I like how the sessions are to be short and not drills. You work on one thing, then leave it and do something else. I like how it's the 'one hard thing' interspersed with some easy things. This is supposed to give the horse confidence.
I know that I will be writing about how I progress with Carmen on this but I would warn you to not use my posts as a way to learn this method. I am not an expert nor do I think it's fair to the person trying to earn an income (I do have a 'refer a friend' discount if anyone is interested). But I also know that I can't not write about what I'm doing (double negatives anyone?).
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It seems to me that she is gaining understanding and confidence with it. I have a video here of me working on her response to noise. This is the second time we were working specifically on the techniques. I propped my phone on the post and tried to stay in the frame (honestly, I am not quite as fat as the video suggests- just have lots of layers on. Carmen wants you to know that it's the same for her).
I am shaking a bottle of water and waiting for her to relax. I had already done it before starting the video but she really was okay with it from the beginning. Which is surpising becase Carmen is not a fan of sudden, swooshy noises (swooshy being the technical term).
As you can see, she gives zero cares from the left. Clearly her expression is one of humouring her crazy servant who has very odd ideas. She's more uncertain on the right but lowers her head because she has learned that if she relaxes the stimulus goes away. That is the point. The idea is to teach her to seek relaxation on her own when she is feeling pressure. For her to learn that she is in control of herself (in horse understanding way, not a person understanding way. And yes, I think that makes sense).
It's not rocket science. It's just being methodical and clear and paying very careful attention. For Carmen, sometimes her relaxing signals were so subtle that I would have missed them earlier. I am working on my own body language and trying to make sure that it is low key and relaxed.
Regardless, this is giving me something to play with with her and I am enjoying it. I should try to video her lining up to the mounting block all on her own. That was so easy to teach and it's very cool.
That's actually a great exercise to work on while the weather makes riding impossible.
ReplyDeleteYes. As long as the weather isn’t too bitter!
DeleteSO glad you like TRT! I love love love the mounting block exercise. I even taught my horse to do hanches in on both sides as a derivative groundwork exercise. Never thought that was possible. Ive been debating the course ... but I might just go ahead based on your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThe haunches in sounds good. If you want the discount code just let me know.
DeleteWith such an intelligent mare this technique to give her more power over herself is really interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt is. I quite like the concept. It’s changing how I approach things. Instead of thinking I have to control her I’m helping her control herself.
DeleteI love his idea that sacking out isn't just holding still and waiting it out, rather it's trying to find the answer to the problem. So giving the horse control of the situation, must feel nice to the horse to realize they have this power. I do this during feed times when he's hungry enough to be highly motivated to try to make me stop with the racket. Just like Carmen though he's spent years thinking he's supposed to just hold still, so it's hard for him to make the change. If you find a particularly challenging object, you could try feed times too. Or is that not allowed on the TRT system? *yikes*
ReplyDeleteI saw a video of a guy harnessing a young draft horse its first time. He fed the hungry colt breakfast and started harnessing up. Any time the colt stopped eating and asked "WTH!" the guy would stop and wait for him to start eating again. It took a while but he got the colt harnessed in a very positive manner.
He really doesn’t like the shutting down idea. It’s the same as closing your eyes and hoping it will go away. I don’t know what he’d think of it during eating. I think that there’s a use for that and it depends but I prefer it to be more direct.
DeleteGreat way to make the best of cold weather! I like the idea of no drilling. Greedy trainer syndrome has us always wanting to get that good response again, or a little better, but less is most always more. :)
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of being greedy. I have, in the past, felt that I was cheating if I did a short amount of work. It's been a major lesson for me.
DeleteMe too!
DeleteI'm looking forward to you blogging about the process and how it has worked for you - I agree that people should really seek out the actual videos and exercises, but it'll be cool to see how it worked for you and Carmen!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to it too! The nice thing about this weather is that I'm not tempted to push it fast.
DeleteA great idea for cold weather work. Carmen is smart and she'll appreciate all her new found knowledge and confidence.
ReplyDeleteIt is helping me to be less bored.
DeleteI love how dedicated your are to the training. It sounds like a good idea with the videos - to get new input that you can incorporate if you think it will work for you and Carmen.
ReplyDeleteThe video is a new idea for me but I believe that it’s helping. At least it’s helping me to see things differently.
DeleteI've been watching some of his videos and trying some of it with Cisco. If I ever get some spare money I'd like to sign up for his paid videos, but you know, new saddle.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. I know. It’s never easy.
DeleteWinter is the perfect season for this type of work - breaking everything down to its component pieces and rebuilding from there. Glad you’re enjoying it so much too!
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting process. I like to have a focus otherwise I just tend to flounder.
DeleteI guess I’ve never heard of TRT, but I do always intersperse one difficult thing with things they already know and are confident with. Patience is a virtue. I’d like to hear more, because it might have something new to teach me in my work with Beautiful Girl.
ReplyDeleteI think you might like it. He's so calm and easy with the horses. His goal is to teach the horse the skills to manage themselves. He has a youtube channel with some videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCraXTWfpmYUel5Lq1193_tw
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