity for us to get this really good. We also have a purpose for doing it. Not only to get her responsibilities stronger but to get her physically stronger.

Performing any game with the horse without a purpose is actually counter productive. The horse knows from are body language that we are doing it just to have something to do and without a real purpose and like a human would they resent being pushed around without reason. And when they resent you they loose respect for you and your leadership and either become dull and unresponsive or intractable depending on their particular horsenality.

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