When You Find A Dead End

When you find a dead end, try the other door.

No, I'm serious.

If one aspect of being with your horse is getting nowhere, work instead on improving the other aspects.

For me, this means just chilling and bonding with Beauty, enough of all that riding stress for now. Instead, I'll go hang out with her and maybe give her massages, and take her on walks with me. :D

And because I know that our relationship won't fix all the issues with riding her and not wanting to, I'll continue riding...on other horses!

So going back to the basics on a horse that won't try to run away with me and will show me which of my riding needs work. Without running away with me. \o/

From that horse, Splash, I'll eventually go to Tia, who'll help me to refine and stretch those calf muscles.

Perhaps you've got a horse that does awful in-hand? And because of the mutual stress that occurs when you two do such, you'd rather not work the horse at all? Instead of not working the horse at all, try something new. Change things up a bit. Learn how to give horses massages and try that. Braid your horses mane. Take your horse on walks with you. Just try to get that stress gone and return to being best buds with your horse. :)

Pressure

Use as little pressure as possible; as much pressure as needed.

Recently I've been reading books on horse training and psychology. One if the main concepts is how you view pressure; an interesting thing both physically and mentally.

The books I'm referring to are "Nature in Horsemanship: Discovering Harmony Through Principles of Aikido" by Mark Rashid, and another book written by one of Rashid's apprentices (I can't remember the title; sorry).

We all know what pressure is; either in the form of being dragged across a slippery grass field by a horse, or that mental feeling where you *must* get something done and can't ignore it.

So, let me give you a tip for understanding pressure in relationships and also training. This is: Use as little pressure as possible; as much pressure as needed.

There you go. I've recently re-discovered this after the horse I have decided she would stop lunging by turning towards me; a position you can't drive a horse from. The solution? Watching the horse's hip *very closely* and getting after her with the lunge whip and strong verbal commands.

I didn't really like it. As folks who know me will say, I'm pretty softhearted and not very aggressive. But sometimes it takes aggressiveness to reach the point where both parties are safe and compliant.

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I'm double-posting this on my personal blog, take a look.

Heads or Tails?

Or, rather, heads or shoulders? Lately it has seemed Feather would prefer to give me her shoulder than head, which isn't all that awesome when I'm trying to halter her.

MiniOwner suggested I try something new: spend a training session or two without the halter; showing her that I'm not out to hurt her and she doesn't need to be head-shy.

Today I didn't have the time or light to work with the filly - instead I helped clean most of the stalls in one of the barns! Which wasn't bad; it's nice to muck some stalls! Not all the time, of course, but occasionally. :)

Anyway, I was able to do this with Feather last Saturday. She moseyed over to me as usual, and after a few minutes of scratching she let me gently hug her head towards me. I had one hand on the far side of her face (not squeezing the bridge of her nose), and as soon as she gave in to the slight pressure I would release some of it. The other hand kept scratching her and encouraging her when she gave the right answer. After a few moments her head would  wander away from me, thus I would gently cue it towards me again. We did this back and forth for about 20 minutes.

I'm hoping she'll remember it the next time we work. I don't really like returning to the basics, but at the same time I know it is important and for a horse to be head-shy is not cool, at all.

I'll let you know as more things progress. 'Night :)

Bites

It was a cold and windy Saturday. Much windier than usual. At about four-thirty in the afternoon I arrived at the new barn and grabbed up Feather's halter and lead. As with the previous times, she didn't want to be caught. I got her somewhat cornered in the shelter and had her stopped with the lead around her neck, but *every time* I lifted the halter she turned her head away. Which makes it really difficult when you don't have four hands!

Five minutes of her game and still no results. Finally she let me halter her when MiniOwner brought her hay down. (And no, Feather did not get to eat until after we were done working.)

Once haltered, Feather behaved decently. She didn't mind the wind at all, which was a nice surprise; but I didn't feel she would follow me without the lead, and thus didn't attempt it. A bit annoying that I haven't been able to do what I did awhile ago with her lately, but ah well. We've returned to a slow start and reviewing the basics.

