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Post by nicxf on Jun 17, 2010 17:41:39 GMT
;D So long as you remember your video camera..... Think with Khan all you can do is persevere. Or get someone to come and work with you both again.
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Post by snigsby on Jun 19, 2010 16:44:41 GMT
In a hurry this morning and just went straight out on a quick hack to get onto the grass paths before the weekend swarms of dogs and kids . Khan had been in his little paddock behind the house last night and was consequently thinking ahead to the next item on the agenda which would be "go home and get turned out to the field so we had no dilly-dallying. We did lots of crossing from one side of the lane to the other and lots of halt/stand/walk and some bending round the boundary stones. Negotiated the two gates which have to be dragged open and dragged shut and then we had a nice canter up the hill , got off again to drag the next gate out onto the road open and shut and walked briskly through the village (noticing that my horrible ex-neighbours have been allocated one of the very choicest houses in the very best street , good luck to their new neighbours). He had a bit of a hoppity skip as we turned for home and I turned him round and made him walk a quiet circle but he jigged most of the way down the slippy tarmac hill regardless,though it was more half hearted than usual. Then I saw the farmer draw up in his car to feed his young cattle which are in the fields both sides of the lane. The feeders are right at the fence lines so I didn't fancy my chances as the lane becomes very rough and potholed at that point so I got off. Khan led past without refusing to go forward but we had the usual shooting past me to do a bouncing sideways turn and warning snort. He was perfectly willing to continue on past and come up my other side but would not,just not,turn his back to the cattle. So he travelled on down to the end of the fields going round me like this. This scares me,a lot I worry that he might slip and fall doing these tight,skidding turns. And it reminds me of how Kofi fatally injured himself in similar circumstances.......... When we reached the crossroads at the end, I spent about ten minutes making him walk a little way back towards the cows and halting quietly beside me - that took about 10 tries before he stopped shooting around in front of me and waited to be asked to turn around for home. Then I got back on and rode the short distance home - if I hadn't had an appointment elsewhere,I think I would have either done some work in his paddock or ridden round the whole hack again. But I didn't have time so we just collected Rafferty and went out to the field. PS these are the young cattle, not the quiet dairy ones which he is better with. I don't know if we're making any real progress or not............
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Post by snigsby on Jun 26, 2010 8:18:12 GMT
Not a lot has been done this week mainly due to me falling victim to an indescribeably horrible tummy bug. Had the boys in once for grooming and cuddles and then on Friday, I had a friend come to give me company for a trip in the trailer. Now Khan has been very good about going into the Equitrek and I have built up the time so that he will stand quietly, tied,until I have shut the partition and loading doors - I had not got as far as shutting up the ramp. We have done all this a dozen times so I reckoned all we had to do was load,shut things and have a short practice at shutting the ramp till he was calm about it,then we could go for a short drive round the village and then home, unload, then re-load. But no. He decided not to go in and we had about 45 minutes of "can't,shan't,won't". I was at a loss,really,to know how to fix this,especially when he started tossing his head and yanking the rope while planted on the ramp. I hit on the on the idea of just letting him toss the rope around - basically ignoring him and not taking part in any tug of war. So I just left it completely slack every time he started throwing his head around and just picking up the feel and asking him forward each time he stopped. I have no idea whether this is a good thing to do or not,perhaps he's learning something else wrong. I was getting panic stricken in case I was about to teach him how NOT to load in his expensive new trailer. Any advice here welcome. Anyway, once he went in, he was unloaded and loaded half a dozen times and then we had a bit of a carryon trying to put the partition and loading doors over. The set up was that my friend was here for three hours to be my personal confidence booster so she wasn't interfering in anything. I was trying to ensure than Khan was calm with each stage of the proceedings before moving on to the next thing. He just didn't settle at all, pawing and waving his front legs in the air,marching quietly on the spot and chewing at the breast bar and at me if I was within reach. He was eating his hay, not sweating at all and not very excited. I don't think he was frightened,really,more a bit anxious,though he did poo 3 times in total. Anyway, my friend put the ramp up and down a few times while I stood inside with him. I tried to just "be" and not to pet him although I did try scratching his withers if he stopped pawing (didn't seem to make any difference). We put him back in his paddock and went and had a cuppa half way through but the whole 3 hours went by and that's as far as we got Then, shortly before we were going to call it a day, Khan was snibbling at my arm and he very slightly nipped my skin and got an instant reaction of me shouting "ow!" and a sharp tap on the nose. At which he went completely calm and stood still, eating his hay. Don't ask me what that was all about. Was I just still being too nice and considerate? Am I erring on the side of caution in not pushing him far enough out of his comfort zone? Should I take up keeping gerbils instead?
