#71 Is it You or Your Little Darling ?

#71 Is It You or Your Little Darling ?


I hear, fairly often, that someone feels very strongly that their horse needs to learn his/her manners.  And, they become quite aggravated with their darling, if not downright pissy.


             A reasonable response is, instead of thinking that your horse needs to mind his manners why not simply tell yourself that YOU need to take the time to  better understand your horse ?


             He is pushy because you have taught him that he can mow you down, he is generally disobedient because he either hasn't figured out the right answer from you or you allow him occasionally to be disobedient so it becomes a habit with him.


               He runs away from you basically because he either does not want to be with you or it has become a "game" with him.


                He paws in his stall when it is feeding time because you still feed him when he paws so it is his reward and that is what you have taught him.


                He moves when you go to climb up on him because you still get up there while he is moving.


                 He/she has the crummy manners because you haven't taken the time to learn about his needs and requirements as a horse herd animal and because you are inconsistent.


                So be more aware and understanding of your prey partner - find out what it is that she/he really needs and then do it - once you do that,  your darling will be marvelous!!!


Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#70 Leading by the Legs

#70 Leading by the Legs

There just isn't any law that states that you can only lead your darling by his head.  Why not lead him with his front leg (legs), back leg (legs), tail, ears, mane ??? 

It is simply done using pressure and release - as soon as he moves, let go of what you are holding onto - for example, his legs or ear. Then start again.  He'll get the hang of it.

Below is a short video of me teaching the horse of one of our guests how to lead with his front legs.

You may ask WHY do I want to do that ?

Well, there are 2 reasons:

1.  Because you can - the more that you can do with your horse, the better and more "broke" your horse is.

2.)  You just never know !   Dusty moved into a really, really tight space where he would never have been able to turn around to get out of there - so I simply led him backwards by his tail.   Easy peasy...

So, why not give it a try ?

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#69 Time

                                            #69 Time 

Folks have incredibly busy schedules and often don't/can't find the time to ride.  That's ok.  What is important is the time you spend with your little darling.  It makes all the difference in the world.

   It doesn't matter if it is only 10 minutes.  It is 10 minutes very well spend for your darling and for you.  If you can get him - (big) - halter him (big) - walk him (big) - this is HUGE in his head. 

 This is when you reinforce your leadership and your partnership with him.  And you do that simply by having him face you if he is in the stall, or get him to come to you, or he stands still when you go to get him;  you get him to lower his head to put the halter on, then you lead him next to you - all very quietly.  No rushing.  

You may only be able to walk him for 1 minute - but that 1 minute is very important to your horse.  He remembers that he can trust you and feel secure with you and even like you.  You don't need snacks.  

You've always heard it's the little things that matter.  Well, it's these little things that make a world of difference for the relationship between you and your horse. 

Dusty focused on Mary

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#68 Small Stuff to Big CHANGE

#68 Small Stuff to Big Changes


The other day I worked with a woman and her horse who had characteristics of  somewhat being high-strong, nervous, pushy, dominating, disrespectful and just a tad scary  (the horse, not the lady !).
      
  1.)   I reminded her that "he who moves his feet first, loses" when it comes to the dominance and respect game.  This is so easy to forget and so incredibly important to remember.  It is the lead horse (should be you) who stands his ground, and the other darlings move away- this is on ground or under saddle (horse decides to go left when you want to go right and you allow it - not good;  horse moves into your space and you move over - not cool).  


Your little darlings figures, in his horse mind, that he cannot depend on you for safety since you can't even stand your ground - translated, you are not a good, strong, confident leader.

Walk Stop  Corinne & Dakota

Walk/stop exercise  Henry & Dennis

      2.)   A simple "walk-stop" exercise - one of the greatest exercises in the whole world, I think.  Walk alongside your horse 3 steps, then a complete stop,  Then start again.  Over and over again.  They begin to listen to you and focus on you and be in tune with you.  They become very calm when they do this.  This is great for calming down, and also for slowing down your horse and/or speeding him up - it works great both ways.  Great under saddle too!



    3.)   If your darling pushes or crosses over in front of you when you are leading or walking with her, just stop and YOU push him AWAY from you - in other words, you move his feet.


Pretty much that is all we did and the result and change were quite amazing to see - so simple but we just don't think about it.
Your darlings love nothing better than to know 'THE RULES' and learn easily and quickly that as long as I try and listen to my horse partner I don't have to be nervous or pushy or domineering and I can trust - WHY? - because she quietly and politely taught me the rules and I now know the rules.  So I always, always get the right answer.


These simple little steps create huge changes.  Give them a try.
 

