Odd title but stay with me in this one.
It snowed here overnight so not a good day to put Filly out for the first time. I resolved to make up for this by playing with her twice.
The morning session was very pleasant with lots of the games she already knows to give her confidence in consistency and being out of her box. There were a few exuberant moments, but to be honest they were a pleasure to watch. It's so nice to see her having fun again.
Again I did lots of quick switching on the games to keep her occupied and interested. This seemed to work very well and we had a very rewarding morning session.
This evening I was at the yard again to play with both horses. Filly first.
She is still pretty dominant so I had to get very firm at times to counter her energy. The phases of pressure are applicable to training, but if she comes at me with phase 3 teeth I am not going to mess about with a phase 1 finger wriggle !! I match her phase plus a bit to reassert my leadership. This works for maybe 5 minutes with Filly whilst she plots the next form of attack. The snag from her point of view is that I can see the cogs wiring in her brain and so usually I am ready for the next attempt. This takes a lot of concentration on my part in reading her expression so that I am aware as to when the next attempt is imminent. We have been through this in the past and come out the other side, but I guess all the box rest has put us back a while.
I am really concentrating on the work required for riding her now and as a result the general thrust of the lesson is centered around the formula for riding as presented by Pat Parelli and modified a bit by James. I start with requiring a good stand still whilst I touch her all over. Who wants to mount a horse who has a touch point that results in a buck ? To put purpose to the touching I use a grooming brush to clean her off a bit.
We then move onto "placing the feet". I ask for each hoof to be lifted giving a chance to pick it out, tap on it to simulate shoeing, massage the leg to make it all pleasurable etc. Then MOST IMPORTANT I place the foot where I want it and persist until she relaxes the hoof in the requested place. This takes a long time with Billy, but Filly knows the drill and lets the hoof be placed anywhere I want. I was amazed at James yard when a horse had a bucking fit and he could identify which leg had initiated the bucks and it corresponded to the hoof that one of his assistants had problems placing earlier.
I then moved onto fore quarter and hind quarter yields using direct and indirect reins ( more on these concepts in the future ). At the moment these cause problems, particularly the fore quarter yields (consistent with a LBE). As a result we are not really progressing much past this stage, but there are many ways to do the required yields so it is not exactly boring. At the moment she does the yields but she either has a really snotty look on her face, or swishes her tail or tries to bite. None of these are what one would look for in a horse you were about to mount !! On a plus side the manners in the box are rapidly improving as a result of the resumption of the play sessions. Even the girls at the yard have commented on this.
After this session I spent a long time in the stable just doing undemanding but useful exercises such as grooming her tail. I have really taken onboard the concept that EVERY interaction with the horse is important, not just those in the training environment. In this case I was doing more "touching all over" and by raising the tail preparing her for future vet exams.
I then went to get Billy out of his enclosure to give him a play session. On entering the pen he was lying down and remained so as I approached. Bare in mind that he is an unbacked 3 year old highly bred thoroughbred and he stayed down. I approached slowly and knelt next to his head and gently stroked his face and neck. I then made a conscious effort to synchronise my breathing to his. After a few minutes his head lowered until his nose was on the ground and he briefly went to sleep (the snoring gave it away). What amazing trust, lying down with a predator and falling asleep. We stayed like this for 20 minutes or more with gentle stroking, him nuzzling my legs from time to time until I heard the call of the pub. I slowly left the pen, and eventually the yard, he was still lying down. The decision not to work him was a difficult one but I felt that the gain in rapport was way more important than more training in the school and wanted to leave I really nice impression on him for him to consider overnight. Hence the title !!
A chilled Filly
Tuesday 30 November 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
Good news about Filly. Billy gets brave
Quick blog tonight as it is kind of late !
Filly has been seen by the farrier again and commented that it could not be going better. The covering is now removed and hoof putty pushed into the split. The split has grown out considerably and is now mostly covered by the shoe, so we have a reasonable chance of the putty staying in place. Should it come out we have to salt bath the foot prior to reapplying.
As a result I could take her into the indoor school for a bit of refresher training. It was suggested that I keep her quiet. A thoroughbred race horse that has been cooped up in a box for weeks remain calm ? No chance. But I did manage to restrict it to a couple of minutes of generally high exuberance, followed by some really quite nice trotting circles.
I then tried to keep that mind of hers busy with lots of game changes. Figure 8 to circle to weave to figure 8 to tarpaulin to stick to me, as fast as I could transition. Her curiosity came up at this and I started to become a fun partner again. I was so happy to have the knowledge to give her what she needed to become content with life again.
She had been getting very pushy and dominant in the box, but after 15 minutes in the school this improved dramatically. Not perfect, but much much better.
We have a way to go in Filly mind rehabilitation but at least progress can now be made rather than just damage limitation. The plan for the morning is to let her out in the field after some preparatory work to try and stop her going too mad. This should help her mental state enormously. The field is semi frozen at the moment which I feel is good news as there is less mud and moisture to get into the split.
So all in all a good day.
Oh and to cap it all after 3 days of gentle training Billy suddenly made a decision and walked onto the tarp as calm as you like within minutes of entering the school!! More about him tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Filly has been seen by the farrier again and commented that it could not be going better. The covering is now removed and hoof putty pushed into the split. The split has grown out considerably and is now mostly covered by the shoe, so we have a reasonable chance of the putty staying in place. Should it come out we have to salt bath the foot prior to reapplying.
As a result I could take her into the indoor school for a bit of refresher training. It was suggested that I keep her quiet. A thoroughbred race horse that has been cooped up in a box for weeks remain calm ? No chance. But I did manage to restrict it to a couple of minutes of generally high exuberance, followed by some really quite nice trotting circles.
I then tried to keep that mind of hers busy with lots of game changes. Figure 8 to circle to weave to figure 8 to tarpaulin to stick to me, as fast as I could transition. Her curiosity came up at this and I started to become a fun partner again. I was so happy to have the knowledge to give her what she needed to become content with life again.
She had been getting very pushy and dominant in the box, but after 15 minutes in the school this improved dramatically. Not perfect, but much much better.
We have a way to go in Filly mind rehabilitation but at least progress can now be made rather than just damage limitation. The plan for the morning is to let her out in the field after some preparatory work to try and stop her going too mad. This should help her mental state enormously. The field is semi frozen at the moment which I feel is good news as there is less mud and moisture to get into the split.
So all in all a good day.
Oh and to cap it all after 3 days of gentle training Billy suddenly made a decision and walked onto the tarp as calm as you like within minutes of entering the school!! More about him tomorrow.
Goodnight.
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Filly getting better. Billy distracted
Great news about Filly. The farrier was back yesterday and thought the improvement was very very good. In fact he put the shoe back on, although it is still well covered up with padding and duct tape to protect it. As a result I was able to take her for a short walk, at least 50 yards, outside ! And let her graze for a while. It was a bit wet and the last thing I wanted to do was getting the dressing damp, so we grazed for only about 5 minutes, but it was a start. On the way back to the box a quick trip to the indoor school alowed for a nice roll. Whilst there I did a little stick to me game with particular emphasis on turning into her to get fore quarter yields. She had been getting kind of disrespectful in the box, probably out of pure boredom. Now I know it is her space, but I respect guests (well most of them) in my house and expect her to do the same in hers. Doing forequarter yields means that she is having to move out off and respect my space so I hope this will help in the overall respect issue.
I also took the time to do some more touching all over training. The main focus at the moment is control of the tail. I want to be able to move the tail to wherever I want it to be with NO resistance from her. This will be particularly valuable if the vet ever needs to inspect her hind end. I've trained the feet for the farrier, now it's time to train the rest for the vet. When the vet is called out in an emergency is not really the time to start this training afterall !! The horse is sick and stressed out already in this case so why add trauma when a few minutes each day can avoid the proiblem ?
