Taken A-back
Faith had her first visit from the Chiropractor today. Once again she gave me cause to say how desperately proud I am of her.
I explained to my Chiro, that I wanted to just take this treatment slowly, as I wasn’t sure how Faith was going to react, and that if she had to come back three times to complete a treatment, then that is what we would do. My priority was that Faith should find this a positive experience. I explained to her that while Faith could be quite a reactive horse, she is inherently a very, very gentle soul, and I didn’t want her scared. Not that I thought she would be, as my Chiro is an absolutely lovely lady.
Well, having done all that build up, Faith stood, quiet and relaxed like a little poppet. She gave the Chiro a good sniff all over, and had a little sniff and nibble of her wooden box that she stands on, and that done, she was perfectly happy to let her get on with the job.
Faith was brilliant with all the tail work, brilliant when my Chiro stood on the box and worked along her back. She stood like a rock while she had her neck ‘tweaked’, and even did some absolutely brilliant belly lifts!
All the while, I was of course clicking and treating all this saintly behaviour. About fifteen minutes into the treatment I felt the need to explain to my Chiro that I was clicker training Faith, and it wasn’t that I had developed some kind of nervous tic. I nearly fell over when she said; “Oh yes, I thought that was what you were doing, I wasn’t just being polite and not mentioning it!”
So the upshot is that her back is absolutely fine, and her pelvis is nice and level. She does have a few tight spots around her hindquarters and inside her thighs, as well as the little bit on her neck that needed a tweak, other than that she is in rude health. But there is nothing there that I can’t work on and help with a bit of massage, and nothing that isn’t perfectly normal for a young horse hooning about in the field.
So we agreed that she should have an appointment every six months until she is started under saddle, at which point I will start the usual three monthly routine.
But I am endlessly proud of my little Faith, and looking forward to helping her loosen up her tight muscles through massage.
Wednesday 27 October 2010
Wednesday 20 October 2010
Teething Troubles!
There was something odd about Faith this afternoon. When I finally managed to drag myself out into the blistering cold to do the mucking out, she gave me a big neigh and mooched over to the yard gate, and stood there looking fed up for about half an hour.
Eventually, when I got them in at about 5pm, I could see she wasn’t quite herself. She was very restless when I was grooming her, but still pretty cooperative. But there was something odd about the way she was taking treats from my hand, and bizarrely she seemed to be getting strands of hay stuck in her teeth.
My first thought was mild choke, but her gullet was perfectly relaxed, and she wasn’t having any trouble swallowing. But my mind just kept going back to the way she was taking her treats, it was just odd.
Anyway, I left her to have some hay while I poo picked the field. I was about halfway round, when I had an epiphany, her teeth, she must be losing one of her teeth! Now I wasn’t certain, as I didn’t have a particularly clear idea about when horses start to replace their milk teeth, but I thought the theory was worth investigating.
So when I got back to the yard, Faith had eaten most of her hay, and was standing at the stable door waiting for me to put her stable rug on. So I rugged her up, and when I had finished I held a treat up to her nose so that she had to stretch out her top lip to get it. Sure enough, her left central incisor was tilting backwards into her mouth. I was pretty confident that she hadn’t had a knock or a kick to it, as there was no sign of trauma or swelling, just a slightly tilted tooth.
So instead of her normal HiFi Lite and high fibre cubes for tea, I gave her just high fibre cubes soaked in some warm water to make a mash. She seems to be managing her hay fine, as it is pretty short chopped hay in this bale. When I went back into the house, I checked my vet book, and it did say that at around 2 ½ years, a horse will cast it’s central incisors. Now Faith is only 2 years 4 months, but I always thought she was precocious!
So my little girl is growing up, and I am doing my best to put aside thoughts of her potentially choking on her loose teeth. As mum pointed out to me with a slightly despairing air, horses have been casting their milk teeth for millions of years without choking on them, and Faith will be just fine!
Eventually, when I got them in at about 5pm, I could see she wasn’t quite herself. She was very restless when I was grooming her, but still pretty cooperative. But there was something odd about the way she was taking treats from my hand, and bizarrely she seemed to be getting strands of hay stuck in her teeth.
My first thought was mild choke, but her gullet was perfectly relaxed, and she wasn’t having any trouble swallowing. But my mind just kept going back to the way she was taking her treats, it was just odd.
