Just over one year ago, I started working with Matilda. My original goal was to work on her ground manners until she was considered "manageable" and "lunge-able"; to work her on the lunge until she was deemed ready to ride.... ready for someone else to ride, that is. I wasn't going to do it.
Oh, how times and plans changed. And changed. And changed again. That's ok, I'm allowed to change my plans since I have never done this before:/ Since my last post in October, plans changed again and things have progressed at an exponential rate. The whole "therapy horse" and learning to respond to voice commands idea is on the shelf, not gone - never gone. The barn needs school horses now and may need therapy horses someday. "Need now" won and I began to think seriously and somewhat aggressively about what needed to happen before we put Matilda into the lesson program. The lunge line is gone. Some time ago I decided it was simply unnecessary. The clicker and reward are all but gone, brought out only when there is a specific problem that needs to be worked on.
So what's been happening instead? Here's a summary:
On October 21, I took a first riding lesson on Matilda. It was the first time that we had to accomplish tasks given to us by an outsider, my instructor, boss and Matilda's owner, Kim. When I began this, I never would have imagined myself on Matilda in a lesson, much less working on leg yields, trot poles and canter transitions (that would be a mere 3 weeks after our first canter steps together. About 3 months or 24 rides after the first time I got on her). I was full of performance anxiety before the lesson, so afraid that we would tense up and Kim would not be able to see all that I had been able to do on Matilda. That was not the case. Matilda performed brilliantly and it made my novice trainer's heart soar to hear her described as "supple", "soft" and "relaxed" by her owner and my boss.
Matilda test one-check!
At some point in November (I think, I didn't make note of the date) I asked Rachel (the other instructor/trainer) to get on Matilda and try her out. She rode walk/trot/canter and then we put her on the lunge line to simulate a beginner lesson. Rachel tried to emulate all of the things that she's seen novice rider's do to a horse; things that can elicit a poor response from said horse. (It was worth doing just to watch Rachel flop around like that!) Matilda absorbed them all without issue. If things got too out of whack, she stopped or slowed.
Matilda test two-check!
On December 10, I taught one of Kim's advanced students on Matilda.
Matilda test three-check! Passed with flying colors. In fact, this student is continuing to use Matilda in her regular lessons.
In the midst of these tests, I was riding Matilda 2-4 days a week. Trying to ride for about an hour (the length of most lessons) and building the duration of our trotting to make sure her stamina was decent. Of course, we threw in some canter as well. As part of her training and testing, I walked and/or trotted past squeaky truck breaks, ATVs, dogs, goats and horses being turned out or brought in; we also raced squirrels down the side of the arena. As hard as I tried, she spooked at nothing. Almost every ride I had was a good, working ride. I have been so impressed and elated with her as a riding partner throughout the last few months. Don't want you to think everything's been perfect (actually, I do)...
It has not been smooth sailing all the way through. There was the day that Matilda decided to play statue. It didn't matter what I did, I could not get her to move one little bit. She may have even been holding her breath. I must have looked hilarious that day, lifting my legs as high as I could and bringing them down into her side while she stood there - I'm pretty sure she was yawning when she wasn't holding her breath. That was the day I re-introduced Matilda to the dressage whip. I was nervous about that one, afraid I would tap her with it and she would take off or jump out of the ring. I started by tapping her lightly on the rump - I don't think her ears moved on that one. After some trial, I found that three (not one, but three) good cracks on the rump got her moving. Barely. And I was afraid she would take off. Sheesh!
Then there was the day that I was un-tacking and right before I got the halter on, while the reins were still around her neck, she decided to walk away. I didn't want my bridle to be broken (Smart, huh?) so I sort of stumbled along behind her as she walked into a stall, pinned me against a wall and started to eat. (If this happens to anyone else, just let go of the bridle, by the way). A couple of days later she did it again, only this time she did have the halter on and was in the cross ties. She just decided to walk away. She lifted her head, broke both the cross ties, turned around and walked away. It's quite shocking when she does this, mainly because I go into a panic and she is so d-n calm about it. Her calmness makes me mad.
I've found that the best thing to do in these situations is stop her almost before she starts, right at that moment where her mind is made up to go (which means I actually have to pay attention and be proactive, yuck), or let her go. If you try to hang on or throw a rope around her neck, she just goes faster. If I miss the chance to stop her, I just have to wait until she stops (usually to eat), gather the reins or put on the halter and then she just comes with me. Like nothing happened. We're still working on this. When she is in the cross ties, she is not allowed to move a muscle... Or I just tack her up in a stall when I'm lazy about it. :D
And so, after 2+ years in pasture, 7 months of relationship building ground work and 5 months under saddle, Matilda is a working member of the barn and starting to earn her keep. She has 3 riders, besides myself, who use her in regular lessons ranging in skill level from novice to advanced. Two of these lessons are back to back and she is able to function and move well for two hours straight, even through meal time.
Matilda and I continue to move through our walk, trot, canter work. We had a lesson with Kim yesterday and our focus will be on transitions, esp. the downward transitions. With all that draft in her and that big head, she does tend keep her weight on her front legs, pulling her rear end behind her. We will be working on helping her shift her center back so that the energy and drive comes from the back to the front with more consistency. You know, like a well-balanced horse should.
Here's a video of me on Matilda waaaay back in November. This is a little rough as we had finished a long ride and were half way through our cool down before someone asked to record. I had a video of her in a lesson that I wanted to post, but broke my phone before I pulled the video off. Sigh. I'll try to get more....
http://youtu.be/0iTDD9ov6gU
To a certain extent, my job with Matilda is done. She is no longer left in the pasture. Kids don't look out, point and say, "Who's that? Does anyone ever ride her?" She is well known, earning her keep and, most importantly, well loved. Everyone who has been on her has thoroughly enjoyed riding her. Everyone (and I have asked) has felt safe and in control on her - willing to push and see how much they can do the very first time they are on her.