We then got Billy in the indoor school for a short session. More desensitising training followed, but with the added distraction of another horse being lunged next to us. There was little actual progress but I was pleased that we managed to achieve as much as yesterday even with the other horse around. I was really concentrating on keeping him focussed on me rather than the pretty mare at the other end, which was also a valuable task.
In my view it is always important to adapt to the situation at hand. I went in with a certain lesson plan, but had to adapt my expectations in light of the distraction. It would have been easy to get frustrated in these circumstances but I turned it to my advantage. As a result I am sure that the next session will show more improvement than I would normally expect.
One thing James (see previous post) fines people for is a negative comment. £1 is the going rate. In this situation thinking of this really helped stay motivated and centered.
Don't forget one of Pats sayings "Expect a lot, Accept a little, Reward often". Now I understand this a little better.
I also took the time to do some more touching all over training. The main focus at the moment is control of the tail. I want to be able to move the tail to wherever I want it to be with NO resistance from her. This will be particularly valuable if the vet ever needs to inspect her hind end. I've trained the feet for the farrier, now it's time to train the rest for the vet. When the vet is called out in an emergency is not really the time to start this training afterall !! The horse is sick and stressed out already in this case so why add trauma when a few minutes each day can avoid the proiblem ?
We then got Billy in the indoor school for a short session. More desensitising training followed, but with the added distraction of another horse being lunged next to us. There was little actual progress but I was pleased that we managed to achieve as much as yesterday even with the other horse around. I was really concentrating on keeping him focussed on me rather than the pretty mare at the other end, which was also a valuable task.
In my view it is always important to adapt to the situation at hand. I went in with a certain lesson plan, but had to adapt my expectations in light of the distraction. It would have been easy to get frustrated in these circumstances but I turned it to my advantage. As a result I am sure that the next session will show more improvement than I would normally expect.
One thing James (see previous post) fines people for is a negative comment. £1 is the going rate. In this situation thinking of this really helped stay motivated and centered.
Don't forget one of Pats sayings "Expect a lot, Accept a little, Reward often". Now I understand this a little better.
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Visit to James Roberts. Billy in indoor school
Sorry there has been no update for a while. I had to go to Calgary for work and managed a pretty, but very very cold walk up to Lake Borgeau. The radio was suggesting a windchill of -28 c ! Driving to the mountains I passed several fields with horses in. Of the 50 odd horses I saw only 2 had rugs on. They breed them tough up there.
Back at home Sunday was the great day that Billy finally had a home for the night. I arrived at the yard just in time to introduce him to the barn. He was a dream to lead up from the field, no need for a chiveny bit that had been used in the past. He settled in really well so we left him to explore his new home.
Very early next morning Ritchie and I set off for 1 1/2 days of spectating at James Roberts Foundation Station . Ritchie had been on a confidence riding course at Stoneleigh Park with him last summer and then a follow up weekend last month. She was very impressed with his facility and thought it a good idea to go and see him. How right she was.
James specializes in colt starting (which I really want to do myself) and helping problem horses and their owners. There is almost too much to report on the things he taught me so I will try to summarise them here
1) Have a purpose for your horse. In my case they will both be racehorses one day, maybe. So that will be my focus, but with a dash of reality I want to put a firm general foundation on them in case they don't make the grade. I would hate them to be put on the scrap heap early in their lifes just because they can't win races.
2) With a purpose a training plan can be devised. As an example he had one guy there who is a polo rider James was getting him to practise roll backs on line. Being able to spin on their hind legs and run in the opposite direction is not really desireable for race horses so this will not be a focus of my training even though it looks really good. As a result the plan has to be relevant to the desired end result and not get side tracked into doing stuff that looks great but has no relevance.
3) Always know why you are doing an exercise. I must be ready for Ritchie to ask me at anytime why I am doing something. This disciplne will let me visualise what I want the final shape of the exercise to look like and where it fits into the 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle of training. She may not agree with my reasons, but that is irrelevant, the discipline of having a reason is the point.
4) Stick to the riding plan which step by step leads you all the way through your whole training day with the horse and gives a structure to the lesson.
There was much more than this. All I can suggest is that if you can only get there for a days spectating DO IT. I think it had such a large impact on me in particular as he has a similar way of thinking to me. The concepts are similar to those I have used in training for glider racing (strange as that may sound !).
On the way home this afternoon Ritchie and I sketched out training plans for Filly, Billy and Bonitao, each tailored to that particular horses needs and end purpose. For example I have determined to do a fair bit of confidence training with Billy as he is a RBE (at the moment) with the aim of making him LBE in time, whereas for the pushy little Filly this is not really needed !! Filly needs a firmer hand to reassert my leadership so that we can get her back into a learning frame of mind.
To this end on arrival at the yard I took Billy into the indoor school for the first time. I had all the toys in there, the tarpaulin, ball, cones etc. He was initially a bit wide eyed about all of this as I expected. In addition I had switched from using a savvy string on the carrot stick to a bright orange plastic bag. A lot for him to cope with in one hit but to progress I thought it worth the risk.
What a session, To start with I had to desensitise him to the bag, which was done in around 5 minutes using the classic approach and retreat method. This is easy of course with a bag at the end of the stick as a flick of the wrist acieves all the movement required. The trick was to remove the stick just BEFORE he became unconfident so this requires close reading of the horse. Of course I also walked away from him dragging the stick (predators don't retreat so it can't be a predator). This desensitised him whilst he was moving. I have discoverd the hard way that acceptance of an object when the horse is still does not mean it will be accepted when he is moving.
I now had a really convenient signalling tool. I find it easier to use than a carrot stick and string, especially if the horse is at close quarters.
Thus armed I moved onto playing with all the other toys. In particular the tarp. The technique here was to make the tarp a place of rest for the circling game. In essence I asked Billy to trot on circles and only allowed him to rest next to the trarp. As a result the side of the tarp transformed from a scary place to a sanctuary to be sought out. I did not force him onto the tarp but just quietly waited as he rested for his curoisty about it to kick in. On a couple of occasions his front feet brushed the tarp as he was sent on a new circle, which to start with invoked a big spook, but slowly they lessened until he stood calmly with his front feet on the edge of the sheet.
I also indulged in some figure of eight patterns to establish the stick/bag as a true signalling tool and also to give relief from the tarp training. A quick session of sideways along the wall and the training was over for the day.
He was truly fun to train today, very attentive with the distraction of the other horses removed, very open to new things whilst looking to me for comfort.
As for Filly, she is still on box rest. A quick bit of training to allow me to move her tail wherever I wished with no resistance from her was all I really had time for. Oh, and placing the feet as well of course before I get a rude comment from James !!
Back at home Sunday was the great day that Billy finally had a home for the night. I arrived at the yard just in time to introduce him to the barn. He was a dream to lead up from the field, no need for a chiveny bit that had been used in the past. He settled in really well so we left him to explore his new home.
Very early next morning Ritchie and I set off for 1 1/2 days of spectating at James Roberts Foundation Station . Ritchie had been on a confidence riding course at Stoneleigh Park with him last summer and then a follow up weekend last month. She was very impressed with his facility and thought it a good idea to go and see him. How right she was.
James specializes in colt starting (which I really want to do myself) and helping problem horses and their owners. There is almost too much to report on the things he taught me so I will try to summarise them here
1) Have a purpose for your horse. In my case they will both be racehorses one day, maybe. So that will be my focus, but with a dash of reality I want to put a firm general foundation on them in case they don't make the grade. I would hate them to be put on the scrap heap early in their lifes just because they can't win races.
2) With a purpose a training plan can be devised. As an example he had one guy there who is a polo rider James was getting him to practise roll backs on line. Being able to spin on their hind legs and run in the opposite direction is not really desireable for race horses so this will not be a focus of my training even though it looks really good. As a result the plan has to be relevant to the desired end result and not get side tracked into doing stuff that looks great but has no relevance.
