I can't do it twice!
I took Jazz out for a ride and made a mistake. I came back past a farmhouse with a walled garden over the far side of a small field. There was a woman in the garden weeding, and she kept disappearing behind the wall and then reappearing again. This is the single thing that most frightens Jazz, people coming into and out of view at a distance. He was a bit silly, but he came past and I thought it would do him good to go back and do it again. WRONG! I obviously mistook just how much mental effort it took him to do it the first time, because he was adamant he wasn't going to do it again. I sat him out but it took over 20 minutes and a lot of gentle persuasion on my part and backing up and trying to turn around on his.
I schooled Zippy and as I had suspected, he is beginning to look for things to make a fuss about. I put one of the green wrapped bales of hay, that have been sat outside the barn for months, inside the barn. Oh no, can't work past that without taking a wrong bend. I kept him circling until he gave in, and that's probably a good lesson learned for him - do as I say, or you keep on working. No battle, just work. Give in, work stops :-)
George looks happy and has been calling me chirpily when I appear in the yard (don't you just love it when they do that?). He and Jazz came in shivering from head to foot this morning because of the overnight cold and rain. Two frozen middleweights, and Zip, built like a whippet? Absolutely fine, tough as an old boot! Just goes to show you can't always tell by their looks :-)
C
posted by cptrayes @ 5:27 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Sometimes it's just better to say, "Well done," and just move on. Don't blame Jazz, actually for being scared of "bouncing woman."
They did experiments with little children (forgot the age) and found out that if you took a toy, showed it to the kid, and then hid it, the kid would not look for it and be delighted each time it reappeared. So, the memory of where the toy had gone was not yet developed. "Out of sight, out of mind." If Jazz's brain is operating on that principle, the woman would surprise him each time she appeared and when she disappeared, he'd forget she'd been there in the first place. Essentailly, he COULD not realize she was still there when she was "hiding."
Zip is too much like Tucker, brainwise. Last night, Toby and Chance were hanging around the new run in while I was riding. Tucker decided they were spookmonsters. Now you tell me he hasn't seen the both of them hundreds of times??? Guess they were making scary faces??
The solution is pretty much what you did. Carry on in a forward gait. He needs exercises to keep his mind occupied. Lots of changes of direction. Don't let him know where he's going or what he has to do next. That way he will start to focus more on you and less on those evil bales. (Did he really think a hay bale was going to leap up and eat him? *G*) Silly boy.
It was cool here last night, but not THAT cold. Shivering horses? Wow.
i still haven't caved in to rugging because of the rain - she seems warm when i get her in, if she seems cold, i might change my mind....
that's interesting research, jean!
Jazz's reaction is typical Polo,people/noises behind walls etc is a particular phobia of his. Ive found trying to show him scary 'thing' is actually okay and not going to kill him just makes him worse and panic more. I tend to just ignore and get past now totally different from Ali who wants to have a close look then wont worry about it again.
Yep the rain has been pretty relentless over the past couple of days doesnt seem to bother my two although they've got a bit more 'covering' to keep them warm:)
I couldn't be cross with him Jean, it was actually quite endearing the way he was trying to "protect me" from a danger that he thought I hadn't seen.
Perhaps you've had better temperatures over your side of the spine Claire :-) ?
I won't make the same mistake again Nicola! Poloesque definitely, not Ali.
C
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