Anyway, I left her to have some hay while I poo picked the field. I was about halfway round, when I had an epiphany, her teeth, she must be losing one of her teeth! Now I wasn’t certain, as I didn’t have a particularly clear idea about when horses start to replace their milk teeth, but I thought the theory was worth investigating.
So when I got back to the yard, Faith had eaten most of her hay, and was standing at the stable door waiting for me to put her stable rug on. So I rugged her up, and when I had finished I held a treat up to her nose so that she had to stretch out her top lip to get it. Sure enough, her left central incisor was tilting backwards into her mouth. I was pretty confident that she hadn’t had a knock or a kick to it, as there was no sign of trauma or swelling, just a slightly tilted tooth.
So instead of her normal HiFi Lite and high fibre cubes for tea, I gave her just high fibre cubes soaked in some warm water to make a mash. She seems to be managing her hay fine, as it is pretty short chopped hay in this bale. When I went back into the house, I checked my vet book, and it did say that at around 2 ½ years, a horse will cast it’s central incisors. Now Faith is only 2 years 4 months, but I always thought she was precocious!
So my little girl is growing up, and I am doing my best to put aside thoughts of her potentially choking on her loose teeth. As mum pointed out to me with a slightly despairing air, horses have been casting their milk teeth for millions of years without choking on them, and Faith will be just fine!
Tuesday 19 October 2010
Groping in the dark and navel gazing!
This isn’t going to be as suggestive as the title may imply, so don’t get excited!
I post this blog on a couple of forums, as well as having my own blogspot. I do this because I really value the feedback I get from people who are very experienced with the art of clicker training, as well as those who are either new to it, or haven’t considered it as a training technique before. I really, really appreciate the time and effort people go to when writing comments on my blog, and it is a wonderful opportunity to look at my training through someone else’s eyes.
I am particularly blessed to have the support and advice of a few people who are very, very experienced in this field of training, and who have a unique ability to interpret things from a point of view that is totally horse centred. I admire this skill pretty much above all others in the horse world, and it is one that I am earnestly trying my hardest to develop. I am aware that my zealous attempts to nurture this skill, must often make me sound like a sanctimonious pain in the arse, but it does all come from a genuine intention to be totally honest about my own interactions with my horses, and a real desire to be a better horsewoman.
It is because of this, that no matter what small achievements I make through clicker training with my own horses, I still feel very much that I am right at the beginning of my path, and often groping blindly around in the dark, literally finding my way by ‘feel’ alone. That is another reason why blogging this process has become so important to me, as often I only really ‘learn’ what I have done, by looking at what I have done, if you see what I mean.
This was really brought home to me yesterday, when a wise person on another forum commented on my last little video clip of the step work I was doing with Faith. She noted Faith’s actions in lifting her foreleg a couple of times in the course of the training session, and congratulated me on noticing this displacement behaviour and taking the training back a couple of stages and rebuilding.
Well I couldn’t help but chuckle at this! Yes, I had noticed the behaviour, and I had taken things back a little bit, but that was probably more luck than judgement, and definitely more ‘feel’ than any kind of conscious decision. I certainly had not interpreted the foot lifting as any kind of displacement behaviour. In fact, if truth be known, I had to go off and Google ‘displacement behaviour’, to actually check that it meant what I thought it did! But, yes, that now makes sense. Faith at that moment was experiencing conflict between her desire to stay and be rewarded, and her anxiety at me climbing the steps.
Of course, the answer to this problem, is to take the training back a few steps to an anxiety free stage, and build again from there, so that there need be no conflict when that stage is reached again. So although, if I’m honest, that wasn’t my thought process during the making of that clip, it will be from now on. Another lesson learned through the generosity and observance of others.
I post this blog on a couple of forums, as well as having my own blogspot. I do this because I really value the feedback I get from people who are very experienced with the art of clicker training, as well as those who are either new to it, or haven’t considered it as a training technique before. I really, really appreciate the time and effort people go to when writing comments on my blog, and it is a wonderful opportunity to look at my training through someone else’s eyes.