3) Always know why you are doing an exercise. I must be ready for Ritchie to ask me at anytime why I am doing something. This disciplne will let me visualise what I want the final shape of the exercise to look like and where it fits into the 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle of training. She may not agree with my reasons, but that is irrelevant, the discipline of having a reason is the point.
4) Stick to the riding plan which step by step leads you all the way through your whole training day with the horse and gives a structure to the lesson.
There was much more than this. All I can suggest is that if you can only get there for a days spectating DO IT. I think it had such a large impact on me in particular as he has a similar way of thinking to me. The concepts are similar to those I have used in training for glider racing (strange as that may sound !).
On the way home this afternoon Ritchie and I sketched out training plans for Filly, Billy and Bonitao, each tailored to that particular horses needs and end purpose. For example I have determined to do a fair bit of confidence training with Billy as he is a RBE (at the moment) with the aim of making him LBE in time, whereas for the pushy little Filly this is not really needed !! Filly needs a firmer hand to reassert my leadership so that we can get her back into a learning frame of mind.
To this end on arrival at the yard I took Billy into the indoor school for the first time. I had all the toys in there, the tarpaulin, ball, cones etc. He was initially a bit wide eyed about all of this as I expected. In addition I had switched from using a savvy string on the carrot stick to a bright orange plastic bag. A lot for him to cope with in one hit but to progress I thought it worth the risk.
What a session, To start with I had to desensitise him to the bag, which was done in around 5 minutes using the classic approach and retreat method. This is easy of course with a bag at the end of the stick as a flick of the wrist acieves all the movement required. The trick was to remove the stick just BEFORE he became unconfident so this requires close reading of the horse. Of course I also walked away from him dragging the stick (predators don't retreat so it can't be a predator). This desensitised him whilst he was moving. I have discoverd the hard way that acceptance of an object when the horse is still does not mean it will be accepted when he is moving.
I now had a really convenient signalling tool. I find it easier to use than a carrot stick and string, especially if the horse is at close quarters.
Thus armed I moved onto playing with all the other toys. In particular the tarp. The technique here was to make the tarp a place of rest for the circling game. In essence I asked Billy to trot on circles and only allowed him to rest next to the trarp. As a result the side of the tarp transformed from a scary place to a sanctuary to be sought out. I did not force him onto the tarp but just quietly waited as he rested for his curoisty about it to kick in. On a couple of occasions his front feet brushed the tarp as he was sent on a new circle, which to start with invoked a big spook, but slowly they lessened until he stood calmly with his front feet on the edge of the sheet.
I also indulged in some figure of eight patterns to establish the stick/bag as a true signalling tool and also to give relief from the tarp training. A quick session of sideways along the wall and the training was over for the day.
He was truly fun to train today, very attentive with the distraction of the other horses removed, very open to new things whilst looking to me for comfort.
As for Filly, she is still on box rest. A quick bit of training to allow me to move her tail wherever I wished with no resistance from her was all I really had time for. Oh, and placing the feet as well of course before I get a rude comment from James !!
Wednesday 17 November 2010
Filly getting very bored
Poultice change delayed until 9:30 am today to give me a lie in ! I have a night flight tomorrow and need to shift my body clock a bit to cope.
She was very very difficult today. All the other horses in the barn were being taken out and she clearly wanted to follow them. I had to get really really firm with her, which I hate doing but sometimes "leadership" has to take over from "love". Finally I managed to get her to stand still briefly and we found that the poultice had come off again. We knew this was very recent as Rick had just checked her and she had it on earlier. My guess is that it fell off when she started getting agitated in the stable as the others left. Anyway with no infection barrier, however briefly we felt that a quick salt bath was required. I was left to try and accomplish this alone, so wound up spilling most of it. Second attempt went better, by which time she had calmed down considerably. The poultice was applied with no problems at all.
Rick and I then spent about 4 hours erecting new enclosures in the hay barn so that finally Billy and Spider (his field mate) can have some overnight accommodation. This is really good news as it means that I can play with Billy in the school without the worry of leaving Spider in a field on his own.
After lunch I returned to the yard to finish the enclosures and play in the box a bit with Filly. Today I concentrated on being able to handle the udder area, but was met with fierce opposition. Mainly cow kicking and teeth.
We had a few good battles, all of which I won but that did not stop Filly coming back for more. Basically as long as she is calm and gentle I play friendly game, but as her energy comes up I increase my phases to keep her out of my space. If she really comes for me with her teeth I wave my arms, block her with my forearm whatever it takes not to retreat. I make a point of trying not to move my feet at all (he who moves the feet away first looses the game) and if I do move them I make sure they move towards her and drive her away. After about 20 minutes of this there was a glimmer of a change. She now tried to seduce bits of me into her mouth with gentle licking and mouthing, but I have adopted a zero tolerance approach to this for the moment so as not to give mixed messages.
She still showed signs of discomfort in her bad hoof, but only mild, and according to Rick the poultice pulled very little infection out. We are leaving the current one on for 24 hours to see how much infection we get out then. Once it is cleared up we will return to iodine and sugar to dry the hoof out prior to putting her shoe back on.
I hope this is soon so she can be let out again for the sanity of all at the yard including her !!
She was very very difficult today. All the other horses in the barn were being taken out and she clearly wanted to follow them. I had to get really really firm with her, which I hate doing but sometimes "leadership" has to take over from "love". Finally I managed to get her to stand still briefly and we found that the poultice had come off again. We knew this was very recent as Rick had just checked her and she had it on earlier. My guess is that it fell off when she started getting agitated in the stable as the others left. Anyway with no infection barrier, however briefly we felt that a quick salt bath was required. I was left to try and accomplish this alone, so wound up spilling most of it. Second attempt went better, by which time she had calmed down considerably. The poultice was applied with no problems at all.
Rick and I then spent about 4 hours erecting new enclosures in the hay barn so that finally Billy and Spider (his field mate) can have some overnight accommodation. This is really good news as it means that I can play with Billy in the school without the worry of leaving Spider in a field on his own.
After lunch I returned to the yard to finish the enclosures and play in the box a bit with Filly. Today I concentrated on being able to handle the udder area, but was met with fierce opposition. Mainly cow kicking and teeth.
We had a few good battles, all of which I won but that did not stop Filly coming back for more. Basically as long as she is calm and gentle I play friendly game, but as her energy comes up I increase my phases to keep her out of my space. If she really comes for me with her teeth I wave my arms, block her with my forearm whatever it takes not to retreat. I make a point of trying not to move my feet at all (he who moves the feet away first looses the game) and if I do move them I make sure they move towards her and drive her away. After about 20 minutes of this there was a glimmer of a change. She now tried to seduce bits of me into her mouth with gentle licking and mouthing, but I have adopted a zero tolerance approach to this for the moment so as not to give mixed messages.
She still showed signs of discomfort in her bad hoof, but only mild, and according to Rick the poultice pulled very little infection out. We are leaving the current one on for 24 hours to see how much infection we get out then. Once it is cleared up we will return to iodine and sugar to dry the hoof out prior to putting her shoe back on.
I hope this is soon so she can be let out again for the sanity of all at the yard including her !!
Tuesday 16 November 2010
A roller coaster day
Went to the yard for 9am, which for me is early, to help apply a new poultice. The first thing I saw was Filly with no poultice on standing in her box. It had managed to slip off during the night. I was very worried by this as standing in manure with an open wound did not sound like the best method of infection control. I rapidly gathered halter and lead rope and lead her out of the box, at which point Rick appeared. We decided that the hoof now needed another bout of salt water bathing. Today she was really good about this. She stood for a good ten minutes in the bowl without a murmur. Applying the poultice was also easy and we made sure that it could not come off this time and left instructions with the yard girls to regularly check and hit the panic alarm if it was missing.
