Hi guys,
Hope you are all doing well. I have not been on here for a shamefully long time! But i am desperate for some ideas/advice.
.
Just a bit of an update so you can see where we are.Woods and I have been working hard, although the riding side of things have taken a awhile as i was without a saddle for a time-did some bareback stuff but he is so sensitive that we can only walk and trot. I have been taking him for walks, lunging, doing some 'scary plastic bag' training, but i think i have been keeping things low due to my nerves and he now quite bored. I have just got a barefoot western treeless saddle that is lovely and now we can start to do a bit more. am teaching him to neck rein atm which he is picking up well. Am having to be lead out for hacks atm as my nerves are bad, so need to go incrementally with my training!!
.
Thats were we are. My issues are a couple really but think are all do do with the same thing. One-he will not stay in his field. He is finally out with a herd who he gets on with but he's not bonded with overly. The will play, but it's not what it was after the leader attacked him when they put a mare out and it really shook woods up. He has since bonded to a mare in another field-never seen him like this before-he's making sounds for her i have never heard him make before. He has since moved fields and he can't see her so goes looking for her. Once he sees her he's ok and stops but it means he is going into a lot of other fields. I understand this side of it and there isn't anything i can do-the mare is dangerous to ride when she is with woods all day so they can't go in together. But this isn't the only thing. sometimes he will go looking for her, other times he might stay in, but others he will escape and just roam. He will go through 3 stands of electric-people have seen him get so shocked he jumps 6 ft in the air, but will just do it again. He is now getting scars on his back where it is shocking him as he lmbos under. (sometimes he will crash through, and he jumped a bloody hedge the other day to get away form being caught-he's nearly 23!!) We have toyed with the idea of putting up a gate but I'm afraid he'll try and jump it and get stuck. He charges past people at times, nearly going through them, or others, when his out, hell wander up and ask to be caught. It''s just like he doesn't care anymore. It's getting dangerous for him and everyone else and if i can't find a way to keep him in the field, he'll ave to stay in a stable which will drive him mad. I have started to trot him up to the entrance form the field but stopping suddenly with the dually before it and backing up, then going more slowly up to it, stopping and backing up etc. Does anyone have any other ideas? Have upped his calmer and am putting wheelbarrows the other side of the electric now too.
.
Now for the second bit. A friend hit toenail on the head with my confidence issue the other day by saying that i don't feel in control anymore as he will do what he wants-which is true to a large extent. Ground work he is perfect-with me-he will do as i ask and really try. But he doesn't seem to really find it fun. Ridden stuff, as i said we are slowly getting back into. Again he will try and do as i ask but after doing it twice, he gets it,then goes on automatic pilot. He's doing it, but not really focussing, and will either then stop listening to me, or anticipate my next move. he is so damn smart it's crazy. I am trying to change things up for him, but as i said, do something twice and thats it. i want it to be fn for him, to use his head, but i don't know how to keep him wanting to do stuff. I think my horse is just bored. Was thinking about trying to teach him to pole weave, i want to do archery on him, obstacle courses, even try and find some sheep for him to herd. But i need him to listen to what i ask, not just do own thing, otherwise it's just not safe. And i think this boredom is contributing to him roaming out of his field. He has toys in his stable but if anyone can give me some more that'd be great.
.
Hope this makes sense-he can be so conflicting in his behaviour sometimes! Thank in advance for your help. And i know my nerves contribute to stuff. it's something I'm working on but with any training, sometimes it one step forwards, 2 steps back, so be gentle with me!
.
Jess x
Hope you are all doing well. I have not been on here for a shamefully long time! But i am desperate for some ideas/advice.
.
Just a bit of an update so you can see where we are.Woods and I have been working hard, although the riding side of things have taken a awhile as i was without a saddle for a time-did some bareback stuff but he is so sensitive that we can only walk and trot. I have been taking him for walks, lunging, doing some 'scary plastic bag' training, but i think i have been keeping things low due to my nerves and he now quite bored. I have just got a barefoot western treeless saddle that is lovely and now we can start to do a bit more. am teaching him to neck rein atm which he is picking up well. Am having to be lead out for hacks atm as my nerves are bad, so need to go incrementally with my training!!
.
Thats were we are. My issues are a couple really but think are all do do with the same thing. One-he will not stay in his field. He is finally out with a herd who he gets on with but he's not bonded with overly. The will play, but it's not what it was after the leader attacked him when they put a mare out and it really shook woods up. He has since bonded to a mare in another field-never seen him like this before-he's making sounds for her i have never heard him make before. He has since moved fields and he can't see her so goes looking for her. Once he sees her he's ok and stops but it means he is going into a lot of other fields. I understand this side of it and there isn't anything i can do-the mare is dangerous to ride when she is with woods all day so they can't go in together. But this isn't the only thing. sometimes he will go looking for her, other times he might stay in, but others he will escape and just roam. He will go through 3 stands of electric-people have seen him get so shocked he jumps 6 ft in the air, but will just do it again. He is now getting scars on his back where it is shocking him as he lmbos under. (sometimes he will crash through, and he jumped a bloody hedge the other day to get away form being caught-he's nearly 23!!) We have toyed with the idea of putting up a gate but I'm afraid he'll try and jump it and get stuck. He charges past people at times, nearly going through them, or others, when his out, hell wander up and ask to be caught. It''s just like he doesn't care anymore. It's getting dangerous for him and everyone else and if i can't find a way to keep him in the field, he'll ave to stay in a stable which will drive him mad. I have started to trot him up to the entrance form the field but stopping suddenly with the dually before it and backing up, then going more slowly up to it, stopping and backing up etc. Does anyone have any other ideas? Have upped his calmer and am putting wheelbarrows the other side of the electric now too.
