I've been warned again and again that Arabs are "crazy". Even Arab horse owners on the Savvy Club Forum are proud of just how many corners of the Horsenality chart their horses exist in. Cayleigh has been pretty straight forward for me, an LBI with some minor LBE tenancies. Not strongly in any particular corner but generally a pleasure to play with even if she can be a bit stubborn.
Tonight Cayleigh and I played with several items, my $1 hula-hoops with "rain beads" inside them for a nice rattling sound, a blue tarp, some cones and a small horse ball with handle. I brought her into the ring and we warmed up with some spinning in place, we are starting to get the timing right so that we don't move forward and back so much but instead move her feet sideways. Everything seems okay but that old one eye problem remains even when she is standing square on to me she will shift her head so only one eye is on me. I do not want to constantly correct her but at this point a quick twitch of the line seems to be the only thing to get her looking at me. Friendly before and after but I moved on fairly quickly as she seemed impatient to me.
Driving is getting better on the 22' line, we still start close then I can set it up so that I'm further away, say 4-5 feet from the end of the line. She listens to my pressure from the carrot stick to move forward and/or keep her front in line with the direction of travel. As long as I'm moving she is. To capitalize on that I've been working on my focus, paying special attention to where we are going. I think setting up a serpentine and working on my energy level will be the next step in progressing our communication while driving.
Sideways was next on the plate since I often drive to the letters on the wall and the transition from driving to sideways is getting better. With that success I've been teaching Cayleigh to sideways with porcupine off my thumb and finger in zone three. She will move directly sideways now if I have equal pressure on both fingers, and I can apply a little more pressure to the front or back to get her straightened out. Some more driving towards the tarp and we have some reaction but in typical LBI fashion she stands and stared, or jumps back to be "safe" and then stands and stares. I put pressure on until near the edge of the tarp then let her decide what to do. It has been interesting watching her get excited and move through her internal processes to the point where she is testing out the tarp with her lips. "Head, Neck and maybe the feet" will get on there next time. Some squeeze game between me and the tarp 3 feet away and she walks gently, disengaging readily. After Yoyo, I think Squeeze is her favourite game because she gets to be close to me, even brushing me when I narrow the gap further.
All this is fairly typical of the Left Brain Introvert I've come to know and respect. We move on to the circling game I Yoyo her out and ask for a left circle, she goes as soon as I lift the stick and I tag the ground in front of me to get her energy up just a little. She's off at a canter. Faster than I wanted but the goal was a little energy and I'm happy if she stays there and responds when I ask her to come in. She still does more of an oval behind me than a circle, so on the second lap I put pressure on her to move her out. I'm concerned that the rope is too slack when she is behind me as she is not putting any pressure on in at all around the front. As a matter of fact it is dragging exactly the way one would wish at higher levels but that proves a concern as she comes in where I can see the rope less behind me. Well, that works, and next time she doesn't come in nearly the oval she usually does. As long as I'm not actively guiding her I'm trying hard to be neutral and not add to her energy. I don't want her to loose contact so on the fourth lap and little bend to my body and a look at her butt and bang she is disengaged and walking to me with a question. So, now this is the second quater of the circle I've been seeing signs of in her, the Extrovert. A quick pet on the nose and some friendly and I ask her out and to the right this time. Pretty much the same thing, very focused on me with quick responses to my pressure, this time she didn't need to be reminded that she needs to stay out on the circle. Excelllent, this looks like it is going to be some kinda fun. Okay, let's try a reverse on the circle, wish I had set up an extra cone over here 'cause my goal is a figure eight in the end. We go to the left again, with her energy up she responds well when I bow a little, look at her butt and take a step back, as she turns to me, my arm goes out to the right and I stand up with my stick pointing directly opposite my right hand. Well, reverses on the circle are always exciting for her (I've never tagged her or the ground when doing this so I'm not sure why). When behind me she breaks stride then speeds up again like I smacked her. Odd. She does this twice more and I decide to bring her in. The usual hind quarter disengagement simply doesn't work. She went from unmovable LBI, to attentive and excited LBE, but the reverse put her way over the top and she detached from me, running on emotion and not much else. The one thing she's never been is detached from me! I pull on her nose for my phase two.
Oh, did I mention I was standing in a hula-hoop? Well, I didn't remember I was in one then either so when she pulled me off my feet I almost tripped over it. Luckily the hoop didn't cling to my feet so I landed into a low centre of gravity crouch and simply counterbalanced her pulling. Hand over hand I brough her in towards me until she reconnected and came to me. Of course, at the time I didn't realize she was RBE. I didn't figure that out until we were looking at each other, she sweating from the exercise in her medium length winter coat, and me puzzled by this new part of her personality I've uncovered. I'm pretty sure it is the distance from me that is doing it as I never had this reaction on the twelve foot line. She's often made it to LBE and her wanting to drift when her energy is up is why I've moved up to the 22' line, to give her that freedom.
We ended the day with some driving and leading exercises just to make sure everything was okay, it was, and so I could think about what happened.
Be careful using a disengage to create a change of direction. Especially in the beginning, disengage means "game over." Using the disengage can create a lie and you can get a lot of emotion and bad attitude from your horse. I did this with Moose and a little with Cricket - it was BAD news. After I learned a true flowing change of direction, I understood how to ask for COD with partial disengagment which actually becomes engagement of the HQ. It's confusing but it can make a HUGE difference.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a DVD with the Backward S pattern? That's great for building draw and creating a smooth COD.
Hmm, been searching for backwards S, I think that's the pattern they call tumbling rocks now? A falling leaf in reverse?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, no I don't, but reviewed the ONLINE patterns DVD on circling with reverses and will keep your advice in mind.
PeterC
It is so odd, I know I'm making plenty of mistakes, as is Cayleigh, we're learning together. Yet after this "incident" and how I handled it the one eye problem seems to have gone away. She was focused on me even though they are resurfacing the rail lines and making a god awful noise which I'll write about tomorrow I hope....
ReplyDeletePeterC