I returned to the yard this afternoon for another poultice session and was met by Ritchie who suggested I ride Bonitao. More circling game with my eyes shut on a bareback pad to improve my balance. Felt much much better today.
After playing with Bonitao it was time to play with Filly. Just because she is in her box does NOT mean that she cannot have training continuing. Today I put emphasis on "orifice training". I am trying to prepare her for any future vet work that may be needed. Vets love orifices like nostrils, mount, anus etc to poke, prod and inspect. Reading Dr Millers book not enough people prepare their horses for this until it is too late so I decided to buck the trend preempt the problem. Approach and retreat is the name of the game, especially with the udder I found, which currently results in a cow kick. I'm sure the female readers will empathise with her !!
We also did some training with the bridle and bit which is becoming a non-event but will be kept up in any case.
The evening poultice was very very easy. Rick says that she is just getting used to it, possibly not realising the hours of foot training I am putting in in between sessions. Oh well, it is the result that matters !!
I returned to the yard this afternoon for another poultice session and was met by Ritchie who suggested I ride Bonitao. More circling game with my eyes shut on a bareback pad to improve my balance. Felt much much better today.
After playing with Bonitao it was time to play with Filly. Just because she is in her box does NOT mean that she cannot have training continuing. Today I put emphasis on "orifice training". I am trying to prepare her for any future vet work that may be needed. Vets love orifices like nostrils, mount, anus etc to poke, prod and inspect. Reading Dr Millers book not enough people prepare their horses for this until it is too late so I decided to buck the trend preempt the problem. Approach and retreat is the name of the game, especially with the udder I found, which currently results in a cow kick. I'm sure the female readers will empathise with her !!
We also did some training with the bridle and bit which is becoming a non-event but will be kept up in any case.
The evening poultice was very very easy. Rick says that she is just getting used to it, possibly not realising the hours of foot training I am putting in in between sessions. Oh well, it is the result that matters !!
Monday 15 November 2010
Farrier comes to see Filly
I went to the yard at around 3pm for Rick to tell me that the farrier was coming at 4:30pm to see Filly. Time to prepare her !
I took her to the indoor school just to make sure that she was not going to be to feisty when he arrived. She gets VERY bored in the box and then the mouthing and fidgeting start. I was very happy to notice that she was barely lame at all as we walked to the school and circling her so I could study her hind legs also showed no lameness. Maybe we could have a proper play session.
I started with lots of stick to me with backups. They went fairly well but occasionally I had to windmill the end of the rope in front of her nose as I backed. I was not trying to hit her, but if she failed to backup with me she in effect moved into the rope. This was very effective and soon she was backing well with no rope whirling at all. Note I do not aim to hit her with this technique, and she has every opportunity to back out of the way, but IF she decides to oppose me then there are consequences. This is very different to hitting a horse as punishment, a concept they don't understand anyway and only gratifies the human.
Having reestablished rapport and leadership we moved onto some figure 8 with a pole between the cones to give her another obstacle to avoid and keep her thinking. Again this was very good and needed at most phase 2 pressure to get the pattern fluid.
We did have another nice roll with lots of rubbing all over. She seems to really enjoy this now.
To prepare specifically for the farrier I did a lot of playing with the very low mounting block, getting her to put her feet on it and then stand still. Not great but it enabled me to discourage more mouthing as her hoof was under my control.
All too soon the farrier appeared to take a look at her. We gave her a hay net and she stayed nice and still as the shoe and hoof putty were removed. The farrier then announced that she had a really bad infection that had gone under the sole of the hoof so he started paring some of it away to release the black muck. (Remember I had found some of this a few days ago). During this investigation he noticed an infection filled hole going up into the hoof. Using a blunted nail the infection was dug out. This did cause her move away a bit in pain, but then I guess you would if someone was pushing a nail under your toenail. Back in position he investigated the depth of the hole and found it to be about 1/2 inch. He was worried that it might get deep enough to infect the pedal bone, which in turn would infect the navicular. If this would happen then it could be all over for Filly.
He left the shoe off and gave instruction for salt baths and poultice twice a day to try and draw the infection out. Rick, Ritchie and I did this procedure immediately. The first attempt at a salt bath was obviously very sore and she spilled most of it. The second however was very good and she happily stood in the bath for 5 minutes. Applying the poultice was also without drama.
I have to be at the yard by 9am tomorrow to do another session with Rick.
Currently Ritchie and I sitting at home worried and getting quietly drunk, all the earlier optimism gone.
I took her to the indoor school just to make sure that she was not going to be to feisty when he arrived. She gets VERY bored in the box and then the mouthing and fidgeting start. I was very happy to notice that she was barely lame at all as we walked to the school and circling her so I could study her hind legs also showed no lameness. Maybe we could have a proper play session.
I started with lots of stick to me with backups. They went fairly well but occasionally I had to windmill the end of the rope in front of her nose as I backed. I was not trying to hit her, but if she failed to backup with me she in effect moved into the rope. This was very effective and soon she was backing well with no rope whirling at all. Note I do not aim to hit her with this technique, and she has every opportunity to back out of the way, but IF she decides to oppose me then there are consequences. This is very different to hitting a horse as punishment, a concept they don't understand anyway and only gratifies the human.
Having reestablished rapport and leadership we moved onto some figure 8 with a pole between the cones to give her another obstacle to avoid and keep her thinking. Again this was very good and needed at most phase 2 pressure to get the pattern fluid.
We did have another nice roll with lots of rubbing all over. She seems to really enjoy this now.
To prepare specifically for the farrier I did a lot of playing with the very low mounting block, getting her to put her feet on it and then stand still. Not great but it enabled me to discourage more mouthing as her hoof was under my control.
All too soon the farrier appeared to take a look at her. We gave her a hay net and she stayed nice and still as the shoe and hoof putty were removed. The farrier then announced that she had a really bad infection that had gone under the sole of the hoof so he started paring some of it away to release the black muck. (Remember I had found some of this a few days ago). During this investigation he noticed an infection filled hole going up into the hoof. Using a blunted nail the infection was dug out. This did cause her move away a bit in pain, but then I guess you would if someone was pushing a nail under your toenail. Back in position he investigated the depth of the hole and found it to be about 1/2 inch. He was worried that it might get deep enough to infect the pedal bone, which in turn would infect the navicular. If this would happen then it could be all over for Filly.
He left the shoe off and gave instruction for salt baths and poultice twice a day to try and draw the infection out. Rick, Ritchie and I did this procedure immediately. The first attempt at a salt bath was obviously very sore and she spilled most of it. The second however was very good and she happily stood in the bath for 5 minutes. Applying the poultice was also without drama.
I have to be at the yard by 9am tomorrow to do another session with Rick.
Currently Ritchie and I sitting at home worried and getting quietly drunk, all the earlier optimism gone.
Saturday 13 November 2010
Set back with Filly's hoof
Ritchie and I had been away in Germany for a few days to visit my parents in law and relax at a very large health spa complex. 14 different saunas !! On returning home last night we quickly changed and dashed to the yard for a quick play with the horses.
Filly was in a very gentle, cuddly mood when I entered her box to pick out her feet. I had some trouble with the front feet. The lifting of the feet was fine but she would try and take the foot away from me just before I had placed it on the ground. One of our absolute principles is to never drop a hoof. We always place them on the ground, on a spot of our choosing and require that at that point the leg is relaxed. Filly can move the hoof afterwards to make herself comfortable, but MUST let us place it down first. Remember that control of movement is the definer of herd hierarchy and we take this to the movement of individual legs. I have to say that when Ritchie came home from a course and announced this I was skeptical, but have since discovered that it caused a rapid change in Filly's attitude to me in the box so have rigidly stuck to the principle. To start with she was very reluctant to let this happen as she knew it would be giving up another slice of dominance. The first few time took up to 15 minutes per leg to get them on the ground in a relaxed state, but now in general it is instant and easy.
