Many people don't ride their young horses until they are three. They are worried about making their horse lame. That is a legitimate reason to not ride until they are stronger and have stronger, more stable, bones. I think that you can start riding before that. I started riding my fillies when I thought they were ready. I prepared them the best I could, and when I felt they would accept someone on their back I got on. That's way simplified, but that's the jist of what happened. The first time I rode those fillies was the fall of last year. Granted someone was leading. It was a very short session. They were actually less than two years old. Throughout the winter we didn't do a whole lot of riding. When we did ride someone was leading. Through most of the winter we worked on ground driving, just waiting for them to get a little bigger. We sat on them and got them accustomed to someone on their back. Our legit riding didn't take place until the end of the winter. Still less than two years old. We kept riding times really short. Less than ten minutes, and we never did hard exercise. Mostly it was walking, with a little bit of trotting. We kept circle work to a bare minimum. Doing lots of circles with a growing horse is bad for their joints. They definitely needed to know how to do it, they didn't need to be superstars at it. At two years old we were working on cantering. Cantering was kept to a minimum. Still no lameness issues. We limited the amount of work we did with them so that we could proceed faster. Over the summer we did lots of trail rides. Our shortest trail ride was 20 minutes, and our longest is three hours. We do not work them really hard on the trails. Especially when we first started, we did very little cantering and trotting. Now we do quite a bit more of it, but they are stronger. We still don't do a whole lot of circles. We do work a little on circles, but we only do a couple of circles. We never drill it into them. Now I just want to say that our fillies are 2 1/2 and still have quite a bit of growing to do. They could still become lame, but we work to make sure they don't. The real test will be when they are five or six and still without lameness issues.
To sum this up if you want to start riding a horse early, keep things light and non-stressful.
That's my limited insight into riding young horses. I wish I had the experience of starting hundreds of foals. Unfortunately I don't. I could give you a more accurate and informed opinion on the subject if I did.
Prepare your Horse!
Lydia Johnson
Information. That's what this is about. Where to find it, and what I have learned. I can not claim to be an expert in the area of training horses, but I will try my best to be helpful.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
What a World of Personalities
This is about the different quirks each one of my horses have. I could be all "horsenality", but on some level that word bugs me, and on another it's not worth getting worked up about. Eh.
It's funny how each one of my horses can be so different.
Santana is my easy going horse, and doesn't need a lot of attention.
Misstack is my beautiful idiot, that is super sensitive to everything.
Ana is the hyper one that is a dream to ride when she's not hyper.
Toffy is the horse that gets scared really easily and doesn't have a whole lot of confidence.
Dash is my steady eddy, but gets bored really easily.
Frosty is the happy-go-lucky horse, and is super confident.
Coffie is the lazy horse that doesn't like doing work, but listens to what you say quite readily.
I love all of them. They are so fun to work with. Though honestly I like riding every horse I come across. I've discovered how to deal with each of their different quirks.
With Santana we just hang. He loves barrels and is totally fine with just riding around. Which is usually why I ride him last.
Misstack needs to pay attention to every little thing and noise. I've learned to pay attention with her and decide that it's okay.
Ana needs a voice telling her "easy".
Toffy needs to be rewarded for every little try, else she quits trying, but sometimes you need to urge her on just a little bit more.
For Dash I will set out random objects and we'll do something with them. If she thinks it's boring she won't do anything.
Frosty has a motto, "If I can bite it it's safe." I don't need to do a whole lot with her just because of that. She has a tendency to want to go fast.
For Coffie, the first time I worked with her I saw that lazy, bossy attitude in her right away. We made sure to never let her get away with being lazy and bossy.
It's funny how each one of my horses can be so different.
Santana is my easy going horse, and doesn't need a lot of attention.
Misstack is my beautiful idiot, that is super sensitive to everything.
Ana is the hyper one that is a dream to ride when she's not hyper.
Toffy is the horse that gets scared really easily and doesn't have a whole lot of confidence.
Dash is my steady eddy, but gets bored really easily.
Frosty is the happy-go-lucky horse, and is super confident.
Coffie is the lazy horse that doesn't like doing work, but listens to what you say quite readily.
I love all of them. They are so fun to work with. Though honestly I like riding every horse I come across. I've discovered how to deal with each of their different quirks.
With Santana we just hang. He loves barrels and is totally fine with just riding around. Which is usually why I ride him last.
Misstack needs to pay attention to every little thing and noise. I've learned to pay attention with her and decide that it's okay.
Ana needs a voice telling her "easy".
Toffy needs to be rewarded for every little try, else she quits trying, but sometimes you need to urge her on just a little bit more.
For Dash I will set out random objects and we'll do something with them. If she thinks it's boring she won't do anything.
Frosty has a motto, "If I can bite it it's safe." I don't need to do a whole lot with her just because of that. She has a tendency to want to go fast.
For Coffie, the first time I worked with her I saw that lazy, bossy attitude in her right away. We made sure to never let her get away with being lazy and bossy.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Trot....Trot... Keep Trotting
I found an exercise that is very useful for many things. I have no idea were I found it.
Take a loose hold of the reins, and get into a balanced position if you aren't already. Which most of you will know, but your heels are down, your back is straight, and your heels, hip, and shoulder line up. You should be able to look down your shoulder and see the heel of your boot. Then you ask your horse to trot. You can do this at the walk, but it is more effective at the trot. You can also do this at the canter, but it's safer at a trot. Basically your goal is to keep your horse at the speed you chose, and you let him go wherever he wants. LEAVE THE REINS ALONE. Unless you need to slow them down, or they do something stupid. You will do this exercise for as long as you want. I would suggest five minutes.
Now when a horse gets to decide where he gets to go, he will probably head toward a gate, or a "safe spot". And generally stay in that area. So your horse trots right up to the gate. Kiss and kick to keep him going, because he will stop. Don't stop kissing and kicking until your horse gets goin and leaves the gate. Your horse may need a little help from the reins. That's the only time you have permission to use the reins. But let him try to figure it out first. Basically he'll learn that he can't stop, so the gate isn't so much of a problem anymore.
Now while your horse is trotting around mostly you will do nothing, but try to stay on. Keep a center of balance and move with your horse. It teaches you to zig when he zigs, and zag, when he zags. Now for some reason when you go back to using your reins your balance gets screwed up, so try to work on keeping that balance you feel when you just let the horse trot, and transferring it over to using leg pressure and reins.
It has been my experience that when a horse first starts this he will hang around the gate. As it continues the horse will slowly get further and further away from the gate. So either, he has decided that it is really boring hanging around the gate and he wants to go somewhere new, or he has gained a little more confidence, and is more willing to go away from the gate.
I think the constant speed is obvious. So I won't bother to explain that one.
Trot Away!
Lydia Johnson
- It gives a horse confidence
- It helps the rider become more balanced
- Focuses on maintaining a constant speed
- Teaches the horse that stopping next to the gate is not an option.
Take a loose hold of the reins, and get into a balanced position if you aren't already. Which most of you will know, but your heels are down, your back is straight, and your heels, hip, and shoulder line up. You should be able to look down your shoulder and see the heel of your boot. Then you ask your horse to trot. You can do this at the walk, but it is more effective at the trot. You can also do this at the canter, but it's safer at a trot. Basically your goal is to keep your horse at the speed you chose, and you let him go wherever he wants. LEAVE THE REINS ALONE. Unless you need to slow them down, or they do something stupid. You will do this exercise for as long as you want. I would suggest five minutes.
Now when a horse gets to decide where he gets to go, he will probably head toward a gate, or a "safe spot". And generally stay in that area. So your horse trots right up to the gate. Kiss and kick to keep him going, because he will stop. Don't stop kissing and kicking until your horse gets goin and leaves the gate. Your horse may need a little help from the reins. That's the only time you have permission to use the reins. But let him try to figure it out first. Basically he'll learn that he can't stop, so the gate isn't so much of a problem anymore.
Now while your horse is trotting around mostly you will do nothing, but try to stay on. Keep a center of balance and move with your horse. It teaches you to zig when he zigs, and zag, when he zags. Now for some reason when you go back to using your reins your balance gets screwed up, so try to work on keeping that balance you feel when you just let the horse trot, and transferring it over to using leg pressure and reins.
It has been my experience that when a horse first starts this he will hang around the gate. As it continues the horse will slowly get further and further away from the gate. So either, he has decided that it is really boring hanging around the gate and he wants to go somewhere new, or he has gained a little more confidence, and is more willing to go away from the gate.
I think the constant speed is obvious. So I won't bother to explain that one.
Trot Away!
Lydia Johnson
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Baby go Straight
If you have ever worked with a young horse you know that at some point they will try to ignore you when you ask them to turn. How are you supposed to address that?
I stumbled across one way that works well with one of my young horses. I do this at a canter, because that's when I see her trying to go wherever she wants the most. You can do this at whatever speed you choose. I get her going on a loose rein, and when she starts to not listen I will politely ask her to keep going where I want her to. When she doesn't do it, I get her turned around somehow or another. Usually by kicking her hip out, but it doesn't really matter. And we trot energetically back towards the point she started not listening and we start cantering from there. She understands this really well.
Another way is to practice straight lines. Get your young horse to walk, trot, and canter in between two invisible lines. At first you are going to want these lines to be at least six feet apart. You'll start out in between those two lines, and when your horse tries going somewhere else you will take hold of your reins and bring him back in between your two invisible lines. Now the most important part of this is to let him make the mistake of going outside of your two invisible lines before you pick up your reins and bring him back. Eventually you will make your invisible lines narrower until the horse goes wherever you choose in a straight line.
You could also do this. When your horse won't turn, get him to turn a full circle in the direction you are pulling before going where you want. So you are going along, you ask him to turn to the left, and he doesn't. Now get him to go in a small 360 degree circle to the left and when you are in the direction you want to go let him go straight again. If you are asking for a turn to the right, you will make your circle to the right. Now the circle is just a circle. It's not a correction. Just a circle. If you think of it as a correction your hands will make the bit harsh, and the circle becomes a punishment.
One more. You can do patterns. Set out cones, or whatever obstacles you have and do patterns around them.
I lied. This is the last one. Teach them to do a spin on their hindquarters. It's shoulder control.
