A couple of very lovely things happened yesterday. Normally I try to do two clicker sessions with Faith every day, one after brekkie and one just before tea. However, yesterday we were spending the day with friends, and I didn’t have time for our post-brekkie session.
So, having brought the horses in for the evening, given them some hay and poo picked the field, I strapped on my bum bag of treats and headed towards Faith’s stable to do some CT. Well blow me down if that little mare didn’t stick her head over the bottom stable door and give me a full on neigh! I nearly dropped!
So I gave her a brush, and we did some more work with the rug, and she was totally brilliant. Then as the wind had dropped a bit, I let her out on to the yard and we did some stuff with a cone. The previous day she had learned to target it, then touch it with her nose when I put it on the floor and pointed to it, and she had just started to grab it with her teeth. So we reviewed all that, and I started working on encouraging her to pick it up with her teeth. As usual she caught on really fast. At one point she held it up long enough to let me take it from her. Unfortunately it just bounced off my finger tips and rolled under her tummy, coming to rest against her back hoof.
Now there was a time when this would have sparked off a little Faith whirlwind, and she would have done something very fast and dramatic to get herself away from the cone. Not anymore. She simply stood there looking a little perplexed, then shifted forward slightly, stumbled over the cone a bit, which shot out behind her, and then stood quite still and relaxed looking pleased with herself. Brilliant! She is turning into a thinking horse instead of a reacting one, and I am just loving being able to watch and take part in the process!
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Sunday 29 August 2010
Stuck!
More rug work this morning. Unfortunately we are confined to working in the stable at the moment because the weather is so windy, which is not really ideal for working with rugs!
So what I have been aiming for, is to get Faith used to the feeling of the rug on her back as she moves. The last thing I want is for her to have a panic at the feeling that something is ‘on’ her, or ‘chasing’ her.
I had actually intended to do this with the rug folded into thirds and just draped across her withers initially. However, I had it totally over her back, but undone at the front (there are no belly straps on this one, it is just a light cotton sheet), and she just happened to move her quarters over. So I thought that we would just use the moment, and I encouraged her with my body language to take a step forward.
Now normally she is very responsive to this, and would just take a step towards me, which is all I really wanted. However, glancing over my shoulder, I could see she wanted to, by the tiny tiny shift of her weight forward, but something seemed to stop her and she shifted her weight back again. I gestured for her to come forward again, and the same thing happened, and she began to look a bit tight around the mouth.
So I stepped towards her again and stood at her shoulder, stroking her neck and having a think. Then it dawned on me. I have so far been rewarding her for standing absolutely still as the rug goes on. Now I’m suddenly asking her to move, in one big chunk, the total opposite of what I have been asking her before. Cue slapping forehead with hand and rolling of eyes!
So we went back to doing something which she finds really really easy, and offers readily; picking up her front feet. The idea being that the shift in weight and slight movement will allow her to feel the rug moving with her slightly, and we will gradually begin to mobilize her under the rug, and ‘unstick’ her bit by bit.
I was delighted with this moment of daftness on my part, as it has now shown me how to break it down into smaller and smaller bits for Faith, and start the pendulum swinging the other way. I have to say, I had a grin a mile wide all over my face, and just felt so energised and inspired about this method of training. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!
So what I have been aiming for, is to get Faith used to the feeling of the rug on her back as she moves. The last thing I want is for her to have a panic at the feeling that something is ‘on’ her, or ‘chasing’ her.
I had actually intended to do this with the rug folded into thirds and just draped across her withers initially. However, I had it totally over her back, but undone at the front (there are no belly straps on this one, it is just a light cotton sheet), and she just happened to move her quarters over. So I thought that we would just use the moment, and I encouraged her with my body language to take a step forward.
Now normally she is very responsive to this, and would just take a step towards me, which is all I really wanted. However, glancing over my shoulder, I could see she wanted to, by the tiny tiny shift of her weight forward, but something seemed to stop her and she shifted her weight back again. I gestured for her to come forward again, and the same thing happened, and she began to look a bit tight around the mouth.