I am particularly blessed to have the support and advice of a few people who are very, very experienced in this field of training, and who have a unique ability to interpret things from a point of view that is totally horse centred. I admire this skill pretty much above all others in the horse world, and it is one that I am earnestly trying my hardest to develop. I am aware that my zealous attempts to nurture this skill, must often make me sound like a sanctimonious pain in the arse, but it does all come from a genuine intention to be totally honest about my own interactions with my horses, and a real desire to be a better horsewoman.
It is because of this, that no matter what small achievements I make through clicker training with my own horses, I still feel very much that I am right at the beginning of my path, and often groping blindly around in the dark, literally finding my way by ‘feel’ alone. That is another reason why blogging this process has become so important to me, as often I only really ‘learn’ what I have done, by looking at what I have done, if you see what I mean.
This was really brought home to me yesterday, when a wise person on another forum commented on my last little video clip of the step work I was doing with Faith. She noted Faith’s actions in lifting her foreleg a couple of times in the course of the training session, and congratulated me on noticing this displacement behaviour and taking the training back a couple of stages and rebuilding.
Well I couldn’t help but chuckle at this! Yes, I had noticed the behaviour, and I had taken things back a little bit, but that was probably more luck than judgement, and definitely more ‘feel’ than any kind of conscious decision. I certainly had not interpreted the foot lifting as any kind of displacement behaviour. In fact, if truth be known, I had to go off and Google ‘displacement behaviour’, to actually check that it meant what I thought it did! But, yes, that now makes sense. Faith at that moment was experiencing conflict between her desire to stay and be rewarded, and her anxiety at me climbing the steps.
Of course, the answer to this problem, is to take the training back a few steps to an anxiety free stage, and build again from there, so that there need be no conflict when that stage is reached again. So although, if I’m honest, that wasn’t my thought process during the making of that clip, it will be from now on. Another lesson learned through the generosity and observance of others.
Monday 18 October 2010
Just a quickie!
Just a quick update. Did a bit more work with the steps tonight, and Faith was brilliant. I could easily touch her from poll to dock from 'on high' with her standing perrfectly relaxed. I also did some more work with her tail from both sides, and again, she was great.
Our Chiro appointment is booked for the 27th so we have just over a week to carry on with this until it becomes totally boring!
Our Chiro appointment is booked for the 27th so we have just over a week to carry on with this until it becomes totally boring!
Friday 15 October 2010
The next step!
So we continued our work in preparation for our Chiro visit (date to be confirmed) and used this evening to build on yesterday’s work with the steps.
It went OK, but both Faith and I were lacking in focus a little bit this evening, so we weren’t quite as productive as yesterday. I often find it goes like this with Faith, she is generally totally brilliant the first time we do something, then we might have a little lull for a couple of sessions, before regaining our mojo, and making further progress.
I did manage to get some video, but I have to apologise for the rather abrupt ending, as the camera decided, about a third of the way through the session, that the memory stick was full!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv_DpAAeFr0
It went OK, but both Faith and I were lacking in focus a little bit this evening, so we weren’t quite as productive as yesterday. I often find it goes like this with Faith, she is generally totally brilliant the first time we do something, then we might have a little lull for a couple of sessions, before regaining our mojo, and making further progress.
I did manage to get some video, but I have to apologise for the rather abrupt ending, as the camera decided, about a third of the way through the session, that the memory stick was full!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv_DpAAeFr0
Thursday 14 October 2010
Fail to prepare...prepare to fail!
Given that I recently e-mailed my Chiropractor to make an appointment for Faith, I decided that it would be a good idea to prepare Faith for some of the things that she will need to expect during a chiropractic treatment.
So after giving her a good groom on the yard, I practised running my fingers lightly over the vertebrae of her spine, and over the top of her pelvis. I then repeated this a few times, being slightly firmer each time. No problem.
I then started stroking down the dock of her tail in a kind of ‘milking’ action, each time exerting a little more pull on the dock, not enough to really give her tail a stretch, but enough for her to be very aware that I was doing ‘something’ with her tail. Again, Faith was perfectly relaxed about this and even seemed to enjoy it.
Then I needed to work on getting her used to someone standing on a step beside her, as my Chiro, being a very petite lady, always brings a box to stand on, even for working on ponies like Tilly. So I got my mounting block out, which is just a set of plastic steps with two levels. First I put it on the ground in front of Faith, and we did a little targeting with it. Then I got on the first step, and gave her some scratches over her poll and the top of her neck. Then I moved it halfway down her neck, and did the same, then got up on to the top step. At this point, Faith discovered how entertaining it was to nibble the buckles on my boots!