Get 'er goin'!!
Lydia Johnson
I stumbled across one way that works well with one of my young horses. I do this at a canter, because that's when I see her trying to go wherever she wants the most. You can do this at whatever speed you choose. I get her going on a loose rein, and when she starts to not listen I will politely ask her to keep going where I want her to. When she doesn't do it, I get her turned around somehow or another. Usually by kicking her hip out, but it doesn't really matter. And we trot energetically back towards the point she started not listening and we start cantering from there. She understands this really well.
Another way is to practice straight lines. Get your young horse to walk, trot, and canter in between two invisible lines. At first you are going to want these lines to be at least six feet apart. You'll start out in between those two lines, and when your horse tries going somewhere else you will take hold of your reins and bring him back in between your two invisible lines. Now the most important part of this is to let him make the mistake of going outside of your two invisible lines before you pick up your reins and bring him back. Eventually you will make your invisible lines narrower until the horse goes wherever you choose in a straight line.
You could also do this. When your horse won't turn, get him to turn a full circle in the direction you are pulling before going where you want. So you are going along, you ask him to turn to the left, and he doesn't. Now get him to go in a small 360 degree circle to the left and when you are in the direction you want to go let him go straight again. If you are asking for a turn to the right, you will make your circle to the right. Now the circle is just a circle. It's not a correction. Just a circle. If you think of it as a correction your hands will make the bit harsh, and the circle becomes a punishment.
One more. You can do patterns. Set out cones, or whatever obstacles you have and do patterns around them.
I lied. This is the last one. Teach them to do a spin on their hindquarters. It's shoulder control.
Get 'er goin'!!
Lydia Johnson
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Soft and Light
Soft and Light.
Hmm. What to say.
Here we go; got it.
I'll start with the definition of soft and light.
Soft and light is when a horse is ready and willing to do what you ask. This could be looked at from different perspectives. For some people it means that the horse can do complicated maneuvers with ease, grace, and willingness.
You could say soft and light is when a horse tucks his nose and responds to you reins, seat, voice, and legs. I think that is a huge part of it, but not necessarily all of it.
When I think of soft and light I think of another side to it. Another perspective. I think of the side where the horse tries for you. That could mean that you could have a green colt, that doesn't know a lick of anything, but he tries so hard to do what you ask. It's all about the willingness. If I could get a horse that was extremely well trained and had that willingness, I would never let him go. If I had to choose between a horse that tries, but has poor training, and a horse that has very good training, but doesn't care, I would choose the first.
Now I definitely do like it when my horses respond to my cues. If your horse is willing he is responding to your cues. Doesn't mean he does them perfectly though. They can be separated the other way though. You can have a horse that responds to your cues, but doesn't care. Which means the maneuver is left half completed. Half tried. You feel like you could have done it so much better. My barrel horse gives me that attitude all the time. He does what I ask, just not whole heartedly.
Here is what soft and light doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean that your horse's head and neck is detached from the rest of his body.
You do want your horse to be able to move every part of his body individually, but not so extreme that he evades you.
How to get it:
That's a little harder. A good rule to go by is, "Your horse will only ever be as soft as you are."
If the first cue you give your horse to go is a smack, that's as light as your horse will get is a smack. If, on the other hand, the first cue you use to get your horse to go is a thought, eventually, with practice, and consistency, he will go with a thought. Another good rule is to be consistent. Being consistent will help your horse to learn his boundaries, and help both of you to trust each other. If you are light handed one day, and heavy handed the next your horse will start to avoid you. Be consistent with your cues too. If you are asking your horse to back up you will use your lightest cue first, and gradually get harder. Don't stop because your horse won't back up. He will. Eventually. I was teaching Flicka to back up and it took five minutes of me smacking her chest to get her to take one step back. The moment she did though I quit. Also with the be consistent is punishment. Punishment should be swift and short. Punish immediately. Your horse will not understand why you are hitting him if you wait even ten seconds after he did something bad.
I can't tell you set things to work on, because it's not something you will gain from doing a maneuver over and over again. It is something that needs to be in every part of your handling of horses. It's not so much about your horse as it is about you. If you are soft your horse will be soft.
Be soft,
Lydia Johnson
Hmm. What to say.
Here we go; got it.
I'll start with the definition of soft and light.
Soft and light is when a horse is ready and willing to do what you ask. This could be looked at from different perspectives. For some people it means that the horse can do complicated maneuvers with ease, grace, and willingness.
You could say soft and light is when a horse tucks his nose and responds to you reins, seat, voice, and legs. I think that is a huge part of it, but not necessarily all of it.
When I think of soft and light I think of another side to it. Another perspective. I think of the side where the horse tries for you. That could mean that you could have a green colt, that doesn't know a lick of anything, but he tries so hard to do what you ask. It's all about the willingness. If I could get a horse that was extremely well trained and had that willingness, I would never let him go. If I had to choose between a horse that tries, but has poor training, and a horse that has very good training, but doesn't care, I would choose the first.
Now I definitely do like it when my horses respond to my cues. If your horse is willing he is responding to your cues. Doesn't mean he does them perfectly though. They can be separated the other way though. You can have a horse that responds to your cues, but doesn't care. Which means the maneuver is left half completed. Half tried. You feel like you could have done it so much better. My barrel horse gives me that attitude all the time. He does what I ask, just not whole heartedly.
Here is what soft and light doesn't mean.
It doesn't mean that your horse's head and neck is detached from the rest of his body.
You do want your horse to be able to move every part of his body individually, but not so extreme that he evades you.
How to get it:
That's a little harder. A good rule to go by is, "Your horse will only ever be as soft as you are."
If the first cue you give your horse to go is a smack, that's as light as your horse will get is a smack. If, on the other hand, the first cue you use to get your horse to go is a thought, eventually, with practice, and consistency, he will go with a thought. Another good rule is to be consistent. Being consistent will help your horse to learn his boundaries, and help both of you to trust each other. If you are light handed one day, and heavy handed the next your horse will start to avoid you. Be consistent with your cues too. If you are asking your horse to back up you will use your lightest cue first, and gradually get harder. Don't stop because your horse won't back up. He will. Eventually. I was teaching Flicka to back up and it took five minutes of me smacking her chest to get her to take one step back. The moment she did though I quit. Also with the be consistent is punishment. Punishment should be swift and short. Punish immediately. Your horse will not understand why you are hitting him if you wait even ten seconds after he did something bad.
I can't tell you set things to work on, because it's not something you will gain from doing a maneuver over and over again. It is something that needs to be in every part of your handling of horses. It's not so much about your horse as it is about you. If you are soft your horse will be soft.
Be soft,
Lydia Johnson
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
"Shut Up and Listen to the Other Guy"
Have any of you had to talk to someone who won't listen to what you say? If you haven't you're probably the person who won't listen. You could be both.
It's a really big problem. Everywhere.
The internet, religion, politics, training methods, who cleaned the bathroom last, ect.. It can be about the most unimportant things.
I was talking to a group of elderly people one Sunday with a bunch of friends, and we asked them, "If you could say one thing to the younger generation, what would it be?" One man piped up and said, "Shut up and listen to the other guy."
His word could not be more true. We, as humans, have a really hard time doing that. Our opinion is so important, that it has to be said NOW, and it can't wait to be said until the other person has finished. Do you have any idea how easy it is to have a calm discussion if you let people rant and rave about whatever they feel they need to rant and rave about before you say a word? One at a time though. It can solve quite a bit of frustration.
Here's a story from "Whole Heart, Whole Horse" by Mark Rashid on this topic. If you haven't read this book you should, and if you have, you should read it again. It's very good.
The scene is of Mark Rashid as a young boy working with "the Old Man" at the old man's place on a hot day.
"Whoever was coming up the drive must have been in a hurry, because they didn't waste any time getting from the gate to the barn. We could hear the telltale sound of a four-barrel carburetor opening up as the driver floored the accelerator. WoaaAAAH, screamed the engine as the vehicle left the road over a quarter mile away, throwing dirt and rocks up against the wooden gate and sending a huge cloud of dust billowing into the air.
In no time at all the Ford was in front of the barn, sliding sideways and screeching to a stop. 'Hmm,' the old man said. He reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that was also soaked with sweat and too wet to light. He grimaced a little at the prospect of not being able to get a smoke in, put the soggy pack back in his pocket, and walked outside.
By this time the car's driver was stomping toward the barn. He was a short, slightly heavyset man, not really fat, but not thing either, wearing knee-length shorts, brown penny loafers with white socks, an unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt with red and white vertical strips, and a white t-shirt underneath that. Both shirts were wet with sweat. His dark hair was plastered to his head, which made it hard to tell if it was just wet from him sweating or if he was wearing some kind of hair cream, which was all the rage back then.
'You the owner of this place?' the fellow half shouted as the old man walked past him toward his old pickup truck. In his hurry, the fellow overshot the old man slightly and had to stop himself in mid-stride so he could turn and follow.
'yup,' the old man said quietly, as he continued walking.
'then I got a bone to pick with you.' The man was mad, and getting madder.
'Well...' The old man opened his truck door and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that was sitting on the seat. 'Go ahead.'
'You sold my wife a horse,' the fellow shouted as the old man nonchalantly turned toward him, pulled a cigarette from the pack, and lit it. 'And I want you to take it back.'
'Which one:' the old man asked quietly as a puff of bluish smoke rolled out of his mouth.
'What?' the fellow angrily questioned.
'Which horse?' the old man repeated.
'What?' the fellow asked again.
'Which horse did I sell her?' The old man started walking back toward the barn.
'Which horse? hell, I don't know...'
'You mind if we talk in the barn?' the old man interrupted. 'It's not much cooler in there, but at least it's out of the sun.'
The fellow stopped dead in his tracks, as if not knowing what to say next. The old man turned toward him and motioned for him to follow, which the fellow finally did.
'Mind if I ask your name?' the old man interrupted.
'What?' the question shot out of the fellow's mouth.
'Your name...; the old man repeated quietly. 'What's your name?'
'Wheeler.' The fellow said it as if he wasn't sure himself. 'George Wheeler. My wife's name is Maggie. You sold her a horse a couple months ago... a grown horse.'