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Post by snigsby on Jun 26, 2010 19:24:34 GMT
Had a not-so-great hack this afternoon. We did our usual practicing in the paddock and we did some walking with head turned to the fence in amongst the normal walk/halt/stand/backup etc. Then we set off for one of the big fields which has been cut for silage and Khan was a bit jiggy and a bit spooky which I suppose is not unexpected as he hasn't been ridden most of the week. But he wouldn't calm down enough to do anything nice or interesting. Every time I tried to circle or leg yield,he would pretend that the hare hopping along in the hedge was a monster or that the dog walkers on the hill were coming to murder him. I did try to persevere each time till he did what I had asked even a step or two but it was very hard work in the hot sun and in that mood, he is quite capable of putting in a buck or a spook at a canter or a trot. So we just walked. Then he jigged and jogged on the way home so we went up and down the same stretch of road half a dozen times in an effort to make him walk fairly calmly home. The traffic was heavy and I did have to push him on at one point and he cantered on the spot and kicked out sideways so I got off to hold him in at the side for all the cars to pass. He is much better in hand. Then I spent another 45mins loading. He went in every time better than yesterday but still stamping and marching and getting hot and bothered when I shut the partition and loading gates. He poo'd 3 times again. Rafferty was lying down when we finished and let me sit on the floor and cuddle him I took some pics of the cows when out with the dog the other day so will try and get them up to show you what I torture Khan with
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Post by kas on Jun 26, 2010 23:00:01 GMT
Gerbils it is then Snigs. ;D You're making huge progress, compare to this time last year! I think it would be worth putting a thread up about the loading and staying in stuff in General, more people on there. Could you put him in there every day for his dinner maybe? I suspect you need to change the focus of this somehow, to avoid over-cooking the loading progress you've already made.
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Post by nicxf on Jun 27, 2010 17:30:04 GMT
I think you've got a fella who you just have to accept is going to make slow progress. However, it does sound that progress is at least happening, so that's ....er...progress! late. Sun hot. Brain fried. Vocabulary failing. ;D Rafferty cuddles sound very cute.
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Post by snigsby on Jul 3, 2010 10:13:01 GMT
I am still trying to get over this horrible bug so there hasn't been a lot of anything going on. I think you know what the loading has been like from the other thread.
Rafferty is having his dinner in the trailer every day and is now having the partition shut over. He's slightly concerned but not so that he doesn't gallop up the ramp next time LOL. I had put him back in the paddock and Khan moseyed along to the trailer and went up the ramp by himself. He slowly walked back out when I walked past towrds the house. I then put a feed dish in the trailer and walked away and the bold boy walked into the trailer to eat the food. This time he let me walk in and stand next to him. So he will cheerfully load himself in there at the prospect of food at the moment - I think it's partly because he sees Rafferty getting food in there and although he's not a greedy horse, he doesn't like to see anything go past him!
So the pair of them are going in twice a day, individually,loose; eating and coming back out by them self when finished.
Khan and I went out for a hack with the girl down the road and Struan the Highland. We went through the village and even crossed the A70 (at a quiet time and in the 30mph limit). Khan was very well behaved all the way and the leg yielding practice is working because he went into the side properly, every time he was asked............apart from when we were trying to walk along a narrow path between municipal flower beds and some trees. I didn't catch the thought quick enough that a small branch might touch him - shock,horror - so he sidestepped leaving hoofprints in the begonias,ooops.
Then yesterday,we had a bit of groundwork and bareback riding in the paddock after I'd spent a while watching the first part of Steve's Basic Skills video. That went quite well,I think,but it's hard for me to tell.
