|
Post by el on May 12, 2015 16:26:54 GMT
SESSION 16: out in the field and just did a bit of haltering without biting. Getting a lot better
|
|
|
Post by el on May 13, 2015 13:49:48 GMT
SESSION 17: Went through all Isis exercises. Oz did really well. Hes loving the head down rubs. Also loving the move & rubs.
|
|
|
Post by el on May 13, 2015 18:13:28 GMT
SESSION 18: it was so lovely today I went out & did Oz again Haltered him while on my knees We went through it all and he was great. I need to observe. Things to improve are bend in trot. Also not to get head shake from walk to trot. Then Oz decided he had to go to the bathroom (no #2). This whole process took about 10 mins. He'd stop, wait, do nothing, then I'd ask him on again. i think after about 8 minutes he got annoyed with himself / me about the whole bathroom situation, and then when I asked him to trot we got all the messing, galloping around (but not pulling!) reactive stuff. Eventually he went to the bathroom. Still up on his toes though. Back down to walk, did a little shoulder out & in, then head lowering and rubs. Nice walk then ended taking halter off with head low. After a few seconds loose then oz galloped off like a lunatic. Then he stopped and came back wondering if he'd get his traditional post session carrot. Its a tough life being a horse when people who't wait while you go to the loo.
|
|
|
Post by el on May 14, 2015 14:19:37 GMT
SESSION 19: 95% there and it wasn't enough once we got faster! Just groundwork and I tried to do just walk, with a little trot in places. LESSON - I need to be more observant. In walk circles, when I get really specific Oz puts his attention on me. Sometimes when I'm not on the ball on EVERY step, Ozs body looks ok, but you can see his mind is 5% somewhere else. That 5% is not a problem right then, but becomes a problem in trot afterwards. Good licks and chewws etc at walk. We moved into trot. that 5% problem turned into 50% problem. Oz started to bite at the rope. So a few times I had to just back him up fast until he dropped the rope. I've done this in the past and its worked as a way to stop him rope biting. EVERY walk - trot transition today came with a head shake. Again, I think it all started at walk and he not asking for 100% and settling for 95% focus. Got it back together, then at the end got some nice walk and circles (wasn't going to get nice stuff in trot today) and falling leap changes with no rope biting. Called it a day. Going to read true horsemanship through fell tonight to get more insights into the head of a connemara
|
|
|
Post by el on May 15, 2015 12:36:51 GMT
|
|
|
Post by el on May 16, 2015 10:35:50 GMT
|
|
|
Post by el on May 16, 2015 15:19:24 GMT
SESSION 21: Me, Oz and the Bill Dorrance book! Big focuses for me - observe more, release faster, help Oz!! Brought out the chair so did 4 mini sessions and in between I sat on the chair in the paddock and read the book to get more inspiration. - Catching and haltering with head low is much improved. - Walk with bend and shoulder not coming in is good, NEARLY as good as yesterday during first session - move out/in shoulders on circle is good As a test, I tried a little walk and trot but in a straight line, still got a head shake or two. Did't do much as Oz could be still a bit sore in shoulder / withers. IN theory though OZ is a lot more chilled when we do a trot this way, rather than a circle trot. One reason would be cos he's more relaxed. Unbalanced = worried = head shakes = go faster, etc. In between sessions Oz insisted in following me around, standing right beside where I was sitting and eating grass near my feet. In another session, did halt then turn head without taking slack out of the rope. No mvt of feet - Oz was GENIUS!!! In another session, decided to use larger circle in walk with bend. Wasn't quite as good a bend, then OZ started to bite the rope. My usual way to deal with this is to back him up fast till he drops it. But that isn't helping Oz, thats MAKING OZ. I needed a new pan. So instead, he dropped the rope, I did30 secs of closer work to me, and then I took a break to read some inspiration from Bill. I tried to figure out why Oz had started to snatch at the rope. Bill says a horse takes over when the feel is lost. BINGO! I'd made a bigger circle. Less connection and feel between us. So Oz filled in the gap and started to take over. So instead of going down the route of the 'don't do it oz now you have to backup' I decided to change the exercise to more in hand work, get a better feel and see if he'd do it less. Fix the cause not the sympton. HELP Oz to feel secure with me. Another session - closer circles, more focus from me, better from Oz all bites not gone but definitely much less. I decided to take that as progress. Plus we avoided a messy stressy backup. Break again. Then wanted to do head turn with slack in rein, HQ yield, end with head turn with slack in rein. This 3 step combo was tricky! We had the turn, then we got the HQ but we got too much of them. When he stopped then unless I wanted to hold his head with the rein to keep the bend, we had lost the lateral flexion. Interestingly all rope bites had now stopped as there was a better feel and a job to be done that was occupying Ozs mind. Doing this whole manouvre with a slack rein was a good little fun (and easy for me, but not for Oz) test. Haven't tackled the trot but maybe my approach and feel is getting a fraction better.