'Yes... a couple months ago. I remember,' the old man nodded. 'A sorrel gelding named Booker.' He paused. 'Nice horse. Your wife seemed to get along with him pretty good when she came to take a look at him. Is she having a problem with him?'
'No,' Wheeler blurted. ' I just want you to take him back!'
'He's not lame or sick or anything?' The old man asked.
Wheeler stopped talking for a second and stood looking down at the old man from his standing position just inside the barn door. 'Not that I know of...' HIs voice was quieter, as if he was finally trying to control himself.
'Well, now,' the old man said, wiping the sweat form his brow with his already sweat-soaked sleeve. 'I suppose you know I can't just take a horse back for no good reason... specially a horse that was bought and sold in good faith.' He pulled the handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from inside his hat once again. 'Now if she was to have a good reason for me to take the good gelding back, I reckon give it a little thought and maybe see if we could work something out that would be a benefit to both of us.'
Wheeler stood quietly for what seemed like a long time before he spoke. 'What happened,' he finally said, 'was she bought him without asking me first.'
'I see,' the old man nodded. 'Spent some of your money without telling you, eh?
'Well, no... it was her money.' There was suddenly a slightly sheepish tone in his voice. The old man took another drag from his cigarette and made firm, intentional eye contact with Wheeler. I knew that look all too well. I had seen it many times in the past, usually when I had verbally painted myself in a corner with him in one way or another. It was the look that said, 'Why don't you give what you're saying here just a little more thought before we continue with this discussion?'
'Well, Mr. Wheeler.' The old man slowly lifted himself from the hay bale and walked slowly toward the now slightly red-faced man standing by the door. 'I appreciate you coming all the way out here to have this visit.' As the old man got to where Wheeler was, he gently placed his gnarled hand on Wheeler's shoulder and softly turned him back in the direction of the station wagon. 'I'm confident you and the Missus will be ale to come to a reasonable solution to this situation.' He quietly guided Wheeler all the way out to his car, with Wheeler looking just like I always felt when the old man would point out how ridiculous something I had just said was.
The old man opened the car door, and Wheeler slid in behind the steering wheel. 'That's a pretty nice gelding she got herself. And if I remember, she rides him real well, too. Now I ain't never one to get into someone else's business, but I do know you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.' The old man closed the car door. 'Thanks again for coming out, and please give my best to the Missus.'
The old man turned to walk away as Wheeler, looking for all he was worth like a puppy that had just been scolded for peeing on the carpet, started up the Ford.
'Oh, and by the way...' The old man turned back toward the car as if he had suddenly remembered something. 'If you could drive out just a little slower than you came in, I'd sure appreciate it.'
As Wheeler turned and slowly drove down the driveway toward the road, the old man turned toward the barn.
'Too damn hot to fight today anyway.' There was just a hint of a Cheshire cat smile on his face as he walked passed me."
The old man's calmness defused the situation.
Mark Rashid goes on to explain how when you interact with someone or something, together your energies should equal ten. If one of you has a higher energy than the other than one of you needs to have a lower energy, and vice versa.
The same goes with horses. If your horse is freaking out you need to not freak out. If your horse is really lazy you need to raise your energy to get him to not be so lazy.
Mark Rashid explains it way better than I do and goes into more detail.
It will not be easy to control yourself and not get emotionally involved in a situation. It can be done though.
Keep Calm and Ride Your Horse,
Lydia Johnson
It's a really big problem. Everywhere.
The internet, religion, politics, training methods, who cleaned the bathroom last, ect.. It can be about the most unimportant things.
I was talking to a group of elderly people one Sunday with a bunch of friends, and we asked them, "If you could say one thing to the younger generation, what would it be?" One man piped up and said, "Shut up and listen to the other guy."
His word could not be more true. We, as humans, have a really hard time doing that. Our opinion is so important, that it has to be said NOW, and it can't wait to be said until the other person has finished. Do you have any idea how easy it is to have a calm discussion if you let people rant and rave about whatever they feel they need to rant and rave about before you say a word? One at a time though. It can solve quite a bit of frustration.
Here's a story from "Whole Heart, Whole Horse" by Mark Rashid on this topic. If you haven't read this book you should, and if you have, you should read it again. It's very good.
The scene is of Mark Rashid as a young boy working with "the Old Man" at the old man's place on a hot day.
"Whoever was coming up the drive must have been in a hurry, because they didn't waste any time getting from the gate to the barn. We could hear the telltale sound of a four-barrel carburetor opening up as the driver floored the accelerator. WoaaAAAH, screamed the engine as the vehicle left the road over a quarter mile away, throwing dirt and rocks up against the wooden gate and sending a huge cloud of dust billowing into the air.
In no time at all the Ford was in front of the barn, sliding sideways and screeching to a stop. 'Hmm,' the old man said. He reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that was also soaked with sweat and too wet to light. He grimaced a little at the prospect of not being able to get a smoke in, put the soggy pack back in his pocket, and walked outside.
By this time the car's driver was stomping toward the barn. He was a short, slightly heavyset man, not really fat, but not thing either, wearing knee-length shorts, brown penny loafers with white socks, an unbuttoned short-sleeved shirt with red and white vertical strips, and a white t-shirt underneath that. Both shirts were wet with sweat. His dark hair was plastered to his head, which made it hard to tell if it was just wet from him sweating or if he was wearing some kind of hair cream, which was all the rage back then.
'You the owner of this place?' the fellow half shouted as the old man walked past him toward his old pickup truck. In his hurry, the fellow overshot the old man slightly and had to stop himself in mid-stride so he could turn and follow.
'yup,' the old man said quietly, as he continued walking.
'then I got a bone to pick with you.' The man was mad, and getting madder.
'Well...' The old man opened his truck door and pulled out a pack of cigarettes that was sitting on the seat. 'Go ahead.'
'You sold my wife a horse,' the fellow shouted as the old man nonchalantly turned toward him, pulled a cigarette from the pack, and lit it. 'And I want you to take it back.'
'Which one:' the old man asked quietly as a puff of bluish smoke rolled out of his mouth.
'What?' the fellow angrily questioned.
'Which horse?' the old man repeated.
'What?' the fellow asked again.
'Which horse did I sell her?' The old man started walking back toward the barn.
'Which horse? hell, I don't know...'
'You mind if we talk in the barn?' the old man interrupted. 'It's not much cooler in there, but at least it's out of the sun.'
The fellow stopped dead in his tracks, as if not knowing what to say next. The old man turned toward him and motioned for him to follow, which the fellow finally did.
'Mind if I ask your name?' the old man interrupted.
'What?' the question shot out of the fellow's mouth.
'Your name...; the old man repeated quietly. 'What's your name?'
'Wheeler.' The fellow said it as if he wasn't sure himself. 'George Wheeler. My wife's name is Maggie. You sold her a horse a couple months ago... a grown horse.'
'Yes... a couple months ago. I remember,' the old man nodded. 'A sorrel gelding named Booker.' He paused. 'Nice horse. Your wife seemed to get along with him pretty good when she came to take a look at him. Is she having a problem with him?'
'No,' Wheeler blurted. ' I just want you to take him back!'
'He's not lame or sick or anything?' The old man asked.
Wheeler stopped talking for a second and stood looking down at the old man from his standing position just inside the barn door. 'Not that I know of...' HIs voice was quieter, as if he was finally trying to control himself.
'Well, now,' the old man said, wiping the sweat form his brow with his already sweat-soaked sleeve. 'I suppose you know I can't just take a horse back for no good reason... specially a horse that was bought and sold in good faith.' He pulled the handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from inside his hat once again. 'Now if she was to have a good reason for me to take the good gelding back, I reckon give it a little thought and maybe see if we could work something out that would be a benefit to both of us.'
Wheeler stood quietly for what seemed like a long time before he spoke. 'What happened,' he finally said, 'was she bought him without asking me first.'
'I see,' the old man nodded. 'Spent some of your money without telling you, eh?
'Well, no... it was her money.' There was suddenly a slightly sheepish tone in his voice. The old man took another drag from his cigarette and made firm, intentional eye contact with Wheeler. I knew that look all too well. I had seen it many times in the past, usually when I had verbally painted myself in a corner with him in one way or another. It was the look that said, 'Why don't you give what you're saying here just a little more thought before we continue with this discussion?'
'Well, Mr. Wheeler.' The old man slowly lifted himself from the hay bale and walked slowly toward the now slightly red-faced man standing by the door. 'I appreciate you coming all the way out here to have this visit.' As the old man got to where Wheeler was, he gently placed his gnarled hand on Wheeler's shoulder and softly turned him back in the direction of the station wagon. 'I'm confident you and the Missus will be ale to come to a reasonable solution to this situation.' He quietly guided Wheeler all the way out to his car, with Wheeler looking just like I always felt when the old man would point out how ridiculous something I had just said was.
The old man opened the car door, and Wheeler slid in behind the steering wheel. 'That's a pretty nice gelding she got herself. And if I remember, she rides him real well, too. Now I ain't never one to get into someone else's business, but I do know you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.' The old man closed the car door. 'Thanks again for coming out, and please give my best to the Missus.'
The old man turned to walk away as Wheeler, looking for all he was worth like a puppy that had just been scolded for peeing on the carpet, started up the Ford.
'Oh, and by the way...' The old man turned back toward the car as if he had suddenly remembered something. 'If you could drive out just a little slower than you came in, I'd sure appreciate it.'
As Wheeler turned and slowly drove down the driveway toward the road, the old man turned toward the barn.
'Too damn hot to fight today anyway.' There was just a hint of a Cheshire cat smile on his face as he walked passed me."
The old man's calmness defused the situation.
Mark Rashid goes on to explain how when you interact with someone or something, together your energies should equal ten. If one of you has a higher energy than the other than one of you needs to have a lower energy, and vice versa.
The same goes with horses. If your horse is freaking out you need to not freak out. If your horse is really lazy you need to raise your energy to get him to not be so lazy.
Mark Rashid explains it way better than I do and goes into more detail.
It will not be easy to control yourself and not get emotionally involved in a situation. It can be done though.