Last night however she was very difficult about it which was frustrating after such good progress. She was also very difficult with the hind quarter porcupine yield with lots of tail swishing, again frustrating as she had been getting so good. I was ready to blame everyone for dropping feet and pushing her around badly, but I was missing the point that she was not acting bolshy, just resisting my commands. Her head was looking soft, with no flashing of teeth etc. I should have read the signs better.
Leading her out of the box it was immediately obvious that she was very lame on her bad hoof. Putting her back in the box I went for reinforcements, Ritchie ! Whilst she held Filly I carefully inspected the hoof finding nothing new wrong. But there was something wrong so I decided to dig the putty out. This must have been sore for her, but she did not move a muscle. I have taught her to put her hoof on a low mounting block so that I can work with two hands. She must have stayed there for 5 minutes not moving. When most of the putty was out the hoof pick started pulling out black muck which smelt really really bad. Obviously an infection had set in again. We rang Rick, having driven home to get a phone, and he suggested we reapply the hoof putty and we then try to bathe the hoof in salt water the next day.
So today Ritchie went to the yard this morning to assist in the bathing. A bit of a struggle was expected but in the event she was as good as gold, apart from trying to nibble Rick and anything else in range. To calm her down Ritchie suggested that Rick just act like a hay net and all would be fine !
She really has a very inquisitive nature and everything has to be investigated with her mouth. Not chewing generally, just tasting and worrying the object. We have just returned home from a second bathing tonight. The only problem occur ed when she spilled some of the water and went right brain about the resulting puddle. A new bowl of water and moving to a dry place and she was fine again. She even pivoted around the bathing foot without removing it from the bowl to investigate yet another turn out rug. hanging nearby.
One last really nice moment I must relate was from last night. I took her into the indoor school for a roll, and again she remained down in my presence whilst I rubbed her all over. This is so important to me as I have mentioned before, and will probably bore you all with again.
Filly was in a very gentle, cuddly mood when I entered her box to pick out her feet. I had some trouble with the front feet. The lifting of the feet was fine but she would try and take the foot away from me just before I had placed it on the ground. One of our absolute principles is to never drop a hoof. We always place them on the ground, on a spot of our choosing and require that at that point the leg is relaxed. Filly can move the hoof afterwards to make herself comfortable, but MUST let us place it down first. Remember that control of movement is the definer of herd hierarchy and we take this to the movement of individual legs. I have to say that when Ritchie came home from a course and announced this I was skeptical, but have since discovered that it caused a rapid change in Filly's attitude to me in the box so have rigidly stuck to the principle. To start with she was very reluctant to let this happen as she knew it would be giving up another slice of dominance. The first few time took up to 15 minutes per leg to get them on the ground in a relaxed state, but now in general it is instant and easy.
Last night however she was very difficult about it which was frustrating after such good progress. She was also very difficult with the hind quarter porcupine yield with lots of tail swishing, again frustrating as she had been getting so good. I was ready to blame everyone for dropping feet and pushing her around badly, but I was missing the point that she was not acting bolshy, just resisting my commands. Her head was looking soft, with no flashing of teeth etc. I should have read the signs better.
Leading her out of the box it was immediately obvious that she was very lame on her bad hoof. Putting her back in the box I went for reinforcements, Ritchie ! Whilst she held Filly I carefully inspected the hoof finding nothing new wrong. But there was something wrong so I decided to dig the putty out. This must have been sore for her, but she did not move a muscle. I have taught her to put her hoof on a low mounting block so that I can work with two hands. She must have stayed there for 5 minutes not moving. When most of the putty was out the hoof pick started pulling out black muck which smelt really really bad. Obviously an infection had set in again. We rang Rick, having driven home to get a phone, and he suggested we reapply the hoof putty and we then try to bathe the hoof in salt water the next day.
So today Ritchie went to the yard this morning to assist in the bathing. A bit of a struggle was expected but in the event she was as good as gold, apart from trying to nibble Rick and anything else in range. To calm her down Ritchie suggested that Rick just act like a hay net and all would be fine !
She really has a very inquisitive nature and everything has to be investigated with her mouth. Not chewing generally, just tasting and worrying the object. We have just returned home from a second bathing tonight. The only problem occur ed when she spilled some of the water and went right brain about the resulting puddle. A new bowl of water and moving to a dry place and she was fine again. She even pivoted around the bathing foot without removing it from the bowl to investigate yet another turn out rug. hanging nearby.
One last really nice moment I must relate was from last night. I took her into the indoor school for a roll, and again she remained down in my presence whilst I rubbed her all over. This is so important to me as I have mentioned before, and will probably bore you all with again.
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Evening with Filly, Day with Billy
Two days have passed since my last post. One evening spent with Filly with Ritchie and her horse Bonitao acting as chaperon and an afternoon with Billy.
Yesterday evening with Filly was fun. We played in the indoor school where Bonitao and Ritchie were also training. Given her past history with other horses I am pleased to report all went very well, even though Ritchie was doing some extreme friendly game with Bonitao and the tarpaulin.
We started with the mounting block which was very easy, she really has the hang of positioning in the correct place to be mounted. She doesn't realise that yet of course, she thinks it's the right place for a good scratch. From there we moved on to dragging the tarpaulin around. Again this started a bit right brain and with the added pressure of Bonitao in the school this was to be expected. After a very short time though she settled down and walked very quietly and a bit bored next to me. The sequence of habituation to a new stimulus is Fear, Curiosity, Acceptance, Ignore.
This makes absolute sense in evolutionary behaviour terms. In the wild being sceptical about everything keeps you alive. Run first and ask questions later. But if you run from everything then there is a massive waste of energy which has taken a long time to eat, so if the stimulus does not appear to threaten then investigate in case it's a food source or a play thing. When those possibilities are exhausted then accept the stimulus and finally don't even waste energy noticing it.
However as soon as acceptance at a walk has been fixed I increased the stimulus by moving up to a trot. Now the tarpaulin follows even faster, so the stimulus increases. The whole process is then repeated, and of course I have to be on both sides of her so that the comfort of my presence and the stimulus of the tarp is seen from both eyes. Desensitisation really has to be done in a very ordered way to achieve maximum effect.
We then started some squeeze game over a pole between jump wings, and surprisingly this caused all sorts of problems with some very very right brain moments. I resorted to circling game over the pole as this seems to be a more confidence building and comforting game. Possibly because she only has one eye on me at a time ? After 10 minutes of this boredom crept in and all was back to normal with the pole. Interestingly she then walked out of the school with me in a very submissive pose with her head lowered, but ears pricked and attentive.
Today was Billys' turn. I had not played with him for a while and it showed to start with, he seemed very uncertain. We did lots of stick to me until he became more confident. His backup next to me was particularly good. We moved onto circling game which again was unconfident at the start but improved slowly. Having established that he was OK with me waving the stick and string when he was at rest and during stick to me I wanted to be able to do the same as he circled. The idea is to be able to emphasise my friendly posture by using friendly stick movements. Again to start he was unconfident about this obviously thinking any stick movement meant "go faster". Towards the end of this game he seemed to get it however and relaxed to a large extent.
We also played some sideways game which is becoming excellent and squeeze game, which whilst being a a bit disloyal I have to say is better than Fillys' now (hope she can't read this I'm ususally in enough trouble with her anyway. A bit like being at home really !).
I was then allowed to ride Bonitao for a while in the outdoor school. My 3rd ride in 20 years. Ritchie however decided to counter my weight by only allowing use of the bareback pad. Good idea really as it is much better for developing a much deeper seat, but my groin muscles are not used to that much stretching these days. She was then concerned that I was pulling on both reins at the same time so took one off. I now had bareback pad, halter and one rein having not ridden much for years. I have to say I had fun, but I think Bonitao was a bit bored. We managed one trot but that was a bit sore on the aforementioned muscle. As you can imagine this got a lot of sympathy from Ritchie. I can only imagine it as well unfortunately.
