the horse i ride is a B*TCH!
Options
Replies
-
well I see that only the end of this group is some what current. Inother words I may be talking to myself. I know none of us want to be abusive and yet we all loose our tempers at times (I do apologize to my horse when I regain myself)
I have been with my OTTB for 8 years. I found him as a 5 year old rescue and trained him myself. An amateur with lots of horse experience but not a pro trainer.
when I ran into snags, I tried never to go down the path of You Listen To Me. In my relationship, we are a team. If a horse freezes, or shies or whatever, I used my big human brain to figure things out. I have learned from clicker training to go back to what the horse liked, or what he could do. (Alex Kurland is just great and SO pro horse)
One reason I love clicker, and I am now working with several TBs at the farm where I board who have particular "issues" is that Clicker totally changes the game. You share a language and all but the most shy horse wants to play immediately!
for a frozen horse, I would just pop off, Well Can You back ( just move a muscle), Click and Treat. can you walk forward, again any tiny movement is rewarded. suddnely the horse is focused on cha cha cha. I could probably hop on, repeat lesson from saddle.
Horses do things for a reason, IMHO. If I smack or scream etc etc, the wrong part of my brain took over. To my BFF, I have become a predator and that sucks. but they forgive us, again and again.0