Keep Calm and Ride Your Horse,
Lydia Johnson
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Whole Heart, Whole Horse
A few years ago I found a book in the library called Whole Heart, Whole Horse by Mark Rashid. I read it. It was quite enlightening. I honestly can't remember most of what was in there.
Well once again I was at the library and saw this book. I decided to read it again.
The stories in there, and the concepts really make me look at what I do, and what my horses do.
Like the other day I went out to say hello to the horses, and when the four youngest saw me they all came up and said hello and the bigger horses followed. Why? One of the four youngest, Dash, followed me around while I went around and said hello to the other horses. Why? I can look at it how most people would look at it which is; she enjoys my company, or she likes being petted. The other way I could look at it is a way Mark Rashid presents in this book. "Everything a horse does is information." Horses don't have the same level of feelings that humans do so I can't label it as Dash just loving my company. One reason I could come up with for her following me is because she perceives me as leader. In her mind I am the horse who is like the lead mare. When I go left she goes left, when I go right she goes right, when I stop she stops. The moment I decide to go back to the barn she stops following.
Another thought that just occurred to me is that in a herd horses have buddies. I'm not really sure what the role of a buddy is, but from what I have seen it's sorta like how Dash reacts to me.
I was on a trail ride with a friend on a horse I have probably ridden twice sense last year. First trail ride of the year. She was all over the place. She turned around a couple times on me, she picked her own speed, she wasn't listening. I did one rein stops like we normally do, and she would stop and stand, but when we got going again she would go back to her normal antics. It took an hour to get a mile. She wouldn't walk. We got on a dirt road and eventually ran into a small hill of dirt with grass growing on it because it hadn't been disturbed in quite some time. I made her go up and down that, but that still didn't help. When we reached a little area of grass I let her go any speed she wanted, I just chose direction. She cantered for a little bit, trotted for a little bit more, then walked. It helped a little bit, but when we got back on that dirt road she was still a little ansy so I let her gallop. When I slowed her down I kept contact with her mouth. I don't know why. I just did. The whole way home I kept contact with her mouth. She tucked her head, jogged really, really slowly, flicked her ears back at me, went straight, and didn't spook at the water or the man hole. Why?
I have thought for years that she hated contact. She doesn't. She's more comfortable with it. She was trained in the English style of riding, and we have been riding her in the western style way.
That's about as far as I got in my thinking about it. Then I picked up "Whole Heart, Whole Horse" and started reading it. Mark Rashid was telling a story about a horse that walked like a drunken sailor. Basically the rider didn't include himself in the riding, so the horse made his own decisions and was lost.
I think about that and I go "huh, maybe Ana has a similar problem. Maybe she doesn't feel like I'm giving her enough direction." Maybe I'm not being as much as a leader as she needs me to be.
On the way back from that trail ride it took only a thought to get her to trot faster and catch up. Only a thought to get her to slow down. I even asked for a sidepass just to she what she would do, and she took four neat little steps to the other side of the trail. She never did walk, but her trot was slow and fancy. That horse amazes me sometimes.
What that means for future reference, I couldn't really say. She still needs to learn to walk, and stop. She still needs to be able to go nicely without contact. I think that instead of using your hands to make contact with her bit you could use your legs to make direct her and give her something to rely on. It's something that needs to be explored. I need to be more of an active leader with her. It should prove interesting.
Be Involved and Stay Involved,
Lydia Johnson
Well once again I was at the library and saw this book. I decided to read it again.
The stories in there, and the concepts really make me look at what I do, and what my horses do.
Like the other day I went out to say hello to the horses, and when the four youngest saw me they all came up and said hello and the bigger horses followed. Why? One of the four youngest, Dash, followed me around while I went around and said hello to the other horses. Why? I can look at it how most people would look at it which is; she enjoys my company, or she likes being petted. The other way I could look at it is a way Mark Rashid presents in this book. "Everything a horse does is information." Horses don't have the same level of feelings that humans do so I can't label it as Dash just loving my company. One reason I could come up with for her following me is because she perceives me as leader. In her mind I am the horse who is like the lead mare. When I go left she goes left, when I go right she goes right, when I stop she stops. The moment I decide to go back to the barn she stops following.
Another thought that just occurred to me is that in a herd horses have buddies. I'm not really sure what the role of a buddy is, but from what I have seen it's sorta like how Dash reacts to me.
I was on a trail ride with a friend on a horse I have probably ridden twice sense last year. First trail ride of the year. She was all over the place. She turned around a couple times on me, she picked her own speed, she wasn't listening. I did one rein stops like we normally do, and she would stop and stand, but when we got going again she would go back to her normal antics. It took an hour to get a mile. She wouldn't walk. We got on a dirt road and eventually ran into a small hill of dirt with grass growing on it because it hadn't been disturbed in quite some time. I made her go up and down that, but that still didn't help. When we reached a little area of grass I let her go any speed she wanted, I just chose direction. She cantered for a little bit, trotted for a little bit more, then walked. It helped a little bit, but when we got back on that dirt road she was still a little ansy so I let her gallop. When I slowed her down I kept contact with her mouth. I don't know why. I just did. The whole way home I kept contact with her mouth. She tucked her head, jogged really, really slowly, flicked her ears back at me, went straight, and didn't spook at the water or the man hole. Why?
I have thought for years that she hated contact. She doesn't. She's more comfortable with it. She was trained in the English style of riding, and we have been riding her in the western style way.
That's about as far as I got in my thinking about it. Then I picked up "Whole Heart, Whole Horse" and started reading it. Mark Rashid was telling a story about a horse that walked like a drunken sailor. Basically the rider didn't include himself in the riding, so the horse made his own decisions and was lost.
I think about that and I go "huh, maybe Ana has a similar problem. Maybe she doesn't feel like I'm giving her enough direction." Maybe I'm not being as much as a leader as she needs me to be.
On the way back from that trail ride it took only a thought to get her to trot faster and catch up. Only a thought to get her to slow down. I even asked for a sidepass just to she what she would do, and she took four neat little steps to the other side of the trail. She never did walk, but her trot was slow and fancy. That horse amazes me sometimes.
What that means for future reference, I couldn't really say. She still needs to learn to walk, and stop. She still needs to be able to go nicely without contact. I think that instead of using your hands to make contact with her bit you could use your legs to make direct her and give her something to rely on. It's something that needs to be explored. I need to be more of an active leader with her. It should prove interesting.
Be Involved and Stay Involved,
Lydia Johnson
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Breathing Learned
Aleythia's going to write today! I would, but she has a better story.
Lately Lydia and I have been riding with HM. She is a dressage and jumper rider. And since Lydia and I know next to nothing about dressage & jumping we asked her to teach us. It also gave us a chance to ride different horses.
A couple weeks ago we went over our first jump. The first time I jumped it didn't go over well; I cantered along the outside of the arena, turned to face the jump that was halfway down the arena, and ended up being to close to the outside of the jump. T barely even tried to jump it. It was like she was saying "your stinkin' cues are what messed this up, not me". Of course, she was right. HM explained three things. 1) don't change anything as you jump. You shouldn't be letting your reins droop when you're on the straight line to the jump. 2) Look straight ahead. If you're not sure where you're going the horse won't either. Especially with T who is a really sensitive horse. Lastly 3) Breathe. T needs to know you're relaxed. If you're relaxed she will be too.
So, I tried again. As we were on the straight line to the jump I made sure not to let my reins droop. I looked straight ahead to the wooden beam across the arena. I took deep, calming breaths. I was relaxed and T was relaxed. T went over that jump perfectly. I did not. I can claim some leeway because it was only my second jump, but my form was not a pretty sight. I probably wasn't even doing two-point position. I ended up smashing my stomach into the saddle horn; effectively losing my balance and making T lose her forward momentum. But we made it over.
I learned that breathing does affect your horse. Especially if they're really sensitive like T. With T she will do a sliding stop if you breathe out and relax in the saddle. So, I tried it out on my over hyper horse at home.
My horse was really being a pain that day. She reared on me! Ana NEVER rears. It wasn't just once or twice either. So, I got the whip out and made her feet move. I lunged her, made her back up really fast,etc. Basically told her that I would not stand for any disrespectfulness. Once she calmed down something amazing happened; I had her trotting on a lose line; her head was low she had an ear cocked toward me most of the time. I sped up my breathing and did a little soldier march. She sped up her trot, but didn't break into a canter. I was amazed! I'd tried to make her slow and speed up her gait before, but it never worked. Then I tried to see if I could get her to slow down. I slowed my breathing and in effect relaxed my body language a bit. She slowed her trot and even broke down into a walk. Which I let her do because it is very rare that Ana walks on a lunge line. She was very relaxed. I was very pleased with her so I put her away.
That is how I learned how important breathing is. Now I want to see if she will calm down if I do the same thing on her back. I'm going to have a very interesting ride.
Well, hope, my experience helped all you horse lovers out there! Have fun! If you have any questions please comment.
Lately Lydia and I have been riding with HM. She is a dressage and jumper rider. And since Lydia and I know next to nothing about dressage & jumping we asked her to teach us. It also gave us a chance to ride different horses.
A couple weeks ago we went over our first jump. The first time I jumped it didn't go over well; I cantered along the outside of the arena, turned to face the jump that was halfway down the arena, and ended up being to close to the outside of the jump. T barely even tried to jump it. It was like she was saying "your stinkin' cues are what messed this up, not me". Of course, she was right. HM explained three things. 1) don't change anything as you jump. You shouldn't be letting your reins droop when you're on the straight line to the jump. 2) Look straight ahead. If you're not sure where you're going the horse won't either. Especially with T who is a really sensitive horse. Lastly 3) Breathe. T needs to know you're relaxed. If you're relaxed she will be too.
So, I tried again. As we were on the straight line to the jump I made sure not to let my reins droop. I looked straight ahead to the wooden beam across the arena. I took deep, calming breaths. I was relaxed and T was relaxed. T went over that jump perfectly. I did not. I can claim some leeway because it was only my second jump, but my form was not a pretty sight. I probably wasn't even doing two-point position. I ended up smashing my stomach into the saddle horn; effectively losing my balance and making T lose her forward momentum. But we made it over.