|
|
|
Post by el on May 17, 2015 14:52:19 GMT
SESSION 22: Really good! Did about 1-2 hours out in the field with Oz, book and chair again. Did about 4 mini sessions. I thought: - observe more (so I caught Oz going down to eat before he gets there) - release faster (better at lateral flexion at halt) - help Oz - good during head shakes and ropes Catching good, head low and turned with halter. One or two nips, but I ask him not to and they stop. GREAT lateral flexion at halt both ways with slack in rein, then HQ then keep the slack. If I let the halter rock a little on his nose he turns Walk in circle - GREAT both ways, inc rubs while he walks, licks & yawns. The one thing we're getting stuck on is the tensing up / rope biting / head tossing when we get to a fast walk or any form of trot. If we do this on a circle its a mess. If we do this on a falling leaf, its less but the issue is still there. Trot has lot slower but still the rope bites & shakes. Tried just to focus on fast walk, and let trot happen. Same issues in both fast walk and trot If we do this in hand on loopy rope, head shakes Then I tried this in hand but on a short rope so Oz has to stay right beside me and tried to rub him as well. I walked fast, he trotted slow. Still got some unwanted stuff, but maybe this is the way in as Oz understands not to pull (head shake at this closeness would have same effect) and I can try & run him while he trots using this. Will try again tomorrow. I still feel I need 5 more exercises or ideas to try out as well in trot as a plan F, G, H, i & J. Oz very mellow for all but the trotting and when loose stayed with me while i read the book.
|
|
|
Post by el on May 17, 2015 18:25:22 GMT
SESSION 23 - same day. Might have had a breakthrough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So right now I learned from Isi I have a very sensitive horse who is worried at times.
So my goal is to do things to reduce his worry. Stopping the bad behaviour (head shakes, bites) doesn't reduce him feeling worried. So instead I worked on rubbing him while he moved in hand on ground. Definitely helped a bit, but not totally solved.
Reading the Dorrance & Hunt books today, I realised I needed to change my breathing. When I breathe out loudly Oz halts. He did it by accident once, I thought 'thats a good way to get a halt if I need it to get out of trouble' and so now I don't breathe out loudly when I ride as I don't want Oz to stop. Realised I needed to fix this pattern and talked to a friend who suggested the same.
I as so excited to try it out I got off the phone & ran out to Oz. My plan was to do both... in hand with Oz at walk, rubbing him the whole time and breathing out like a train!! See how he goes.
Started to breathe like a train, and after this got Oz walking beside him as I rubbed his neck. He was cool as custard. I walked a bit faster. Cool as custard. ZERO headshakes. ZERO rope bites. I'm still huffing and puffing like a train engine. A few times he was on the verge of trot just because we were walking quite quickly. I never asked him to trot though. TOTALLY CALM HORSE!! Earlier today this fast walk resulted in rope bites and a few headshakes.
Changed rein. TRAIN BREATHING. Walked with him and rubbed neck. faster walk. Cool horse. TRAIN BREATHING CONTINUES. faster walk. no headshakes or anything. Then he broke into a trot beside me, I continued the crazy breathing and running his neck. HAPPY HORSE!! Got 7-8 steps then he naturally went back to a walk himself. OMG!!!
It was only once so far, but it worked and 1/1 isn't too bad so far!!
And I think even if this isnt it, im on the right track.
- I'm doing different stuff to normal (to get different results) - I know he's worried so I'm trying to relax him - I focus on helping him, observing more and releasing faster - Me breathing like a train and rubbing him is not going to be a bad thing.
Very excited to see how it progresses tomorrow. Fingers crossed it wasn't a one off!!
VERY HAPPY!!!!!!!!!! NOT ONE HEADSHAKE OR ROPE BITE IN 10 MINS!!!
