Showing posts with label re-educating the horse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label re-educating the horse. Show all posts

Ask the Horse Trainer: Horse Grazes while on Trail Ride


Ask the Horse Trainer: Horse Grazes while on a trail ride 

Question:
I have a 7 yr. old TWH, who is having only one problem. That is when we start out on the trail, he ABRUBTLY, without prior notice, stops and starts eating grass. It's a fight to get his head back up, and when I finally do, he may take 10 or so steps, and again without notice, stops and eats. This is the only bad habit he has. He out in pasture from 4:00 pm until 6:30 am and then put in his stall.

He is not under-fed. Most times other riders are back at least a horse's length from me, and his quick stopping usually ends up in a rear end collision.

Vet says I need to use spurs on him. Others say, carry a crop and smack him when he does this. I'm not into smacking him. What can I do?

Rearing- NOT a physical resistance

Question:

Have a 6 years old Arab paint horse she was a harness horse. She has good ground work but when you get in the saddle she will go so far then she will rear up.  When you ride back to the barn she goes with no problem. What am i doing wroung.Thank You or your Help.

Answer:
My outlook is that I treat horses emotions and mental stability similar to that of humans. The more I get a horse or person to trust me, the more confidence they gain and the increased "try" they will have when addressing whatever I may present. Their respect will increase as they find that the "risks" they are willing to take in "trying" new things or actions help them wind up in a better place mentally, emotionally and physically.



You mentioned your ground work was "good" but you may have to go back and assess just how clear your communication is with her from the ground. Everything you'd ask of her from the saddle should be established first on the ground. Here are a few things to consider in your evaluation:


Beginning from the ground I would start to make assessments of your horse. Is she happy to greet you when you catch her? Does she stay respectfully out of your space as you lead her or does she barge past you? When being groomed or tacked up, does she stand relaxed and still, or is she constantly fidgeting, fussing, and moving side to side? Is there a change in her demeanor when you bring out the tack? Do you wind up working her in the same "routine" (same time of day, ride in the same place, etc.)?


I personally hate using the word "dominance" because it has a negative canatone. I'd rather you think of your time with your horse as the same balance she would find if she were in a herd. There is only one leader in the herd. So you have the option that either your horse or you can "lead." If your horse leads, her priority sounds like it would be for her to return to the barn. But, if you give your horse clear scenarios presented in a "safe" setting such as a round pen, where she can start to learn what behaviors will work and those that will not when she interacts with you, she will start to mentally learn how to "learn" and "try" to address what you are asking of her.


Remember horses are big and strong animals, but their emotions and mental stability are just as sensitive as it is with people. Also as with people, your horse's actions are a reflection of her mental and emotional status. IF you can get your horse to slow down and "think" her way through something, her body will stay far more relaxed and compliant. But, if you physically try to dominate the horse and push or force her through something you will never change how he feels about what you have asked her to do, and so each time you present the same scenario she will become increasingly resistant. By the time a horse is rearing, they have tried other "quiet" ways of asking for help and were usually unintentionally ignored, so they have to resort to dramatic, dangerous behavior. The rearing is a symptom, and not the issue. If instead of focusing on the rearing, you can instead influence your horse's worries, insecurities, misunderstandings, etc. that CAUSES the rearing, the act of rearing will disappear when she learns how to deal with her stress in a more reasonable manner.


If you try to use force to get your horse to comply, which you may be able to do for a while, over time it will take more and more artificial equipment (open any magazine or go to any tack store and you'll see thousands of "short cut" aids) to get your horse to do what you would like. Even if she starts to "give in" and may not act "huge" or dangerous anymore, there may still be an internal resistance and frustration inside of her that will increase every time you interact with her. It may be a month or years later, but she will reach the day when she can no longer be "forced" to do what you have asked and will "all of a sudden" freak out or act up.


