Thank you all for the wonderful, supportive comments yesterday. And of course I'm always happy to hear how handsome my horse is. :)
I didn't have much time tonight, but we had fun anyway. We went back over how it feels to have a rope around your butt, then I got an itch to hook up two reins and "drive."
My two reins were short because they were actually a lead rope and a riding rein, but they did the trick and I didn't have a bunch of extra driving line to deal with. I had no worries that he was going to kick me. I worked my way rearward, slowly transitioning back from a lunging position. He was ready and waiting for some kind of cue, so I asked him to turn, which pushed his hindquarters in front of me and caused him to switch sides. That made him feel pretty insecure so we took a little breather and just relaxed for a few minutes. When we tried again, the first thing he offered was a slight turn, switching sides in front of me. He sure does try his heart out to do the right thing. I hadn't asked for it but that's okay.
We did some more just moving around, switching sides, and even a couple stops. Then I took pictures of his butt, because wouldn't it be a very nice arse to sit behind while driving a cart?
Another goal I have is to pick out his feet daily. They don't actually need it because it's so dry and nothing packs in there, but he is so bothered by hoof trims that I think he definitely needs it as a training exercise. He behaves himself very well for a trim, but it's obviously quite a trial for him.
Something has definitely changed in our relationship lately. I like it a lot. :)
3 comments:
Definitely a nice arse to sit behind:) All that ground work is really going to pay off big in the future. I've always believed that it's the thing that helps create a real bond between horse and person. It makes the riding all the better later on.
Very nice work indeed - he does seem to have a lot of try. When I got Red, he was terrible (maybe TERRIBLE would be more accurate) about having his feet handled. We started doing it several times a day in short sessions, starting with him calming picking them up - no snatching - and working on building duration but with my being sure to put a foot down before he snatched it away so it was "my" idea. It's the only thing I used clicker for with him - he also was very mouthy (that's now completely gone) and it worked like a charm - I just clicked with my mouth each time and instant he did what I wanted and treated him and he picked it up very fast. No treats needed now and his hoof handling is perfect.
Yep I clicker train feet too. I've got a young one now and in no time he was lifting his feet for me very nicely. I tongue-click when the foot is nice and still in my hands, then put down the foot and treat. Trimmer was very pleased with how good he was for a baby at his first trim and he was even better for the second. (I'm not well enough to trim my own big horse any more but still do the pony.)
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