I learned that breathing does affect your horse. Especially if they're really sensitive like T. With T she will do a sliding stop if you breathe out and relax in the saddle. So, I tried it out on my over hyper horse at home.
My horse was really being a pain that day. She reared on me! Ana NEVER rears. It wasn't just once or twice either. So, I got the whip out and made her feet move. I lunged her, made her back up really fast,etc. Basically told her that I would not stand for any disrespectfulness. Once she calmed down something amazing happened; I had her trotting on a lose line; her head was low she had an ear cocked toward me most of the time. I sped up my breathing and did a little soldier march. She sped up her trot, but didn't break into a canter. I was amazed! I'd tried to make her slow and speed up her gait before, but it never worked. Then I tried to see if I could get her to slow down. I slowed my breathing and in effect relaxed my body language a bit. She slowed her trot and even broke down into a walk. Which I let her do because it is very rare that Ana walks on a lunge line. She was very relaxed. I was very pleased with her so I put her away.
That is how I learned how important breathing is. Now I want to see if she will calm down if I do the same thing on her back. I'm going to have a very interesting ride.
Well, hope, my experience helped all you horse lovers out there! Have fun! If you have any questions please comment.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Laying Down a Horse and Why Desensitizing Works
Is it just me or has anyone else lumped, laying a horse down and teaching a horse to lay down, together? There is a difference. When you lay down a horse you want them to go from being afraid to trusting you in one session. With teaching a horse to lay down, you take your time and you do it over a period of sessions. You don't force the issue. It's like teaching your horse to sidepass. It's just something you want them to know how to do.
I have had no experience laying a horse down. So don't ask me how to do it. I wish I did know how to do it, but I would rather not ruin one of my horses by doing it wrong. I think sometimes it is necessary to lay a horse down. As far as the humanitarian aspect of laying a horse down, I don't know. I've never done it.
So on a slightly related topic I'm going to talk about why desensitizing works. It's actually very interesting. Scientists have figured out something that horsemen have been doing for years. I came across this in a Western Horseman magazine. In the May 2012 issue, page 62. I just thought I'd share it.
There's a structure in the horse's brain called the amygdala which is involved in a horse's fear responses. It's connected to the hypothalamus, which acts like a thermostat to reset the nervous system after the amygdala responds. When one part of the horse's brain reacts with fear another part releases chemicals to bring the brain back to a balanced state.
When we work with horses we gradually apply more pressure so that it gives the hypothalamus time to reset the horse's brain. After the brain is reset it will take more to scare the horse. This is a process called "down regulation." ... or desensitizing.
This article talking about the chemicals in a horse's brain is all about laying a horse down, so I'll just add this little bit from the article as to why laying a horse down works.
When a horse is layed down it is an extremely vulnerable position for a horse to be in. He's in the position he would be in if a predator were eating him. So the horse thinks he's going to die, the amygdala kicks in, nothing happens, and the hypothalamus resets the horse's nervous system. Vwallah you now have a horse that believes nothing will happen when he's faced with anything less than a near death situation.
Interesting, right?,
Lyida Johnson
I have had no experience laying a horse down. So don't ask me how to do it. I wish I did know how to do it, but I would rather not ruin one of my horses by doing it wrong. I think sometimes it is necessary to lay a horse down. As far as the humanitarian aspect of laying a horse down, I don't know. I've never done it.
So on a slightly related topic I'm going to talk about why desensitizing works. It's actually very interesting. Scientists have figured out something that horsemen have been doing for years. I came across this in a Western Horseman magazine. In the May 2012 issue, page 62. I just thought I'd share it.
There's a structure in the horse's brain called the amygdala which is involved in a horse's fear responses. It's connected to the hypothalamus, which acts like a thermostat to reset the nervous system after the amygdala responds. When one part of the horse's brain reacts with fear another part releases chemicals to bring the brain back to a balanced state.
When we work with horses we gradually apply more pressure so that it gives the hypothalamus time to reset the horse's brain. After the brain is reset it will take more to scare the horse. This is a process called "down regulation." ... or desensitizing.
This article talking about the chemicals in a horse's brain is all about laying a horse down, so I'll just add this little bit from the article as to why laying a horse down works.
When a horse is layed down it is an extremely vulnerable position for a horse to be in. He's in the position he would be in if a predator were eating him. So the horse thinks he's going to die, the amygdala kicks in, nothing happens, and the hypothalamus resets the horse's nervous system. Vwallah you now have a horse that believes nothing will happen when he's faced with anything less than a near death situation.
Interesting, right?,
Lyida Johnson
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Don't Blame the Horse!
So, as often the case I was reading in a blog and I came across a post that was talking about blaming the horse. I got some inspiration to write, so this is my opinion on the topic. Which more than likely you have all heard before. But, who doesn't like a good reminder.
The best question to ask when your horse is doing something bad or incorrect is.. da da daa!
"Why?"
So simple.
Now story time.
In the years that I have been riding, few as they may be, I have learned something. Usually it's my fault.
I fell off my barrel horse cause he went one way and I went the other. I didn't choose the direction so he did... then I choose the direction.
One of the fillies starts bucking when I hit her rump with the end of my rein while riding. The first time I did it I went from really soft to hard way too quickly.
Flicka is lazy and bossy. Through my inexperience I let her become that way.
A friend's horse I rode cuts in over the jump. I wasn't giving him the direction and the stability he needed.
Santana bucks me off when I urged him into a canter. I hadn't ridden in a while, I was flapping all over, and we were in the big field.
Now that you have a bunch of examples of when it's been my fault here are examples of when it isn't.
Santana bucks when I won't let him go back into the paddock. He's telling me to bug off.
Misstack is so distracted with everything going on around her she doesn't know I'm there and keeps invading my space.
Ana is hyper, and has ceaseless energy. She's a Saddlebred/Arabian cross.
Though if I thought about these problems I could probably trace them back to something I did or something someone else did... or didn't do.
Santana doesn't respect my authority.
Misstack doesn't either.
With Ana I really don't know. I can guess. Nobody ever worked on stopping with her. It was all about the all important GO. Or it really could be her breeding. It can still be fixed though.
Horses work off of instinct. All animals do. That is why we are the leaders and why we must take responsibility for their actions.
Sincerely our fault :)
Lydia Johnson
The best question to ask when your horse is doing something bad or incorrect is.. da da daa!
"Why?"
So simple.
Now story time.
In the years that I have been riding, few as they may be, I have learned something. Usually it's my fault.
I fell off my barrel horse cause he went one way and I went the other. I didn't choose the direction so he did... then I choose the direction.
One of the fillies starts bucking when I hit her rump with the end of my rein while riding. The first time I did it I went from really soft to hard way too quickly.
Flicka is lazy and bossy. Through my inexperience I let her become that way.
A friend's horse I rode cuts in over the jump. I wasn't giving him the direction and the stability he needed.
Santana bucks me off when I urged him into a canter. I hadn't ridden in a while, I was flapping all over, and we were in the big field.
Now that you have a bunch of examples of when it's been my fault here are examples of when it isn't.
Santana bucks when I won't let him go back into the paddock. He's telling me to bug off.
Misstack is so distracted with everything going on around her she doesn't know I'm there and keeps invading my space.
Ana is hyper, and has ceaseless energy. She's a Saddlebred/Arabian cross.
Though if I thought about these problems I could probably trace them back to something I did or something someone else did... or didn't do.
Santana doesn't respect my authority.
Misstack doesn't either.
With Ana I really don't know. I can guess. Nobody ever worked on stopping with her. It was all about the all important GO. Or it really could be her breeding. It can still be fixed though.
Horses work off of instinct. All animals do. That is why we are the leaders and why we must take responsibility for their actions.
Sincerely our fault :)
Lydia Johnson
Friday, March 15, 2013
Equine Nutrition and Anatomy
Anybody up for learning about equine nutrition and anatomy? There is a site that is offering a course on it. I am 99.9% sure it's free.
https://www.coursera.org/#course/equinenutrition
There's your site and I would encourage you to look over the terms of use and honor code. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and very educational. They'll send you an email when the course starts. When you're done you will receive a certificate that is signed saying you took the course. So some personal information will probably be required. Note* it said something about that if you are under 18 you will need parent/guardian approval. If you are under 13 they ask that you do not use their website.
https://www.coursera.org/#course/equinenutrition
There's your site and I would encourage you to look over the terms of use and honor code. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and very educational. They'll send you an email when the course starts. When you're done you will receive a certificate that is signed saying you took the course. So some personal information will probably be required. Note* it said something about that if you are under 18 you will need parent/guardian approval. If you are under 13 they ask that you do not use their website.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Don't Worry Bout It
Some problems, if ignored, will go away by themselves.
This is something that I have discovered over the years. It's not so much that I ignored the problem is that I didn't worry about it.
The most major one was with my barrel horse, Santana, and bridling.
He didn't want the bridle going over his right eye. Like it was terrible. He had to be put in a stall or the trailer so that they could just get it on. He would rear and try to run away.
When I started riding him I never forced the issue. I just did it. I took my sweet ole time and got it done. In fact I took my sweet old time with everything I did with him. I took half an hour just to groom and tack him up. Not because he was a pain about it, just because I didn't have any need to go fast. That was what probably helped the most. I wasn't aggressive about anything I did with him.
When I put the bridle on I did is as stress less and painless as possible. I rode him almost every single day and did it once every single day. It went on, I rode, it came off. I can't remember exactly how long it took him to get over his bridling issue, but I wanna say three to four months.
The other thing I can think of is Flicka. She would walk off when we tried to get on. All we did was tie her up to the trailer and get on while she was tied to the trailer. The halter was around her neck and we just leaned forward and undid it when we were on. We did that every single time we rode.
Three or four months later Aleythia walked her outside and got on. She didn't move.
Another is Ana's cribbing. We tried getting a cribbing halter, yelling her name, throwing dirt clods at her... nothing worked. Eventually Terry just put wire mesh all along the inside of her stall. She doesn't do it anymore. Or at least not nearly as often. She does it when you're handing out apples and she didn't get all of them.
Pawing works that way too. Pawing comes from a lack of patience. The horse wants to get moving. If he stood tied all day and you ignored everything he did he would eventually figure out that he's not going anywhere, the post will hold him, and he'll stand there like an old nag.
