dancing horses

dancing horses

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Dealing with Distractions and Other Spooky Things

First of I am so excited that I won Equine Pilots Foal Pool! Also, the filly is stunning.

I had a lesson arranged for Friday afternoon. I spent the morning doing chores around the farm. Winter is hard on things and there are always things to fix and clean up. I also got the stuff out of the shed to take up to the ring.



looks precarious but it actually worked out. 
Before my lesson I brought Carmen into the ring to play with some of our groundwork exercises. With TRT the idea is not to desentize horses but to teach them to deal with pressure and stress in a positive way.  I have been moving the actives closer to the side of the ring where we have 'issues'.  The goal is to break the habit that has developed there.

Not to bore you with this stuff but it will become relevant for the lesson post that is coming later.

  I set up a simple tarp (which is actually an old horse blanket with all the straps and hardware cut off) between two cones. This was no big deal, which I expected. I'm enjoying watching Carmen take to my questions as puzzles to be figured out. I would say that she's enjoying them.

I then grabbed the plastic bag on a stick. First I did some work with the bag to make sure she remembered. Then I stuck it in the cone and asked her to go through. The idea is that she goes through without me leading her- instead she leads herself.  I am her coach, not her boss in these exercises.

You see that she hesitates and I give her time to figure it out. I am also really working on my body language to be low key and relaxed. You may notice a certain dog who also acts as a distraction. Guinness kept coming in to see if I was done and we could play.

Going on the right rein is a bigger question for her then going on the left. Which tracks with under saddle too. I can also see how she feels good that she figured it out and dealt with it.

I then took the bag out and added the flag. The flag is her least favourite thing. She doesn't like things that flap. I did work with her with just the flag and then added it to the cone.


You can see that this creates more tension and uncertainty. I don't get upset when the gives the 'wrong' answer. Nor do I try to correct it. Instead we regroup and try again. I give her time to think and then increase the demand. Once she did it pretty well both ways I stopped. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be 'better'. Each time we try she starts off at or better than the last time.

I was very happy with her and how she dealt with this. We finished with practicing her draw to the mounting block. I love this so much. The idea is that, rather than being made to stand at the block, we  teach the horse to stand themselves there. Carmen has been pretty good about standing while mounting but with this I find her very relaxed and happy to stand there until I ask her to move.


You can see that the grass is a distraction. Hard to blame her there. After two trials I let her go to graze and relax while I put stuff away.

Here she is grazing in 'Troll Corner' with not one concern.


17 comments:

  1. Looking good! I have not gotten to the moving past scary stuff exercises yet. I like that with the different tools you isolate what is specifically hard for your horse and address it. I really want to learn the mounting block thing but I don't have access to the third module. I just have the first two so far.

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    1. You can actually see the mounting block training (at least the broad strokes) here: https://youtu.be/HOi7qfZLNVY. It was really simple to teach.

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    2. Thank you for that link. I thought I found all the training resources on Youtube, but I was sorely mistaken.

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  2. Very beautiful work. I may work on the mounting block exercise with Leah. She's good at standing there, but I'd like to see the same kind of relaxation and moving over. Right now, it's an I have to, versus, I want to, with her. Not surprised about troll corner. :)

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    1. I agree. As long as there’s tension there’s a chance of reacting.

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  3. Great work with the mounting block. I'd like to try that with Rosie. Love Guinness digging away in the background. He keeps himself busy at all times.

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    1. I was really happy with his behaviour. It’s not that often that I’ve let him out when I’m working.

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  4. I like your flag, It's like a windsock, right? I just had a brilliant idea of attaching a couple of flags to the cross country jumps I ride past....
    I wish I had known about the mounting block trick years ago. Cisco does pretty good with it, but he gets distracted staring at the far end of the ring and ignores my asking him to move over. He knows it, there's just other things he's much more concerned about. One day I did it in different parts of the arena using various things to stand on - he shuffled his butt right over to line up. Pretty cool!

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    1. Actually it's a real flag. I found it on Amazon. I love that it's a pride flag and so colourful. I may hang it on the barn during pride week. :) I got a telescoping pole (like an umbrella handle) on Amazon too.

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  5. Love this. And I need some TRT when I get home. Next purchase : a flag. ;-)

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    1. 'Fun with Flags' :D :D
      your horses may end up hating me. Or loving me.

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  6. This method really seems to be working for you guys! It's fun to watch her figure things out.

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    1. It does seem to be filling in the holes.

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  7. Congrats on winning the contest! That foal is SUPER cute.

    And I love the mounting block video - I taught Annie that this past Winter and it is SO handy!

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    1. I want that foal! :)
      I love the lining up at the mounting block too.

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  8. Omgosh the grazing in troll corner tho ... what a goon!

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    1. to be honest, it's the first time she's ever done that without me holding her. And even then she's been really wary.

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