Had a wonderful short trail ride wit my trail riding buddy and her gelding. I rode snix, saddle, bridle etc. Id been thinking for the past month about actively training snix once a week each week about the new scary places on the last trail ride..but this is what I love, absolutely love about how we approach horse training. I admit with my horses, Im lazy. But you know it works. Some folks think somehow that a horse will forget what it knows if you dont train every single day, others like me are ok with training most of the week BUT giving the horse a day or two off. Mind you I do not train all day period. Were talking a few hours, maybe longer depending on the horse, the bond between horse and I, the horses training level and the goals (which are appropriate for the horse not the owner!) I want to establish a real friendship with the horse first, then worry about training, and if needed any dominance issues. The bond/dominance thing both take on average 1 month, after that training speeds up with most horses. However MY horses, who know me all too well, I can go for months without riding, training etc and simply pick right back up exactly where we all left off. THATS what yall can get if you stop worrying about drilling the horse constantly. They have awesome memories. They remember when they get yelled at, whipped, lunged and when they get to snag grass, a loving scratch, soft words. Anywho, yes Im lazy with my horses, who cares if I dont ride all the time. Doesnt affect me or my horses. The irony is that because my horses are so good it encourages me to be lazy. Be that as it may, these guys are well trained, calm, trusting and better trained than many horses. My riding buddy is one of only 2-4 people Ive met in several years who could just go everywhere I went. Usually, I have to ride at the level other peoples horses and the riders are trained up for. Today however, after at least a month since the last trail ride on snix, over which I had considered ramping up my frequency given her response to scary stuff last time, today was brilliant. We had a huge longhorn statue, which she had never seen before. It was A her first statue period in her life and B new to the park. Theyd just installed it. Helloooooo training moment! The world is an arena for horse training as far as Im concerned, anything new; is fair game for despooking. So, Im picturing a disaster, we go through the park get there, for safetys sake, I dismount (I do that only as needed depending on the horse/situation) and lead her up. She was momentarily worried, then switched gears to whinny at the horses beyond it, across the street. I walked her right up to and all around it. Moment over. Next cool thing, went on riding up to and past all the other scary places that she had geeked over last time. (her response when not convinced its safe is just to freeze) No freezing period this time. We just plugged along, although I might have to prod her a little. I barely had to poke/prod this time around. Back at the first park, I did have to prod a bit to get her to cross a foot sidewalk with scary drainage spots.. She did beautifully when cars zipped right behind her tushy (shes not scared of cars therefore shed BACK right into them if asked to walk to a scary thing in front) I was very happy she just stood very nicely, then back to prodding til she finally crossed, I hauled her right back over them a second time just to solidify this in her mind. Ps, prodding I only do either as shes backing away or if she freezes/hesitates etc, never ever when she even thinks about moving toward it. Always immediate and total release of any pressure. Only other prodding to be done is when shed try to just stop walking period (shes very verrrrry slow) No speed to this horse. Otherwise I drug her through a creek, which on most rides I gradually encourage or prod her to go up or down steeper and steeper embankments. Shes used to being on the flat, so off roading as I like to call so it is still a nervous thing for her. She hoewver has been doing leaps and bounds with this. Also, she walked over one of those funky square drainage deals with slanted concrete on all four sides and holes on all fiour sides too, with a raised platform to ride over. That was her first one (shes learning to coordinate her feet better) And the only other prodding needed was to get her to go down a steep/narrow embankment. She did it after a moment. Meanwhile my riding buddy and her horse are equally making huge leaps and bounds.We rode separate at one point. The horses who are pretty much boyfriend/girlfriend are a wee bit buddy sour when on rides together! I had to prod snix some just to get her walking, pushed her to trot and had to stay on her case the whole way. The two dweebs whinnied at eachother across the creek. Spoiled kids! Good practice though. Horse and rider alike all made awesome progress! But the point besides being thrilled at this nice little outing is, it only took 2 measly little rides spread across 1 month or so to get this much amount of training progress. Not days and days on end. I prefer quality over quantity any day. Once you have a really good bond, where you and the horse know eachother like the back of your hand, everything else just will fall into place, if you know what your doing, make it fun, challenging, simple and only as often as needed. On the way home I made the mistake of cantering her. I hate the canter! That girl launches you bareback or under saddle 10 feet in the air with each suspension. And I have great balance! Still, she did great. Gave her a bathe, let her roll in hand (halter/lead rope as I walked or stood with her as she rolled) when I first dismounted painfully, she started nudging me (its how she talks to me) she has so much personality. We had a tractor and someone digging noisily with a shovel while we cantered. I waited for tragic then hopped over. No big deal. Then we raced her boyfriend all cantering. He has more endurance and energy. She just wanted to quit running after 10 strides. Goofy lazy, sweet girl. Awesome ride, next time Im not cantering, just the walk/trot!
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:16:56 +0000
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