If you've ever read Mugwump Chronicles you'll see she uses a similar technique.
Let's put it this way. Your horse doesn't want to cross a bridge. You have to cross that bridge once every single time you ride. You try to get him as far as you can urging him across that bridge but most of the time you end up leading him across. Every single day you can urge him across a little further before leading him. Don't you think that eventually he'll be able to walk across that bridge without a problem?
Just do it and don't worry bout it,
Lydia Johnson
This is something that I have discovered over the years. It's not so much that I ignored the problem is that I didn't worry about it.
The most major one was with my barrel horse, Santana, and bridling.
He didn't want the bridle going over his right eye. Like it was terrible. He had to be put in a stall or the trailer so that they could just get it on. He would rear and try to run away.
When I started riding him I never forced the issue. I just did it. I took my sweet ole time and got it done. In fact I took my sweet old time with everything I did with him. I took half an hour just to groom and tack him up. Not because he was a pain about it, just because I didn't have any need to go fast. That was what probably helped the most. I wasn't aggressive about anything I did with him.
When I put the bridle on I did is as stress less and painless as possible. I rode him almost every single day and did it once every single day. It went on, I rode, it came off. I can't remember exactly how long it took him to get over his bridling issue, but I wanna say three to four months.
The other thing I can think of is Flicka. She would walk off when we tried to get on. All we did was tie her up to the trailer and get on while she was tied to the trailer. The halter was around her neck and we just leaned forward and undid it when we were on. We did that every single time we rode.
Three or four months later Aleythia walked her outside and got on. She didn't move.
Another is Ana's cribbing. We tried getting a cribbing halter, yelling her name, throwing dirt clods at her... nothing worked. Eventually Terry just put wire mesh all along the inside of her stall. She doesn't do it anymore. Or at least not nearly as often. She does it when you're handing out apples and she didn't get all of them.
Pawing works that way too. Pawing comes from a lack of patience. The horse wants to get moving. If he stood tied all day and you ignored everything he did he would eventually figure out that he's not going anywhere, the post will hold him, and he'll stand there like an old nag.
If you've ever read Mugwump Chronicles you'll see she uses a similar technique.
Let's put it this way. Your horse doesn't want to cross a bridge. You have to cross that bridge once every single time you ride. You try to get him as far as you can urging him across that bridge but most of the time you end up leading him across. Every single day you can urge him across a little further before leading him. Don't you think that eventually he'll be able to walk across that bridge without a problem?
Just do it and don't worry bout it,
Lydia Johnson
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Desensitizing and Sensitizing
Is it possible to have a horse that is extremely responsive to its rider, but unresponsive to everything else?
I think it is.
You may here people say that desensitizing makes your horse unresponsive to your cues, and they would be correct... if that was all you did.
I'll give an example.
Aleythia and I started training a young filly, Flicka, when we were about ten. We didn't know what we were doing. We had a little help, but mostly it was what we felt like doing, whenever we felt like doing it, and no thought as to the mental readiness of Flicka. We did a lot of one thing and not enough of others, or not at all.
The best thing about Flicka is that she is pretty much child-proof. That was because of all the things we did with her. We got on her bareback and bridle less in the pasture and just sat there, we swung up Indian style, and moved all over her back sideways, backwards, and standing up. That's about all we taught her.
Flick is the laziest most unresponsive horse you could probably come across. Ok maybe not quite that bad. There's always something that's worse.
Flicka won't canter. We never made it a requirement for her to canter.
She can't do ground work worth didlysquat. I worked with her once this last summer and I wanted her to back up. Basically I ended up hitting her chest with my whip for five minutes until she figured out that going forward wasn't the answer. Then she stood still for a minute. After that she took one tiny step backwards.
Her steering is faulty. If she doesn't want to go somewhere you won't get her to go there.
My point is we didn't do any sensitizing. She is five years old and she hasn't cantered with a rider.
The other extreme is a horse who is off the scale sensitized. Those horses are really nice in a calm, familiar area, but the moment you take them away from their comfort zone they become terrors. They spook at every little thing and are very unenjoyable to ride. They haven't had enough desensitizing.
We all have some form of those two extremes. Maybe not quite as extreme but they're still there.
What we want is a horse that listens to our request, but zones out almost everything else.
The trick is to have an even balance of sensitizing and desensitizing.
The best way to do this is before or after every ride with your horse you desensitize. Just make a habit out of it. It doesn't have to be major. It can take 30 seconds.
The first time you desensitize say like to a rope, your horse will more than likely freak out and you might have to make a whole session out of that one thing, but after that it will not take very long.
May your horses be responsive and safe,
Lydia Johnson
I think it is.
You may here people say that desensitizing makes your horse unresponsive to your cues, and they would be correct... if that was all you did.
I'll give an example.
Aleythia and I started training a young filly, Flicka, when we were about ten. We didn't know what we were doing. We had a little help, but mostly it was what we felt like doing, whenever we felt like doing it, and no thought as to the mental readiness of Flicka. We did a lot of one thing and not enough of others, or not at all.
The best thing about Flicka is that she is pretty much child-proof. That was because of all the things we did with her. We got on her bareback and bridle less in the pasture and just sat there, we swung up Indian style, and moved all over her back sideways, backwards, and standing up. That's about all we taught her.
Flick is the laziest most unresponsive horse you could probably come across. Ok maybe not quite that bad. There's always something that's worse.
Flicka won't canter. We never made it a requirement for her to canter.
She can't do ground work worth didlysquat. I worked with her once this last summer and I wanted her to back up. Basically I ended up hitting her chest with my whip for five minutes until she figured out that going forward wasn't the answer. Then she stood still for a minute. After that she took one tiny step backwards.
Her steering is faulty. If she doesn't want to go somewhere you won't get her to go there.
My point is we didn't do any sensitizing. She is five years old and she hasn't cantered with a rider.
The other extreme is a horse who is off the scale sensitized. Those horses are really nice in a calm, familiar area, but the moment you take them away from their comfort zone they become terrors. They spook at every little thing and are very unenjoyable to ride. They haven't had enough desensitizing.
We all have some form of those two extremes. Maybe not quite as extreme but they're still there.
What we want is a horse that listens to our request, but zones out almost everything else.
The trick is to have an even balance of sensitizing and desensitizing.
The best way to do this is before or after every ride with your horse you desensitize. Just make a habit out of it. It doesn't have to be major. It can take 30 seconds.
The first time you desensitize say like to a rope, your horse will more than likely freak out and you might have to make a whole session out of that one thing, but after that it will not take very long.
May your horses be responsive and safe,
Lydia Johnson
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Catching Horses
This post is as much about horse behavior as it is on how to catch that horse of yours.
Here are a few ways you can catch your horse
You can chase him around. This does work. What happens is your horse realizes that it's less work to let you catch them. This is the make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. Basically just make them run around until you think that he will let you come up to him to be haltered. The moment he moves away you chase him around again. A tip for this is that when you finally do catch your horse, put his halter on and just stand there petting him and letting him relax. This will make being with you a positive experience. This does take a lot running to accomplish though. Especially if you are in a pasture.
Food. Food is a powerful motivator. Your horse will more than likely come to you if he knows you have his favorite treat. Through try to get him haltered and then give him his treat. This will be a problem if you have more than one horse.
Retreat. Horses aren't afraid of something that's retreating. Instead they become curious. So you walk out to the pasture to catch your horse and he starts walking away from you. Right when he takes that first step you retreat. Watch his reaction. What most horses will do is instead of walking away they will step towards you. I keep experimenting with this one because it has so many aspects. But I did it with catching a horse. I walked up to one of the fillies and tossed my rope over her neck. She started walking away. I turned around and walked away with the body language of are you sure you want to leave? She took a step towards me. After that it was a piece of cake to get her haltered.
Another aspect of the retreat is to work your way towards your horse in arks. So that most of the time you're not facing him head on. When you do reach him you'll let him smell your hand and then retreat. And repeat. In stages you'll go from letting him smell your hand to petting his head, then neck, and eventually haltering.
You'll have to decide which way works best for your horse. Cause chasing your horse around would not be good for a horse that's been abused. What would work for that type of horse is retreat or possibly food. I wouldn't suggest using food on a pushy, dominate horse. Chasing him around would work.
Sometimes a horse will see your halter and hightail it out of there. To fix that bring your halter to the pasture and go around and say hello, but don't catch your horse. Also what will help is if you don't always work with your horse after you catch him. Catch him and let him go. That way he won't associate haltering with working.
Say hello to your equine for me,
Lydia Johnson
Here are a few ways you can catch your horse
You can chase him around. This does work. What happens is your horse realizes that it's less work to let you catch them. This is the make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. Basically just make them run around until you think that he will let you come up to him to be haltered. The moment he moves away you chase him around again. A tip for this is that when you finally do catch your horse, put his halter on and just stand there petting him and letting him relax. This will make being with you a positive experience. This does take a lot running to accomplish though. Especially if you are in a pasture.
Food. Food is a powerful motivator. Your horse will more than likely come to you if he knows you have his favorite treat. Through try to get him haltered and then give him his treat. This will be a problem if you have more than one horse.
Retreat. Horses aren't afraid of something that's retreating. Instead they become curious. So you walk out to the pasture to catch your horse and he starts walking away from you. Right when he takes that first step you retreat. Watch his reaction. What most horses will do is instead of walking away they will step towards you. I keep experimenting with this one because it has so many aspects. But I did it with catching a horse. I walked up to one of the fillies and tossed my rope over her neck. She started walking away. I turned around and walked away with the body language of are you sure you want to leave? She took a step towards me. After that it was a piece of cake to get her haltered.
Another aspect of the retreat is to work your way towards your horse in arks. So that most of the time you're not facing him head on. When you do reach him you'll let him smell your hand and then retreat. And repeat. In stages you'll go from letting him smell your hand to petting his head, then neck, and eventually haltering.
You'll have to decide which way works best for your horse. Cause chasing your horse around would not be good for a horse that's been abused. What would work for that type of horse is retreat or possibly food. I wouldn't suggest using food on a pushy, dominate horse. Chasing him around would work.