So we worked like this until I got to just behind her shoulder on her off side, at which point I decided to start working on the nearside. She was absolutely excellent until I got to the same point behind her shoulder on the near side. She wasn’t so much tense as just wanting to step back and put me slightly in front of her shoulder. So I moved up towards her head a bit more, and gradually worked my way back to behind her shoulder again. Once I had got on to the top step, and had one second of her standing still, she got her jackpot and we called it a night.
So after giving her a good groom on the yard, I practised running my fingers lightly over the vertebrae of her spine, and over the top of her pelvis. I then repeated this a few times, being slightly firmer each time. No problem.
I then started stroking down the dock of her tail in a kind of ‘milking’ action, each time exerting a little more pull on the dock, not enough to really give her tail a stretch, but enough for her to be very aware that I was doing ‘something’ with her tail. Again, Faith was perfectly relaxed about this and even seemed to enjoy it.
Then I needed to work on getting her used to someone standing on a step beside her, as my Chiro, being a very petite lady, always brings a box to stand on, even for working on ponies like Tilly. So I got my mounting block out, which is just a set of plastic steps with two levels. First I put it on the ground in front of Faith, and we did a little targeting with it. Then I got on the first step, and gave her some scratches over her poll and the top of her neck. Then I moved it halfway down her neck, and did the same, then got up on to the top step. At this point, Faith discovered how entertaining it was to nibble the buckles on my boots!
So we worked like this until I got to just behind her shoulder on her off side, at which point I decided to start working on the nearside. She was absolutely excellent until I got to the same point behind her shoulder on the near side. She wasn’t so much tense as just wanting to step back and put me slightly in front of her shoulder. So I moved up towards her head a bit more, and gradually worked my way back to behind her shoulder again. Once I had got on to the top step, and had one second of her standing still, she got her jackpot and we called it a night.
Saturday 9 October 2010
Clever with cones!
Yes, I’m afraid, another lazy blog. This is a little snippet of us doing some work this evening, picking up cones. It is ages since we did any of this, and I am always impressed when Faith remembers stuff that we haven’t practised for a while, but I guess that illustrates the power of clicker for you!
Anyway, as Faith is far from being a shrinking violet, she loves to show off just how clever she is, so I will let the vid speak for itself....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HaaXsSYcx0
Anyway, as Faith is far from being a shrinking violet, she loves to show off just how clever she is, so I will let the vid speak for itself....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HaaXsSYcx0
A little vid or two...
Totally lazy blog today. Managed to get a little vid of a quick session Faith and I did on the yard yesterday.
The first vid shows us having a little brush (Faith, not me).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAmw6sE8Zvg
The second is us doing a short bit of work on my own version of WWYLM. This is a warts and all vid, and it does show quite a few areas that need improving, particularly the two occasions where she cuts across me and doesn’t halt when asked. Also our rein backs are not very straight. However, we have only done this about four times now, so I also think progress is being made, particularly on the right rein, which is our rather dodgy and uncoordinated side!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWi2DfaYHiE
I am also quite pleased with the way that when she tries to swap sides, she will, nine times out of ten, respond to a hand signal to ask her to remain on the side that she is on. I will be putting voice cues in when we get a little better, ie, ‘whoa’,’ back’,’ walk on’, as this exercise is going to be the foundation I think of all the liberty work we do in the future, so I will eventually be working on increasing the distance between us. But that is all in the future, right now I want to get things absolutely spot on in the confined space of the yard, before venturing into the field or the school.
The first vid shows us having a little brush (Faith, not me).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAmw6sE8Zvg
The second is us doing a short bit of work on my own version of WWYLM. This is a warts and all vid, and it does show quite a few areas that need improving, particularly the two occasions where she cuts across me and doesn’t halt when asked. Also our rein backs are not very straight. However, we have only done this about four times now, so I also think progress is being made, particularly on the right rein, which is our rather dodgy and uncoordinated side!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWi2DfaYHiE
I am also quite pleased with the way that when she tries to swap sides, she will, nine times out of ten, respond to a hand signal to ask her to remain on the side that she is on. I will be putting voice cues in when we get a little better, ie, ‘whoa’,’ back’,’ walk on’, as this exercise is going to be the foundation I think of all the liberty work we do in the future, so I will eventually be working on increasing the distance between us. But that is all in the future, right now I want to get things absolutely spot on in the confined space of the yard, before venturing into the field or the school.