It will take clear communication, patience, effort, availability and time from you in the beginning to build a quality foundation with your horse, but it will affect her entire outlook towards interacting with humans. Instead of having the teenager perspective of "Why should I?" which is how most horses operate, with trust and respect your horse will offer you a "What would you like me to do?" attitude which will be safer and more rewarding for both of you.

Once your horse's brain is with you she will have to learn how to take (literally) one step at a time. Especially racehorses, harness horses, etc., their brains anticipate what is about to happen, so many times you ask for one small response and they give you an over-the-top reaction. Instead your horse will have to learn to have a sliding scale of energy in her movement (reflective of how much energy you have in your body- whether from the ground or in the saddle.) The more available your horse is to hear what you are offering, left, right, slow, fast, wait, etc. the more he will be able to physically comply with what you are asking AND feel good about it.

Good Luck
Sam

Anti Social Horse

Question

Hi Samantha,
I hope you have some helpful advice! I've read books, talked to many, observed, studied, watched RFD TV, DVDs, attended a clinic, etc., yet can't find an answer anywhere to what seems to be a unique problem ... HELP!

I bought an orphaned 3 day old Palomino filly in 2/05. I cared for her and loved her like a Momma, feeding her mares match around the clock until she was old enough to be introduced to solid food. From there I taught her ground manners, and worked our way up to breaking her myself. I've been riding her for the past 2 years, Western pleasure and on Trail Rides. My now,

four and a half year old filly is a smart, willing, good partner for me, particularly considering she's still young - - however she is extremely territorial on trail rides and very anti-social to all other horses. If any other horses come near us, along side of us or behind us on a trail ride, (reasonable distances), then my horse pins her ears back, acts extremely territorial, agitated, and anti-social to the other horses.

My horse has jolted as though in fear, and acts nervous when horses come up from behind, or even beside us. She's not relaxed in any normal horse traffic on rides, and has also kicked another horse once.

At first I thought she might be acting like this due to fear of the other horses on rides. I thought this as a possibility because she was the only foal on our ranch without a Mare the spring she was born and ultimately pastured with our brood mares and their foals. This placed her as the low man on the totem pole in the peck-in order, thus I've regretted since the possibility that this may have been a factor in her social skills and development with horses. Also keeping in mind she spent great amounts of time with me as a foal vs horses as well. Maybe her early years retarded her social skills with other horses, or maybe it's her fear of the other horses that might be playing itself out.

I'm not certain, as I'm not a horse psychologist. I've also thought of the possibility that she was being overly protective of ME, her "Momma-rider". To my amazement, my Farrier suggested the same concept in his thinking.

Now what???
How do I break her anti-social, mad, pinned back ears, overly territorial, protective attitude and negative behavior to other horses on rides? I would like to enjoy the rides, and not have to be concerned about a potentially dangerous situation?!

Any advice, suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!
Seeking Happy Trails,
Claudia

Answer:
The first concept I'd like to introduce is that your horse's actions are a reflection of her mental and emotional status. Most horses that have a hard time interacting with others, whether a person is around them or not, has to do with their own insecurities. Although your horse may respect and accept you as the "leader" of her herd, she still has worries that have not been addressed. There are two parts to your question- the first is what is she insecure about?  The second is even if she is feeling insecure she needs to learn how to deal with her concerns in a "reasonable" manner.


The reasoning behind her worries are probably a combination of issues. She probably is a bit anti social because of how she was raised, but it's pretty hard to "take the horse out of the horse." You may have to try different horses with her to find an "accepting" or less threatening buddy horse that she can interact with.

Also, even if she's been a "quiet ride," there is still a lack of trust towards you when other horses are present. You would like that your horse asks "What can I do?" rather than having the "Why should I?" attitude when working with her.  If she's worried she should feel confident to ask you for help. Instead her nasty attitude and aggressive actions are a reflection of emotional and mental frustration and she is using them as an "outlet."
The first thought that comes to mind is that perhaps when life appears to you as "good" for your horse, it may still be lacking a "warm and fuzzy" or confidence building experience.