That book "true horsemanship through feel" is worth its weight in gold.
|
|
|
Post by el on May 18, 2015 8:56:50 GMT
SESSION 24 - Could we repeat our relaxed trot???!!!!! So excited got up early and was out at the horse just after 8am (early for me!) Did 2 or 3 sessions in an hour. First 2 sessions GENIUS!!!!!!!!!! My main thing was walking with Oz while rubbing his shoulder and TRAIN BREATHING. Got w or two half circles as well in rot once I had got him going happily and relaxed. YES - we got trots! YES - we got no headshaking! YES - we got no rope biting! YES - YES - YES - we got ONE walk to trot transition WHILE he licked and chewed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wwwwwwwwwwohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! What I will note in these sessions as I was very focused on breathing and walking right beside Oz I probably allowed him to be a little more distraced than normal. Something to practise. As an experiment in this, I did try one circle from the beginning in trot, but got a rope bite / head shake can't remember which. It was just an experiment to see if I could keep him relaxed only with TRAIN BREATHING and without rubbing him. Not yet was the answer. Third session - a change... - At halt he had his head low as I asked his his mind started to get busy, head started moving a lot more. Rope biting started. - We did in hand walk and trot, with TRAIN BREATHING AND rubs, but then the headshakes and rope bites started. - Back to halt while I thought about it. The change had happened at HALT - not when he was moving. It wasn't many headshakes but it was a lot of rope biting. - If I tried to trot him now, with these added rope bites it would ruin my nice trots. So no more trotting. - Instead i needed to fix the rope bites and calm down his mind. - It began at halt, so I thought I'll try to fix it at halt. - With Oz head low, me TRAIN BREATHING and rubbing his neck, I let the ropes hang near his mouth. - He tried to bite them, I keep TRAIN BREATHING and rubbing his neck, but I say PPPSSST loudly and jerk the rope. He immediately stops it. - This is really effective when haltering - he'll rarely bite the halter any more, but he still is biting the leadrope. - Do I though lets do the same exercise with the rope as we did with the halter. - Spent about 10 mins at this. Got a good mixture... bites & PPSSTS (while breathing and rubbing) and then lots of times it was right beside his mouth and you could see him decide not to bite it. - It was progress, and definitely his mind calmed down. - Ended it then, as the not biting the rope & calming down was a big thing. - Put halter off & on about three times until Oz didn't bite anything, then left him off. Progress I hope!
|
|
|
Post by el on May 18, 2015 9:54:41 GMT
SESSION 25 - 1 hour later (still excited) BETTER AGAIN! Went out only had 20 mins.. - Caught him with this head down - Offered him rope if he chose to bite it, he chose not to bite it Mind was mellow. - In hand TRAIN BREATHING and rubbing, got TROT in hand then moving to circle while I rubbed FANTASTIC - Back to walk then got the licks and chews - TROT again GREAT!! - Back to walk then other rein - GOT A TROT AGAIN Not one headshake or rope bite in sight. Relaxed horse. At end, mind was mellow, while at halt offered him rope to bite. Got 1 or 2 bites max, but then did PSSST loudly and he stopped. It was like he was justing checking were the new rules still in place. BEST consistent session yet with the relaxation at trot!!
|
|
|
Post by el on May 18, 2015 19:06:26 GMT
SESSION 26 - same day - lovely then a new issue I think.
Went out caught Oz. Hardly any interest in biting rope when I left it near his mouth for d good few minutes. Did lovely trot in hand with TRAIN BREATHING and rubs up the paddock. Then relaxed at little at halt with head down. He likes that.
Then the wind started to pick up.
Rope biting is getting better. A lot of the time he touches it with his mouth but then ignores it. Sometimes he pushes it away with his nose. The rare time he bites it and it makes a PPSSST loud noise. I think he's still experimenting to learn is it always going to be annoying when he bites it.
Wind picked up more. Ozs mind started to go faster. Got a few headshakes now in walk in hand while I TRAIN BREATHE and rub. Back to halt and relax with head down, no point trotting I thought if hes already tight.
This time he found it really hard to keep his head down. Wind was up. His energy was up. He mind was up. His head was down but it was constantly moving while it was down any way, he was not relaxed. But I don't think he was worried about pressure from me. Very few head shakes and bites, but definitely there was a lot of energy inside him now.
Am I dealing with two things:
1. Gets worried when I apply pressure or the speed is increased. I see headshaking, bites on rope, a lot of tightness in body. Solution is to rub & TRAIN BREATH which seems to work pretty well.
