Back to normal
Phew, family weddings, I'm worn out! Anyway, I did manage to get out on Zip and Jazz today.
A first for Zip - I went and stood on the stool/box that I usually use as a mounting block and I asked him to come to me. This is the first time I have done that. Previously I have always taken the step to him. He backed away once, but came forward again when I asked and I got on with no trouble.
We went out for a hack and he seemed very tired when he got home. It was nothing that he hadn't done before, and I wasn't surprised when I saw that his nose was a little bit snotty. He's got one of those viruses that all young horses pick up. I expect Jazz brought it home for him from one of his jaunts.
He was very good on the ride. Looking around but not even a spook. He's not terribly happy about crossing water on the road but he is agreeing to do it and on the way home he even put his front feet in a puddle.
I took Jazz out then on the same half hour ride but did another steep hill at the far end before turning for home. His breathing is an awful lot better than the last time we did the same hill. Not far from home on the way out, we had to pass some very big rolls of old fencing that had been left just inside a field. I expected to take at least 15 minutes to get him past it all, but Jazz just went straight on by. He saw it, for sure, but he just took a glance and went straight on. What progress!
A bit later he did throw a paddy about a parked car. He turned 180 degrees once and I turned him back. He turned left, sideways on to it and I jerked hard on the right rein. In previous times that would have made him rear. This time, he thought for a moment and then offered to reverse past the car. I accepted that, but I turned his head to keep him looking at it as he went backwards. After about three steps he realised that if he had to look at it anyway then he might as well turn around and walk forwards. So he did. I am really pleased with his behaviour today, it seems to me to be a huge improvement.
My entry for my next event is in the post. It ballots on Wednesday. If it stays dry tomorrow I am going cross country schooling. It should be fun!
C.
posted by cptrayes @ 5:23 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Contact: (I said it would open a can of worms) - just to throw a spanner in the works, I left my horse at livery at the Arrow Equestrian Centre and I had a couple of lessons with Sue. I said that my horse seemed to be leaning on me and she said to give him much less contact and make him work for himself. This works. He is quite happy for me to hold him up, with his neck arched and down, looking "pretty" but if I don't allow that he works his back end much better and his poll is the highest point. There is SOME contact (and I have to educate myself to keep it consistent) but when he is working correctly there is very little "weight" in my hands and I can feel the power coming through from behind.
I also like the Telling Touch ground work - but if you think that is commercialised what do you think of Parelli???????
Linda is probably not quite as well known in the UK, although I have successfully used Telling Touch and the groundwork exercises and I always think there is very little to go wrong, unlike some other "schools."
The pole work books is also excellent with some really good ideas for schooling.
Judith
Fist for Caroline: Give Zip some nice chicken soup. *G* As for Jazz, just goes to show most of the goofy stuff is probably deliberate rather then real fear. And, parked cars are terrifying--*vbwg*--I mean, something may come out of them.
Still funny how going backwards or some other such tactic can completely defuse the stupid spooks. Horses' minds seem to be so one track you can baffle them by going on another tract altogether.
Every horse is different as far as contact goes. That Saddlebred I had needed to learn to stretch to the bit to release his back, but once he did, he was always light.
Even riding "in contact" requires the "letting go" phase. There is a difference between holding "up" and holding "together" with contact as well.
Some horses, when driven from behind will elevate the front end on their own and carry themselves. Some horses will "fall on the forehand" and just go faster.
The ideal would be to take contact, push the horse into it, and as soon as he is carrying himself, soften the rein to allow the energy to go through. The problem lies in the horses that use that release as an escape route to put their noses up, down, or out.
More later, I am sure.
Parelli? I frankly don't know too much about the techniques in their pure form. In practice, I have seen some really strange and not particularly pretty results. When I saw Pat Parelli working a young horse, I was also not impressed. Something with a flag on a stick to get the horse to turn?? Big showmanship.