Thursday 7 October 2010
Spray that again?
Another lovely Autumn evening this evening, and a good opportunity to get Faith out onto the yard again. She has been taking advantage of all the mud to do her best hippopotamus impression, and her lovely Arab mane was heavily caked with the stuff.
Now I’m not someone who is a huge stickler for grooming, but I do like to see a well kept mane and tail. Arab hair is very fine, and prone to tangling easily, so although Faith doesn’t have the sort of mane and tail that would compare with Tommy’s huge masses of hair, it is still much more high maintenance. Consequently I buy a lot of mane and tail conditioner. I don’t actually remember what we used to do in the days before this uber product, but I think it involved a lot of patient teasing out the hair with our fingers. Nowadays, I splash gallons of this magic potion around, particularly in Faith’s direction.
Up until now I have always sprayed it onto a goat hair body brush, loading it heavily with conditioner, and then brushed it into Faith’s mane and tail. This is quite a good way of doing it, and surprisingly effective, if a little time consuming. So tonight I thought I would see if Faith would tolerate me spraying it directly on to her. This is also good for getting her used to things like that in case I ever have to apply wound spray or some such thing.
Well she was absolutely fine about having it on her tail, no problems at all. She was a little less keen about having it on her mane, but I managed to get three good sprays on, clicking and treating each one, before she decided enough was enough, and went off to discuss things with Tilly over the stable door. I am pleased with that though, it is a good start to build on, although no doubt when we are successful, Faith’s cosmetics bill will inevitably skyrocket!
We also did a bit more WWYLM, working predominantly on our dodgy side. I was a bit more on the ball this time, and we definitely did better. Faith seems to have really processed what we did a few nights ago, and although still not as good as the left rein, we are definitely making improvements, both of us!
Now I’m not someone who is a huge stickler for grooming, but I do like to see a well kept mane and tail. Arab hair is very fine, and prone to tangling easily, so although Faith doesn’t have the sort of mane and tail that would compare with Tommy’s huge masses of hair, it is still much more high maintenance. Consequently I buy a lot of mane and tail conditioner. I don’t actually remember what we used to do in the days before this uber product, but I think it involved a lot of patient teasing out the hair with our fingers. Nowadays, I splash gallons of this magic potion around, particularly in Faith’s direction.
Up until now I have always sprayed it onto a goat hair body brush, loading it heavily with conditioner, and then brushed it into Faith’s mane and tail. This is quite a good way of doing it, and surprisingly effective, if a little time consuming. So tonight I thought I would see if Faith would tolerate me spraying it directly on to her. This is also good for getting her used to things like that in case I ever have to apply wound spray or some such thing.
Well she was absolutely fine about having it on her tail, no problems at all. She was a little less keen about having it on her mane, but I managed to get three good sprays on, clicking and treating each one, before she decided enough was enough, and went off to discuss things with Tilly over the stable door. I am pleased with that though, it is a good start to build on, although no doubt when we are successful, Faith’s cosmetics bill will inevitably skyrocket!
We also did a bit more WWYLM, working predominantly on our dodgy side. I was a bit more on the ball this time, and we definitely did better. Faith seems to have really processed what we did a few nights ago, and although still not as good as the left rein, we are definitely making improvements, both of us!
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Hell Hath No Fury........
....like a filly scorned. At least, that is what poor Tommy is finding out at the moment.
Faith is very much in season. Fortunately she is still very sweet and well mannered as far as handling etc. are concerned, however the full force of her hormones is directed at Tommy. The poor chap has to put up with her body slamming him, kicking him in the chest when she presents herself and he fails to deliver, she sticks her bum in his face at every opportunity, and today even pinned him against a fence until he mounted her (in a very half hearted manner).
I have asked wiser people than me if this is normal, as all the mares I have owned, even in mixed herds like this, have always been considerably more ladylike in their conduct. Some of the replies I received via various forums have been hair raising to say the least, and it seems that Tommy is frankly getting off lightly! One particular breeder of Arabs recounted how one of their fillies would ‘make use’ of various stationary objects such as trees and fences to ‘satisfy their instincts’. I am beginning to realise what a sheltered life I have led!
