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Post by snigsby on May 29, 2010 10:10:55 GMT
As I so enjoy reading all the other diaries and can see how helpful it is to have a running record of progress, I thought I'd write one for the three of us. So here goes........ Khan is now 13, I have had him since he was 9 and he came after being started both English and Western but not having done much in his life apart from being sold on occasionally,sometimes being ridden in an arena and mostly just hanging out in various fields. He had been hacked out a few times in company but I was assured that it wouldn't be at all difficult to get him used to hacking out by himself - ha! Almost everyone makes the inexplicable mistake of thinking I know how to ride - inexplicable because I do tell people I don't. Apart from a few lessons when I was about 10, I have never been taught stuff. I had a pony called Strawberry all through my teens and we were just a "point and shoot" team. We hacked along the beach and through a nearby estate,just going over or through whatever came our way. Sometimes we had company,other children on ponies but mostly we were on our own having fun. My parents made me sell her back to the people they'd bought her from when I went to Uni. Fast forward more than 30 horseless years and enter my dear Kofi. Fast forward another 6 wonderful but difficult years and enter Khan,after Kofi's death. I still had not got much of a clue. Following what interested me through various internet chat groups, I have ended up here and took myself "dahn sarth" for Tom's recent clinic, where Kas generously allowed me to ride Celebrity. This story begins when I came back Rafferty is my 7h companion pony. I paid £70 for him when he was 11 months old,bless. So his behaviour is all my own work. And I have to say that because I treated him like a little pet furry baby,he was bargy,mouthy,nippy and thought humans were for leaning on,scratching on,dispensing carrots and polos and completely ignoring whenever it suited. He is a good little guy despite this and accepted being tied up,rugged,loaded,bathed,hoof trimmed and vets with needles when necessary. He is inquisitive and cooperative by nature and this was easy for even me to work with,along with lots of treats and a bit of physical manhandling because he is so little.He was not good leading unless it suited him and frequently bombed off. I lead both of them together up and down to the field,negotiating two gates. Coming home was usually a bit fraught,with Rafferty trying to bomb off and Khan often piaffing and shooting forwards,sometimes bucking and kicking out behind. So this was where I started with the two of them. I got them home the first evening, misbehaving as usual then left Rafferty in the stable and took Khan back down the lane to the field. I had the long tail of the rope in my in one hand and every time Khan came creeping or shooting forward, I swung it in a circle at the point I wanted him to keep back from. After he'd been flicked on the nose a few times,he thought he'd try coming up on my other side so I flicked the rope over my shoulder and smacked myself on the back with it. All the time, I was trying to keep the lead rope part loose. I have a new daily routine (unless it's pouring) - both of them get a little bit of groundwork every day,just leading/halt/walk/halt and standing quietly and I carry the tail of the rope ready for action when going up and down to the field. It started to work very quickly. I don't allow Khan to anticipate going through the gates now,he has to stand until I ask him to walk through. Mostly,he remembers this without a reminder. So, I'm trying to "be with" them all the time, not thinking what I'm going to be doing once they have been turned out or brought in. I'm also trying to ask for things softly until they have completely understood but then, the reminder is running into a whirling rope. And not a wimpish,half hearted whirl, but a strong,meaningful whirl. More later..........
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Post by nicxf on May 29, 2010 16:03:27 GMT
oo, looking forward to updates on this one. ....And, um, pics.