Now my ever-evolving job is to fine tune and see how much she is capable of doing. To learn as much as I can from her while I am teaching her. She makes me spend a lot of time thinking about how and why things are supposed to work the way they do: analyzing my aids and owning each one fully so that I can be more consistent for her. Analyzing the way her body works and what she needs from me so that she can achieve the shape and movement that I want and that others will be asking for someday. Someday soon, probably.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, October 2, 2011
What I've Learned From Matilda
Reading is bad. Learning is bad... Well, it can be, anyway. I've been reading and learning so much about horse behavior and the horse/human relationship this past month. It's been amazing but sometimes when you learn lots of knew cool stuff, you get excited and want to use it all at once or it makes you feel like everything you've been doing has been somehow wrong.
Last month, I had some really great rides with longer periods of trot including more schooling figures, ie circles and figure eights. But then I threw out most of what I had been doing a couple of weeks ago and tried to do something else. Frustration ensued on both sides. I had slipped into a mind set of trying to force her to do what I wanted, using traditional pressure and release - pressure telling her what I want her to do and release being the only reward for doing it.
I realized this week that Matilda has expectations of me and of how things are going to go between us. She expects to have a certain amount of freedom of movement and to be able to make choices and figure things out and be lavishly rewarded for doing so. I have expectations of Matilda and how quickly she can learn. I took a lot of this away and, while I may have been able to muscle through doing things in a different way (and I do mean muscle), it wasn't achieving one of my primary goals for Matilda. Namely creating in her a willing partner.
This week I went back to what we do. I loaded up my little carrot pail and went through all that we know and she did really well with our ground work, including lunging. Still no breakaways. I don't think she's really trying anymore. Under saddle work was not so good. She was all bendy. I couldn't get her to go in a straight line and she was dragging me all over the place. Frustration. I'd find myself practically scraping against the rail one minute then in the middle of the ring the next. She was cutting corners and going in tiny circles - that was at the walk. What little trotting we accomplished was no better, with the addition of random stops without warning. I arrived home from the barn complaining about the tension and soreness from elbow to elbow, across the backs of my arms and between my shoulders, from trying to steer my beastie.
Today was shaping up to be the same. There were people in the ring, as had been the case all week, which makes me nervous. I worry that Matilda will take off, I won't be able to control her and we will go careening into small children. (Notice the words: nervous, worry, tension?) She was still bendy, but not quite as bad as she had been. I started to think about the fact that, in my fear for others, I had really been holding onto those reins, holding her head up and trying to keep her in frame, in position, with my hands. No freedom of movement. Restricting her choices. Click! for me, not her. As we picked up the trot, I started to let the reins slide through my fingers with great conscious effort. Almost as soon as the reins loosened, Matilda's head dropped and she straightened out. With my hands out of the way, my legs were able to do their job and she listened to them beautifully. We trotted through straight lines, circles and changes of direction. No sudden stops this time.
We finished up with our first few steps of requested canter together. That was a little crazy but very, very cool.
So what has Matilda been trying to teach me for the last few weeks?
Relax and trust the work we've been doing.
Relax and trust the relationship we've been building.
Last month, I had some really great rides with longer periods of trot including more schooling figures, ie circles and figure eights. But then I threw out most of what I had been doing a couple of weeks ago and tried to do something else. Frustration ensued on both sides. I had slipped into a mind set of trying to force her to do what I wanted, using traditional pressure and release - pressure telling her what I want her to do and release being the only reward for doing it.
I realized this week that Matilda has expectations of me and of how things are going to go between us. She expects to have a certain amount of freedom of movement and to be able to make choices and figure things out and be lavishly rewarded for doing so. I have expectations of Matilda and how quickly she can learn. I took a lot of this away and, while I may have been able to muscle through doing things in a different way (and I do mean muscle), it wasn't achieving one of my primary goals for Matilda. Namely creating in her a willing partner.
This week I went back to what we do. I loaded up my little carrot pail and went through all that we know and she did really well with our ground work, including lunging. Still no breakaways. I don't think she's really trying anymore. Under saddle work was not so good. She was all bendy. I couldn't get her to go in a straight line and she was dragging me all over the place. Frustration. I'd find myself practically scraping against the rail one minute then in the middle of the ring the next. She was cutting corners and going in tiny circles - that was at the walk. What little trotting we accomplished was no better, with the addition of random stops without warning. I arrived home from the barn complaining about the tension and soreness from elbow to elbow, across the backs of my arms and between my shoulders, from trying to steer my beastie.
Today was shaping up to be the same. There were people in the ring, as had been the case all week, which makes me nervous. I worry that Matilda will take off, I won't be able to control her and we will go careening into small children. (Notice the words: nervous, worry, tension?) She was still bendy, but not quite as bad as she had been. I started to think about the fact that, in my fear for others, I had really been holding onto those reins, holding her head up and trying to keep her in frame, in position, with my hands. No freedom of movement. Restricting her choices. Click! for me, not her. As we picked up the trot, I started to let the reins slide through my fingers with great conscious effort. Almost as soon as the reins loosened, Matilda's head dropped and she straightened out. With my hands out of the way, my legs were able to do their job and she listened to them beautifully. We trotted through straight lines, circles and changes of direction. No sudden stops this time.
We finished up with our first few steps of requested canter together. That was a little crazy but very, very cool.
So what has Matilda been trying to teach me for the last few weeks?
Relax and trust the work we've been doing.