However, I am very pleased to report that Faith’s rug is managing to withstand all these gymnastic activities, although I was rather dismayed to see her physically digging herself a rather large hole in the mud this morning, the better to plaster herself in clay. However, after Tommy had clambered on top of her, and rather ungracefully slid off again, I was most gratified to see that it had stayed in place, with no slippage whatsoever. I think I shall write to Horseware and suggest they introduce a new strapline to their adverts. I was thinking something along the lines of “Rhino Wug – withstands the antics of even the most persistent little strumpet!”
Faith is very much in season. Fortunately she is still very sweet and well mannered as far as handling etc. are concerned, however the full force of her hormones is directed at Tommy. The poor chap has to put up with her body slamming him, kicking him in the chest when she presents herself and he fails to deliver, she sticks her bum in his face at every opportunity, and today even pinned him against a fence until he mounted her (in a very half hearted manner).
I have asked wiser people than me if this is normal, as all the mares I have owned, even in mixed herds like this, have always been considerably more ladylike in their conduct. Some of the replies I received via various forums have been hair raising to say the least, and it seems that Tommy is frankly getting off lightly! One particular breeder of Arabs recounted how one of their fillies would ‘make use’ of various stationary objects such as trees and fences to ‘satisfy their instincts’. I am beginning to realise what a sheltered life I have led!
However, I am very pleased to report that Faith’s rug is managing to withstand all these gymnastic activities, although I was rather dismayed to see her physically digging herself a rather large hole in the mud this morning, the better to plaster herself in clay. However, after Tommy had clambered on top of her, and rather ungracefully slid off again, I was most gratified to see that it had stayed in place, with no slippage whatsoever. I think I shall write to Horseware and suggest they introduce a new strapline to their adverts. I was thinking something along the lines of “Rhino Wug – withstands the antics of even the most persistent little strumpet!”
Monday 4 October 2010
Is this my best side?
It turned out to be a lovely evening this evening, despite a grim forecast, so Faith and I got to work on the yard again. I decided to work a little bit more on WWYLM, without the aid of cones this time, as they were proving to be irresistible to a certain filly who likes to pick them up and pass them to me. Also in the interests of encouraging patience, I thought I would mix it up a little with some Grown Ups are Talking.
We were doing really well on the left rein (with me standing on her near side). She would walk with me keeping her head by my shoulder, stop when I stopped, and also back up a few steps when I backed up too. Then I would just stand with my hands in a neutral position (easy now I have a convenient bump to rest them on), and ask her to stand quietly beside me for a few seconds, then click and treat. We built this up to about 20 seconds at a time, and all pawing, leg waving etc. behaviour was ignored, and she only got a click and a treat when standing quiet and relaxed. I thought this might be quite a nice build up into ground tying eventually as well.
Flushed with this success, we tried it on the other rein, going the opposite way. Well this is where it all fell apart. I am obviously doing something differently with my body language on this side, but I’m not sure what it is. Faith put on her snarky face, and although she walked with me well enough, but when we stopped, she would come past my side, and round in front of me to stand facing me, so I am obviously not effectively setting up a boundary with my body language very well on this side. I do have a habit of holding my left shoulder slightly higher than my right, so this might have something to do with it, but I must, must try and get these sessions videoed to try to spot exactly how I am different from one side to the other.
Anyway, we managed to end on a good note, and then I gave Faith a lovely groom, so we were both relaxed and happy!
We were doing really well on the left rein (with me standing on her near side). She would walk with me keeping her head by my shoulder, stop when I stopped, and also back up a few steps when I backed up too. Then I would just stand with my hands in a neutral position (easy now I have a convenient bump to rest them on), and ask her to stand quietly beside me for a few seconds, then click and treat. We built this up to about 20 seconds at a time, and all pawing, leg waving etc. behaviour was ignored, and she only got a click and a treat when standing quiet and relaxed. I thought this might be quite a nice build up into ground tying eventually as well.