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Post by snigsby on May 30, 2010 9:06:13 GMT
I will try for some pics but there is the doube handicap of having nobody to take 'em and me not being too slick at transferring them through the internal maze of my computer It's now 5 weeks since Tom's clinic and I have faithfully practised the new routines. Up and down to the field properly - and no bombing off by Rafferty or airs above the ground from Khan..........at all, not even once There has been an occasional bit of grumbling and efforts made to dive into the verge for a snack but a vast improvement nonetheless. Another few weeks like this and anyone will be able to turn them out and bring them in safely. I can't think of a way to stop them from verge-diving,though, when we're all together,the lane is narrow and while I can hold both ropes in one hand and twirl the flippy end with the other hand, doing this towards either of them just encourages them to move further towards the grass. Perhaps smacking my leg with it? Each on his own is fine, but once we're all together they seem to take advantage of the situation and take turns in doing it! One verge dives while the other stands there looking virtuous In the paddock, Khan and I have spent some time on him standing still after I've got on. He wasn't bad, but he did often take a few steps forward the minute my bottom hit (no, descended gracefully into LOL) the saddle. So,every session,he was asked just by me taking a feel of the reins while standing on the mounting block,to stand. If he moved,I would take a slightly stronger feel and try to be immediate with this. If he still moved off (even a forwards or sideways shuffle) then I got off and started again. Then we would just walk around quietly,walk/halt/backup/walk. Groundwork with Khan - just leading and doing walk/halt/backup/walk in different directions and at different speeds. Also over poles and a tarp and around barrells. And bending his neck each side with and without bit and reins. Groundwork with Rafferty - the same. Hacking out didn't happen as much as I would have liked because all the cattle are out but we did do some short ones with as much halt/walk/stand/backup as I could stand and if the sleepy dairy girls were out near the track through the farm,we'd walk up there. With mixed results although never as bad as last year. A couple of moaning emails to Tom ensued and I received reassuring replies. One of the most useful things to hear was "stay safe and don't over face yourselves" - this is an excellent blocker of the voice in my head that says "get on and DO it,you complete wuss". (It is interesting that I can hear what Tom says,yet as Kas pointed out to me when I was at the clinic,some of you have been saying much the same to me for a while but I couldn't hear you ) What I have learned so far - it is really,really important to spend time doing this stuff and getting it right with no holes or iffy bits. this stuff is not a boring preliminery to "real" things like hacking, it IS the "real" thing using the lightest ask possible gets better results horses like it. Khan whickers to me quite often while we are twiddling away at the groundwork. I have also realised that I don't need to saddle up to ride in my little paddock (and I've only fallen off once ) so I am nipping out quite often if the boys are in and climbing on for a sit and a wander (with hat and halter). Next instalment - decisions,decisions. Shall I go and spectate at Steve's clinic (a three and a half hour drive away) or wait till September to go and see Kathleen Lindley or shall I have Isobel Duncan over for a lesson? I decided to give Steve's clinic a miss this time but will go to the KL one as it is only about 65 miles away. And Isobel Duncan came on Friday. I can't afford her very often as she has a one and a half hour drive to get here and at £30 per hour and £35 mileage,it's just not feasible to do it much. However, we got through a lot of useful stuff!
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Post by beksnjake on May 31, 2010 5:11:51 GMT
I know exactly what you mean snigsby. Sometimes you have to hear it said in a slightly different way in order for it to register.
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Post by kas on May 31, 2010 20:39:27 GMT
Good reading Snigs, thanks for the write up.
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Post by snigsby on Jun 4, 2010 9:06:07 GMT
We had our session with Isobel last Friday.
Rafferty was produced first and paraded around for Isobel's edification (this was so that she could see what I could do/have done given an 11 month old teeny). We did walk/halt/backup/stand and tried a bit of trot. Then we tried the beginnings of circling.
Isobel's verdict was that,on the whole, I had done a very good job. His head bending and walk/halt is fine and his backup is excellent. Stand is pretty good but he did have to be reminded at the start not to creep up and nibble/rub head on his handler but once he'd been told, he stayed told so that was very good.
His trotting was too bug-eyed and bucky so Isobel said to break it down more and just try for a couple of good steps,then build on that.
The same with circling and to remember that me standing facing forward means walk on and me standing facing his choulder means walk round me. Again, we have to build this up in quarter circles.
Then we moved on to Khan and I'll try to shorten this mega chapter by saying that he wasn't very cooperative - I got the usual head tossing,staring into the distance,nose scratching,fly kicking,head nudging,shuffling on the spot,quarters swinging - general "oh,god, why me,why now" attitude. Isobel discovered how reactive he is when she walked forcefully towards him,flailing the rope......................after we'd retrieved Khan from the next county,ha ha, and Isobel had said sorry for frightening him, we decided that I would work on a more suitable cue for "BACK OFF out of my space!" over the next few days.