It's blowing a gale here today,will be going for a hack if the wind drops.
I might possibly get some video footage of me and Khan. A friend has just bought a new camera and has agreed,in the excitement of the new purchase, to film us so we'll see if that works out.
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Post by kas on Jul 3, 2010 16:14:49 GMT
Well blimey Snigs, that all sounds quite promising. Good days and bad days as usual with horses eh? Pat yourself on the back for the good stuff.
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Post by snigsby on Jul 12, 2010 5:49:17 GMT
Yes, I never quite know what I'm going to get!
We went out for a hack with Struan and,for the first time, his friend Herman. Herman is a very large lightweight cob. Young, but very well behaved. Well, goodness me, we were going past cows in a very casual fashion indeed! I can't tell you how much easier everything is with him when he is in horse company. And it is such fun for me going out in company,I'm hoping to do as much as possible over the school hols.
Apart from the fact that he tried to kick Herman three times in two hours - Herman's owner was not too pleased but she says it's just bad manners from a ridden horse and that I can sort it in no time.
So, what's the best way to put a stop to this? Herman's owner offered me her stick(I don't own one) and said to smack him on the shoulder if he does it,also to try and anticipate and turn his head towards the direction of the imminent kick - same like a mini one rein stop?
I've had the breast bar in the trailer altered so that I can remove it and let both boys in their for dinners,which they are happy to do.I've also had a mini bar installed (no, not that kind!) for Rafferty...........although,come to think of it,perhaps a cocktail or three might enhance their travelling experience............
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Post by kas on Jul 17, 2010 18:17:30 GMT
Mine's a Black Russian please Rafferty. Yes, if you can feel the kicking coming on, if you do a 1 rein stop towards the horse he's zoning in on, it will turn his hindquarters away. There's a certain logic in giving him a slap when he kicks out at another horse, but better to avoid it getting that far if you can. It may be that he just needs a bit more space between him and the other horse, at least for now. You could get him a little busy if you've the space to do it, take the rein, and do a bit of shoulder in. (Now we've worked out what shoulder in is... ).
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Post by snigsby on Jul 21, 2010 7:48:51 GMT
Haven't been out in company since last post but have been out ourselves and very well behaved,even on the way home,each time! He is going closer to cows without totally freaking,still very "looky" but what I am doing currently is to let him know I have seen the cows and then ask him to walk a few steps with his head turned away from them. Then as long as he carries on in a straight line, he gets praised,even if he scutters with his tail tucked under. He hasn't tried to spin round - yet- but if he does, I thought I might just make him go right around in a circle? His spins are fairly slow and more of a jump around. I am also experimenting to stop the neck-wringing on the way home. I am lifting the rein as if I am asking for a neck bend on the opposite side. It worked yesterday but might have been a coincidence. If it would stop raining, I could go out a bit more often but we are having an intermittent mild monsoon up here, well, we would be, it's July Friend with video camera is only free on Thursdays and so far, it has been pouring every time. We'll try again for this week.
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Post by nicxf on Jul 26, 2010 11:01:07 GMT
sounds like your progress is continuing apace though!
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Post by snigsby on Jul 27, 2010 18:24:16 GMT
Yep, we have now progressed to walking quietly past TWO fields full of at-a-standstill dairy cows - both up the farm road and back down We do quite a few walk-halts and some circles but he seems OK with them. No skipping about or freaking. Next challenge is going past the field with the Cows-Of-Doom . These are the young,inquisitive cattle and are not always in sight so we'll just keep going that way as often as possible and see what happens. And my friend with the camcorder has recorded about an hour In The Life of Khan and Rafferty including some loading (and unscheduled unloading and subsequent refusal to reload). I'm just waiting for her OH to put it onto a DVD for me.
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Post by nicxf on Jul 28, 2010 9:39:09 GMT
excellent stuff! ...er, possibly apart from the unscheduled unloading though.
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Post by kas on Jul 29, 2010 7:58:58 GMT
You're doing great Snigs, you never thought you'd get this far did you?
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