Friday, 19 July 2013
Thursday, 18 July 2013
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Ugly to Pretty
There is alot to criticise of me in this clip (will try to get video loaded, otherwise it is on VE Facebook Page)
My theory in horsemanship at this current point in time is that sometimes it looks ugly at the start, but that can often be the progression needed to get to the good stuff.
I find that too often people shy away from the ugly stuff, sometimes this is a good thing because they do not have the skills to get through it, but too often people doubt their skills and quit before they get to the place they want with their horses.
So for example in this clip this wee pony is highly reactive, runs over his child owner, does not respond appropriately to pressure etc etc. So in my eyes I am thinking, OMG nothing is more important than safety at this point and if that is at the expense of this ponies feelings for a brief moment then so be it!
So what is happening here is that the pony cannot handle the stick and string slapping the ground. So I am helping this pony understand that the stick will not harm him and that the only answer is to "hurry up and relax". The people that own this pony had only had him for 2 months, I suspect that his previous owners potentially may have been 'avoid-a-holics'. By this I mean that they avoided anything that upset him. Unfortunately all this does is repress the problem, then it comes out in a BANG!
So the thought process I have while doing this is
1. do not release the pressure (stick and string moving) until he has stood still!
2. only stop the pressure when the horse shows a sign of relaxing AND has feet still
3. if I release the pressure when the horse is fearful, I am teaching him that being fearful is the right answer
4. horses do not learn from the pressure (stick and string), they learn from the release fo pressure (stopping the stick and string)
5. Keep him out of my space as much as possible
6. ABOVE ALL- My safety is the MOST important thing!
Signs of relaxing may include:
-big blink
-cocking a hind leg
-lowering head
-sighing
-blowing nose
-licking and checking
It is important to note that a horse does not WANT to be like this, they just do not know any other way to be. I see it as my responsibility to the horse to help them find a place where they can best survive in humansville, this means that they need to be able to cope with any and all situations we force them into! Along the way I hope to help people do this themselves and on the same token, learn ways that I can do this EVEN BETTER!
Sorry this is a big novel, hopefully I have explained clearly the mission I was trying to accomplish lol!
If this was a horse I did not know, I would be more vigilant about the hind end and not let the horse turn his head away as much.
My theory in horsemanship at this current point in time is that sometimes it looks ugly at the start, but that can often be the progression needed to get to the good stuff.
I find that too often people shy away from the ugly stuff, sometimes this is a good thing because they do not have the skills to get through it, but too often people doubt their skills and quit before they get to the place they want with their horses.
So for example in this clip this wee pony is highly reactive, runs over his child owner, does not respond appropriately to pressure etc etc. So in my eyes I am thinking, OMG nothing is more important than safety at this point and if that is at the expense of this ponies feelings for a brief moment then so be it!
So what is happening here is that the pony cannot handle the stick and string slapping the ground. So I am helping this pony understand that the stick will not harm him and that the only answer is to "hurry up and relax". The people that own this pony had only had him for 2 months, I suspect that his previous owners potentially may have been 'avoid-a-holics'. By this I mean that they avoided anything that upset him. Unfortunately all this does is repress the problem, then it comes out in a BANG!
So the thought process I have while doing this is
1. do not release the pressure (stick and string moving) until he has stood still!
2. only stop the pressure when the horse shows a sign of relaxing AND has feet still
3. if I release the pressure when the horse is fearful, I am teaching him that being fearful is the right answer
4. horses do not learn from the pressure (stick and string), they learn from the release fo pressure (stopping the stick and string)
5. Keep him out of my space as much as possible
6. ABOVE ALL- My safety is the MOST important thing!
Signs of relaxing may include:
-big blink
-cocking a hind leg
-lowering head
-sighing
-blowing nose
-licking and checking
It is important to note that a horse does not WANT to be like this, they just do not know any other way to be. I see it as my responsibility to the horse to help them find a place where they can best survive in humansville, this means that they need to be able to cope with any and all situations we force them into! Along the way I hope to help people do this themselves and on the same token, learn ways that I can do this EVEN BETTER!