Relax and trust the relationship we've been building.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Who are we? We're the ones trotting circles around you!
It was a weird and wonderful week last week. Heat was on the rise and I spent most of the week not wanting to do anything. Sort of staring at the sky. I managed some work in the cross ties and some ground work (ups and overs) on Tuesday and Thursday but it was Friday that was total gold.
Since I hadn't worked with her but 45 minutes all week, I went in on Friday planning to touch lightly on everything. A little bit in cross ties, ground work, on the longe line and under saddle. She was very quiet in the cross ties (as she usually is while tacking up) and I am happy to say that when I tap on her shoulder or hip followed by her fetlock (ankle) she lifts her foot on her own so that I can slip my hand underneath and clean her hooves. Not perfectly, mind you, she pulls a little with her right rear foot and once or twice she has refused. It is becoming more consistent each time we do it.
When we worked the ground work, she was very attentive. I let her eat grass a couple of weeks ago and since then she has been a little more eager to pull when walking with me, my mistake. Once I brought her to the center of the ring, however, and started to ask for specific behaviors she appeared to be working hard at figuring out my cues and giving me the requested actions. Although nothing is perfect and she is still easily distracted by cars pulling into the parking lot and people coming down the hill, you can tell when she is trying to pay attention and respond appropriately.
In my effort to keep things light and simple, I was just going to ask her for walks and whoas on the longe line. Since I hadn't asked her to burn any energy all week I didn't want to push my luck by actually asking her to move faster than a walk. Her walk was fast, she was definitely ready and willing to move, but she never broke into a trot on her own and ultimately I did ask for a few steps of trot on the right rein. She's still not stopping upon first request, she goes anywhere from two steps to two circles around me while I say "whoa" over and over. She responds more quickly over the course of each session and I have the distinct impression that ifI were more consistent in my efforts, she would have it. We'll get it. It's just taking us longer, my fault I know.
Can you tell I'm rushing to get to the under saddle work? I am.
My primary goal is still teaching Matilda the vocal commands - right now focusing on "walk on" and "whoa". The same readiness to move that I saw on the lunge line worked in my favor as we worked under saddle. We made real progress with "walk on". Many, many times on Friday, I sat limp in the saddle, said "walk on" and she moved forward. She moved more definitively than the last time we tried it, too... almost with purpose, I would say. Of course, with that willingness to move she also moved forward without me asking and it took me 3-4 tries before I could mount her without her trying to walk away, whatever....
And, of course, she doesn't stop on vocal command alone. I have to use the rein aids. As with everything else in this experience, I probably need to think through this a little more specifically and be a little more methodical with how we work. I need to spend one day just mounting over and over. One day just clicking for "walk on" and then another for "whoa", working through each command separately instead of squishing them all in one day. You know, boring but necessary work-type stuff... maybe next week:)
After we had done walk ons and whoas, it was time to have some fun. I was having another bold and sassy day, the ring was empty and I was anxious to do something. Last time we tried the trot (a rising/posting trot, I should say), we did a few steps on and a few steps off. Mostly straight lines, maybe one corner. Friday was to be the same. We walked around the ring and as we came out of the corner and into the straightaway I asked for the trot (with both vocal and leg aids, as before). As we came down the straight we started to pass a jump and I decided to see if we could circle it - how would she do as I asked for some bend with rein and leg aids, but no bit in her mouth. She circled it beautifully and we finished back on the rail and dropped into an easy walk before we got to the next corner.
We changed direction and I asked for another trot in the same place. She picked up an easy trot, with less prompting than before (as with "whoa", the more often you ask the more responsive and ready she gets), and we trotted all the way down the straightaway at a nicely paced even trot. It was going so nicely that I decided to keep going. I didn't go all the way into the corner, I didn't want to risk making a last minute mistake and getting stuck, but asked for her to start turning about 4 feet before we got there. Piece of cake, so we kept going. We went around the ring twice at that nice, easy pace. Every once in a while, she would start to slow down and I would add a little leg or make a little kissing sound and she would immediately pick back up into our easy going trot.
At some point, the three year old in me realized that no one was seeing this, so I yelled across her head and the ring into the barn, "HEY YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THIS!!!" Even my ill-timed bellowing couldn't phase her and we were able to complete a couple more turns around the ring, taking one brake to trot a small circle around a jump while people watched. As we came trotting towards the gate and the barn (you horse people know what a draw those things can be), I squeezed with my hands and said "walk" - she immediately dropped into the walk and stopped. I rode her for a nice cool down and back to the barn for our un-tacking madness. (Although she is also getting much better at standing still for that process too)
This does no justice to the feeling I had in this experience. It was relaxing. Free. Almost effortless. And then we just kept going....
I was giddy but left wondering what was so exceptional about this. I mean, Matilda is not green. She was taught to walk, trot, canter, jump, proper flexion and so forth. So why is this such a big deal? I had to look back to my first experiences with Matilda-two or three years ago, long before I started this project. My first ride with Matilda, she ran off with me constantly. The second, I don't remember what she was doing, I remember that I was frustrated to the point of tears. The third was the same as the second, but I had a sense of humor about it. This past Friday was so easy, what's the difference?
I mean think about it - I have only been on Matilda 3-6 times. There hasn't been any aggressive saddle work. Not only that, but over the last 2 years, the vast majority of my work with horses has been ground work. Even so, am I a better rider than I was 2 years ago? Absolutely. Is Matilda a more willing partner? Most definitely.