Since it seemed Feather felt unwilling to do all I asked of her, we didn't do anything extreme. I led her up and down the slight hill, occasionally halting her and squaring her up. She still doesn't like it when I first reach for her lips to "show teeth", but that doesn't worry me.

Things had been going fine until I stopped her and was asking her to back. She had remembered that hay, lovely sweet hay, waiting for her in the feeder, and wanted to go pay it a visit instead of backing for me. She became mad and impatient and decided the best way to deal with that was to bite the side of my jeans!

It didn't hurt much, but as soon as my brain registered what happened she got a firm "no" and a slap on the jaw. Yes, it's not the kindest, but if a horse doesn't receive discipline for things like biting the horse will start to walk all over humans. Obviously I don't want that happening with this yearling!

After she realized biting was the wrong answer, she still backed for me. Even after being disciplined she still should do what I had asked her to, so I re-asked and she did it (yay!).

Following that we did more leading, halting, and backing. She bit my jacket sleeve twice in an attempt to let me let her go eat sooner. Didn't work! Both times she got in trouble for it and also did what I had asked of her.

I'm really hoping things will go better for us this Tuesday. I don't mind the biting much (that should be simple to fix), but it kinda sucks when she doesn't listen and I feel we're not progressing much. On the other hand, she's a yearling, has a short attention span, and could have been having a bad day. That doesn't give reason for her to bite, but does offer a few possible reasons the last training sessions haven't been amazing.

Planning to keep things slow again this next time, but hopefully we can work on showing teeth and working with her hooves. Wish me luck!

Yes, We Are Going to Move Forwards

Feather and I had a few discussions today. She was certain that when she wanted to halt she could do just that. I needed to convince her otherwise.

I wasn't able to persuade the filly by myself, though. I had attempted a few times with urging, kissing, and spanking her rump (she ignored it), but unsuccessfully. After realizing my plan of action wasn't working, I had MiniOwner aid me in my persuasion conquest. It took quite a few spanks to the Feather's rump, but finally she grasped the idea!

Just as when I started training Angel, Feather doesn't want to listen to me unless MiniOwner is around. Oh well. That will change with time - I just need more hours with her. To start, though, I will need MiniOwner to back my training and help persuade the filly that what I'm asking of her is the right answer.

Once Feather understood that her idea wasn't as pleasant as mine, things greatly improved! Especially after I brushed her down and we had some peaceful time.

Oh yeah, it was kind of funny. I was grooming Feather next to an empty feed tub, and decided to see how she would react to me rubbing it against her side. I grabbed it up, let her sniff and eye it (even though she already is familiar with it), and then proceeded to gently rub it along her barrel.

She seemed completely fine with me doing this so I started rubbing it along her sides more eagerly. She didn't care. I slid it up her neck, against her chest, down the top of her legs. She still didn't care. I even set it on her rump and she gave it no attention. This filly is seriously WHAT-THE-HECK-AND-WHO-CARES about new things. She is awesome.

Training stats for what we're working on
Leading: Needs some work, but she's improving quickly! Next goal is to have her start following me without hesitance.

Backing: She's about 70% of the way done learning this! I turn to face her hindquarters and then start moving towards her and she just backs. No hesitancy. However, we should start working on turning her while backing!

Turning on the hindquarters: This is a tricky movement that involves the horse's attention, precision, and knowing how to move their body in unnatural ways. Today Feather turned perfectly during 45 degrees of an attempt. I think she's slowly understanding the movement, it just needs practice!

Halting: This is good. :)

Squaring up: Feather is okay at this! Not great, but considering I've worked with her less than five times, she's doing awesomely. We need to work on her precision, but she has the concept straight.

Lungeline Jumping the Minis

I cannot remember if I already mentioned it or not, but when it was still nice and warm we lunged the minis. Over elevated cavaletti poles. It was fun!

The basic setup was easy, but it did require a lot of running (for both horse and handler) and the horses wearing either wraps or boots to protect their legs. Generally when lunging the handler should stay in one spot, but for this it was pretty essential to move around or the horses would be lazy and avoid the jumps.