Nothing against TTouch work, it's just that when my horse was there, he did all of the exercises better than the other horses there without the need of any of the TTouch "magic" techniques. When he finally did balk at something and Linda herself took charge, she resorted to horse treats which he, as an emotional Thoroughbred, refused to eat. He stood contemplating the plywood bridge while Linda lectured to the gallery and then just decided to walk over it on his own. Later, she had a crowd of people come over to touch him--he had been mishandled at the track and didn't trust people--and that too backfired when he lifted a hind leg and the people scattered instead of touching him.
Kenny Harlow, who is a John Lyons trainer, would never have let that pass. And I have seen him work horses to get them over blue plastic tarps with just good riding psychology. He will teach your horse to load in a trailer by on his own and guarantee that loading lesson for life. Again, all done by just good horse handling, no gimicks, and psychology.
By the by, the "yield to the bit" Kenny teaches the horse can create a very light touch to the rein. I need to work my big guy on some of the exercises to lighten him up again as we've lost some of that.
Contact is such a difficult thing to discuss in words on a page. None of us can tell whether the image that we have in our minds is being understood the same way in the mind of the person reading. We need thought transfer really :-)
What I learnt last week was just what you are talking about Judith -the difference between my horses using me to hold them up, and giving them the "front end of the bendy stick" resistance that Jean was describing on Friday.
A lot of what we've been writing could be interpreted by other people as pulling, but it's never that, it's holding (sometimes against a horse's pull until it gives).
It was seeing those German riders release the rein and have the horse not change shape one tiny bit that made me realise what they were doing. It was magic!
Parelli/Ttouch/Equine Podiatry/Amerigo Lemetex Keiffer saddlery/etc etc
In my opinion, all over-priced products of over-commercialised marketing designed to make money for the owners of the brand, not necessarily for the good of the horse.
Most of the handling methods being taught seem to me simply to be either teaching people the basic ground rules of handling horses (my space is my space - number one) or giving them a reason to spend the time with their horses that they need to spend in order to have any meaningful relationship with them.
I had a Parelli trainee trainer once proudly show me how his horse backed up when he puts up his hand. Mine back up when I open a stable door - they just know that my space is more important than theirs and move back with respect for that.
Cor, what a rant :-)
C
Very just Caroline - Contact cannot be described into words. Also "it" will change as the horse grows up and developped his muscles.
It is mainly a question of feel One cannot be dogmatic about it ... it is about experience ...
Jean - the first Forum I joined was the John Lyons one. I really liked his technique, and I did a stage with one of his trainers in France.
I like his round-pen work ... much better than Monty Roberts ...
I am not convinced by "his give to the bit". I think it gives " a Western riding feel to the horse". Anyho, for the first handling my mare, I used lots of JL techniques. That is why I bridle her with her head down ... you know "silly things" like this, that makes your life easier.
I have to disagree with you Caroline about Parelli or JL or TTEAM giving the basics to horse owners.
I believe there is more to it to "natural horsemanship". However they have "packaged" and "marketted" it for EVERYBODY, one learns in one video something than others need years to get. I am always surprised that some people, who have spent many years around horses, who call themselve Professional, lack of basic understanding of horse psychology ( my ex-farrier for example).
I also admire Parelli for his commercial success. Do not forget that he was JUST another reining trainer, in 25 years he has built an empire. I like him or not, I do applaud his success.
I am working with his "new" home study programme. I am impressed by the NLP and coaching and teaching technique. They use. Just for this, the DVD are worse a lot.
Being an ignorant horse-owner, I have learnt a lot. I can use it on the 60 horses of my yard ^-^. I am sent to catch hard-to-catch-horses etc ...
No I do not "play any games with them" as the horses are not mine but Parelli is more than the games ...
Oups sorry I sound like a commercial for Parelli .. no,no,no I am not on commission LOL.
But I have learnt a lot from his system .
Muriel you are so good for me. I realise of course that I am criticising something of which I have no direct experience, so take what I said with a pinch of salt. In my defence I will say that the family wedding was a harrowing experience and I didn't even have enough energy today to take Jazz cross country schooling !
C
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