Of those 2 years of ground work, 8 months (less all those days and weeks that I said to myself, "I don't want to this" and therefore didn't) has been with Matilda, in part if not in entirety. We have spent time together building a foundation of trust and reward. I have been attempting to shape her into a horse that understands that there are benefits to doing the things I ask her to do and I think, I hope, that work is what is paying off now. We let her be her and me be me and met each other each day with a plan that we had to be willing to leave behind. I have lost my temper, she has refused to work but there was no severe punishment involved (I don't think-although I have not always behaved well), I tried to just walk away from those days or do as little as possible. On the days when we were both present and willing the rewards were frequent and good. She knows what to expect from me and a little of what I expect of her. Eight months of relationship building and we did something, with very little effort, that I would not have dreamed of being able to do with her two years ago. Something I didn't dare dream about eight months ago.
Riding without an agenda. Horsemanship without a timeline. Building a relationship as it comes to you and letting it unfold. The waiting and patience is so hard but if you can do it, it makes everything that comes after so much easier.
None of this is new but sometimes experience makes old thoughts and ideas become new wisdom.
Make no mistake, I don't pretend that everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. Even writing this makes me feel nervous. Like I sound cocky. People pay for cockiness. I am well aware of who I am dealing with and that there are (attempted?) break aways coming down the road and who knows what else. I may be screaming about the she-beast tomorrow.
But Friday was gold. We were together, for awhile, in every way.
Since I hadn't worked with her but 45 minutes all week, I went in on Friday planning to touch lightly on everything. A little bit in cross ties, ground work, on the longe line and under saddle. She was very quiet in the cross ties (as she usually is while tacking up) and I am happy to say that when I tap on her shoulder or hip followed by her fetlock (ankle) she lifts her foot on her own so that I can slip my hand underneath and clean her hooves. Not perfectly, mind you, she pulls a little with her right rear foot and once or twice she has refused. It is becoming more consistent each time we do it.
When we worked the ground work, she was very attentive. I let her eat grass a couple of weeks ago and since then she has been a little more eager to pull when walking with me, my mistake. Once I brought her to the center of the ring, however, and started to ask for specific behaviors she appeared to be working hard at figuring out my cues and giving me the requested actions. Although nothing is perfect and she is still easily distracted by cars pulling into the parking lot and people coming down the hill, you can tell when she is trying to pay attention and respond appropriately.
In my effort to keep things light and simple, I was just going to ask her for walks and whoas on the longe line. Since I hadn't asked her to burn any energy all week I didn't want to push my luck by actually asking her to move faster than a walk. Her walk was fast, she was definitely ready and willing to move, but she never broke into a trot on her own and ultimately I did ask for a few steps of trot on the right rein. She's still not stopping upon first request, she goes anywhere from two steps to two circles around me while I say "whoa" over and over. She responds more quickly over the course of each session and I have the distinct impression that ifI were more consistent in my efforts, she would have it. We'll get it. It's just taking us longer, my fault I know.
Can you tell I'm rushing to get to the under saddle work? I am.
My primary goal is still teaching Matilda the vocal commands - right now focusing on "walk on" and "whoa". The same readiness to move that I saw on the lunge line worked in my favor as we worked under saddle. We made real progress with "walk on". Many, many times on Friday, I sat limp in the saddle, said "walk on" and she moved forward. She moved more definitively than the last time we tried it, too... almost with purpose, I would say. Of course, with that willingness to move she also moved forward without me asking and it took me 3-4 tries before I could mount her without her trying to walk away, whatever....
And, of course, she doesn't stop on vocal command alone. I have to use the rein aids. As with everything else in this experience, I probably need to think through this a little more specifically and be a little more methodical with how we work. I need to spend one day just mounting over and over. One day just clicking for "walk on" and then another for "whoa", working through each command separately instead of squishing them all in one day. You know, boring but necessary work-type stuff... maybe next week:)
After we had done walk ons and whoas, it was time to have some fun. I was having another bold and sassy day, the ring was empty and I was anxious to do something. Last time we tried the trot (a rising/posting trot, I should say), we did a few steps on and a few steps off. Mostly straight lines, maybe one corner. Friday was to be the same. We walked around the ring and as we came out of the corner and into the straightaway I asked for the trot (with both vocal and leg aids, as before). As we came down the straight we started to pass a jump and I decided to see if we could circle it - how would she do as I asked for some bend with rein and leg aids, but no bit in her mouth. She circled it beautifully and we finished back on the rail and dropped into an easy walk before we got to the next corner.
We changed direction and I asked for another trot in the same place. She picked up an easy trot, with less prompting than before (as with "whoa", the more often you ask the more responsive and ready she gets), and we trotted all the way down the straightaway at a nicely paced even trot. It was going so nicely that I decided to keep going. I didn't go all the way into the corner, I didn't want to risk making a last minute mistake and getting stuck, but asked for her to start turning about 4 feet before we got there. Piece of cake, so we kept going. We went around the ring twice at that nice, easy pace. Every once in a while, she would start to slow down and I would add a little leg or make a little kissing sound and she would immediately pick back up into our easy going trot.
At some point, the three year old in me realized that no one was seeing this, so I yelled across her head and the ring into the barn, "HEY YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THIS!!!" Even my ill-timed bellowing couldn't phase her and we were able to complete a couple more turns around the ring, taking one brake to trot a small circle around a jump while people watched. As we came trotting towards the gate and the barn (you horse people know what a draw those things can be), I squeezed with my hands and said "walk" - she immediately dropped into the walk and stopped. I rode her for a nice cool down and back to the barn for our un-tacking madness. (Although she is also getting much better at standing still for that process too)
This does no justice to the feeling I had in this experience. It was relaxing. Free. Almost effortless. And then we just kept going....
