REPORT: Tom & Sarah in Ireland

[el]

OZZIE Saturday morning

Groundwork:

Walk in circle on loose lead rope.
When Oz looks away or looses focus, slap my boot with end of rope to get his attention back on me.



If he trots, bring him back to walk asap.
Continue till he can do circle in walk without getting distracted.
Do on other rein.
Do in walk & trot.
Do in different parts of the arena.

As the background to this, one of the biggest things I need to fix with Oz is having his mind with me & focused on what I ask him to do. He's a clever horse, so once you do something a few times, he has it learned, then does it on autopilot and his mind wanders away over the hills. When his mind is three fields away, he then tends to mess about, get opinions, etc and things start to go a bit downhill. So he can do lots of moves & stuff, but I need to work on getting his focus with me (not over the ditch, him not being asleep and only half doing stuff, and him not messing about) cos then once we've that I'll have a top little horse.



After exercise........................

Stand in front of Oz who is wearing a bridle & bit.

Hold both sides of the bit (its a rockin S french link)

Bring bit forwards and hopefully Oz will also step forwards with it. if he doesn't, ask him to walk on a little to the side instead of straight forwards to get him going.

When he's walking nicely and not leaning on the bit, have your hands really gentle on the sides of the bit. When he leans on the bit as you walk (you can really feel it in your hands as he pushes on you) firm up your hands and arms, physically don't let him lean, and stay lie this until he softens, then go back to just barely holding the bit again very softly. So when he leans on bit, you firm up your hands, when he relaxes and is very soft/light on the bit (no pushing through it) your hands are really light too.

Turning on the ground:

In a bridle.

Stand just in front of the shoulder area. One arm over neck to other side, and hold far rein loosely upwards.

With the hand on the side you are standing on, hold bit of start of cheek piece attached to the leather, lift it up and then use it to ask for a little turn. You do not want head to tilt and to only get the nose to tip around. Instead you want the horses eyes to stay level (no tilt in head) and the whole head to come a little over to the side you're standing at.

When you've got this, release.

If horse has tense neck muscles / short neck thing going on, stand at one side of horse, lift head up high, the sideways high, then ask horse to lower his head right down low & stretch it out but a slight downwards cue on bit in hand nearest to you.

Riding:



Background: He rides nicely in the halter, but I've done very little with him in the bit. He's never really been taught how it works (eg. follow where the bit goes, rather than leaning on it and pushing it) which he probably picked up from before I got him. So for this clinic I wanted to ride him in a bit the whole time and try to get it better and get him to understand how it works.

Walk in a straight line.







To ask Oz to turn, don't use any backwards pull. Think hand up and slightly out. if you pull back in a turn you'll create a brace you don't want. You want to keep things soft & relaxed instead.



To backup, first think about changing horses balance so more weight is on his back feet. Do this by lifting your hands to ask for weight to come off his front feet. Then ask for back by you moving your body backwards. See if you can do it from a thought.

OZZIE Saturday afternoon

GW: Circle in the not so popular end of the paddock where he's a little more on edge.

Do unusual GW patterns which are not predictable. This fella is so clever he can do fancy moves on autopilot, but while you've got his feet, you have not got his mind which with Oz is more important.

Bridle on. I stand on front of Oz and holds the sides of the bit. Walk forwards, stop, turn, backup. If he pushes, brace against him. once he relaxes I soften up too immediately too.

Do turn again from the ground as previously described.

Did a few neck stretches.

Not bad at all

OZZIE Sunday morning

Brought him out.

Was listening more than Saturday.

When attention is lost, instead of making noise (slapping my boot which got him trotting yesterday) instead I am to give Oz a different job to do asap. Slapping boot was panicking him a bit.

Worked very well. So when he looks outside arena, I turn him, do a HQ yield, walk to me, change gait - slow walk to fast walk, etc. Again, mix it up so he can't predict what I will ask him.

Sometimes instead of giveing out to the horse for doing the wrong thing, it can work much better to give the horse an incompatible behaviour to do to refocus him. So if he's looking outside the arena to the west, immediately get him to do a HQ yield and then walk him off towards the east. So you get him back listening to you, without the raising of any emotions in the horse.

So if Oz comes out either up on his toes, or comes out half asleep, neither are any good. I need to get him into the middle ground of having energy but also having his mind focused on me.