Yesterday evening with Filly was fun. We played in the indoor school where Bonitao and Ritchie were also training. Given her past history with other horses I am pleased to report all went very well, even though Ritchie was doing some extreme friendly game with Bonitao and the tarpaulin.
We started with the mounting block which was very easy, she really has the hang of positioning in the correct place to be mounted. She doesn't realise that yet of course, she thinks it's the right place for a good scratch. From there we moved on to dragging the tarpaulin around. Again this started a bit right brain and with the added pressure of Bonitao in the school this was to be expected. After a very short time though she settled down and walked very quietly and a bit bored next to me. The sequence of habituation to a new stimulus is Fear, Curiosity, Acceptance, Ignore.
This makes absolute sense in evolutionary behaviour terms. In the wild being sceptical about everything keeps you alive. Run first and ask questions later. But if you run from everything then there is a massive waste of energy which has taken a long time to eat, so if the stimulus does not appear to threaten then investigate in case it's a food source or a play thing. When those possibilities are exhausted then accept the stimulus and finally don't even waste energy noticing it.
However as soon as acceptance at a walk has been fixed I increased the stimulus by moving up to a trot. Now the tarpaulin follows even faster, so the stimulus increases. The whole process is then repeated, and of course I have to be on both sides of her so that the comfort of my presence and the stimulus of the tarp is seen from both eyes. Desensitisation really has to be done in a very ordered way to achieve maximum effect.
We then started some squeeze game over a pole between jump wings, and surprisingly this caused all sorts of problems with some very very right brain moments. I resorted to circling game over the pole as this seems to be a more confidence building and comforting game. Possibly because she only has one eye on me at a time ? After 10 minutes of this boredom crept in and all was back to normal with the pole. Interestingly she then walked out of the school with me in a very submissive pose with her head lowered, but ears pricked and attentive.
Today was Billys' turn. I had not played with him for a while and it showed to start with, he seemed very uncertain. We did lots of stick to me until he became more confident. His backup next to me was particularly good. We moved onto circling game which again was unconfident at the start but improved slowly. Having established that he was OK with me waving the stick and string when he was at rest and during stick to me I wanted to be able to do the same as he circled. The idea is to be able to emphasise my friendly posture by using friendly stick movements. Again to start he was unconfident about this obviously thinking any stick movement meant "go faster". Towards the end of this game he seemed to get it however and relaxed to a large extent.
We also played some sideways game which is becoming excellent and squeeze game, which whilst being a a bit disloyal I have to say is better than Fillys' now (hope she can't read this I'm ususally in enough trouble with her anyway. A bit like being at home really !).
I was then allowed to ride Bonitao for a while in the outdoor school. My 3rd ride in 20 years. Ritchie however decided to counter my weight by only allowing use of the bareback pad. Good idea really as it is much better for developing a much deeper seat, but my groin muscles are not used to that much stretching these days. She was then concerned that I was pulling on both reins at the same time so took one off. I now had bareback pad, halter and one rein having not ridden much for years. I have to say I had fun, but I think Bonitao was a bit bored. We managed one trot but that was a bit sore on the aforementioned muscle. As you can imagine this got a lot of sympathy from Ritchie. I can only imagine it as well unfortunately.
Monday 8 November 2010
Now the tarpaulin comes to life
Late start to the training day last night, so I only managed to play with Filly. I started with some refresher training of all the yields. It is very easy to forget to return to theses basic exercises from time to time, but they are important.
Horses determine dominance in the herd by their ability to control the motion of others, therefore by controlling Fillys' basic movements I am reasserting my dominance over her. To be fair the yields were very good, even the hind quarter porcupine. This still results in some irritated tail swishing, but at least there is less tendency for her to porcupine me back with her teeth !
We then moved onto the scary travelling cone game, but this caused very few problems, even when I jerked the cone towards her. As a result I decided to replace the cone with a folded up tarpaulin.
This was very very scary to start with, but I just kept walking calmly with focus until she relaxed, and then walked some more. This was not intended to be a flooding procedure, but approach and retreat. In the event she got sufficiently scared immediately and tried to run away that I had no choice but to flood her. If I had stopped the training at the point she tried to depart I would have taught her that running away was the correct response to get the tarpaulin to stop moving. Not the desired behaviour at all. Fortunately, as always, I was using a 22 foot line so she could do all her antics at a save distance. When she did come back into the stick to me position and appeared calm we stopped and had a long break. Thus she was given comfort when she did the right thing. A few more goes at this and she was walking around pretty calmly next to me. It bought home to me however how quickly one has to think and adapt to circumstances, if I had not switched tactics it would have taken a long time to get over my initial mistake.
Now just because it was OK at walk does not mean it would be OK at trot so I started jogging. I needed the exercise anyway as my leg is starting to heal after the embarrassing mounting block episode ! This put a whole new level of pressure on. She would trot along but with me in zone 4, but not in the desired zone 2. Not a comfortable feeling to be that close to her hind legs when she was a bit scared. This time we did manage to do the approach and retreat method of drawing the tarp up to her and then letting it fall behind. After about 10 or 15 minutes she calmed down enough to give me a rest.
I then moved onto mounting block training at which she is getting really really good. She happily lets me position her next to the block now and is rewarded by a long back scratch on her opposite side. I'm still desensitising her to having me lean over her. I know we have done loads of this in the past all the way up to me lying over her, but with the bad hind foot I don't want to put weight on her at the moment so this is the next best thing to keep the backing training going.
We then had a most enjoyable roll in the dirt. I put her at liberty whilst I tidied up the toys and she immediately went to roll. I followed her to the normal rolling area and crouched down next to her as she rolled. Then approaching (cautiously as the legs flail around a lot as she rolls) I started to rub all over her side and belly which she seemed to really enjoy. These moments of touching her while she is lying down are very important to me. It takes a lot of trust on her part to allow a predator to approach and rub her whilst she is so vulnerable. My current aim is to get her to let me sit on her whilst she is on the ground. Who knows we may be able to use this as a mounting method eventually. One can have dreams !!
Horses determine dominance in the herd by their ability to control the motion of others, therefore by controlling Fillys' basic movements I am reasserting my dominance over her. To be fair the yields were very good, even the hind quarter porcupine. This still results in some irritated tail swishing, but at least there is less tendency for her to porcupine me back with her teeth !
We then moved onto the scary travelling cone game, but this caused very few problems, even when I jerked the cone towards her. As a result I decided to replace the cone with a folded up tarpaulin.
This was very very scary to start with, but I just kept walking calmly with focus until she relaxed, and then walked some more. This was not intended to be a flooding procedure, but approach and retreat. In the event she got sufficiently scared immediately and tried to run away that I had no choice but to flood her. If I had stopped the training at the point she tried to depart I would have taught her that running away was the correct response to get the tarpaulin to stop moving. Not the desired behaviour at all. Fortunately, as always, I was using a 22 foot line so she could do all her antics at a save distance. When she did come back into the stick to me position and appeared calm we stopped and had a long break. Thus she was given comfort when she did the right thing. A few more goes at this and she was walking around pretty calmly next to me. It bought home to me however how quickly one has to think and adapt to circumstances, if I had not switched tactics it would have taken a long time to get over my initial mistake.
Now just because it was OK at walk does not mean it would be OK at trot so I started jogging. I needed the exercise anyway as my leg is starting to heal after the embarrassing mounting block episode ! This put a whole new level of pressure on. She would trot along but with me in zone 4, but not in the desired zone 2. Not a comfortable feeling to be that close to her hind legs when she was a bit scared. This time we did manage to do the approach and retreat method of drawing the tarp up to her and then letting it fall behind. After about 10 or 15 minutes she calmed down enough to give me a rest.