So I stepped towards her again and stood at her shoulder, stroking her neck and having a think. Then it dawned on me. I have so far been rewarding her for standing absolutely still as the rug goes on. Now I’m suddenly asking her to move, in one big chunk, the total opposite of what I have been asking her before. Cue slapping forehead with hand and rolling of eyes!
So we went back to doing something which she finds really really easy, and offers readily; picking up her front feet. The idea being that the shift in weight and slight movement will allow her to feel the rug moving with her slightly, and we will gradually begin to mobilize her under the rug, and ‘unstick’ her bit by bit.
I was delighted with this moment of daftness on my part, as it has now shown me how to break it down into smaller and smaller bits for Faith, and start the pendulum swinging the other way. I have to say, I had a grin a mile wide all over my face, and just felt so energised and inspired about this method of training. I love it, love it, LOVE IT!
Saturday 28 August 2010
Beauty
I’m afraid this blog update is going to be a shamelessly self indulgent eulogy in praise of the utter beauty and grace that is LVA Faith.
I have to start off by saying that I think that all horses are beautiful in their own way, particularly my horses. Tilly has an inner beauty and wisdom that shines through her eyes, and often brings me close to tears. Tommy is spectacularly and magnificently handsome, and is the sort of horse that will make me take a step back and say ‘Wow!’ He is the sort of horse that the word ‘gorgeous’ was invented to describe.
But Faith is becoming more and more beautiful by the day. Sometimes it is the exquisitely graceful arch of her neck that takes my breath away. It looks like it has been perfectly carved from marble, and is the combination of living strength and graceful architecture. At other times it is the effortless flow of her movement, where each stride is a mere whisper of a touch against the earth as she floats with silent power over the ground.
But it is her manner that touches me most. She has an innocent, childlike curiosity that is utterly charming. Everything she does is a perfectly honest illustration of her feelings, be it playful, fearful, curious or affectionate. She very much communicates the desire to be close, to understand, and to have a dialogue and relationship. This, together with an innate gentleness, so typical of her breed, makes her a totally captivating person. It is no wonder that I fell in love with Faith more quickly than I have done with any other horse, and the reason that whenever I am with her, she makes me smile from the inside out.
I have to start off by saying that I think that all horses are beautiful in their own way, particularly my horses. Tilly has an inner beauty and wisdom that shines through her eyes, and often brings me close to tears. Tommy is spectacularly and magnificently handsome, and is the sort of horse that will make me take a step back and say ‘Wow!’ He is the sort of horse that the word ‘gorgeous’ was invented to describe.
But Faith is becoming more and more beautiful by the day. Sometimes it is the exquisitely graceful arch of her neck that takes my breath away. It looks like it has been perfectly carved from marble, and is the combination of living strength and graceful architecture. At other times it is the effortless flow of her movement, where each stride is a mere whisper of a touch against the earth as she floats with silent power over the ground.
But it is her manner that touches me most. She has an innocent, childlike curiosity that is utterly charming. Everything she does is a perfectly honest illustration of her feelings, be it playful, fearful, curious or affectionate. She very much communicates the desire to be close, to understand, and to have a dialogue and relationship. This, together with an innate gentleness, so typical of her breed, makes her a totally captivating person. It is no wonder that I fell in love with Faith more quickly than I have done with any other horse, and the reason that whenever I am with her, she makes me smile from the inside out.
Wednesday 18 August 2010
Blue Smarties!
Owing to the horribly dry summer, our grass has not been growing well, and has for a few weeks now been nothing but brown and crispy. So I decided that rather than use up our precious hay resources, which are going to be badly needed this winter, I would start giving the neds some sugar beet to bulk up their feeds. I also decided that breakfast and lunch would be added to the daily routine.