Flushed with this success, we tried it on the other rein, going the opposite way. Well this is where it all fell apart. I am obviously doing something differently with my body language on this side, but I’m not sure what it is. Faith put on her snarky face, and although she walked with me well enough, but when we stopped, she would come past my side, and round in front of me to stand facing me, so I am obviously not effectively setting up a boundary with my body language very well on this side. I do have a habit of holding my left shoulder slightly higher than my right, so this might have something to do with it, but I must, must try and get these sessions videoed to try to spot exactly how I am different from one side to the other.
Anyway, we managed to end on a good note, and then I gave Faith a lovely groom, so we were both relaxed and happy!
Singing in the rain
This is going to be a quick one as it has been a long day, and I’m knackered. The weather was blustery and showery today, so I was pleased when Faith stood to have her rug on like an old pro’. She went out into the field calmly, and had a munch of hay. Then after about ten minutes she felt her rug was far too clean, so she lay down in a patch of mud and had a lovely roll. Then she got up, shook herself and carried on munching.
So she was totally calm about her first day out in a rug, which was brill. This evening she was a tiny bit twitchy when I took it off this evening, but absolutely no problems at all.
So here are some photos of Faith being totally not bothered by the whole rug experience...
So she was totally calm about her first day out in a rug, which was brill. This evening she was a tiny bit twitchy when I took it off this evening, but absolutely no problems at all.
So here are some photos of Faith being totally not bothered by the whole rug experience...
Saturday 2 October 2010
The Autumn Collection
Building on last night’s success, I decided to try Faith with her outdoor rug on tonight. It had been a lovely warm dry day, so they had all had the sun on their backs all day which was nice. I did exactly what I did last night , and just started off as I normally would with rug desensitisation, and in no time I had the rug on Faith and all done up.
Again I hung around for a few minutes just to make sure all was well, and when it became apparent that Faith couldn’t be less bothered, I scooted off to do the poo picking.
When I came back, I let her out on to the yard to mooch about a bit while I took some piccies. Then it came to taking the rug off. Now just bearing the past existence of the Velcro monster in mind, I borrowed Tilly’s fly mask and just did a bit of my usual Velcro desensitisation stuff. When I felt that Faith was sufficiently relaxed, I just undid the Velcro at the front of the rug, and she didn’t bat an eyelid.
It is supposed to be horrible weather tomorrow, but what would really brighten my day would be if I could send Faith off into the field clad in her lovely snuggly rug. Keep fingers and toes crossed for us please!
Other than that, I will let the piccies speak for themselves!
Again I hung around for a few minutes just to make sure all was well, and when it became apparent that Faith couldn’t be less bothered, I scooted off to do the poo picking.
When I came back, I let her out on to the yard to mooch about a bit while I took some piccies. Then it came to taking the rug off. Now just bearing the past existence of the Velcro monster in mind, I borrowed Tilly’s fly mask and just did a bit of my usual Velcro desensitisation stuff. When I felt that Faith was sufficiently relaxed, I just undid the Velcro at the front of the rug, and she didn’t bat an eyelid.
It is supposed to be horrible weather tomorrow, but what would really brighten my day would be if I could send Faith off into the field clad in her lovely snuggly rug. Keep fingers and toes crossed for us please!
Other than that, I will let the piccies speak for themselves!
Friday 1 October 2010
In Vogue
In Vogue
Well sort of, if wearing someone else’s clothes counts! It has been a filthy day here, and the neds have been out in the wind and rain all day. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to try Tilly’s best wicking rug on Faith, and hopefully get it on her properly, and keep it on her for a bit.
Well they all came in soaked, although Faith was still toasty warm under her new winter woollies. I took the rug into the stable, let her sniff it, then started working with her as I usually do with rug desensitisation. Well the long and the short of it was that she was happy to have it on, and happy to have it done up, and equally happy to have a jackpot and an extra slice of hay!
I pottered about the yard for five minutes or so, waiting to see if she would have a reaction, but none was forthcoming, so I took myself off to poopick the field, and when I came back she was still calmly munching her hay! So she had the rug on for about half an hour, then I took it off, and she was perfectly dry underneath. All in all a total non-event, just how we like it!
I did manage to get some piccies. The rug is Tilly’s so three inches longer and a bit bigger than Faith’s own rugs, but still not too bad a fit.
And finally, one of the top three most snoggable schnozzles in the world (the other two belonging to Tommy and Tilly of course!).
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