When I recorded this (and that's my awesome horsey friend doing all the hard work!) Angel was on the lungeline, but sometimes during the session we would free-lunge them both. Free-lunging is lunging them without using a lungeline. :)

Adding More Time to Angel's Log

Actually, I don't really have a logbook of how long I work Angel, but I did work her for more than an hour today! It was really fun.

Haltering her was a girth (fine, cinch :P) as always, and she was really good today about not moving around while I'm cleaning her hooves. I start with her left hooves, and usually when I walk behind her to do the right hooves, she shifts her hind end away from me three steps or so. This time Angel didn't do it; yay!

Generally, I lunge Angel and walk her around a bit (maybe work on some basic trail concepts), but that's all. Today was a bit different in that respect as well! I hunt around for the lunge lines and lunge whip for a bit, but alas, no luck. For a bit I lunged Angel with the lead rope, but only at the walk and trot. However, for not having a lunge whip to cue her as well as usual, she did great! I am very pleased with her. :)

Well, I didn't lunge her for very long, what should we do now? I decided to work on turning, trotting, backing, sidepassing, and trotting figure-eight shapes around poles! It was so much fun. ^_^

Mostly I was leading her around at the trot, and just having fun with it (giving us both plenty of exercise). As we were trotting around, I would work on turning her to the right; something that can always be worked on. Anyway, it had been awhile since I had actually ran/run(?) with her, so it was great fun! A couple times she even broke into a canter. XD

We also worked on backing and sidepassing. Angel has never really had a problem with backing, and didn't today either. Sidepassing? She did a lot better than usual! /me is very happy with Angel's results for today

Anyway, there's a show the last weekend of this month, so that's exciting. I might see about dragging a photographer along with me too; if you're lucky then you'll have a 5% chance of seeing pictures. ;)

Time for bed now. Night, God bless. :)

English Schooling Class

Remember when I wrote this post? Here's the other part of it that I promised I'd write; the list of things one should do and remember when riding English.

• Keep sternum up.
• Keep lower back relaxed.
• Relax thighs.
• Lift inside shoulder up when turning to stay balanced.
• Hands to elbow should be lined up with the angle of the reins.
• Hands should stay above withers.
• Breath slowly, relaxed, and deeply. If you're relaxed, your horse should be, too.
• Do a reassessment of your overall posture before beginning the canter.
• Keep the canter consistent. If you start slow, keep it that way.
• When cantering, lower legs should not be flopping around.
• You should feel the weight of the stirrups on both sides.
• Never circle your horse in the show ring; you will be DQed for this. Do anything else to gain control of your horse, so long as it's "legal" and not super noticeable. One thing you could do would be to gently tug on the bit with alternate reins.
• Horses are somewhat like kids as far as training. If you ask a horse to do something, don't stop asking until the horse puts at least some effort into the requested task. If you let the horse get away with stuff, he'll turn out to be a brat horse that won't obey and will probably just cause problems. (Also, just how children sometimes need discipline, horses do as well. Just as a sidenote. :P)

Showmanship Schooling Class

Today Awhile ago was the schooling show, and I learned a lot about riding and showing! :) It was almost more like group lessons with different sections (English, Western, showmanship, reining, and so on) than a show, although the entrants were required to have a number paper.

Anyway, I'll share the showmanship stuff with you know, and save the English riding stuff for later.

For showmanship classes:

• You will be DQ'ed (disqualified) for touching the chain lead shank in the show ring.
• You will be DQ'ed for switching hands on the lead.
• You won't be DQ'ed, but your score will be marked down for putting both hands on the part of the lead rope closest to the horse to gain control.
• The mane should always be gelled down and banded. Mane should preferably be the length of the horse's ear, or long and trimmed to emphasize the shape of the horse's neck.
• The tail should be down and fetlock-length (any longer than that will mean the horse steps on it when he's backing).
• Spend time getting clipping done right; some places you shouldn't miss are the head, nostrils, insides of ears, and lower legs (up till about the knees/hocks).
• There should be a definite difference between how you treat your horse when he does and does not have the chain lead shank on.
• Without: Your horse can graze (if you'll allow), be cuddled on, and everything is pretty much laid back.
• With: This means business. Your horse is paying attention to you the whole time, do not let him graze, do not cuddle him, do not let him do any other actions that will mark you down in the show ring, or get you DQ'ed.
• You and your horse should move as one, step for step. It is not you dragging your partner to the dance, it's both of you calmly going as a unit to the dance.
• Your horse should be trained to watch and follow your shoulder, and move/stop accordingly.
• You should have strictly set angles of standing and vocal commands for doing different things so your horse will know what you want.
• Before you walk off - Standing next to your horse, with your ear opposite his throat latch; clucking slightly before (need to give horse a heads up) and when you want him to start walking.
• Before you trot off - Standing next to him same as when walking; kiss or quickly cluck to signal a trot.
• Before you back - Standing next to him in same location, but facing his engine (hind quarters); clucking used same as previously.
• Before stopping - With some emphasis put your shoulders back to cue the stop; say whoa.
• Before setting up for inspection - Say whoa again so your horse knows not to move around (even though you will be).
• Know how the quartering system works (I'll write a post on it sometime!).
• Wear a good outfit that goes together well.
• The cowboy hat should not have too much contrast with your hair (a blonde such as myself shouldn't have a black hat, unfortunately).
• No jeans. Just...no.
• The jacket should be similar in color (if not the same color) as the pants.
• There should be nothing that pops out and distracts the judge from the horse. For example, don't have some bright neon markings on the bottom of your boots; this is the last thing the judges see as you are walking/trotting away, and it can very easily make them start trying to figure out what in the world that is, instead of watching your horse and yourself.
• Dress for your age range. For a younger person, bling is just fine. For an older person, don't dress like you're trying to be a teen. Use common sense.

That's all I have for know. I'm sure there are plenty of other things that I forgot to mention, but that'll get you started. :)

Tack Swap and Reggie

So! I know something happened today, but that can wait till later! Please just be patient. :)

This morning was the tack swap, and it was a lot of fun! I was awakened by the friendly alarm clock at 5:15, and was picked up an hour or so afterwards. Due to paying the $20-per-person fee for early tickets, we got in at 7 A.M., instead of 8. As only 100 people were allowed in early, and this was held at the tack swap, there was plenty of space for us to move around and find what we wanted.

I brought about $36, and pretty much spent it all on a pair of nice, black, leather show boots. Pictures will be coming sometime! I also got a very nice tough-cloth zip-shut bag travel bag for my show clothes. However, MiniOwner was really nice and offered to buy it for me, so I let her. :3

We were at the tack swap the majority of the day (from about 6:50 to noon?), just kinda wandering around. My parents wanted me to look for a bareback pad and also some helmets (which turns out we didn't need anyway :P), and I found a nice bareback pad for $35. It has a kind of rubber-y stuff on the bottom of it, and it's quite cool (even though it does look kinda 90's...).

After that, HorseFriend (my horsey friend that's my age), MiniOwner, MiniOwner'sMom, and I all crammed back into the silver 3/4 ton pickup and headed back to the barn. For the first hour or so we picked stalls, ate lunch, and watched horse lessons. After that, HorseFriend and I got the colts we're training.

HorseFriend is working on training Ruger, and for me, I get to work on Reggie! Which...well, after you lead him with the lead rope around his rump to the cross-ties he's pretty good, but I don't especially like exercising him. He's really rowdy, and I really don't have what it takes to bring him outside. More than once he tried to run away with me, and I was hopping around, trying to plant myself into the ground and keep him from pulling me any more. *sighs* It didn't go too well. (And yes, he is a mini, but a

However, I will say that when he's tied, he's a little sweetie. I was brushing him all over, sometimes slightly yanking on mud clods that were stuck to his hair, and he didn't seem to mind it at all. :) Also, when I picked his hooves, he was super good about it. :D

Anyway, *yawns* long day, but it was still a good one. More news is coming later, so just hold out till then. :)

Working with Angel

Last Thursday, MiniOwner and I realized that I really, really, really need to work on turning Angel away from me, instead of towards me. The problem with turning a horse towards you (like I had been doing) is that, after awhile, the horse will always try to get ahead of you - pull you, tromp past you, and just get in the way.