Also, don't ask for too much. When he's trying hard, reward it.

Go back to the simple manouvres in walk until his mind is totally with me.

Don't let patterns become predictable cos he can do the fancy stuff on autopilot and his mind can still be 2 miles away which will lead to messing about down the line.

Riding

Walk in a straight line.

Ask for turn by raising hand up.

Wait like this till whole heads softens and comes around a little.

Be precise. Get quality. This means I have to concentrate VERY hard!

Then relax and go in straight line to next place.

Repeat. MUCH better.

Don't let him push me about even a little. He still does from time to time.

It's not about the movements. Its about having Oz's mind. Just focus on getting that. Doing basic stuff, but no predictable stuff when he can zone out on.

Oz Monday morning

GW: When he looses attention on me, give him a different job ASAP.

Best yet!

Riding

Walk around, turn head using tiny rein up cue. Keep it very small, only use more if you need it.

Release when neck & head turns then walk on in a straight line again.

OZZIE Tuesday morning

GW: Horse next door messing about, so worked to get Oz focused back on me. Went very well.

Head bit in my hands, walked around. Better & lighter.

Asked for turn by lifting and turning bit to one side on the ground.

Riding

Walk straight line. Ask very gently for little turn. Once got it, walk on again.

Repeat.

If Oz wants to look left, ask him to turn right.

To go backwards, 1st lift up horses front end, then ask horse to go back.

Oz Tues afternoon

Don't let him lean on me.

GW: Focus on me, ne job if he looks elsewhere or mind wanders

GW: Took bit in hands and walked and steered him around. Better.

Turn with bit - on the way.

Riding:

Walk straight line.

Ask for little turns using little pressure as possible.

Lift hand up for the turn. (no backwards pull)

Once you get it, drop & release.

When gettign good, ask for turn, then when you get it, release, but ask again asap once you move it - so bulding up turn for a few steps of a circle. Oz tends to relax his jaw & soften his whole body when this happens

Then relax, and walk on it straight line again.

YAY! A good little horse

Wednesday morning at home

Had 10 mins before I went back to Dublin, so caught him and focused on having his atention with me all the time. When he loked away, I gave him a new job in the opposite direction. Very good!

[el]

HAMISH Saturday



Groundwork: work on walk & trot. get him to do what you ask WHEN you ask. Use clear cues.

Put the bridle on. Stand in front of the horse. Hand either side on the ends of the bit.



Do like Oz did above, walk, stop and backup. When horse pushing on bit, do not let your hands give way. When horse soft on the bit, your hands will get soft as well. Try this in halt first.

Be patient
Be simple
Be consistent
Stick to your guns

Great work Mandy.

HAMISH Sunday

GW - have very good quality groundwork with lots of communication and concentrartion.



There should be a very strong link between you & your horse.

Mandy is now controlling the speed of the horse.

Cowboy up Nice work.

Mandy holds bit in her hands. Then ask Hamish to walk, turn, stop & backup.



Hang in there till you get what you want.





Hamish tried lots of different stuff, but after about 15 different things, then did a nice turn. hand in till you get what you want, then release.

ITS NOT RAINING BUT ITS VERY WINDY AND THERES A GALE GOING THROUGH. HAMISH DOING BRILILIANTLY

Riding:

Walk & turns.



Ask for turn.
Hang in there till you get it.
Once you've got the turn, relax and walk on in new direction.



Think of it as bringing your horses mind around the corner, then bringing his mind to the end of the arena, then bring it back to tom, then bring his mind somewhere else, etc.



"You are better than you think you are" said Tom to Mandy.



Hamish then got a round of applause from the audience

[el]

Pat and the 3yo racehorse who is lovely. Saturday



Ask horse to walk in circle.



Horse trots.
When you pull on reins to stop horse he gets a bit more revved up.
Instead set it up so horse is heading towards fence, so he stops himself.
Then ask him to walk on again.



Good.



Good on left rein, not as good on right rein.
Better! (5 mins of work later)
Much better (another 5 mins) all in walk, no panic trots now any more.

GLORIOUS WEATHER!!

Horse now much softer. turn, walk, very nice.



If horse gets a fright, just ask him to go back to his job ASAP.



