Monday 14 November 2016
Training: calmness is good
I have found the fastest progress is made with a horse that is calm. I recently read that horses (and people) do not learn when in flight mode. (November's Dressaage Today article on dealing with stress). It is also the safest for the people involved too.
A horse will not be calm at the beginning of training or when training something new so I have found it is best to go slowly: baby steps. Ask for a little, praise a lot and go do something the horse can do easily. That might be standing, or letting go for a wander. Food helps to relax a horse.
You can tell the horse is tense by the ears: moving lots, not moving, pricked with the head up, and by the horse is moving. The tenser the horse gets the stiffer and slower/shorter the steps. This is a good time to stop and get the hrose more relaxed. Using your aids stronger will not help the situation. Stoking, treat helps. Back down. The more time you give the horse to figure out what you want in the beginning the faster his progress will be. The better you are as a trainer, the less tense your horse will be. (if you can "read" the horse, then you will know sooner).
Tenseness will result in the horse getting rid of the problem at some point.
Signs of Tension are
tight tail (clamped or not swinging)
kink in tail
tail curled to one side shows tenseness on that side
head up
ears not relaxed
looking back at the rider
running off
bucking, rearing
refusing to move
slowing down
short steps (because the head is up)
swishing tail
shorter steps than usual
Signs of Relaxation
tail swinging
head and neck down (around withers level or above)
chewing on the bit quietly
foam a the bit (like lipstick)
ears at half mast
moving to front, back, side
one ear on the lunger or rider is always good
no wrinkles above the eye
The horse does not have to master a lesson before you move on to the next. An introduction is good, then go back to it the next time all is good, and you should find the horse does a little more. You want a little or what the horse offers. In the beginning the horse will not have a clue what you are asking for. So accept a little and then back off. Leave it.
A rule of thumb is to repeat three times. Then leave it and come back another time. Don't keep asking for something. The horse does not know what it is you want.
The horse is not wrong. You are wrong. Horses do not have a right and wrong. If you are not getting what you are asking for then stop asking and figure out what you are doing wrong. If you were doing it right the horse would do it.
Start on the ground, then on the horse's back with the ground person controlling, then gradually the rider takes over. This is fast, and does not cause tension because changes are gradual.
If you teach the horse to buck, tense up, rear, bolt then the horse will use those to to deal with tension at a later time. So take your time.
Training sessions should be short. End on a good note. Do not go onto something else. Just stop. Sessions will gradually get longer as the horse learns more. The learning portion will stay short.
The horse will revert to what first learned. If all was calm then the horse will revert to calm. If the horse learned through fear and tension then the horse will tense up and have anxiety when something new comes up.
Just some thoughts on training I have learned over the years
A horse will not be calm at the beginning of training or when training something new so I have found it is best to go slowly: baby steps. Ask for a little, praise a lot and go do something the horse can do easily. That might be standing, or letting go for a wander. Food helps to relax a horse.
You can tell the horse is tense by the ears: moving lots, not moving, pricked with the head up, and by the horse is moving. The tenser the horse gets the stiffer and slower/shorter the steps. This is a good time to stop and get the hrose more relaxed. Using your aids stronger will not help the situation. Stoking, treat helps. Back down. The more time you give the horse to figure out what you want in the beginning the faster his progress will be. The better you are as a trainer, the less tense your horse will be. (if you can "read" the horse, then you will know sooner).
Tenseness will result in the horse getting rid of the problem at some point.
Signs of Tension are
tight tail (clamped or not swinging)
kink in tail
tail curled to one side shows tenseness on that side
head up
ears not relaxed
looking back at the rider
running off
bucking, rearing
refusing to move
slowing down
short steps (because the head is up)
swishing tail
shorter steps than usual
Signs of Relaxation
tail swinging
head and neck down (around withers level or above)
chewing on the bit quietly
foam a the bit (like lipstick)
ears at half mast
moving to front, back, side
one ear on the lunger or rider is always good
no wrinkles above the eye
The horse does not have to master a lesson before you move on to the next. An introduction is good, then go back to it the next time all is good, and you should find the horse does a little more. You want a little or what the horse offers. In the beginning the horse will not have a clue what you are asking for. So accept a little and then back off. Leave it.
A rule of thumb is to repeat three times. Then leave it and come back another time. Don't keep asking for something. The horse does not know what it is you want.
The horse is not wrong. You are wrong. Horses do not have a right and wrong. If you are not getting what you are asking for then stop asking and figure out what you are doing wrong. If you were doing it right the horse would do it.
Start on the ground, then on the horse's back with the ground person controlling, then gradually the rider takes over. This is fast, and does not cause tension because changes are gradual.
