Just got done working with Dublin. He is making such good progress in spite of the limited time we've spent together that we are now starting to work on some more refinement. That includes riding with one hand on the rein and using the stick to reinforce leg and weight cues, using the 9-step backup every time we stop, stepping up our Sideways game, and throwing some more challenges into moves like fore- and hindquarters yields.
I was able to sidestep him over a barrel from the ground, a move that stymied him completely last weekend. This time he did it like an old pro. His forequarter yields from a distance need a lot of work--he doesn't like to move his forequarters without also moving his hindquarters in opposition. Hindquarter yields are much easier for him. Planting his front end is not a problem! The hind end does not like to stay in one place as much.
Then I mounted him from the fence, a move that I had worried about for a long time but it has been a non-event. And so useful for when I start riding him with the bareback pad! He is sticking to the rail nicely now, and I'm able to move him back on track when he strays with just leg and weight pressure. He has a big trot, so one new task is to be able to control his speed. He did surprisingly well with that--his trot has been pretty much one speed--big and bouncy--but when I asked him to slow it down, he did so beautifully and we really got a lovely, easy-to-ride slow trot.
For going sideways, I've been using a lot of rein since I find it easier than using leg, and my new challenge is to set up the reins as a frame for sideways and then use the stick if leg pressure doesn't work. Dublin is not particularly fond of the stick. Being off the track, he is probably not used to the stick being his friend, and he tends to get defensive when it's used. So we had a bit of ears back and hollow back, but he is much less argumentative than he used to be and is finding that things go much better when he just tries to figure out what I'm asking when I use the stick. The stick is used with the intensity getting increased each time I use it, so if he responds to the first light tap, he is finding he can avoid a more stern cue. So finally, we got a nice sideways. Our sideways has mostly consisted of moving the front end, then moving the hind end, but today we actually moved both ends sideways in unison.
With that new slow trot, we were able to get a nice figure 8 around the barrels--at a fast trot on this long-legged boy, if you don't get your 8 set up correctly, you are across the arena immediately after it goes wrong. At a slow trot, it's a lot easier to get things set up for success and control the pattern.
All in all, a very successful day today!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Update
Dublin was videotaped today (Sunday) for my coaching call tomorrow. Our goal was to get more responsiveness to leg pressure, stick to the rail, do some sideways work, and work on a loose rein. We still have work to do but considering how inconsistently he's been worked, he's really making progress.
One issue we still are dealing with is his crankiness when being saddled. Once the saddle is on, he's fine, but he doesn't like having it swung up on his back. He expresses his dislike by trying to bite me, and since he has actually bitten me before--hard--I tend to respect that gesture and it doesn't make for a very graceful saddling. So not pleasant for him, and it just escalates the problem.
Laura used to have the same problem with her mare, who has a similar temperament, and she found that letting her eat while being saddled eliminated the problem. So we tied Dublin to the trailer with a hay bag and I swung the saddle up. It worked like a charm! Not only did he not try to bite me, he never even changed expression, just munched happily away. So yes, it's a bit of a bribe, but if he starts thinking of this as a non-event and even something that involves food, I'm willing to use it.
One Parelli exercise is to see if you can mount from the fence. I've been using a mounting block, but the last time I rode him, a few days ago, I decided to try mounting from the fence. The tricky part about this is to cue the horse to actually sidle up to the fence so you can slide on. The first time, I cued him to move closer with the riding stick, which both confused and offended him, and he did a little buck the first couple times I tried to move him closer to me. Then he swung completely away and I had to drive him back to the fence by driving his off side. That worked, and I was able to slide on him. Today, I just tapped his hip with the stick to move him to me, and he did it! No problems at all, and I was on and we were off.
He's been a bit dead to leg pressure all along, so Julia suggested using the "thunk thunk" technique--cue him with the leg, if he doesn't respond give him a light thunk with the riding stick. Wait 3 seconds and if no response, thunk again but double the intensity. And so on, until you get a response. I'm still figuring out what Dublin's reaction will be to having his buttons pushed as he tends to strike and kick, so this actually works well because the intensity of the thunks goes up predictably, so by the third thunk, when it is getting really annoying, he has had some time to think about whether he is going to get cranky, or yield, and so far he is yielding, and by now he is often yielding just to leg pressure. We are still a ways off from power steering on him, but at least I don't feel like I'm trying to guide a drunken sailor down the street!