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

  #67   The Church-goers !

This is a video of two horses and the church steps.  It is about gaining confidence and having trust in the rider.  The method is approach and retreat.

The value of the video is not just showing approach/retreat and confidence and trust, but the importance of FUN and RELAXATION in trying to get your little darling to do something.  Turn the volume up a bit and listen to us laughing and our comments - this is what horse riding is about - good times for you and for the darlings.

It is not about the church steps, it is not about crossing a creek, it is not about going across a bridge, it is not about getting into the trailer - it is about the PARTNERSHIP you have between you and your horse - if he gets up the steps today - great - if not, that is just fine too - he will get there eventually.  It is about fun, trust, confidence, and joy.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#66 Mounting

#66 Mounting 

It is somewhat important that your little darling stands still when you go to climb up on her/him.  If they are moving around, they are talking to you and telling you that they are not paying attention or they just are not ready for you to get up there.  So LISTEN.

  There are TONS of ways to get them to stand still - the video shows just a few.  I slap (flop) the stirrups a lot while they are moving and then stop slapping the stirrups as soon as they stop moving, then go to get on, if they start moving, I start slapping the stirrups, when they stop, I stop and then try to get on.  This usually will only take a few minutes but consistency is the key here.  Just don't get on when they are moving.  

 

The 'slapping" or "flopping" of the stirrups - it is simply aggravating them and they stand still because they end up disliking the aggravation.

And, once your body is up there, have them stand still, NOT immediately walk off.  If they go to walk off without your permission, do a whoa, or a backup,  Wait,  Keep doing this until they stand still and YOU ask them to move out.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#65 Trick or Treat

#65  Trick or Treat

Tricks are just a great way with communicating with your little darling.  What tricks do for the both of you is to teach each of you how to understand and talk with your horse and figure out what speed the two of you can go to learn something new.

  What is so fascinating is that once you start doing dinky little tricks you'll notice how much faster he learns as you continue your trick training and how much more you improve in your skills in teaching and making things clear..  He will begin to catch on really quick - and that is simply because with each trick you and he have learned to understand each other more and more and more.

But a huge hint here - if you haven't done tricks before - you need to be in a good mood and have lots of patience - and I mean patience - because in the beginning the little darling is going to be absolutely clueless and you are going to get frustrated - which you do not want.

So, you need to reward the "smallest try" as in "shaping" - an earlier blog and finish on a good note.  He doesn't have to learn the whole trick in one session.  For example, a simple trick is to get him just to move each of his front feet forward.  So you need to get one foot forward first.  If that is all you have time for that day, and you are getting cranky, then leave it at that and start again another day.  Even if he just lifts that foot which you are asking him to move, that is fine.

As you do more and more of this stuff, he will really catch on - it is not about learning tricks, it is about the partnership that is going to develop from doing this.  It is really cool.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#64 Horseplay - & we ride these darlings ???

    #54 Horseplay -and we ride these darlings ???

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#63 Playdough and Legos

#63  Playdough and Legos

Shaping the behavior - is a nice calming phrase to remember. It goes with the statement "reward the slightest try. " So when you are trying to teach your darling something and he only does real real tiny baby steps in the beginning - which is to be expected - that is his way of attempting to understand what it is you are asking. It is YOUR job to let him know he is in the process of getting the correct ANSWER and he has to know this UNEQUIVOCALLY.

 
To avoid frustration & impatience on your part - KEEP thinking of it as "shaping" like when you are making something out of playdough or legos - you start off and it is just a messy blob, then little by little by little it starts to take shape. That is what your horse is doing. So that he knows he is going in the right direction he needs acknowledgement from you that he is going in the right direction and this can take any form such as  a treat, or the release (just stop doing what you were doing), a gentle pat and short wait, etc. He is shaping the playdough or building the lego thingee which will eventually result in the act or behavior that you are asking of him.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com

#62 Little Darlings Going Solo

#62   Little Darlings Going Solo

I just put together a video - on helping your darling and you get to where you can ride alone.

Going solo does not have to be done in one session or in a day.

Just, when you have had enough, or your time is short,or whatever, END ON A GOOD NOTE where he is at least as far as he has gone before or a tad farther.  Let him rest there a few seconds.

At that point, you can ALWAYS call it quits til the next time.

And the next time, to get him to where he had left off previously, will take a bit less time.

Just keep working it - in no time, really and truly, you'll both be successful, safe and happy.

  You are really going to love riding alone.

This is just so worth it.

Adventure Horse Riding in NYS            Smilla13@gmail.com  (Mary Dixon)         www.RideNYS.com