You mentioned that she normally rides out nicely. Not knowing how you work with your horse I'd ask if there is any possibility of a patternized or routine behavior you and/or she have together when going for a ride. If the location is a familiar spot you ride at do you always mount and dismount in the same place, do you always head down the same trails, if you are riding with another horse do you ever present "unexpected" questions to your horse?

People and horses easily fall into comfortable riding behaviors especially on a trail ride where most people are looking to "let down and relax." Our horses may appear to be well behaved and having fun until we change what they are used to, and then we "suddenly" find a problem in our partnership.

Even if your horse has never displayed extreme signs of stress, frustration and worry that she showed when you uncountered other horses on the trail ride, does not mean that she may not be carrying those feelings around with her all of the time.

The first thing I do translate from what you have described is that when she does reach his "melt down" point she is unable to emotionally, physically or mentally deal with a scenario- and she is not turning to you to ask for help. The second, is that perhaps there are times when you believe your horse is okay and perhaps she is not.

This in turn means that there needs to be a re-established level of clear communication between the two of you so that no matter however minor or major an issue may arise, when your horse has a problem, she should ask you how you would like her to deal with it rather than to make decisions on her own, such as what she showed on the trail.

The other horses passing you on the trail, whether it is geldings or mares in heat, are irrelevant. Whenever we work or ride our horses their brains ought to be with us at all times (which is an attention demanding task on both of our and the horse's level of participation.) You may have to take a step back and assess the quality of the relationship between you and your horse- starting on a "good day" with simple tasks. Below are a few things you might consider:

How sensitive and available is your horse to address and listen to your aids with you do as little as possible and him offering you as much as possible without any stress?

Can you interrupt your horse as he is doing something you asked and "suddenly" present something else? Is she willing to let go of what she thought you wanted to try the new task?

How is her confidence with a scenario that has never been presented to him before? Does she turn to you to help him or does he "take over" trying to figure out the task at hand?

Many people say "Move the horse's feet in order to influence the brain." I actually present the opposite theory, "Influence the horse's mind to get a physical and emotional change." It does not matter what physical task you ask of your horse whether you are doing circles, serpentines, figure eights, backing, transitions, etc. The point of the task is to ask for the mental availability, participation and then commitment with her physical movement.

Let's say you are presenting a circle. The horse should be able to tell the difference when you are asking her to first LOOK towards where you might want him to turn. (So many horses go through the motions of movement without ever thinking or looking about where they are going.) Then if you ask her to step towards a specific direction, the front leg closest to where you would like her to step should move first- and only ONE step at a time. (This is important because it means she has shifted her brain and then her physical balance to prepare to "follow" her thought towards the designated direction.)

Next there should be a softness and intention in her step and a bend in her body if she feels "good" and is committed to where she is moving. (If not it will feeling like you are sitting on a board and you will feel her "leaking" out the shoulder opposite from the direction you would like her to move.) If there is a "drag" in her step she is not thinking about moving forward. This is common in horses that are insecure because they become so worried about understanding or anticipating what the rider might ask of them wrong, that they offer two extremes- they would rather not try anything rather than make a wrong movement and get reprimanded for it at all OR they try everything they can come up with that might be the "correct" answer.

The quality of a physical pattern you present to your horse should be the foremost priority. You may only get three steps of a quality circle until there is clarity between you and your horse and availability in her brain to hear what you are asking of her. If at home or in a "safe" scenario there is any holes in your communication or her mental try, whenever you add stress, such as the above mentioned trail ride, you will only get even less of her to "hear" and address what you are asking of her.

Get the basics as quality as possible so that whatever scenario presents itself along the way you will be able to address it in small quality steps (mentally and physically) with a horse who has the confidence and trust to believe that what you are asking of her will make her feel better. Horses typically "take over" as a self preservation mechanism, not because they are trying to cause havoc and stress to their rider.


Good Luck,
Sam