.
Now for the second bit. A friend hit toenail on the head with my confidence issue the other day by saying that i don't feel in control anymore as he will do what he wants-which is true to a large extent. Ground work he is perfect-with me-he will do as i ask and really try. But he doesn't seem to really find it fun. Ridden stuff, as i said we are slowly getting back into. Again he will try and do as i ask but after doing it twice, he gets it,then goes on automatic pilot. He's doing it, but not really focussing, and will either then stop listening to me, or anticipate my next move. he is so damn smart it's crazy. I am trying to change things up for him, but as i said, do something twice and thats it. i want it to be fn for him, to use his head, but i don't know how to keep him wanting to do stuff. I think my horse is just bored. Was thinking about trying to teach him to pole weave, i want to do archery on him, obstacle courses, even try and find some sheep for him to herd. But i need him to listen to what i ask, not just do own thing, otherwise it's just not safe. And i think this boredom is contributing to him roaming out of his field. He has toys in his stable but if anyone can give me some more that'd be great.
.
Hope this makes sense-he can be so conflicting in his behaviour sometimes! Thank in advance for your help. And i know my nerves contribute to stuff. it's something I'm working on but with any training, sometimes it one step forwards, 2 steps back, so be gentle with me!
.
Jess x
I think that you have a horse, in Woods, that most advanced riders would die for. Why?, because he seeks to be on the edge..The famous race horses were like this. The mundane, they could do with little effort, but they LIVED for that special place [moment in time] that put their adrenalin on fire. Your most advanced riders would always seek to ride a horse that was wired this way. Why, because they were edge seekers also. Now, the question of what to do with a horse that is wired to this extent if you are not a top riding hand. I say this because most of us are not top riders and not edge seekers. But we can be LEADERS and stay out in front of the storm of emotional swells that might lead our horses into the area of the edge that they seek.
At the moment, I am preparing a horse to be ridden that is seeming a carbon copy of what is described in your horse Woods. My first order of business was to remove him from the herd that that he has been running with. He is now in a 90 foot round pen and his mates are all around him. Why did I do this? FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS, I want his attention on me. YOU CANNOT TRAIN A HORSE WITHOUT HIS FOCUS. Focus has to be ask for and sought after by both human and horse. We can`t expect a horse to focus on us if we are carrying a cell phone in our pocket at the time. We as trainers have to stand NAKED IN THE WIND with our authenticity We have to recognize any small gesture that the horse might offer and respond to the offer with immediate timing of a mirrored back answer. We need to move their feet on a consistent basis in any direction and the take away the pressure, then praise and pause for a time so THEY can direct their thoughts. As their human trainers, we must direct our thoughts toward gratitude for just being with such a wonderous partner. We need to keep our minds open to what the horse is offering us, and be loving in our praises for that offer. I see these items as a must if we hope to bend their minds and thoughts in connection with our thoughts.
Take some time Jess to think out a plan so that you and Woods can go on a different journey together. My hope would be that if you would give him your focus, he will give you his.
There is Bedouin trainer by name of Ali Ali on u-tube that takes horses seemingly strong willed and helps them to come away from their emotional entanglements. He does this primarily with getting the horse to focus on him. The key to his approach would seen in his initial direction of movement for the horse.
Coercion of some degree will always be a part of training, but the horse needs a space a[say] if a TRUE RELATIONSHIP is to blossom. Without the horse feeling a confidence in the decision making while being with the human, the horse can never take us to that special moment that we all desire.
`Hope this will help you with Woods
Bud
Now here's a piece of written horsemanship! Great work Bud!
What can a person add to that? Just my admiration!
Please keep us posted on your journey Jess!
Keep the good work going,
Miriam
I need to add a couple of thoughts Jess. There is something else going on here; horses in fields don't get 'bored' the way we do; this is what they are designed to do {loaf around in a herd and eat all day!) HIs overbonding/searching for the mare is worrying and I'm not convinced that him being on his own is the solution but nor should he be with just one other horse (you've seen the effects of overbonding!) Is it an option to try the herd again with a different set up; is there one in the herd that he gets on with, could he pair with that one for a while then move back to the herd? Think as broadly and creatively as possible; the closer to 'natural' his environment the better. Using calmers etc. is only masking the issue and as you say, this could get dangerous and I totally agree, he must not be stabled all the time, that's a major problem in the making.
I think as Bud says you need to unpick everything and establish what Woods needs and what you need.
And then comes the tough question Are these needs compatible? Are you a match for each other? One persons horse partner is anothers nightmare and vice versa :-)
Happiness is really important with horses. When they are happy, everything becomes easier and more rhythmical. This is where most professional trainers fail to connect the dots and we as owner- trainers have an advantage--- if we are seers. What I am talking about here, comes from the heart.
Jess, I too wish you and Woods the discovery of a new relationship that might lead to that special understanding between horse and rider.
All the best
Bud