If you teach the horse to buck, tense up, rear, bolt then the horse will use those to to deal with tension at a later time. So take your time.
Training sessions should be short. End on a good note. Do not go onto something else. Just stop. Sessions will gradually get longer as the horse learns more. The learning portion will stay short.
The horse will revert to what first learned. If all was calm then the horse will revert to calm. If the horse learned through fear and tension then the horse will tense up and have anxiety when something new comes up.
Just some thoughts on training I have learned over the years
November"s thoughts
The weather is still mild. It is almost 5ยบ this morning. It did freeze last night for the first time in weeks.
The manure pile is almost all spread on the fields. Hopefully there will be grass growing in the spring as a result. It is going onto the South Field.
I have decided to make signs for the fields. I found some nice plywood that would make good signage material.
The horses are all doing well. The two new horses: Lola (11.3 hand pony) is going to take a lot of work to change a few things: biting kids, running off with kids when being led, running off on the lunge. I think a driving pony would be a good use for her. The other Marigold (new blonde) is doing well. She is filling out and moving quite nicely in the field. She is standing near Gracie who does not seem to appreciate her. But, then Gracie is not feeling too well.
A few studies show that horses can do race training while fed grass and alfalfa mix hay. Last course the studies said the horses needed grain in order to have the speed to race.
Lily is preferring to crib rather than eat. I think that is where some of her back issues come from. Not enough riding to stretch the muscles so they stay contracted from the cribbing. She is working out as a lunge horse. Her canter is slowing and she is able to maintain it longer. I see the effort that it takes to canter mulitple circles on the lunge, slowly. We are looking for a more collected canter. Maybe by spring she will be able to do it. She is 16 year old this year. Miss July will be our walk, trot horse as she is excellent for beginners. Maybe a bit too forgiving. I think that is the draft in her that makes her so tolerant of discomfort.
Marigold will continue to stand around and eat. She will come in for some alfalfa and to be accustomed to being in the barn. She is barely 2 years old.
Stuart is looking very nice from his work to become a vaulting horse. I am hoping he becomes the canter horse. He seems to enjoy the work. I have a local girl on him. She is learning the "English" way of doing things too. Fortunately she is a fast learner. Last week we rode outside to do hillwork. She immediately went up the steepest hills. He was so willing. Very nice horse. I have started riding him a bit. I think I should ride him more often. He needs to security, not to say the added suppleness from being ridden.
The manure pile is almost all spread on the fields. Hopefully there will be grass growing in the spring as a result. It is going onto the South Field.
I have decided to make signs for the fields. I found some nice plywood that would make good signage material.
The horses are all doing well. The two new horses: Lola (11.3 hand pony) is going to take a lot of work to change a few things: biting kids, running off with kids when being led, running off on the lunge. I think a driving pony would be a good use for her. The other Marigold (new blonde) is doing well. She is filling out and moving quite nicely in the field. She is standing near Gracie who does not seem to appreciate her. But, then Gracie is not feeling too well.
A few studies show that horses can do race training while fed grass and alfalfa mix hay. Last course the studies said the horses needed grain in order to have the speed to race.
Lily is preferring to crib rather than eat. I think that is where some of her back issues come from. Not enough riding to stretch the muscles so they stay contracted from the cribbing. She is working out as a lunge horse. Her canter is slowing and she is able to maintain it longer. I see the effort that it takes to canter mulitple circles on the lunge, slowly. We are looking for a more collected canter. Maybe by spring she will be able to do it. She is 16 year old this year. Miss July will be our walk, trot horse as she is excellent for beginners. Maybe a bit too forgiving. I think that is the draft in her that makes her so tolerant of discomfort.
Marigold will continue to stand around and eat. She will come in for some alfalfa and to be accustomed to being in the barn. She is barely 2 years old.
Stuart is looking very nice from his work to become a vaulting horse. I am hoping he becomes the canter horse. He seems to enjoy the work. I have a local girl on him. She is learning the "English" way of doing things too. Fortunately she is a fast learner. Last week we rode outside to do hillwork. She immediately went up the steepest hills. He was so willing. Very nice horse. I have started riding him a bit. I think I should ride him more often. He needs to security, not to say the added suppleness from being ridden.
photos
Norman teaching another one to ride
Lola, Ziva, and Miss July
Patrick checking the horses spring
Ziva: has learned to drop her neck at walk last year, this year will drop neck at trot (2017). This is why how the horse is started matters. 4 years to get here!
winter feeding
No grass so unroll a bale
loose jumping Walter. What a talent! 
Lola before she learned to relax at trot
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