Sometimes a horse will see your halter and hightail it out of there. To fix that bring your halter to the pasture and go around and say hello, but don't catch your horse. Also what will help is if you don't always work with your horse after you catch him. Catch him and let him go. That way he won't associate haltering with working.
Say hello to your equine for me,
Lydia Johnson
Monday, February 25, 2013
Larry Trocha
So I'm going to give you the links to some really good emails I've gotten from Larry Trocha.
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Being a Leader
Aleythia said something interesting today. She was explaining to one of my older sisters my character.
The main thing Aleythia said was that my character was why horses like me so much. She was talking about why I am the way I am. I'll try to explain and it will be hard because I'm so complicated (insert sarcasm).
When I want one of my sisters to do something I do it in two ways. I either command them to do it or I ask them to do it, leave, and trust that it will get done. I'm not really rude about either one. The main problem my sisters have is that I didn't say please. And believe me I know that commanding someone to do something does not make them like you much so I try not to do that around non-family members. Now the reason Aleythia said that my character was really good with horses was because with horses they don't really care if you coddle them or you raise your kids right. Her words not mine. They respect a leader that can move their feet and is confident. So when I ask my horses to do something I will expect them to do it, tell them to do it, then command them to do it. Aleythia said I also put a trust in my horses that she can't. She can't let go of a horse's reins and expect him to follow her.
That's what part of being a leader is about. Expecting something to get done (or at least try to get done) and Trust. It's a two way street. If you don't trust your horse he won't trust you.
You hear all these trainers say that to be the leader of your horse you need to get control of your horses feet. It's true, but I don't think that's all there is to it. You need to be patient, you need to be confident, you need expect results, and you need to trust.
You can have a horse that gets the pick of the food, is in the barn first, and can make everybody move, but isn't the leader. The other horses just avoid him.
I was reading an article Larry Trocha did and it said something about the above paragraph. He also said that the lead horse rarely has to reinforce his dominance. I see this with my barrel horse Santana. He is the leader of that herd. But he rarely goes and kicks the other horses. He doesn't have to.
I feel like I need to explain the expect results one though. If you ask your horse to do something he doesn't have to do it perfectly. All that matters is that he tries. As he learns what you want you can ask for more and expect more. Also your trusting does not have to be you doing foolish things. It can be as simple as what I did and expecting your horse to follow you on the ground. Or going on a trail ride. To help your horse trust you, desensitize and get control of his feet.
Sorry if this all seems like a big mess,
Lydia Johnson
The main thing Aleythia said was that my character was why horses like me so much. She was talking about why I am the way I am. I'll try to explain and it will be hard because I'm so complicated (insert sarcasm).
When I want one of my sisters to do something I do it in two ways. I either command them to do it or I ask them to do it, leave, and trust that it will get done. I'm not really rude about either one. The main problem my sisters have is that I didn't say please. And believe me I know that commanding someone to do something does not make them like you much so I try not to do that around non-family members. Now the reason Aleythia said that my character was really good with horses was because with horses they don't really care if you coddle them or you raise your kids right. Her words not mine. They respect a leader that can move their feet and is confident. So when I ask my horses to do something I will expect them to do it, tell them to do it, then command them to do it. Aleythia said I also put a trust in my horses that she can't. She can't let go of a horse's reins and expect him to follow her.
That's what part of being a leader is about. Expecting something to get done (or at least try to get done) and Trust. It's a two way street. If you don't trust your horse he won't trust you.
You hear all these trainers say that to be the leader of your horse you need to get control of your horses feet. It's true, but I don't think that's all there is to it. You need to be patient, you need to be confident, you need expect results, and you need to trust.
You can have a horse that gets the pick of the food, is in the barn first, and can make everybody move, but isn't the leader. The other horses just avoid him.
I was reading an article Larry Trocha did and it said something about the above paragraph. He also said that the lead horse rarely has to reinforce his dominance. I see this with my barrel horse Santana. He is the leader of that herd. But he rarely goes and kicks the other horses. He doesn't have to.
I feel like I need to explain the expect results one though. If you ask your horse to do something he doesn't have to do it perfectly. All that matters is that he tries. As he learns what you want you can ask for more and expect more. Also your trusting does not have to be you doing foolish things. It can be as simple as what I did and expecting your horse to follow you on the ground. Or going on a trail ride. To help your horse trust you, desensitize and get control of his feet.
Sorry if this all seems like a big mess,
Lydia Johnson
Monday, February 18, 2013
Respect
I'm writing this on respect.
A lot of the problems people have with horses come from the horse's lack of respect for said person. Any honest trainer will tell you this. Larry Trocha says it and gets in your face about it so that maybe, just maybe, you'll get the point.
This post doesn't cover the huge problems with disrespect like kicking, biting, rearing, bucking, ect. It covers the little things like your horse not paying attention, not taking you seriously, not trusting you. And ok a few little stories on the rearing and kicking.
My example will be a few stories of the things I have done and the things my sister, Aleythia has done.
I'll start with Aleythia.
Aleythia doesn't like to punish her horses. Or she does just not hard enough. That's not a bad thing, but in certain situations it's necessary.
With the four fillie's we're training she's had problems. Mostly with Dash and Coffie, the two bays. They don't blatantly disrespect her, they just don't take her seriously. With Dash she couldn't get her to longe nicely. Dash would be hesitant about what she was doing. I got in there and longed Dash and she was fine. With Coffie, she doesn't listen. She's off in lala land. Coffie takes me seriously. So, what's the difference? Respect. Aleythia needs to be more forceful, more like a leader. She needs to ask her horse to do something and then when her horse doesn't do it she needs to tell the horse to do it, then make them do it.
If you can catch the signs of disrespect from your horse and fix it right away that will save you from a whole lot of trouble in the future.
Now my story.
I was in the pasture with the horses and Ana was being a pill. She layed back her ears at me and wanted nothing to do with me. So what was I supposed to do? Let it go? I had nothing on me that I could get after her for but my own hands and feet. So, I chased her around. She needed to know that I was boss. When she wouldn't move out quick enough I slapped her. In this process I slapped her and she was cantering away and she kicked. Her back foot got me right below my collar bone. Lucky for me she was running away and I barely felt it. But I went after her again for that. But let that be a two sided warning. Don't let your horse get away with things like that and be careful.
I have had one other similar battle of who's boss with her. It was back when we still had Flicka.
Once again I was in the pasture and she did something. I got after her for it. This time though she thought that she could push me around. She reared up and I knew that whatever she was gunna do it would not be good. I stared at her and prepared myself for whatever was going to happen next. At that moment Flicka came in and placed herself between me and Ana with her ears back and head low. Ana backed off.
Flicka was maybe three years old at that point. I was around eleven. I have no idea what I would have done. I'm glad Flicka cared enough about me to do something about it. Though it surprised me. But even then I knew that I couldn't let her win that battle. Stupid as I was to get myself into any situation like that I knew she couldn't win.
Bad horsey be good,
Lydia Johnson
A lot of the problems people have with horses come from the horse's lack of respect for said person. Any honest trainer will tell you this. Larry Trocha says it and gets in your face about it so that maybe, just maybe, you'll get the point.
This post doesn't cover the huge problems with disrespect like kicking, biting, rearing, bucking, ect. It covers the little things like your horse not paying attention, not taking you seriously, not trusting you. And ok a few little stories on the rearing and kicking.
My example will be a few stories of the things I have done and the things my sister, Aleythia has done.
I'll start with Aleythia.
Aleythia doesn't like to punish her horses. Or she does just not hard enough. That's not a bad thing, but in certain situations it's necessary.
With the four fillie's we're training she's had problems. Mostly with Dash and Coffie, the two bays. They don't blatantly disrespect her, they just don't take her seriously. With Dash she couldn't get her to longe nicely. Dash would be hesitant about what she was doing. I got in there and longed Dash and she was fine. With Coffie, she doesn't listen. She's off in lala land. Coffie takes me seriously. So, what's the difference? Respect. Aleythia needs to be more forceful, more like a leader. She needs to ask her horse to do something and then when her horse doesn't do it she needs to tell the horse to do it, then make them do it.
If you can catch the signs of disrespect from your horse and fix it right away that will save you from a whole lot of trouble in the future.
Now my story.
I was in the pasture with the horses and Ana was being a pill. She layed back her ears at me and wanted nothing to do with me. So what was I supposed to do? Let it go? I had nothing on me that I could get after her for but my own hands and feet. So, I chased her around. She needed to know that I was boss. When she wouldn't move out quick enough I slapped her. In this process I slapped her and she was cantering away and she kicked. Her back foot got me right below my collar bone. Lucky for me she was running away and I barely felt it. But I went after her again for that. But let that be a two sided warning. Don't let your horse get away with things like that and be careful.
I have had one other similar battle of who's boss with her. It was back when we still had Flicka.
Once again I was in the pasture and she did something. I got after her for it. This time though she thought that she could push me around. She reared up and I knew that whatever she was gunna do it would not be good. I stared at her and prepared myself for whatever was going to happen next. At that moment Flicka came in and placed herself between me and Ana with her ears back and head low. Ana backed off.
Flicka was maybe three years old at that point. I was around eleven. I have no idea what I would have done. I'm glad Flicka cared enough about me to do something about it. Though it surprised me. But even then I knew that I couldn't let her win that battle. Stupid as I was to get myself into any situation like that I knew she couldn't win.
Bad horsey be good,
Lydia Johnson
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Hot Heads Slowing Down
I have a horse named Ana that is really bad at standing still. She is a Saddlebred/Arabian cross and she can run for have an hour stop for a minute and be ready to run another half hour. She has no speed control. It's always fast. She would walk when you were trying to get on and she won't walk when she's on a longe line.
Now most trainers will tell you to make your horse work until he's dead tired. That didn't work out too well for Ana because she can run that long and she'll just get more endurance the more we do it. What my sister (Aleythia) and I did instead was one rein stops. For three weeks all we did was one reign stops. No pulling on both reins at the same time. By the end of those three weeks she stood really nicely but she was looking around and wasn't listening. So that's something we'll have to deal with. If she was listening she wouldn't be quite so hyper. So it took us three weeks to get her to stand still, and we still have walking, trotting, and cantering to do. So at the most it will take nine more weeks to get her to go at the speed we want. I'm guessing it will take less time because she'll already get the concept of it.
