I have only played with Mr. No Name two more days and 3 and a half hours since I last wrote about his progress but so much has happened that I had to write it down while it was still fresh in my memory.
You are probably wondering; “does she ever have any problems with horses? Everything can’t always go that smooth.” It is true that I never have any problems, because I don’t look at them as problems, I look at difficulties as learning opportunities.
I bring up the subject of learning opportunities because Mr. No Name and I experienced one on Sunday afternoon. We were reviewing the 7 games with the saddle on when he decided to pitch a big fit while he was side passing and squeezing. The bolt followed by kicking and bucking was a test of not only my savvy but the speed of my feet and ability to feel with my hands.
It has been a long while since I have experienced a learn burn and thankfully it did not occur this time either. You see we predators get the “clamps” when we get fearful. If you can train yourself to remain calm and have hands that close slowly and open quickly learn burns become more rare. It also helps to be quick on your feet and go with the horse, or just let go. It is pretty futile thinking to believe that a small woman can stop a 1000 lb. fleeing right-brained horse.
Instead of getting frustrated, mean, mad, or even with the right-brained animal on the end of my lead rope, I remained totally cool and just continued playing the squeeze game without a squeeze. You are probably saying to yourself, “what on earth is she talking about.”
I didn’t miss a beat, as soon as his feet stopped and he faced me, I sent him to the left with focus and feel. Then as soon as he passed my left shoulder I disengaged his hindquarters and gently sent him to the right repeating the disengage on the right and then another send on the left. All of this is performed away from the fence, (that is what I mean by doing the squeeze without the squeeze.) I call this the half-moon. I keep moving forward during the whole exercise, completely ignoring his attempts to go right brained or resist.
Staying polite, and passively persistent in the proper position works miracles. The key was not to make him feel punished or that he was wrong. Instead it is allowing him to believe that it is easier to move into softness rather than having to escape pressure. Finally it takes a lot of repetitions, most people quit too soon. Then there are others who overdo it. Knowing when to quit is vitally important to quick progress.
We finished the day with a soft circling game, backing on the rail, long grooming, and the all-important edible treat. So there you have it, a difficulty turned into a learning opportunity.
Tonight was great. The review of the 7 games on the ground with the saddle went very beautiful and quickly with no fits. Well, the circling game needed a little time in order to complete two full circles without a change of direction or gait at the trot with no pull on the lead. The thing about working out this problem, (I mean learning opportunity), is that the horse has to do all the work. It should take very little energy from the human. However, I got my workout later, here’s how:
The flies were terrible tonight; it was pretty warm and very humid. So I used the fly dilemma to my advantage. The flies really helped with the friendly game using the end of the 22 ft. line. Mr. No Name has not been very trusting of the rope being thrown all over him. He tolerated it before, but tonight he enjoyed it, because I used it as a fly remover. You can get pretty accurate with that popper if you practice enough.
Aaahaa: Perfect another thing to play with tonight: “the spray bottle”. As you recall, the other night I was a little disappointed about the results with the spray bottle. I expected a lot, but accepted the little that he gave me with joy. I decided to take a little different approach tonight. I would still use the basic principle of approach and retreat, but add a little interest to the game.
This is where my workout came in. Every time that he reacted crazy from the spray bottle, I acted crazier. Yes, really I did! I did jumping jacks, skipped, acted drunk, made funny noises with my mouth, dance, kicked my legs, until he stopped and looked at me. The second he stopped I stopped. Then I approached with the spray bottle again. If he moved, I moved. If he flinched, I flinched. Whatever he did I matched his energy, but the second he quit I retreated. It was quite a comical act, and it worked like a charm. It wasn’t long before he believed that he had trained that crazy women to stop acting that way by simply stopping, looking at her and letting her touch me with that stupid bottle.
The key was that I acted casual the whole time, like I was having fun, and ignored his reactions, except the correct one (which was to stand still). His eyes turned soft and he appeared interested in the bottle. When he started acting curious about it, I rubbed him all over with it, squirted it a couple of times, then quit. I was a sweaty mess, and my husband said that he needed to build an indoor arena, or put up trees along the highway, so that people didn’t think he had married a crazy women. That’s an interesting way to get my dream arena. Let’s see, I’m pretty creative. What other crazy things can I come up with? Really would like that arena by winter. Neener! Neener!
You may think that the next thing I did indicates that I lost the battle. But it really means that timing is everything and I prefer to avoid battles and gain compliance through the horse’s choice. I removed the spray nozzle from the bottle and poured the fly spray in my hands and gently applied it all over as a massage. I know that he will appreciate my efforts, care, and patience.
Remember horses don’t care how much you know, they care how much you care.
|
|