In theory this was a good plan as sugar beet is a vastly underestimated source of fibre and calcium, and would stop them feeling hungry without making them fat. However, when I went to purchase the sugar beet, I had not counted on the appearance of pregna-vision. Now pregna-vision, like its sister issue pregna-memory, is a phenomenon that commonly affects ladies who are ‘in the family way’. During my first pregnancy, pregna-memory saw me trying for half an hour to get the school photocopier to accept my bank card PIN number, rather than the photocopier code. This time pregna-vision ensured that I bought entirely the wrong type of sugar beet, which happens to have been liberally dosed with molasses. Consequently, for the past week, the neds have been receiving three very large meals a day, comprising mainly of heavily molassed sugar beet. Essentially the equine equivalent of feeding them a cartload of blue Smarties!
The results could be clearly seen this morning as the neds were doing laps of the PP track at a flat out gallop. Well Faith was going flat out, and Tilly and Tommy were doing there (rather inadequate) best to keep up with her. Disturbingly, when Faith hits top-gear, you can’t actually hear her hoofbeats. The only warning I have of their impending speedy approach is the sound of Tommy huffing and puffing, and his feet clumping along at speed.
Fortunately the sugar beet is now finished and is being replaced by a much more suitable product called ‘fast fibre’. ‘Fast’ referring to the speed at which it swells when soaked, not, I hasten to add, to the effect it has on the horses!
In theory this was a good plan as sugar beet is a vastly underestimated source of fibre and calcium, and would stop them feeling hungry without making them fat. However, when I went to purchase the sugar beet, I had not counted on the appearance of pregna-vision. Now pregna-vision, like its sister issue pregna-memory, is a phenomenon that commonly affects ladies who are ‘in the family way’. During my first pregnancy, pregna-memory saw me trying for half an hour to get the school photocopier to accept my bank card PIN number, rather than the photocopier code. This time pregna-vision ensured that I bought entirely the wrong type of sugar beet, which happens to have been liberally dosed with molasses. Consequently, for the past week, the neds have been receiving three very large meals a day, comprising mainly of heavily molassed sugar beet. Essentially the equine equivalent of feeding them a cartload of blue Smarties!
The results could be clearly seen this morning as the neds were doing laps of the PP track at a flat out gallop. Well Faith was going flat out, and Tilly and Tommy were doing there (rather inadequate) best to keep up with her. Disturbingly, when Faith hits top-gear, you can’t actually hear her hoofbeats. The only warning I have of their impending speedy approach is the sound of Tommy huffing and puffing, and his feet clumping along at speed.
Fortunately the sugar beet is now finished and is being replaced by a much more suitable product called ‘fast fibre’. ‘Fast’ referring to the speed at which it swells when soaked, not, I hasten to add, to the effect it has on the horses!
Sunday 15 August 2010
A sticky situation.
So work continues with the 'velcro monster'. 9 times out of ten she is totally fine with it, then she will have a little spook.
Right now I am working with it while just standing by her head, but I want to be able to place the strip actually on her and rip it off without her being bothered.
WWYLM is coming on, but slowly. I am considering using the headcollar for this, just to give her a little more guidance, and prevent her taking a minute or so out to have a munch on the new hay in the lean-to! I think that asking her to do it completely at liberty is just making it a step too far. After all I taught this exercise to Tommy using a headcollar and loose leadrope, and he became very very good, very quickly. After all, there will be times when she will have to wear a headcollar and be led, for example when we start going out and about, so we may as well make it have very positive associations.
Right now I am working with it while just standing by her head, but I want to be able to place the strip actually on her and rip it off without her being bothered.
WWYLM is coming on, but slowly. I am considering using the headcollar for this, just to give her a little more guidance, and prevent her taking a minute or so out to have a munch on the new hay in the lean-to! I think that asking her to do it completely at liberty is just making it a step too far. After all I taught this exercise to Tommy using a headcollar and loose leadrope, and he became very very good, very quickly. After all, there will be times when she will have to wear a headcollar and be led, for example when we start going out and about, so we may as well make it have very positive associations.
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