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glenatronThis morning Othello was supposed to be having his shoes taken off (we keep our horses barefoot) but his trimmer had to cancel. I had already booked the morning off work, so I went over to the yard anyway to see whether we could do some work together.
Othello looking happy and glossy in the morning sun.
We wandered out of the field and back to the yard where I endeavoured to clean his feet and he endeavoured to walk in circles around me but he ended up with slightly less mud in his hooves. Then we proceded to the school so we could try and do some proper work.
After the mixed results of what I had done on Tuesday I approached today's work with a definite plan, based on the Silversand programme, which began with him being able to back up when I stood in front of him and put a gentle pressure on his nose. It took a surprisingly long time to explain to him that it was alright for me to be stood in front of him and that he didn't have to start walking around me. It also took quite a long time to get him to stop turning his head away and actually face me. He is quite a sensitive horse and he seems happiest working very calmly and at very low energy levels, which is what is easier for us as Joe is quite similar. He's also very smart and since Tuesday he seems to have realised that I'm offering stillness as a reward and that I will consistently offer it as a release of pressure when he does the right thing. I'm trying to make sure that when he has done something right and I have rewarded it he has plenty of time to think about it.
We managed to get him backing up, at first off pressure and gentle taps of the stick (releasing everything, averting my eyes and making myself smaller when he moved back) then off just pressure, to emulate the feeling of being asked to move back on his head collar, and finally just from eye contact and body language. The last of these needed a bit more energy than he is currently happy with and wasn't very soft, but following pressure he was doing softly and easily.
Once I was happy with the backing up I moved to his shoulder and asked him to move it away from me, turning around his hindquarters. By this point he was really trying to get it right and once I had sorted out my position so he didn't think he was supposed to be walking forward at the same time he did this beautifully. Once we had that from both sides (just a few steps seemed a good start to me) I moved on to asking him to bring his head towards me and turn his hindquarters away leaving his shoulder where it was. He found it hard to bring his head round without stepping around after it so we had to do this in very small steps, especially after he stood on my toe- turns out that horses are heavy. After really working to make the most of his tries (and much licking and chewing on his part, which indicates he was trying to think his way through my requests) we got him turning his head softly to me and stepping around with his hindquarters.
It probably helps that it was a bright and sunny morning but everything was so calm and relaxed and he was working so hard to do what I was asking of him that I am almost impossibly proud of that pony right now. I still have a warm glow writing this. I have enjoyed working with horses since we first got Roo but nothing before has given me the sense of peace and achievement that working with my own horse does- it is amazing beyond anything I can explain.
Othello looking happy and glossy in the morning sun.
We wandered out of the field and back to the yard where I endeavoured to clean his feet and he endeavoured to walk in circles around me but he ended up with slightly less mud in his hooves. Then we proceded to the school so we could try and do some proper work.
After the mixed results of what I had done on Tuesday I approached today's work with a definite plan, based on the Silversand programme, which began with him being able to back up when I stood in front of him and put a gentle pressure on his nose. It took a surprisingly long time to explain to him that it was alright for me to be stood in front of him and that he didn't have to start walking around me. It also took quite a long time to get him to stop turning his head away and actually face me. He is quite a sensitive horse and he seems happiest working very calmly and at very low energy levels, which is what is easier for us as Joe is quite similar. He's also very smart and since Tuesday he seems to have realised that I'm offering stillness as a reward and that I will consistently offer it as a release of pressure when he does the right thing. I'm trying to make sure that when he has done something right and I have rewarded it he has plenty of time to think about it.
We managed to get him backing up, at first off pressure and gentle taps of the stick (releasing everything, averting my eyes and making myself smaller when he moved back) then off just pressure, to emulate the feeling of being asked to move back on his head collar, and finally just from eye contact and body language. The last of these needed a bit more energy than he is currently happy with and wasn't very soft, but following pressure he was doing softly and easily.
Once I was happy with the backing up I moved to his shoulder and asked him to move it away from me, turning around his hindquarters. By this point he was really trying to get it right and once I had sorted out my position so he didn't think he was supposed to be walking forward at the same time he did this beautifully. Once we had that from both sides (just a few steps seemed a good start to me) I moved on to asking him to bring his head towards me and turn his hindquarters away leaving his shoulder where it was. He found it hard to bring his head round without stepping around after it so we had to do this in very small steps, especially after he stood on my toe- turns out that horses are heavy. After really working to make the most of his tries (and much licking and chewing on his part, which indicates he was trying to think his way through my requests) we got him turning his head softly to me and stepping around with his hindquarters.
It probably helps that it was a bright and sunny morning but everything was so calm and relaxed and he was working so hard to do what I was asking of him that I am almost impossibly proud of that pony right now. I still have a warm glow writing this. I have enjoyed working with horses since we first got Roo but nothing before has given me the sense of peace and achievement that working with my own horse does- it is amazing beyond anything I can explain.