2. Picks up on energy in surroundings very easily. Indirect pressure seems to affect him a lot. I see a very busy mind, even if he;s standing still inside of him is moving, looking for distractions. Rubs & TRAINING BREATHING did not help this. Needs a different solution. I wasn't sure what to do so relaxed his head and left him off. I felt if I asked for a walk in a circle, I'd get a mess... head-shaking, biting, tearing around like a lunatic. So I left him off, and then he spent 5 minutes full of beans, galloping around, bucking, biting the other horse, galloping, bucking etc. After 5 mins he had got it out of his system and was back to grazing.
Hmmmm.
So when he feels pressure of the environment when he moves then he works through it and calms down ok. So I need a plan for this, ideally slow with precision that will fix how he is feeling, something to help him, rather than ask him something and then wind him up more. The question is how to I help him in this situation, not just watch a mes and tell him 'not' to do it? Half of it I guess is helping him sooner, as the longer I leave without addressing it (a few mins at halt) the more the energy builds up. Hmmm.
|
|
|
Post by snigsby on May 19, 2015 7:33:25 GMT
Great rep.ort,el,thanks
|
|
|
Post by el on May 19, 2015 12:18:32 GMT
SESSION 26 - A check up to see if we have actually got better or worse in the 10 days after Isis clinic! HEAD DOWN TO HALTER: Better - lower head, less biting on halter! LESS ROPE AND HALTER BITING - definitely reduced a lot! CIRCLES AT WALK - I've got more observant as as a result we have some nice circles! Need to get them as good on right rein. RELAXED AT WALK - Yes TRAIN BREATHING and rubbing seems to be helping, will continue these MORE ACCURATE HQ and FQ YIELDS - Yes - but only if I know exactly when i want the front feel to stop and I count them down in my head. Then they are much better! RELAXED AT TROT - so in the past we were getting a few unwanted things. 1. Very rushed trot... now slower trot, due to TRAIN BREATHING and rubbing while he trots 2. Headshakes... haven't gone away you know! 3. More relaxed body at trot.. getting much better some times and head still high and body tense other times (but speed is slow so thats good!) 4. Biting rope while trotting - much less now due to work we do at halt with the rope biting MORE OBSERVANT - this has made a big difference, as if you don't notice stuff, then you cant fix stuff and you plod along not getting much better RELEASE FASTER - got a little better but need to keep this one in my head DO STUFF THAT HELPS THE HORSE - HUGE... I always check this now when I'm doing something. If its helping at least I know I'm on the track track. if its not then I stop what I'm doing, and sometimes if I don't know what to do next, we do something simple, I end the lesson and I started to read more books asap! OVERALL PROGRESS: GOOD! ___________________________________________________________________________ Read a good thing last night that compared horses to men - they can only focus properly on one thing at a time I don't know if its true but it certainly made me want to put more emphasis on not letting Ozs mind focus on things other than me! - Today did nice catching, very few ropes bites. - Nice circles in walk with bend and FOCUS! - Didnt try any trots until walks were soft and Oz was listening. - Trots today were with TRAIN BREATHING but without ribs so I could be a little further away and monitor Ozs focus a little more. Trots had a few headshakes, but were slow, and no rope biting. So - I think we're 50% of the way there!! Just need his body to relax more. Headshakes are tricky... maybe they'll gradually go away if I trot a lot in saddle and rub & TRAIN BREATHE, and his body will also soften?
|
|
|
Post by el on May 19, 2015 16:19:01 GMT
Session 27: same day and 40 pages through bucks believe Read a story in it about someone being able to halter horse but horse always taking a step back. Horse wasn't actually mentally accepting of halter at all. So back out to Oz. Where was the first place I could see his boy starting to tense, and what was the trigger? BETTER OBSERVATION EXERCISE! in walk he was nice and relaxed. When he got distraction I moved him out sideways from me, the result was kicks and chews, better balance and shape and focus back on me again. It was nearly like he was saying thanks to me for helping him back to feeling comfortable again. When he went to halt he put his head up! Both from normal walk and slow walk! Bingo! Something to work on. It'd be good to get the better anyway as it's definitely tension he's carrying in his body. So we walked quietly slowly together. My hand on the side of his noseband to ask head to stay low ish especially when we slow down to halt. His mind was relaxed so this was a good time to do this exercise. After about 10 halts on both reins, definite improvements!! Less trying to push up head when he halted. Let him go then. Relaxed horse.
|
|