I was giddy but left wondering what was so exceptional about this. I mean, Matilda is not green. She was taught to walk, trot, canter, jump, proper flexion and so forth. So why is this such a big deal? I had to look back to my first experiences with Matilda-two or three years ago, long before I started this project. My first ride with Matilda, she ran off with me constantly. The second, I don't remember what she was doing, I remember that I was frustrated to the point of tears. The third was the same as the second, but I had a sense of humor about it. This past Friday was so easy, what's the difference?
I mean think about it - I have only been on Matilda 3-6 times. There hasn't been any aggressive saddle work. Not only that, but over the last 2 years, the vast majority of my work with horses has been ground work. Even so, am I a better rider than I was 2 years ago? Absolutely. Is Matilda a more willing partner? Most definitely.
Of those 2 years of ground work, 8 months (less all those days and weeks that I said to myself, "I don't want to this" and therefore didn't) has been with Matilda, in part if not in entirety. We have spent time together building a foundation of trust and reward. I have been attempting to shape her into a horse that understands that there are benefits to doing the things I ask her to do and I think, I hope, that work is what is paying off now. We let her be her and me be me and met each other each day with a plan that we had to be willing to leave behind. I have lost my temper, she has refused to work but there was no severe punishment involved (I don't think-although I have not always behaved well), I tried to just walk away from those days or do as little as possible. On the days when we were both present and willing the rewards were frequent and good. She knows what to expect from me and a little of what I expect of her. Eight months of relationship building and we did something, with very little effort, that I would not have dreamed of being able to do with her two years ago. Something I didn't dare dream about eight months ago.
Riding without an agenda. Horsemanship without a timeline. Building a relationship as it comes to you and letting it unfold. The waiting and patience is so hard but if you can do it, it makes everything that comes after so much easier.
None of this is new but sometimes experience makes old thoughts and ideas become new wisdom.
Make no mistake, I don't pretend that everything will be smooth sailing from here on out. Even writing this makes me feel nervous. Like I sound cocky. People pay for cockiness. I am well aware of who I am dealing with and that there are (attempted?) break aways coming down the road and who knows what else. I may be screaming about the she-beast tomorrow.
But Friday was gold. We were together, for awhile, in every way.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Matilda Under Saddle
Yes, under saddle:) Although I have griped about the busy barn and full ring, I have been back on Matilda a few times in the last three weeks. Thanks to my dear Kaitlyn, I have lots of pictures from our very best day.... so far.
I have her in the bridle that belonged to my own horse, Bella, but have rigged it to work without
a bit. Keeping things pleasant, you know, and nicer for taking carrots.
Ah, carrots. It is harder than anticipated to get carrots from the saddle to Matilda's mouth. The more we do it the better our coordination gets but the first couple of days there was a lot of maneuvering to pick up dropped carrots and a lot of thumb and finger biting. Unintentional.... I think.... I hope.
On Thursday, the 11th, our coordination was so poor that it was impossible to actually work on any goals. Trying to get her to "walk on" requires a certain rhythm of words and movement that cannot be achieved when one has to constantly stop to rub one's fingers or pause to back the horse while pointing to the ground and
saying, "It's your fault, you dropped it.... Can't you see, it's right there!! Just put your head down!!" She has gotten better at retrieving the dropped carrots, I am proud to state.... any achievement, no matter how small, right?
I was also feeling bold and sassy that Thursday, so without being able to work on our actual goals, we just played and tried stuff out. Using plain old leg and rein adds (words too) we walked and stopped a lot, attempting to reward for good behavior along the way.
She was so quiet and easy while I was up there that I couldn't stand it and asked her to trot! She did beautifully. I used the same three step process, along with light leg aids, asking first, "Matilda, are you ready?" Then, "Matilda, Trot!" and lastly "Up, Up!" She came up to the trot at the exact same point that she would have, had I asked on the longe line. We only trotted a few steps before I squeezed back with the reins and asked her to "walk"; she fell into the walk immediately, to my tremendous joy and pleasure. We did that several times around the ring, alternating between walking and stopping or walking, trotting, walking and stopping, as I happily clicked and dropped carrots all over the ring.
It popped into my head to see if some of the ground work was translating (this was before I
started working with the whip for over) so we went to the center of the ring and stopped. I pressed my left leg into her side and said "over". It was amazing to feel that big body shift under me as she moved laterally, away from my leg. I hollered out, "Kim! Kim! Watch me!!" like a three year old doing penny drops and repeated the movement. She confirmed that what I thought was happening actually was happening. Matilda was moving her whole body sideways, stepping out and crossing her front then her hind legs under her. Very cool. Wonderful day. We finished it out by giving Kaitlyn a "pony ride" on Matilda, with me leading them around the ring, as a thank you for all the pictures and just because we could:)
This past week, I was up on Matilda one more time. This time we were able to work on the voice commands. It will be a slow process, but I know she can get it. I started it the same way that I did on the ground, saying "walk on" as I
squeezed with my legs and clicking when she took a step. Unlike when I was on the ground, when I said "walk on" without squeezing, she did not move right away. She would eventually, but I had to sit on her awhile and wait it out. The walk is much slower and lazier if it starts from just a verbal command too. That may just be because she is unsure and I don't really mind a slow, lazy walk at this point.
We also spent some time on mounting and dismounting. The first time I got on her, she stood rock still, but in later days she was moving forward as I tried to mount. At the end of our session this past week, I got off and on her three times before she stood still while I mounted. When she did, I clicked, rewarded and called it quits. I didn't ask for a repeat, maybe I should have, but why press your luck? There's always next week.
Matilda on the Lunge Line
I'm not really sure how much there is to say about our longe work of late. There have been days wherein the barn was so busy, we couldn't carve out a nitch to work on it.