With the walking off while someone's mounting everyone says to back your horse up. But, what is often the case with hot heads they go forward really well and don't back up really well. Huh, maybe there's a connection, but anywho. You could get her to back up nicely but it felt like she wasn't trying or taking me seriously. So instead when she walked off we would hop down, take the end of the rein and swing it in a circle aggressively towards her hindquarters and make her disengage her hindquarters around in circles until we thought she got the point. That she could do really well. Don't be afraid to actually hit them on the butt and it will help if your horse knows how to disengage his hindquarters beforehand.
Hope this helps someone out there,
Lydia Jonson
Now most trainers will tell you to make your horse work until he's dead tired. That didn't work out too well for Ana because she can run that long and she'll just get more endurance the more we do it. What my sister (Aleythia) and I did instead was one rein stops. For three weeks all we did was one reign stops. No pulling on both reins at the same time. By the end of those three weeks she stood really nicely but she was looking around and wasn't listening. So that's something we'll have to deal with. If she was listening she wouldn't be quite so hyper. So it took us three weeks to get her to stand still, and we still have walking, trotting, and cantering to do. So at the most it will take nine more weeks to get her to go at the speed we want. I'm guessing it will take less time because she'll already get the concept of it.
With the walking off while someone's mounting everyone says to back your horse up. But, what is often the case with hot heads they go forward really well and don't back up really well. Huh, maybe there's a connection, but anywho. You could get her to back up nicely but it felt like she wasn't trying or taking me seriously. So instead when she walked off we would hop down, take the end of the rein and swing it in a circle aggressively towards her hindquarters and make her disengage her hindquarters around in circles until we thought she got the point. That she could do really well. Don't be afraid to actually hit them on the butt and it will help if your horse knows how to disengage his hindquarters beforehand.
Hope this helps someone out there,
Lydia Jonson
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Tied For the Day
There's something to be said for a horse who can stand patiently at his post for hours. Teaching it? Ya don't. Not really anyway. You tie your horse up in the morning and leave him there all day. You can work with him but he always goes back on his post. All day. You bring him to food and water.
I got this from Larry Trocha. You can click on the link to his site on the left under helpful sites.
Now we're (my sister and I) doing this with our four fillies and I am loving the results. They're young. They have not had a lot of tying experiences. We've never had a reason to.
This is what it will help.
With the nervous horse like I said it will help them gain patience and calm down. If you have a horse that hates to be away from his buddies or can't ignore the things around him, tie him up all alone and leave him there. I have an ex-racehorse Thoroughbred that we took to the fair this last year and she was a pain to be around. She was so freaked out about everything around her she didn't even notice you were there. It was extremely frustrating. I should have just tied her up to a tree and left her to her own worries. I think I am going to tie her up and make her stay there all day too.
Now for most people it isn't practical to tie their horse(s) up in the morning and leave them there all day. They have school or work or something like that. So do it when you can. If that means you get home at 5:00 and your horse only stands tied for an hour, fine. It will still help.
I got this from Larry Trocha. You can click on the link to his site on the left under helpful sites.
Now we're (my sister and I) doing this with our four fillies and I am loving the results. They're young. They have not had a lot of tying experiences. We've never had a reason to.
This is what it will help.
- Your horse's patience
- Learning to be tied
- Nervous horses to become calmer
- Make them feel like they've been working for their supper.
With the nervous horse like I said it will help them gain patience and calm down. If you have a horse that hates to be away from his buddies or can't ignore the things around him, tie him up all alone and leave him there. I have an ex-racehorse Thoroughbred that we took to the fair this last year and she was a pain to be around. She was so freaked out about everything around her she didn't even notice you were there. It was extremely frustrating. I should have just tied her up to a tree and left her to her own worries. I think I am going to tie her up and make her stay there all day too.
Now for most people it isn't practical to tie their horse(s) up in the morning and leave them there all day. They have school or work or something like that. So do it when you can. If that means you get home at 5:00 and your horse only stands tied for an hour, fine. It will still help.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Preparation for the First Ride
I currently have four fillies in training and I have gotten bucked off two of them on the first ride. With the other two we are trying to make their first ride as stress free and as safe as possible. And make all of them safer. And hopefully this will help you as well.
So here's a few things to help with that.
Work your horse in his tack
Get your horse used to the tack. Do lounging. Move your horse's feet. Make him do everything. Canter, changing directions on his hocks, and that sort of thing. If you can pony your horse on trail rides with all his tack on. Hey you could even send him over a few small jumps with his tack on.
Desensitize
This won't be a one time thing. You need to do this regularly. And I have trouble with this. It can take forever to desensitize your horse to a plastic bag and you'll probably have to do it again tomorrow. Find things that make noises. A whip, leaf blower, running tractor, ect. Also I have found that horses do not like bikers or rollerbladers. This probably won't be a problem for you if you don't live anywhere near a town, but if you do you should consider getting your horse used to that sort of thing. Also bang your hand against the saddle and get them used to things above their saddle.
Spend time with your horse
The more time you spend with your horse the more he will learn to trust you. Establish that you are the leader. Gain their respect through groundwork. But, WARNING, with a growing horse lots of time spent on them turning or going in circles can injure their legs. Get to know your horse's quirks.
Teach lightness
If you can teach your horse to be light, supple, and responsive before you ever get on him your job is halfway done. (I'll cover this one more in a later post)
Take things slow
When your first ride comes take it as slowly as necessary and retreat often. Horses aren't afraid of something that moves away from them. Help them to be more relaxed.
Listen to your horse
Listen to what your horse is telling you. Because I didn't listen to what my filly was telling me I got bucked off. Look for signs that your horse isn't at ease. Does he want to move constantly? Is he standing on all four feet instead of cocking one of the back feet? Is his head high? Do his eyes look worried? If you get on his back does it feel like he's tense? Usually it feels like he's arching his back.
Hope this helps and be safe.
Lydia Johnson
So here's a few things to help with that.
Work your horse in his tack
Get your horse used to the tack. Do lounging. Move your horse's feet. Make him do everything. Canter, changing directions on his hocks, and that sort of thing. If you can pony your horse on trail rides with all his tack on. Hey you could even send him over a few small jumps with his tack on.
Desensitize
This won't be a one time thing. You need to do this regularly. And I have trouble with this. It can take forever to desensitize your horse to a plastic bag and you'll probably have to do it again tomorrow. Find things that make noises. A whip, leaf blower, running tractor, ect. Also I have found that horses do not like bikers or rollerbladers. This probably won't be a problem for you if you don't live anywhere near a town, but if you do you should consider getting your horse used to that sort of thing. Also bang your hand against the saddle and get them used to things above their saddle.
Spend time with your horse
The more time you spend with your horse the more he will learn to trust you. Establish that you are the leader. Gain their respect through groundwork. But, WARNING, with a growing horse lots of time spent on them turning or going in circles can injure their legs. Get to know your horse's quirks.
Teach lightness
If you can teach your horse to be light, supple, and responsive before you ever get on him your job is halfway done. (I'll cover this one more in a later post)
Take things slow
When your first ride comes take it as slowly as necessary and retreat often. Horses aren't afraid of something that moves away from them. Help them to be more relaxed.
Listen to your horse
Listen to what your horse is telling you. Because I didn't listen to what my filly was telling me I got bucked off. Look for signs that your horse isn't at ease. Does he want to move constantly? Is he standing on all four feet instead of cocking one of the back feet? Is his head high? Do his eyes look worried? If you get on his back does it feel like he's tense? Usually it feels like he's arching his back.
Hope this helps and be safe.
Lydia Johnson
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Ground Tying Woes
I'm sure you all have heard the way everyone tells you to teach ground tying. They say to make it simple for yourself and less time consuming by teaching while you're grooming your horse.... That is the dumbest idea ever. You have the lead rope in your left hand (and your lead rope's probably too short), a brush or two in your right so you're brushing is kinda awkward, and you are in a bad position. Your horse won't wait to move until it's convenient for you. More likely he'll do it when you're standing by his hip or going behind him to get to his other side. It'll make you frustrated like no other.
Solution: Don't teach ground tying while you groom!
It's actually much simpler to teach it when you're leading your horse from one place to another.
All you have to do is drop the lead rope, say woah, and stand by him for a little while. If he moves you can easily grab the lead rope and put him back. At first don't make the standing time too long. Make it so that your horse succeeds. Then you can drop the lead rope and say woah, and walk away a few steps. When your horse moves to try and follow you just put him back where he belongs, say woah and walk away again. Repeat.Repeat and increase how far away you are. This should not take 3 months to teach. It should take you one or two days. Just so that they understand the concept. After that you can do the grooming and saddling with ground tying. With continued use you will be able to walk away and even disappear from sight and your horse will still stay in that spot.
Do you have any idea how nice and handy it is to have a horse that you can brush, saddle, and bridle in the middle of nowhere? It makes everything nice and simple. It's nice to know that you can get off your horse to do something, drop the rein on the ground and say woah, and your horse will stay there until you are done.
If you have any questions... ask. If you want a video I can definitely provide that.
Solution: Don't teach ground tying while you groom!
It's actually much simpler to teach it when you're leading your horse from one place to another.
All you have to do is drop the lead rope, say woah, and stand by him for a little while. If he moves you can easily grab the lead rope and put him back. At first don't make the standing time too long. Make it so that your horse succeeds. Then you can drop the lead rope and say woah, and walk away a few steps. When your horse moves to try and follow you just put him back where he belongs, say woah and walk away again. Repeat.Repeat and increase how far away you are. This should not take 3 months to teach. It should take you one or two days. Just so that they understand the concept. After that you can do the grooming and saddling with ground tying. With continued use you will be able to walk away and even disappear from sight and your horse will still stay in that spot.
Do you have any idea how nice and handy it is to have a horse that you can brush, saddle, and bridle in the middle of nowhere? It makes everything nice and simple. It's nice to know that you can get off your horse to do something, drop the rein on the ground and say woah, and your horse will stay there until you are done.
If you have any questions... ask. If you want a video I can definitely provide that.
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