He's breaking into a trot now upon request, and not after several rounds of the "thunk thunk" exercise. We can do a rather rough figure eight at the trot, and his stopping and backing are getting better. I can actually back him on occasion without using the reins, just shift my weight backward to draw him back and use my feet on his shoulders to drive him back. Sometimes I can skip the feet! His sideways is getting dramatically better, and I can open the gate from on top of him. It's not pretty and it's not fast, but we're getting the job done. He can also sidesteps over poles in a "U" configuration, which is on the video, and I got him to sidestep over a barrel later, although I did have to get off of him to accomplish that.
The video is on YouTube
One issue we still are dealing with is his crankiness when being saddled. Once the saddle is on, he's fine, but he doesn't like having it swung up on his back. He expresses his dislike by trying to bite me, and since he has actually bitten me before--hard--I tend to respect that gesture and it doesn't make for a very graceful saddling. So not pleasant for him, and it just escalates the problem.
Laura used to have the same problem with her mare, who has a similar temperament, and she found that letting her eat while being saddled eliminated the problem. So we tied Dublin to the trailer with a hay bag and I swung the saddle up. It worked like a charm! Not only did he not try to bite me, he never even changed expression, just munched happily away. So yes, it's a bit of a bribe, but if he starts thinking of this as a non-event and even something that involves food, I'm willing to use it.
One Parelli exercise is to see if you can mount from the fence. I've been using a mounting block, but the last time I rode him, a few days ago, I decided to try mounting from the fence. The tricky part about this is to cue the horse to actually sidle up to the fence so you can slide on. The first time, I cued him to move closer with the riding stick, which both confused and offended him, and he did a little buck the first couple times I tried to move him closer to me. Then he swung completely away and I had to drive him back to the fence by driving his off side. That worked, and I was able to slide on him. Today, I just tapped his hip with the stick to move him to me, and he did it! No problems at all, and I was on and we were off.
He's been a bit dead to leg pressure all along, so Julia suggested using the "thunk thunk" technique--cue him with the leg, if he doesn't respond give him a light thunk with the riding stick. Wait 3 seconds and if no response, thunk again but double the intensity. And so on, until you get a response. I'm still figuring out what Dublin's reaction will be to having his buttons pushed as he tends to strike and kick, so this actually works well because the intensity of the thunks goes up predictably, so by the third thunk, when it is getting really annoying, he has had some time to think about whether he is going to get cranky, or yield, and so far he is yielding, and by now he is often yielding just to leg pressure. We are still a ways off from power steering on him, but at least I don't feel like I'm trying to guide a drunken sailor down the street!
He's breaking into a trot now upon request, and not after several rounds of the "thunk thunk" exercise. We can do a rather rough figure eight at the trot, and his stopping and backing are getting better. I can actually back him on occasion without using the reins, just shift my weight backward to draw him back and use my feet on his shoulders to drive him back. Sometimes I can skip the feet! His sideways is getting dramatically better, and I can open the gate from on top of him. It's not pretty and it's not fast, but we're getting the job done. He can also sidesteps over poles in a "U" configuration, which is on the video, and I got him to sidestep over a barrel later, although I did have to get off of him to accomplish that.
The video is on YouTube
Monday, August 11, 2014
Yesterday, I made time to ride both Cowboy and Dublin. Without getting the attention he needs, Dublin is not making much progress in some areas; mainly, he is still very defensive about his "personal space" and tries to bite if he feels he is being touched in a threatening manner--like being brushed, for example, or being saddled. This will work itself in time as he gets more good experiences, but of course he needs to get those good experiences! He is still fussy about his feet, although he has made enormous progress in that area. It is now actually possible to clean his feet without feeling like you are taking your life in your hands! My Parelli coach, Julia, suggested putting a rope around his foot to pick it up--that way, if he gets fractious, you can step back out of harm's way without putting his foot down and therefore rewarding the undesirable behavior. So I tried that and discovered, interestingly enough, that he seems to be familiar with this technique. All I need to do is drape a rope around his foot and all the fight goes out of him. His attitude changes to "OK, fine, I know there isn't anything I can do about this."