Over the last week, the weather has cooled off and she has been more difficult to manage. She has been more apt to rush or try to break out, but thus far I have been able to hold on to her and bring her down. I have also been asking her to walk longer without reward which I suspect precipitates some of the break away moments.
One day, a couple of weeks ago, she broke out into a full on canter, the first one I've seen in quite a while. I was very proud of myself for hanging on through a full circle around me and then bringing her in and down. She didn't stop moving until she was about 3 feet away from me, but she did stop. I don't reward her for stopping at that point. Don't worry.
I spent some time last week really challenging her with the longe whip, swinging it and moving it erratically, while expecting her to either stand still or continue walking. That was an interesting day. There was a lot of dropping the whip as she took off and bringing her in to me to stop her. A real challenge to my physical and her mental strengths. Ultimately she did very well and by the end of the day she was able to maintain a calm(ish) walk as I picked the whip off the ground, swung it over my head and brought the whip tip to the ground quickly.
Why would I do this, you may ask? I want Matilda to be as "bomb proof" as possible. I won't always be the one dealing with her and people are weird. I really don't expect her to be able to keep her cool if someone comes up behind her cracking a whip, but I'd like to know she is capable of trusting me not to touch her harshly with it. If she can trust me, she can trust others. This exercise was asking a lot, I knew that, but I was sort of looking to see where we were.
That's about all I can say. She still walks, trots and whoas at the end of the lunge line. Well, until she doesn't. There have been days that she just wasn't listening. I would get her walking and then ask her to stop and she would walk 3 circles around me before turning towards me and walking all the way into my space as if to say, "Did you say something? Was that good enough?" She still rushes and pulls and the cooler nights have made these moments more frequent than I would like it to be but it has all been manageable. That's vital. I am always able to bring her down somehow. I am always able to get some sort of decent upward and downward transitions out of her. (well, except for that one day, but the food cart went by right as we were getting started...) She is getting fewer food rewards for her work on the longe, although there are plenty, and my arm muscles are getting stronger. 'Nuff said.
Over the last week, the weather has cooled off and she has been more difficult to manage. She has been more apt to rush or try to break out, but thus far I have been able to hold on to her and bring her down. I have also been asking her to walk longer without reward which I suspect precipitates some of the break away moments.
One day, a couple of weeks ago, she broke out into a full on canter, the first one I've seen in quite a while. I was very proud of myself for hanging on through a full circle around me and then bringing her in and down. She didn't stop moving until she was about 3 feet away from me, but she did stop. I don't reward her for stopping at that point. Don't worry.
I spent some time last week really challenging her with the longe whip, swinging it and moving it erratically, while expecting her to either stand still or continue walking. That was an interesting day. There was a lot of dropping the whip as she took off and bringing her in to me to stop her. A real challenge to my physical and her mental strengths. Ultimately she did very well and by the end of the day she was able to maintain a calm(ish) walk as I picked the whip off the ground, swung it over my head and brought the whip tip to the ground quickly.
Why would I do this, you may ask? I want Matilda to be as "bomb proof" as possible. I won't always be the one dealing with her and people are weird. I really don't expect her to be able to keep her cool if someone comes up behind her cracking a whip, but I'd like to know she is capable of trusting me not to touch her harshly with it. If she can trust me, she can trust others. This exercise was asking a lot, I knew that, but I was sort of looking to see where we were.
That's about all I can say. She still walks, trots and whoas at the end of the lunge line. Well, until she doesn't. There have been days that she just wasn't listening. I would get her walking and then ask her to stop and she would walk 3 circles around me before turning towards me and walking all the way into my space as if to say, "Did you say something? Was that good enough?" She still rushes and pulls and the cooler nights have made these moments more frequent than I would like it to be but it has all been manageable. That's vital. I am always able to bring her down somehow. I am always able to get some sort of decent upward and downward transitions out of her. (well, except for that one day, but the food cart went by right as we were getting started...) She is getting fewer food rewards for her work on the longe, although there are plenty, and my arm muscles are getting stronger. 'Nuff said.
Matilda on the Ground
We had to spend a lot of time working from the ground the last few weeks. Once I had gotten up on Matilda, I wanted to keep getting on her every day and came to the barn with that expectation every day. After a few consecutive days of disappointment and frustration, I sort of gave up the idea and committed myself to just working from the ground until school started again.
We've kept up with the "back" and "up" (for lifting the feet) but I've mostly worked on fine tuning the "over"s. She has gotten really good at moving just her front feet again, when I touch her shoulder, and doing a full body lateral shift when I touch her at the girth. Her hind end has been the problem. She almost always has to step forward, then a tiny step away from me with her front feet before taking a huge step away with her rear feet followed by a step backwards. We went through this dance step many, many times over the last weeks before I finally started giving her some help by holding her head.
I really want her to do this movement all by herself, without me giving any physical help in adjusting her body. For now, however, I have to bend her head a little bit towards me and hold it back while asking her to move the hind legs alone. When I do all that she performs the movement beautifully. The second I give her her head, we go back to the dance step. We'll keep plugging away at it until she understands.
I have also added a dressage (long) whip into the mix. I figure that it will be both impractical and unsafe for me to keep my balance while I ask for her to move her front legs around her rear - or vice versa - by swinging my leg up to her shoulder or all the back to her hip, pressing in, and saying "over". It would be much easier if I could do the same thing with a light tap of the whip, don't you think? The larger, full lateral move can easily be done with pressure from my leg so no worries there.... If it will work in transition to the saddle at all.