We then saddled up ( edited to add in this bit that I forgot - Khan always pulls and chomps on the bit when I stand him to be mounted. Isobel told me to try holding my reins at a particular length and holding him there no matter how much he pulls,then releasing instantly when he stops. This is for him to realise that he gets release when he stops pulling and champing and keeps his head still for mounting. I got on and off a few times and this seems to work quite quickly) and rode around the paddock where Isobel discovered, on asking me to do a turn on the forehand, that I do indeed NOT KNOW HOW TO RIDE. (Can I say that,as chatted about with Tom, I can walk trot and canter and pop a small log,start,stop and steer on an obliging horse and am quite happy with that) so all other manouvres have to be spelled out to me in simple terms. Personally, I think this is good even if it takes a while.
Khan was not obliging and refused several times to walk over his tarpaulin (that he had walked over in hand a few minutes before). We realised this was probably because the dogs next door were flinging themselves at the hedge,barking hysterically all the time,but even so. He did it calmly finally and we went on to the next stage of our session.
We went OUT!! Yes, finally I got someone with knowledge to walk out beside us!! We went up the farm track and the fields on both sides were choc-a-bloc with sleepy,munching dairy cows. Khan was not too bad,and we did halt/short stand/walk a few times until we'd reached the designated turn-to-go-home corner where there was enough space to walk forward into a large circle to fact homewards. He was very on his toes and snorting going back but I kept breathing calmly,facing forwards and by a huge effort of will (thinking oh well,Isobel can call the ambulance for me if this goes pear shapedLOL) I did not tighten up or shorten up the reins.........aaargh.......that was difficult for me!!! We did more halt/short stand/walk and one more large circle where the track goes through the farmyard and he was OK. Oh, and rubbing his withers every time we halt.
Isobel says he is indeed very worried about cows but part of that is that he is very reactive in general. Back in the paddock she had me doing star jumps beside him and waving the rope around him. I think I need to learn more about this kind of stuff.
So all in all a useful and interesting session. I think we have come on a lot in a short time and I wish someone's Lottery numbers would come up and I could move nearer like minded folk!
Not much prastising been done this week but will post progress soon.
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Post by nicxf on Jun 4, 2010 9:16:45 GMT
really interesting write-ups. It sounds like you're making some big breakthroughs!
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Post by kas on Jun 4, 2010 16:22:09 GMT
That sounds brilliant Snigs, well done mate. x
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Post by snigsby on Jun 4, 2010 16:22:32 GMT
Am just on again briefly before dog and I go off to a friend's house to camp on her floor for the night - next door but two have had a wedding in their garden this afternoon and the band is now striking up. It would be nice to live near people who have the courtesy and manners to let their neighbours know they were in for a sleepless night. Rant,rant.
Did five mins walk/halt/backup/stand and neckbending with Khan and then out for short hack. We went up the farm track again and he was very,very good. Different cows in different fields but still sleepy ones,thank goodness. We did exactly what we did when Isobel was with us and Khan did not even go on tiptoe or speed up!!! He was very "looky" and spooked like nobody's business at a ditch,an open gate and a funny thing in the hedge but not at all at the cows or the hissing of their water trough. Then we came back past the house,up to the village and waited for a slurry tanker to pass the end of the road (not a problem) and back down a steep track where there are cows. I can see down into this field before taking the track and the cows were all a long way off (otherwise I would have gone back the way we'd come LOL) but to my horror, as we approached the junction where we would turn for home away from the cow field,I realised that some of them were making their way across the field at an angle designed to arrive at the junction same time as us. I decided that even the leader would still be far enough away so carried on.
Well, cows walk faster than you think. The leader was walking purposefully towards us just as we came to the junction and Khan grew very tall and started a slow trot on the spot. I decided to keep on giving the same signals I would have if there were no cows and we turned left. He started giving the alarm snort and wanted to turn and face them but I just kept asking for walk on and forcing myself not to shorten up my reins and hang on. He did a small sideways jump but not a bad one and kept on with the piaffe thing and the snorting but he still went forwards (away from the cows) without tucking his tail under and scurrying. I have never sat on him when he's done that elevated trot before as I have always bailed out prior to it happening.Wow,it's amazing!
So I am very pleased with us both! Me for not panicking and remembering to stick to the plan and not freeze and grab the reins into a death grip and Khan for not backing into a ditch or fence or insisting on swerving round to face the cows. All the more pleased because when I risked a backwards glance, the whole herd must have put on a fair turn of speed as they had ALL arrived down at the fence. Something is working..................
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Post by kas on Jun 8, 2010 7:01:16 GMT
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Post by nicxf on Jun 8, 2010 8:55:28 GMT
really fantastic stuff!