On Thursday I got to work with Angel on turning away from me, but it didn't seem to help that much by the end of the session. Today, however, she ended on a much better note! At first she was trying to lead me (as well as completely ignoring my cues), but then MiniOwner lunged her until she was quite tired, which helped tons. Afterwards, she was much better! She was listening, and actually let me get ahead of her to make her turn.

After working on turning her right (right as in both the opposite of left, and also right as in correctly) for some time, I worked on her sidepassing. Sidepassing has never been her forte, to put it simply. When she is happy she'll do it great at the barn, but at the shows she always thinks she can get out of it. And, I think she's right, as I don't discipline her in the show ring (because it'll get us DQ'ed).

However, my plan is that in the first trail course with sidepassing this year, if she misbehaves, I'll get after her. She needs to know that the show ring ≠ getting out of certain tasks she doesn't particularly like. If I get disqualified for it, I guess I lose ten bucks or so, and that's that.

Anyway, for a fair portion of the time I spent working with her on sidepassing, she was just paying attention to Milo (the dog). When she listened to me, though, she did pretty good! On the last time she did exceptionally well (for me not having done it with her for  along time) - not even bumping the pole once - so I decided to end it at that.

And as always, after a horse has a good training/working session, they should be rewarded. Usually this just means getting a quick grooming again, but today she also received some pieces of apple core. Angel Eyes really, really likes it when I have treats for her. ^_^

The point is, when you are leading a horse, do not make the same mistake I did and turn the horse towards you just because it's easier. It won't end well, guaranteed. Also, after a good training session with your horse (or even if your horse does something you ask of him exceptionally well), reward him. Not only does a well-trained horse need discipline, but also praise. (:

First Experiences

Since I don't have much else to share with you, I figured I may as well tell you about how important first experiences are, and some really really basic guidelines to training. Horses have a very good memory, and probably because they need to remember what is safe vs. dangerous for survival, God made them to remember their first experience with something. Training can slightly modify how an equine reacts to stimuli, and we want to make sure we train them right.

Note: With donkeys and especially mules, as well, they won't forgive you for mistreating them (unlike most horses), or causing them danger, so there's another reason to make sure you do it right the first time.

I'm presuming most of you know the basics of the right way to train a horse, but I'll see if I can remember a few basic principles (sorry if they flop, I'm terribly exhausted from a whole-day skiing venture). And yes, these basic guidelines should especially be noted when you're introducing a horse to something.

• Start young. The ideal time to start training a horse is right after birth, getting the foal accustomed to grooming, touching the sensitive areas (including the ears, up the nose, and around the private areas), clippers, crinkly plastic bags, and lots of other things. Training to lead will start soon, but not quite yet.
• Be persuasive, not coercive. Using the latter will result in horses obeying, but because of fear. And most likely, they'll just snap at some point, and it could ruin a horse with a lot of potential. I can't explain how to be persuasive in just a short paragraph, but there are books on horse training that will discuss it, and here's an example.
• You're lunging your horse, and cuing him to a trot. He knows the cue, but decides he wants to canter and buck a few times instead. You shout at him and attempt to stop him by popping the lunge whip in front of his head. It doesn't work, the horse freaks out, and runs the other direction from fear.
• You're lunging your horse, and cuing him to a trot. He knows the cue, but decides he wants to canter and buck a few times instead. Realizing that he isn't going to obey you by trotting, and you can't physically force a horse to obey, you keep him at a fast canter. Once he wants to stop, though, you still make him canter. This turns what the horse wanted to do into what you wanted to do, without physically or mentally harming him.
•  Realize what's natural for equine, and don't punish them for it. Equine have a lot more sensitive senses than we do, and horses are almost always on the lookout for danger. Just because you don't see anything dangerous, or you know better, doesn't mean your mount doesn't sense danger lurking nearby, and will react accordingly.