So, we have been going through the same exercise from the ground with me standing either in front or beside her, tapping her lightly with the whip and asking for "over". She quickly understood what I was asking for when I tapped her shoulder, tougher with the rear end. She doesn't even like the whip going back there. If I am holding the whip while I move to stand beside her, she cranes her neck around as if to say, "And where do you think you are going with that?" I have to tap lightly with the whip, then press with my finger in order for her to move. She has begun to respond to the taps occasionally, but only just. There's a little ways to go with that one.
I hoped to start on teaching her to "walk on" by voice command only. I had, in my head at least, worked out a system that I thought would work from the saddle, but was not sure I could translate it to the ground. My short time in the saddle made it clear that she either did not understand or did not know to listen for the voice commands. I thought she had been listening at least some of the time during our longe work, but I was evidently sending more signals through body language than I thought.
It came to me an instant, however, and we started to try it. Standing next to Matilda, I would say "walk on" as I walked forward. She of course would walk with me and I would immediately click and reward. We did that 3-5 times, back-to-back in rapid succession. Then, just as quickly, I said "walk on" and didn't move - she did! HA! Click!
We went back and forth, sometimes I would walk with her and others I would stand still, but she always walked forward. We have only gotten a few shuffling steps in a tight circle around me (she'll never go far from that reward) but it has been a start.
On Friday (the 26th) we began working "whoa" the same way. I stopped beside her and said "whoa" as she stopped. After several times, I said "whoa" and kept moving forward very slowly. This proved more difficult for her to grasp, but she showed small signs that the synapses were starting to fire on this one too.
As soon as I gave myself over to a couple weeks of ground work only, I really enjoyed it. One day, we even had the time to work in her paddock like we did in the very beginning, no halters or leads. Absolutely her choice to hang out with me or go off on her own. I felt like she really enjoyed that and I will try to make room for "play days". That being said, she can no longer stay there but must continue working to join the rest of the world. Despite my own failings and confusion, I will continue to try to make it as pleasant as possible for sweet Matilda.
We've kept up with the "back" and "up" (for lifting the feet) but I've mostly worked on fine tuning the "over"s. She has gotten really good at moving just her front feet again, when I touch her shoulder, and doing a full body lateral shift when I touch her at the girth. Her hind end has been the problem. She almost always has to step forward, then a tiny step away from me with her front feet before taking a huge step away with her rear feet followed by a step backwards. We went through this dance step many, many times over the last weeks before I finally started giving her some help by holding her head.
I really want her to do this movement all by herself, without me giving any physical help in adjusting her body. For now, however, I have to bend her head a little bit towards me and hold it back while asking her to move the hind legs alone. When I do all that she performs the movement beautifully. The second I give her her head, we go back to the dance step. We'll keep plugging away at it until she understands.
I have also added a dressage (long) whip into the mix. I figure that it will be both impractical and unsafe for me to keep my balance while I ask for her to move her front legs around her rear - or vice versa - by swinging my leg up to her shoulder or all the back to her hip, pressing in, and saying "over". It would be much easier if I could do the same thing with a light tap of the whip, don't you think? The larger, full lateral move can easily be done with pressure from my leg so no worries there.... If it will work in transition to the saddle at all.
So, we have been going through the same exercise from the ground with me standing either in front or beside her, tapping her lightly with the whip and asking for "over". She quickly understood what I was asking for when I tapped her shoulder, tougher with the rear end. She doesn't even like the whip going back there. If I am holding the whip while I move to stand beside her, she cranes her neck around as if to say, "And where do you think you are going with that?" I have to tap lightly with the whip, then press with my finger in order for her to move. She has begun to respond to the taps occasionally, but only just. There's a little ways to go with that one.
I hoped to start on teaching her to "walk on" by voice command only. I had, in my head at least, worked out a system that I thought would work from the saddle, but was not sure I could translate it to the ground. My short time in the saddle made it clear that she either did not understand or did not know to listen for the voice commands. I thought she had been listening at least some of the time during our longe work, but I was evidently sending more signals through body language than I thought.
It came to me an instant, however, and we started to try it. Standing next to Matilda, I would say "walk on" as I walked forward. She of course would walk with me and I would immediately click and reward. We did that 3-5 times, back-to-back in rapid succession. Then, just as quickly, I said "walk on" and didn't move - she did! HA! Click!
We went back and forth, sometimes I would walk with her and others I would stand still, but she always walked forward. We have only gotten a few shuffling steps in a tight circle around me (she'll never go far from that reward) but it has been a start.
On Friday (the 26th) we began working "whoa" the same way. I stopped beside her and said "whoa" as she stopped. After several times, I said "whoa" and kept moving forward very slowly. This proved more difficult for her to grasp, but she showed small signs that the synapses were starting to fire on this one too.
As soon as I gave myself over to a couple weeks of ground work only, I really enjoyed it. One day, we even had the time to work in her paddock like we did in the very beginning, no halters or leads. Absolutely her choice to hang out with me or go off on her own. I felt like she really enjoyed that and I will try to make room for "play days". That being said, she can no longer stay there but must continue working to join the rest of the world. Despite my own failings and confusion, I will continue to try to make it as pleasant as possible for sweet Matilda.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Matilda Around the Barn
I am planning a series of posts this weekend, to catch you up on the last few weeks. For these posts, I am going to summarize the four focus points of our work rather than trying to provide a blow-by-blow of days worked.
I have tried to have Matilda around the barn more and more over the last few weeks, making sure she spends time in the cross ties being groomed and even giving breaks during our work outs by putting her in a stall or bringing her up to the barn at feeding time so that she can eat in a stall. I don't know that there is any good reason to do some of these things, other than my desire that she be more and more a part of barn life. Getting used to seeing people and being seen by people.
She is very quiet in the stall.