I then moved onto mounting block training at which she is getting really really good. She happily lets me position her next to the block now and is rewarded by a long back scratch on her opposite side. I'm still desensitising her to having me lean over her. I know we have done loads of this in the past all the way up to me lying over her, but with the bad hind foot I don't want to put weight on her at the moment so this is the next best thing to keep the backing training going.
We then had a most enjoyable roll in the dirt. I put her at liberty whilst I tidied up the toys and she immediately went to roll. I followed her to the normal rolling area and crouched down next to her as she rolled. Then approaching (cautiously as the legs flail around a lot as she rolls) I started to rub all over her side and belly which she seemed to really enjoy. These moments of touching her while she is lying down are very important to me. It takes a lot of trust on her part to allow a predator to approach and rub her whilst she is so vulnerable. My current aim is to get her to let me sit on her whilst she is on the ground. Who knows we may be able to use this as a mounting method eventually. One can have dreams !!
Saturday 6 November 2010
Catch me if you can. Horsenality Software
As you may guess from the title more catching game was played with Billy. He seems to be getting the message that if he sticks to me all pressure is off, but if he runs away a predator suddenly materialises in the field.
It was a difficult session though, probably as a result of having no sleep for around 32 hours before playing. I was not quite as sharp as I needed to be. We still had some good moments when he would walk next to me for minutes at a time, then suddenly something would break the bond and he would canter away in a nice right brain exhibition. I wish I knew what signal I am giving out to have this happen, could be I am actually just boring him with the stick to me game, or an external influence acts as a catalyst. We did manage to walk the entire length of the field, about 200 meters with some really nice stops and backups, all at liberty. I know it is pushing things to play at liberty this early on with Billy, but I feel that if it can be done it strengthens his bond with me much quicker than coercion online.
It is so different to playing with Filly and really drives home the fact that these horsenalities really exist and are very important to understand to get the best out of the horse.
I then went and played a bit with Filly. I have been working on the one leg restraint using a thick rope as shown in Pat Parellis' farrier DVD. To say it is not a problem with her is an understatement. She almost holds the leg up herself as I wrap the rope around the knee. When I entered the box today she was a bit feisty, but a couple of minutes of this on each front leg and she transformed into a really gentle well behaved filly. It is in effect the same as just holding the leg up with the hand, but much less tiring on the back and thighs. It's applied in such a way that a quick flick of the wrist and it falls off over the front of the knee so there is no more risk of injury to the horse than holding the leg with the hand, but a lot less chance of injury to me.
We then moved to the indoor school where a cone had a nasty habit of chasing us again, which was a bit scary to start with. I am using approach and retreat with this training.
Another method called flooding is a way of desensitizing the horse to a stimulus by just keep applying it however scared they get until they slowly relax and settle down as they realise it won't hurt them. Then keep going for a long time to really make the lesson of desensitisation stick. In the old days it was called "sacking out". The snag with this is that it creates a really right brain extroverted horse for a while which could cause injury to Filly and/or me.
Flooding is a very quick method but I prefer approach and retreat as I am a coward at times. In this method the stimulus is applied gradually and removed quickly as soon as the horse looks a bit too wary. Slowly the threshold of approach gets closer until they can touch the object, or in this case it was touching her hind legs as we walked. As I mentioned in a previous post I am doing this by drawing the dragging cone closer and then letting it drift back. A bit tricky handling two 22 foot ropes, one for her and one for the cone, and a carrot stick, but doable with thought and planning. This time I took a leaf out of the flooding procedure and carried on the approach and retreat long after acceptance had crept in. I hope that this will reinforce the desensitisation so that it will last longer, but I think we both got a bit bored walking up and down the school. It was the aim to make her bored with the cone of course.
Quick update on her YoYo. WOW what an improvement. She now backs up with energy when I get to, at most, phase 2. Much more importantly there is no sign of defiance on her face which was my real aim.
It is also interesting how all this training is transferring over into box manners as well. She used to be really difficult at feed time, with ears back and teeth out. Today she patiently waited as I took the halter off and placed the food on the floor of the box. I'm not saying she was wearing a halo, but at least the trident tail and horns weren't out. So much better than when I had to go in with a carrot stick for self defence.
One last note : I have nearly finished writing a simple database program for windows that allows me to keep horsenality charts on the pc. Importantly it asks the questions that are on the chart without you being able to see which part of the chart the question comes from. The idea is to prevent bias creeping into the result. If you want a mild LBE (who doesn't ?) then using a chart you maybe tempted, even subconsciously, to put the ticks in the appropriate places to get one. With the program that is no longer possible so the chart is more objective. Multiple horses can be entered and multiple charts stored for each horse. It is in early stages of debugging at the moment and my guess is that the finished article will be available sometime after Christmas. Could you comment if interested so that I can get an idea as to how many people want a copy. If it is only me then I can live with a few bugs and stop development early !!
It was a difficult session though, probably as a result of having no sleep for around 32 hours before playing. I was not quite as sharp as I needed to be. We still had some good moments when he would walk next to me for minutes at a time, then suddenly something would break the bond and he would canter away in a nice right brain exhibition. I wish I knew what signal I am giving out to have this happen, could be I am actually just boring him with the stick to me game, or an external influence acts as a catalyst. We did manage to walk the entire length of the field, about 200 meters with some really nice stops and backups, all at liberty. I know it is pushing things to play at liberty this early on with Billy, but I feel that if it can be done it strengthens his bond with me much quicker than coercion online.
It is so different to playing with Filly and really drives home the fact that these horsenalities really exist and are very important to understand to get the best out of the horse.
I then went and played a bit with Filly. I have been working on the one leg restraint using a thick rope as shown in Pat Parellis' farrier DVD. To say it is not a problem with her is an understatement. She almost holds the leg up herself as I wrap the rope around the knee. When I entered the box today she was a bit feisty, but a couple of minutes of this on each front leg and she transformed into a really gentle well behaved filly. It is in effect the same as just holding the leg up with the hand, but much less tiring on the back and thighs. It's applied in such a way that a quick flick of the wrist and it falls off over the front of the knee so there is no more risk of injury to the horse than holding the leg with the hand, but a lot less chance of injury to me.
We then moved to the indoor school where a cone had a nasty habit of chasing us again, which was a bit scary to start with. I am using approach and retreat with this training.
Another method called flooding is a way of desensitizing the horse to a stimulus by just keep applying it however scared they get until they slowly relax and settle down as they realise it won't hurt them. Then keep going for a long time to really make the lesson of desensitisation stick. In the old days it was called "sacking out". The snag with this is that it creates a really right brain extroverted horse for a while which could cause injury to Filly and/or me.
Flooding is a very quick method but I prefer approach and retreat as I am a coward at times. In this method the stimulus is applied gradually and removed quickly as soon as the horse looks a bit too wary. Slowly the threshold of approach gets closer until they can touch the object, or in this case it was touching her hind legs as we walked. As I mentioned in a previous post I am doing this by drawing the dragging cone closer and then letting it drift back. A bit tricky handling two 22 foot ropes, one for her and one for the cone, and a carrot stick, but doable with thought and planning. This time I took a leaf out of the flooding procedure and carried on the approach and retreat long after acceptance had crept in. I hope that this will reinforce the desensitisation so that it will last longer, but I think we both got a bit bored walking up and down the school. It was the aim to make her bored with the cone of course.
Quick update on her YoYo. WOW what an improvement. She now backs up with energy when I get to, at most, phase 2. Much more importantly there is no sign of defiance on her face which was my real aim.
It is also interesting how all this training is transferring over into box manners as well. She used to be really difficult at feed time, with ears back and teeth out. Today she patiently waited as I took the halter off and placed the food on the floor of the box. I'm not saying she was wearing a halo, but at least the trident tail and horns weren't out. So much better than when I had to go in with a carrot stick for self defence.