Pat did the same - nice work! Did some good patting / desensitisation all over.



Nice job, gorgeous horse.



Later on this horse was fascinated by a video of Ray Hunt starting youngsters (I kid you not).

[el]

STAR Saturday

Get your horses attention first.

Practise turns. Lift your hands up slowly then wait. Don't bump your hand around as this becomes a bit of a moving target for the horse.



Be early, but not quick. (Quick can be jerky)

If horse doesn't want to halt, fine, she can move, but you control the direction so put her in a small circle.

Trot - If horses head goes up, you put your hands up as well and maintain contact. What you do not want is for your horse to get a release from your hands when they put their head up, as this will encourage them more. You want them to get a release only when their head is in the position you want it to be.



If Star wants to put her head down, allow her, relax hands and reins. Your hands come down when your horses head comes down.

[el]

FREDDIE Saturday

Need to get his attention.
Walk him in a circle.
if horse not paying attention slap your boot.

GOOD



Got to up your game.
Horses need lots of effort in communication and concentration.

Very good!

FREDDIE Sunday

Nice & relaxed.



Working on turns and bends.



Start on a small circle and then move out to a bigger circle using a neck rein.

No backwards pull when you turn.

Ask for bend with the inside rein.

Nice work

[el]

The BIG PICTURE of how to train a horse, by Sarah Widdicombe, adapted from a diagram by Phillipe Karl in his excellent book, 'Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage'.. (transcribed I hope with some sense!)



There are 3 basic things you need at the start.

1. Relaxation

If your horse is scared, nervous, dancing around, scared, etc it will be very hard to train them. So you need them relaxed and also to have their mind with you as well (i.e. not spacing out looking at the horses next door). When you are riding, relaxation is the job of the hands. The hands connect to the reins & the bit. When the jaw and mouth of a horse relaxes through correct use of pressure & release of the bit, behind the poll also relaxed. All down the horses neck then relaxes, right down to the sternum. So by using your hands you can get the whole front of your horse to relax.

Also, if you want to tense up your horse, you can do this very quickly by using your hands to pull on the reins and mouth, poll, neck, etc).

2. Balance

Balance is hugely important for a horse for flight and to do turns if they need to get away quickly from something. Balance is about your seat and your hands. When your hands move the bit, this moves the horses head & neck and influences the horses balance.
Might need to work on forward / backwards balance (eg heavy on forehand) or on left right balance (eg motorbike corners)

3. Impulsion:

This is a biggy. You don't want a horse who is running away, and you don't want a horse who is ploddy and asleep and you can't get moving.

Work towards getting all three of these things right at the beginning of your horse training. If you have all three of these, you will have a smashing horse to ride and then to train on. All of these come from your aids and your cues.

Note that it's easiest to work on these one at a time. Do be aware while you work on one, you may loose another temporarily but it'd ok. Keep things simple, work on one thing at a time, get all three going well seperately and you'll find they all then start to work together.

All these 3 things are related to the mental state of the horse.

Lightness and suppleness come from these 3 things. Then you can move onto mobility, lateral work, transition, straightness & collection.

This all leads to a long working life for the horse because they will not have any physical issues from not using their muscles correctly when bring ridden (eg hollow back, head up, too many muscles being braced when being ridden) and also a good mental state so he's happy to work with you.

A few pics from lunchtime...............



Pats horse watches the Ray Hunt colt starting video.



Horse simulations







some speccys

[el]

Tulla

Walk & relax.
Go straight in walk, then bend horses head, then neck rein around the corner with horses head still turned.

WELL DONE!!





Sunday






Loading practise

[el]

neck rein turn

So 2 cues for turn - one to turn head and neck, other to move the shoulders. To avoid getting a motorbike style corner.

Walk along a fence in a straight line.

Use outside rein to tip horses head outwards.

Then move both of your hands towards the direction where you want horses to go (outside rein is now touching outside of horses neck like a neck rein)

Horse goes around bend, head turned out, shoulder not falling in (not motorbiking)

When this is good, repeat with head turned slightly inwards.

[el]

Noreen



Use reins to ask.
When you get what you want, release ASAP.



Trot - get the type of trot you want straight away, don't work up to it for a few laps.

Trot to walk - don't pull much in reins as it's not needed.

A softer feel will do the job nicely



GOOD WORK!