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Post by snigsby on Jun 12, 2010 18:26:27 GMT
We have been out hacking just a couple of times since my last post - life getting in the way of my other plans LOL
We managed an hour and a half with company - unbelievable,really, but Becky (age 13) and Struan (aged 20) came with us. Struan is the pony I had arranged for another friend of mine to ride with us once a week but friend has had a bad back ever since I made the arrangement so Becky now loans Struan who is totally bombproof. Khan thought he would go into pony trekking mode so I spent a lot of time getting his nose out of Struan's bottom. He will go happily behind or in front but is not keen on walking up past Struan to get to the front (?). We went a longer way than I usually go on my own these days and thus past a field with young cattle who were all at the fence. Struan went between us and them and Khan was fine!!! He suggested to Struan a couple of times that perhaps a bit of sidling and tail-tucking might be in order but Struan completely ignored him (and the cattle) and Khan just copied him. I do so hope I can arrange to go out with them again as it is just the thing Khan needs right now.
Groundwork - I have managed to fit some in most days even if no time for riding. Both boys will now walk properly where I want them to, they will stand/long stand/halt/backup and circle properly.
I really am pleased with where we are and I would like to add some more things to the groundwork. At the moment, I don't know how to ask them to move their quarters away nor can I move them sideways. Would that be a next move for us to learn? Or something else?
PS I noticed yesterday when I went to fetch them in for a groom that Rafferty was at the fence,talking to (and perhaps licking) a dairy cow while Khan grazed quietly nearby. Khan did not get all frantic about the cattle when he saw me nor did he bother to tell me that there were cows in the top field (first time they've been there this year) so I think maybe the whole Cow Problem is becoming a thing of the past. I do hope so.
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Post by kas on Jun 12, 2010 21:46:16 GMT
That is brilliant Snigs! You are doing so well. I'll look through my store of DVD's and vids and see if I have anything useful for you. PM me.
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Post by nicxf on Jun 13, 2010 8:44:43 GMT
sounds like you're making some really excellent progress!
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Post by snigsby on Jun 17, 2010 7:24:22 GMT
Khan hasn't been in his trailer for a few weeks so we did a bit of that yesterday. He got a bit stampy and poopy when I put the partition over and went out of sight but did settle, then he unloaded and went back in again. I can't take him anywhere at the moment due to the lane being closed because of the crumbling bridge further up just where I need to go and turn the flipping thing. I'm trying to persuade the chap between me and there that I could turn in his driveway if he let me cut back a load of overhanging branches but he is not too thrilled with the idea as yet. (I think he'll come round to the idea after a few bin lorries/delivery vehicles/milk tankers go down the lane and discover that it is the only place to turn right now and just smash through his branches Rafferty is in the doghouse. After all my proud boasting about how good he has been, he came zooming up behind me last night and bit me with a glancing blow just above my elbow,I felt as if my arm had been ripped off. I didn't hear him coming till it was too late to do anything but lift my arm to re direct him hence him getting me right on it. Khan's shoulders have many bite marks and I don't understand why he doesn't put Rafferty firmly in his place - which will be 6' under if the little so-snd-so tries to do it again Khan was Jekyll and Hyde yesterday. Stood for ages,half asleep,while I chatted to someone on the grass paths and then he lifted his head and saw something and I felt his heart start to boom-boom-boom. Cows at least half a mile away. So that was him prancing and boinging. I have to say he was perfectly willing to come to a halt/stand/backup/walk on (path too narrow to circle unless quietly walking) several times and although he rushed going up and down a banking,he slowed down easily. But he kept up the prancing/boinging/jogging from then on so no trotting or cantering for us yesterday. I don't like to do it when he is being daft as quite a lot of dog walkers use these paths and we really have to be push button controllable if we go faster than a walk. I still don't think I have the right tools for this. I feel that when we go out it is still entirely his decision whether we have an easy time, trotting and cantering when I choose (and we have days like that) or fussing and faffing and wriggling about because he's got himself excited. Apart from anything else, it is very sore on the rider's behind ;D PS a small and extremely competent child who is on the Pony Club games tea is desperate to ride Rafferty - she came and rang my doorbell to ask if she could - apparently she has a long felt want to ride a tiny pony bareback Readers, I may let her.................
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