One last note : I have nearly finished writing a simple database program for windows that allows me to keep horsenality charts on the pc. Importantly it asks the questions that are on the chart without you being able to see which part of the chart the question comes from. The idea is to prevent bias creeping into the result. If you want a mild LBE (who doesn't ?) then using a chart you maybe tempted, even subconsciously, to put the ticks in the appropriate places to get one. With the program that is no longer possible so the chart is more objective. Multiple horses can be entered and multiple charts stored for each horse. It is in early stages of debugging at the moment and my guess is that the finished article will be available sometime after Christmas. Could you comment if interested so that I can get an idea as to how many people want a copy. If it is only me then I can live with a few bugs and stop development early !!
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Extreme Friendly with Filly. Billy learns football
Ritchie has been on a course. She has come home with lots of new ideas. Bad news for Filly !!
I am sure we have all played with cones, Filly loves them. We always laugh when passing a motorway roadworks, "Filly Heaven". One of the new ideas was to tie a 22 foot line to the cone and drag it around behind us as we play to "stick to me". Suddenly this passive cone has come to life and is stalking her. Right brain moment. She was not at all sure about this turn of events, lots of prancing and snorting. In the meantime I tried to maintain focus and walk calmly, but with purpose, up and down the school. Slowly the snorting subsided and she became a little more curious. Approach and retreat was accomplished, whilst walking, by drawing the cone closer and then letting it fall further behind us. I kept this going for quite a long time until she really settled down.
This has the effect of establishing me as a stronger leader as I have in effect ignored what she sees as a dangerous obstacle which turns out to be harmless. This is what the matriarch does in a wild herd. She shows the herd what they should and should not react to. Again it comes back to saving energy for when it is really needed by not reacting to threatening objects unnecessarily.
I have done this for two sessions now. Today she was still very right brain at times, but a strange thing happened at liberty. She was totally calm and chilled with "stick to me" with the cone following. Her head was low and her eyes soft, very relaxed. Odd as online the rope is held loose with no contact so she is in effect at part liberty even then. In general she reacts best at liberty to all new things. The old saying of "train online, test at liberty" seems to be inverted !!
I have also being doing lots of work getting her to relax and stand next to me whilst I am on the mounting block. This is getting pretty good online. One game is to get her to change her nearside whilst I keep my feet still. This involves hind quarter porcupine, front quarter yield to turn 180 degrees and a hind quarter yield towards me to position nicely so I could mount (if she was fit).
Feeling brave I decided to try this a liberty. Mounting the block whilst she was someway off investigating a pile of poo I asked her to circle to get her moving. I then asked for hind quarter yield and draw too me. She readily came over. I then asked her to move past a bit and sidepass to me into the mount position. She went a bit too far past so to get her to back up I looped the stick/string round her neck and pulled gently back. She neatly came back two steps and waited. Reward was a really long scratch from me. My aim is to get her to offer the mounting position when I get on the block.
Another great moment for me in the journey. They seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment, or maybe I am just easily impressed ?
Moving on to Billy I decided to introduce him to a pilates ball. This has lots of potential for fun. It can be rolled, bounced, thrown, used to rub/scratch, simulate a rider. Today was, I thought gentle, introduction day. In the event Billy was not worried at all initially. He immediately checked it out with his nose, and after a short time kicked it neatly with his front leg. A proper kick, not a girly kick like Filly. Even male horses play better football than the girls ( just kidding ). It was very windy so the ball had a bit of a mind of its' own at times and this did result in the odd spook, one fairly extreme one were I temporarily lost him. Walking over he did come to meet me however so no damage was done to the rapport.
I then progressed to lots and lots of ball bouncing towards and away from him ( approach and retreat again) When confidence was gained I just stood with the ball in my arms until he touched it with his nose. Then the ball was placed against his neck, removed, replaced again and again until he was comfortable and even used it as rubbing post for his head / neck. Great progress so getting brave I rolled it from his neck onto his back, rolled it off again... and repeat until calm!! Next stage was to roll it of the far side of his back. This is psychologically challenging as the ball moved from the view of one eye too the other over his back. First attempt, very calm. The wind then neatly blew it back under his belly to me !
Seeing how far I could push this I then placed the ball on his back and lightly bounced it simulating a rider rocking and rolling around. Again no problem at all.
I know that this roll of good sessions has got to end, but what a buzz at the moment. Horses live in the moment, I think I'll emulate them for now.
I am sure we have all played with cones, Filly loves them. We always laugh when passing a motorway roadworks, "Filly Heaven". One of the new ideas was to tie a 22 foot line to the cone and drag it around behind us as we play to "stick to me". Suddenly this passive cone has come to life and is stalking her. Right brain moment. She was not at all sure about this turn of events, lots of prancing and snorting. In the meantime I tried to maintain focus and walk calmly, but with purpose, up and down the school. Slowly the snorting subsided and she became a little more curious. Approach and retreat was accomplished, whilst walking, by drawing the cone closer and then letting it fall further behind us. I kept this going for quite a long time until she really settled down.
This has the effect of establishing me as a stronger leader as I have in effect ignored what she sees as a dangerous obstacle which turns out to be harmless. This is what the matriarch does in a wild herd. She shows the herd what they should and should not react to. Again it comes back to saving energy for when it is really needed by not reacting to threatening objects unnecessarily.
I have done this for two sessions now. Today she was still very right brain at times, but a strange thing happened at liberty. She was totally calm and chilled with "stick to me" with the cone following. Her head was low and her eyes soft, very relaxed. Odd as online the rope is held loose with no contact so she is in effect at part liberty even then. In general she reacts best at liberty to all new things. The old saying of "train online, test at liberty" seems to be inverted !!
I have also being doing lots of work getting her to relax and stand next to me whilst I am on the mounting block. This is getting pretty good online. One game is to get her to change her nearside whilst I keep my feet still. This involves hind quarter porcupine, front quarter yield to turn 180 degrees and a hind quarter yield towards me to position nicely so I could mount (if she was fit).
Feeling brave I decided to try this a liberty. Mounting the block whilst she was someway off investigating a pile of poo I asked her to circle to get her moving. I then asked for hind quarter yield and draw too me. She readily came over. I then asked her to move past a bit and sidepass to me into the mount position. She went a bit too far past so to get her to back up I looped the stick/string round her neck and pulled gently back. She neatly came back two steps and waited. Reward was a really long scratch from me. My aim is to get her to offer the mounting position when I get on the block.
Another great moment for me in the journey. They seem to be coming thick and fast at the moment, or maybe I am just easily impressed ?
Moving on to Billy I decided to introduce him to a pilates ball. This has lots of potential for fun. It can be rolled, bounced, thrown, used to rub/scratch, simulate a rider. Today was, I thought gentle, introduction day. In the event Billy was not worried at all initially. He immediately checked it out with his nose, and after a short time kicked it neatly with his front leg. A proper kick, not a girly kick like Filly. Even male horses play better football than the girls ( just kidding ). It was very windy so the ball had a bit of a mind of its' own at times and this did result in the odd spook, one fairly extreme one were I temporarily lost him. Walking over he did come to meet me however so no damage was done to the rapport.
I then progressed to lots and lots of ball bouncing towards and away from him ( approach and retreat again) When confidence was gained I just stood with the ball in my arms until he touched it with his nose. Then the ball was placed against his neck, removed, replaced again and again until he was comfortable and even used it as rubbing post for his head / neck. Great progress so getting brave I rolled it from his neck onto his back, rolled it off again... and repeat until calm!! Next stage was to roll it of the far side of his back. This is psychologically challenging as the ball moved from the view of one eye too the other over his back. First attempt, very calm. The wind then neatly blew it back under his belly to me !
Seeing how far I could push this I then placed the ball on his back and lightly bounced it simulating a rider rocking and rolling around. Again no problem at all.
I know that this roll of good sessions has got to end, but what a buzz at the moment. Horses live in the moment, I think I'll emulate them for now.
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