Sorry this is a big novel, hopefully I have explained clearly the mission I was trying to accomplish lol!
If this was a horse I did not know, I would be more vigilant about the hind end and not let the horse turn his head away as much.
Horsenality
I really do love the perspective of the Parelli's. In saying this I follow many other trainers also.
So interesting studying lots of trainers, there is alot of contradiction!
Any way, this article is very good, food for thought if nothing else!
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/pattern-savvy/
In saying it is amazing, there are some things I would change, I am currently considering my own classification in my head, will get it down on paper one of these days!
So interesting studying lots of trainers, there is alot of contradiction!
Any way, this article is very good, food for thought if nothing else!
http://www.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/pattern-savvy/
In saying it is amazing, there are some things I would change, I am currently considering my own classification in my head, will get it down on paper one of these days!
The sensitivity of the horse
How sensitive they are
Have just watched the Parelli's latest savvy club DVD. It is called "Calm, Connected and Responsive, Under Saddle".
It is a really good watch, it was a follow up from the last one which was on the ground. It is so good to see Linda work with an RBE horse and an LBE horse, and their owners, and explain the strategies they used to get the horse C, C and R, BASED ON their horsenalities.
Has any one else seen this yet?
What I really took from this was how the horses respond to people, based on their horsenality/personality. There was a RBI person, so a person who was tense, on an LBE horse. The horse felt her tension, so acted out (kicking up back legs), as soon as Linda got on, who was loose and fluid, the horse changed immediately. SO what I saw happening was that an extrovert wants to move their feet, so was getting agitated by its rider subconsciously saying don't go through the tension in their body.
So just reiterates how sensitive these wonderful creatures are. I would love to hear your stories of extreme sensitivity, when have you had or seen an experience like this?
Key
LBE- Left brained extrovert (thinking, wants to move feet)
RBE- Right brained extrovert (instinctual, fly from fear, move feet)
RBI- Right brained introvert (instinctual, go internal, frozen to the spot)
My facebook share:
I moment I recall is when I was at my friend Lisa's house (about 8 years ago!). I was a on a mare named Tara-toot. She is a kaimanawa x QH/Appy. She was part of Lisa's trekking team, so was ridden by many people. I quite liked the look of her so hopped on to have a ride. She started off un-connected, then after 5 minutes it was like we had the same brain! It was almost like she had been craving for this connection. I would think stop and go and she was doing it- INSANE, blew my brain out!
A saying is in my head- "how little can you do?"
Monday, 15 July 2013
My revelation- picking up the foot!
My revelation from today!
Jewel and I have always been able to do a front end turn, but it has always felt like a difficult manoeuvre. The way I would go about it was to soften up her face and put some outside leg on and kind of push her around with my rein and outside leg....
Well today at Tielcey park I was riding around, trying to pay attention to what Jewels feet were doing, I am feeling thefeet much better at the walk, starting to pick which foot is leaving the ground etc.
Then I did Buck's exercise where he picks up the 'inside rein' just a bit as the inside front hoof is leaving the ground, which causes the horses foot to place further in on the circle.
Picture it: I am on a straight line walking, as the Jewel's left hind hits the ground I am thinking, ok the right front is about to leave the ground, at which point I pick up my right rein and take it out to the right a bit, thus picking up the right rein as she picks up the right front.
I played with that a bit, then did this in succession causing her to make a circle as she was stepping in slightly every time.
Then the revelation happened, I was working on moving the front end over and was thinking about the rein to foot concept, instead of my pushing concept. I just backed her weight up slightly and picked her foot up, and up again, and up again in quick motions, which caused her to take her front around her hind... it felt sooooo easy, I had my outside rein and leg there sort of in case, but I didn't need to use them as such.
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