He worked great on the ground yesterday. I'm working on driving him and he is doing well. Steering can still be a little problematic! But he doesn't have a problem with me standing at his hindquarters and giving him directions. The biggest issue with Dublin is getting him to accept direction cheerfully as his first inclination is to question your authority and get offended by the fact that you have the AUDACITY to tell him what to do. So one of my goals is to figure out how to push those buttons a bit so we can trigger and work through those reactions, all without getting hurt! He likes to bite, strike and kick, so a 22-foot rope and a carrot stick with a string are great tools to give yourself some distance and still cue him.
He was very nice under saddle. Finally, he is responding reasonably well to leg pressure. One of the techniques Julia suggested is the Parelli "thunk thunk" method. Cue him with my leg, if he doesn't respond, use the carrot stick to "thunk" him lightly. If he doesn't respond to that in about 3 seconds, thunk him again but double the intensity. Keep that up until he responds. This is good one for Dublin because it is consistent, and it tends to trigger defensiveness but not to the point of being dangerous. And after about the fourth "thunk", he seems to debate whether it is worth getting into a fight (the head goes up, he slows down, and gets tense), or to just yield, and so far, he is deciding to yield. I think that because he can predict that the thunks are going to get more intense, and he has that little pause in between, he gets a chance to decide how to react without getting "reactive". And once he yields, the thunking stops so he is rewarded for making the right decision. It worked nicely yesterday! Of course, horses are full of surprises, so next time I may find that he has mulled this over and come up with a new coping strategy.
Yesterday we walked and trotted. Because his workouts have been wildly inconsistent, I'm not ready to push him into a canter yet (we cantered early in the year, right before I got hurt and sidelined for several months, but after that layoff we have been set back significantly). He does have the most beautiful floating canter, though, and I'm anxious to get working on that! He's probably ready but I need to work on both my physical and emotional fitness before going there. Not to mention working on riding the horse more consistently!
I have a phone conference in a week with Julia and should shoot some video for that call, so there should be something to watch within the week.
He worked great on the ground yesterday. I'm working on driving him and he is doing well. Steering can still be a little problematic! But he doesn't have a problem with me standing at his hindquarters and giving him directions. The biggest issue with Dublin is getting him to accept direction cheerfully as his first inclination is to question your authority and get offended by the fact that you have the AUDACITY to tell him what to do. So one of my goals is to figure out how to push those buttons a bit so we can trigger and work through those reactions, all without getting hurt! He likes to bite, strike and kick, so a 22-foot rope and a carrot stick with a string are great tools to give yourself some distance and still cue him.
He was very nice under saddle. Finally, he is responding reasonably well to leg pressure. One of the techniques Julia suggested is the Parelli "thunk thunk" method. Cue him with my leg, if he doesn't respond, use the carrot stick to "thunk" him lightly. If he doesn't respond to that in about 3 seconds, thunk him again but double the intensity. Keep that up until he responds. This is good one for Dublin because it is consistent, and it tends to trigger defensiveness but not to the point of being dangerous. And after about the fourth "thunk", he seems to debate whether it is worth getting into a fight (the head goes up, he slows down, and gets tense), or to just yield, and so far, he is deciding to yield. I think that because he can predict that the thunks are going to get more intense, and he has that little pause in between, he gets a chance to decide how to react without getting "reactive". And once he yields, the thunking stops so he is rewarded for making the right decision. It worked nicely yesterday! Of course, horses are full of surprises, so next time I may find that he has mulled this over and come up with a new coping strategy.
Yesterday we walked and trotted. Because his workouts have been wildly inconsistent, I'm not ready to push him into a canter yet (we cantered early in the year, right before I got hurt and sidelined for several months, but after that layoff we have been set back significantly). He does have the most beautiful floating canter, though, and I'm anxious to get working on that! He's probably ready but I need to work on both my physical and emotional fitness before going there. Not to mention working on riding the horse more consistently!
I have a phone conference in a week with Julia and should shoot some video for that call, so there should be something to watch within the week.
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