No big deal, although she will try to steal your food if you eat in a chair that she can reach. Matilda doesn't mind being stared at or petted by random passers by and it's nice to see people walk by, pet her nose and ask "Is that Matilda?" every once in a while and express an interest in riding her.
She is also quiet in the cross ties... for pre-work grooming. If you remember my last post (and I didn't, I had to go re-read it before starting this one. Sheesh.) you will recall that I complained about Matilda being annoying while I tried to groom her after some work. I attributed this to the feed cart going by. Not so. She is always annoying in the cross ties during the untacking and grooming process before going back out to her paddock.
This makes no sense to me. She should be quieter, by my reasoning, after a little bit of a work out but instead wiggles and moves back and forth. People walk by and ask, "Is Matilda going to break out of the cross ties?" (At this point no one expresses an interest in riding her.) She also punches me in the arm as I walk back and forth in front of her. In fact, one day I spent more time than I wanted walking back and forth close in front of her nose simply clicking when she left me alone. She's a little better about that now.
This tends to be a dangerous time for me. I am apt to lose my temper as I try to go through what should be a relaxing process. I lost my temper a little bit today, jerking at her halter as I tried to keep her still. Shortly after, I stepped back and took a deep, sighing breath as I put my hand on her back. As soon as my hand touched her back she took a deep, sighing breath too. I realized that she was just as frustrated and confused as me. As much as I was gritting my teeth by her not getting it, she was pinning her ears back because she couldn't figure out what I was after. That was enough to calm me down. I hugged her neck for a second and went back to work.
After a lot of trial and error, I found that if I just froze the brush wherever it was when she started moving, waiting until she stopped moving before resuming the brush stroke and clicking while said brush stroke was in progress (sheesh again) - THAT she started to understand. I was, by the end able to brush her face (which she abhors, by the way) and one side of her body while she stood quietly and got a click and reward at the end.
And her feet... I used to pick up each foot and click and reward the moment it was in my hand, immediately releasing it. Now I can pick up a foot and click and reward with every other foot that I clean, her hoof resting fairly gently in my hand for as long as it takes. When tacking up, that is. When untacking, I have to click for each hoof. Clicking while I am actually brushing or picking out the hoof but only if she is not trying to pull it away. (If that isn't a neat trick.... wiggly hoof, hoof pick and clicker in hand, where does that third hand come from??) It's getting better. She really only tries to pull her rear hooves out of my hand and, in all honesty, I haven't spent a whole lot of time on it. I'm usually out of carrots by the time I get to her feet. I am trying to be more conscious of my carrot rations these days.
So, we are hard at it! Who knew a simple brushing would be so much work?!? Next time (tomorrow, I hope) Matilda on the Ground...
I have tried to have Matilda around the barn more and more over the last few weeks, making sure she spends time in the cross ties being groomed and even giving breaks during our work outs by putting her in a stall or bringing her up to the barn at feeding time so that she can eat in a stall. I don't know that there is any good reason to do some of these things, other than my desire that she be more and more a part of barn life. Getting used to seeing people and being seen by people.
She is very quiet in the stall.
No big deal, although she will try to steal your food if you eat in a chair that she can reach. Matilda doesn't mind being stared at or petted by random passers by and it's nice to see people walk by, pet her nose and ask "Is that Matilda?" every once in a while and express an interest in riding her.
She is also quiet in the cross ties... for pre-work grooming. If you remember my last post (and I didn't, I had to go re-read it before starting this one. Sheesh.) you will recall that I complained about Matilda being annoying while I tried to groom her after some work. I attributed this to the feed cart going by. Not so. She is always annoying in the cross ties during the untacking and grooming process before going back out to her paddock.
This makes no sense to me. She should be quieter, by my reasoning, after a little bit of a work out but instead wiggles and moves back and forth. People walk by and ask, "Is Matilda going to break out of the cross ties?" (At this point no one expresses an interest in riding her.) She also punches me in the arm as I walk back and forth in front of her. In fact, one day I spent more time than I wanted walking back and forth close in front of her nose simply clicking when she left me alone. She's a little better about that now.
This tends to be a dangerous time for me. I am apt to lose my temper as I try to go through what should be a relaxing process. I lost my temper a little bit today, jerking at her halter as I tried to keep her still. Shortly after, I stepped back and took a deep, sighing breath as I put my hand on her back. As soon as my hand touched her back she took a deep, sighing breath too. I realized that she was just as frustrated and confused as me. As much as I was gritting my teeth by her not getting it, she was pinning her ears back because she couldn't figure out what I was after. That was enough to calm me down. I hugged her neck for a second and went back to work.
After a lot of trial and error, I found that if I just froze the brush wherever it was when she started moving, waiting until she stopped moving before resuming the brush stroke and clicking while said brush stroke was in progress (sheesh again) - THAT she started to understand. I was, by the end able to brush her face (which she abhors, by the way) and one side of her body while she stood quietly and got a click and reward at the end.
And her feet... I used to pick up each foot and click and reward the moment it was in my hand, immediately releasing it. Now I can pick up a foot and click and reward with every other foot that I clean, her hoof resting fairly gently in my hand for as long as it takes. When tacking up, that is. When untacking, I have to click for each hoof. Clicking while I am actually brushing or picking out the hoof but only if she is not trying to pull it away. (If that isn't a neat trick.... wiggly hoof, hoof pick and clicker in hand, where does that third hand come from??) It's getting better. She really only tries to pull her rear hooves out of my hand and, in all honesty, I haven't spent a whole lot of time on it. I'm usually out of carrots by the time I get to her feet. I am trying to be more conscious of my carrot rations these days.
So, we are hard at it! Who knew a simple brushing would be so much work?!? Next time (tomorrow, I hope) Matilda on the Ground...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)