More Wintertime "Fun"

WINTER LESSONS:

Picture the Scene: Today the sun came out. After more than a week of rain, snow and cold the sun finally came out. The temperature never broke 40 but the snow was beginning to melt in places and the horses were feeling playful. In out training area we have a large fir tree. We have it limbed up so folks can sit under it during the various workshops. Nice shade, great smell. To the left of the tree there is an area that catches quite a bit of water when it rains. If the little drainage ditch can’t handle the flow it backs up into our “pool noodle” area. Make a pretty extreme water crossing! It was into this scene that today’s lesson took place. It has been a full week since Cearra’s last session.

Rule of Behavior #5: No pulling and acting the fool! If the horse is asked to do a thing and it expresses refusal it MAY back up calmly or stand still. A little short or head tossing is also allowed. What is NOT allowed is to lose one’s brain, pull back hard and generally act the fool. That response equals getting sweaty.

The Session: Riding was not going to be possible. Way too wet and snow covered to be safe. However groundwork was deemed to be safe at the walk and trot. We did some work with Cearra’s feet and legs (especially the rear ones). We desensitized. We did lateral flexion. We backed up with rhythmic and steady pressure. We yielded the fore and hind. We did ground school circles. Thins went very well. Her retention is quite good.

Then, because it seemed like the thing to do we attempted to cross some water. Up to his point most obstacles have not phased this girl. Just review earlier entries or check out the videos. She seemed comfortable with most of the obstacles we have placed in front of her. Well…the DRY ones anyway.

Seems our gal does not have any real confidence crossing water. We asked softly. She totally broke Rule of Behavior #5. Big time. Remember there is snow, mud and standing water in the training area. We did a little mud skiing. We made some very clear corrections and we made sure it was crystal clear that acting the fool does not work to make the thing you don’t want to do go away. Cearra was reminded that breaking the rule is not acceptable. She figured this out but had to be reminded a few times. This will test your feel, timing and patience to say the least. Yet, if you give up before a win happens then you create more issues (which is the opposite of the goals which is to reduce issues before they happen). Yes, this mare can be stubborn and opinionated. She is not a fan of mud or it seems muddy water. We advanced, retreated and rewarded (yes, we did give a cookie or two) once we got a hoof in the water calmly. Then we walked around and did some other obstacles and more groundwork. Once the brain was firing on all eight cylinders we went back to the water. Front hooves in calmly then backing out calmly. Got this about four times in two different locations. Cool. Then we backed into the water. Trying not to laugh as she backs in and then realizes her hoof is in the muddy water. She picked it up and held it above the surface and gave us a look. So we moved her forward, gave a rub and then backed her a little further into the water which created a need for both rear hooves to be under the shallow surface. We got her to stand calmly (she was not amused) and was rewarded again. After a couple of “wins” we wrapped up the session doing things she is confident doing. More rubs and a few cookies happened too.

Lesson learned today: If you are going to introduce something new to Cearra, be sure she has done a bit of groundwork and has her confidence happening in her brain FIRST. Then you have to “baby step” the process. She needs more “soak time” then our other horses. It comes from having limited life experience. Still, if you end her sessions on a win she retains the skills much better. Patience, clarity and reward. These concepts, in equal measure certainly help to improve the results.

Tomorrow we will try it again.

Saturday we have a workshop scheduled. Cearra gets to help work with some newer folks. Should be fun.

Some pictures taken on Monday 01/23/2017

 The Lucky Star Wishing Well

A view of the training area.

Ronan (red), Cearra (purple) and Argent (green).

WINTER LESSONS Pt. 2:

GOALS: 1) To improve upon yesterday and Cearra’s confidence through the large puddles. 2) Get her mind engaged, body supple and work ethic back in shape.

SESSION REVIEW: Setting goals, especially with the weather and the time off everyone has had is important. Expectation in mind and adaptability of training firmly in place the session started off with round pen. Now the round pen has snow in it along with several good sized puddles. We simply did what we normally do in the round pen as a warm up off the lead line. When Cearra tried to “cut the circle” and not pas through the puddles she was softly corrected and when she passed through them she was rewarded. Message received. Wins happened. Warm-up happened. Good times.

Next we played with some obstacles. The footing is snow covered in some places, muddy in others. The turn box, the deadfall box, pool noodle pass, the run-n shelter, the cowboy carwash and others all were played on. Then we attempted the horse eating water paddle again. Not let us be clear: this puddle is about 3 feet wide, 5 feet long and 4 inches deep. Some advance and retreat, some reward and relaxing, a little bit of fussing, and finally several really nice passes through the puddle on the width and the length. Just a couple of small pulls but MUCH less drama than yesterday. No “skiing” or “human drag” at all.

We had some nice “wins”, we got some refinements and we generally had an almost drama free session. It is all about consistency and taking those baby steps. Knowing when to press and when to back off. Cearra did well. One more day of “work” tomorrow then Friday off. Saturday is the workshop!

Hoping the weather holds!