Ponies should be bigger.
Often they are so much braver and outgoing than horses but because they are small they get stuck doing little kid things and never get to show their full potential.
Obviously taking care of little kiddies is still super important, but it's kind of like someone who can play in a band and smash out songs on the guitar or drums, getting stuck teaching hot cross buns on recorder to primary school kids. It's still important teaching them well and giving the kids a good start, but it makes me a little sad that so many ponies won't get to rock on stage like they should!
If this guy were just a bit bigger, he would have the option of a slightly older and experienced rider and can you imagine the things he would do?
Just ignore me in a dress with thongs on, it was hot as, and it was a spur of the moment idea, and prep for another cooler thing!
Using food rewards.
There is a very fine line between using food to make a positive difference and becoming the snack wagon.
I have tried to stop using the word "treats"as that's what grandma gives you when you go to visit, you get treats for existing, for being the grand child, you could be a spoilt naughty brat and grandma will likely give you treats still, even if your parents say no.
I see a lot of grandma's working with horses, the horse is displaying behaviours that are not ideal, but granny just keeps loading them with lollies and reinforcing these behaviours.
Stepping into granny's space, frisking her for lollies, being pushy etc, but granny thinks it's great because her pony is finally showing interest in her, sorry granny, it's tough to hear but the horse doesn't want you, it just wants the treats, you are now the treat wagon. Run out of treats and your horse will lose interest quickly.
Don't be a granny.
Now, the kid who walks all over granny now heads off to soccer practise with a coach who asks them to try, to have a go and the coach rewards them when they have had a go. Next thing the kid is trying hard to get goals and get better to receive the rewards.
Now picture the coach working with a horse, they will ask for the horse to respect their space and start with small doable tasks, and use praise and food rewards *if they choose to, and the horse will then respond to consistency, to boundaries and next thing the horse is wanting to learn more and do more get to the goal!
So what's the difference between the Grandma and the coach and why? And which are you?
Does your horse literally chase you around to get snacks, do you need snacks to bribe your horse to do things? Will your horse say no if the snack does not reach the value of the task?
Or does your horse respect your space, receive their rewards in a gentle and safe way, allow you to approach them and catch them without leaving even if you don't have a treat?
Does your horse thi
One week in with Cashew, he is starting to face up to get caught, improved immensely on his offside, not as reactive, started to connect up and follow me in the round yard, and an added extra, jump up into the float just because we can.
Good pony standing up nicely and having a doze. Much nicer than little stompy, Diggy, stompy.
Yes, tying up and learning to stand quietly is worth the investment, not only to keep them safe but to help stretch their attention span.
Probably pretty ordinary quality it's super zoomed.
A day well spent! Thankyou to everyone who was part of it.
Apparently I'm a bit extreme but mustering naughty cows on steep country is hectic fun! It's been a very long time since I have spent all day in the saddle.
This is the only video I got because on the steep bits I was hanging on 😂
Yep it was dark and jumped on him bareback to head back up to the paddock.
I realised after that he still had his fly veil on so goodness knows what he could see, but it didn't faze him one bit.
He is proving to be quite the superstar and eagerly accepts any challenge I set him.
Everyone who meets him absolutely loves him, I will be posting his official sale ad very soon, he is an impressive horse with a bright future ahead of him!
Washing the horse....
It can be hard in dry times, but incorporating this into your routine after a ride will make a big difference to the horse if it's not the biggest fan of bath time.
A quick spritz with the hose on their hot sweaty bits to remove the sweat and cool them down after work will soon become enjoyed and anticipated if it makes them feel better!
You don't have to wash them every time but you will find if you don't rinse them down once they have sweated up you might get bleached areas or even have skin issues arise.
If they are unsure about water/washing you can let them out on a long lead and put your finger over the end of the hose and point it up above them for it to come down like rain.
Another good tip is starting at the feet, although this doesn't work for horses with sensitive legs, I have found they actually prefer the water to hit a less sensitive area like their shoulder at the start.
Most importantly the same one method won't work for every single horse when you are training, so it's beneficial to try new things and keep improving your horse to accept and even enjoy these every day mundane tasks.
I want one of these! Mwuahahahaaa 👻☠️
He was already confident and inquisitive so I have been building on that and getting him to approach and touch things he may be unsure about.
So weird things like this and he is wondering what the fuss is about, checks it out and is happy to move on. Tarps, flappy things, stumps, they are all just boring now, as they should be.
How does your horse tackle new or different things?
(Please excuse his head shaking, the flies were super sticky this morning, it's impossible to get rid of them!)
I'm on bareback 😁
We have gone over the poles before, but first time even looking at the green 'jump' today, and he isn't a fan of the one with the flowers but as you can see we just stopped, and he checked in with me before we continued, same with the crossover we stepped up to it and he checked it out before going over.
It might look boring and uneventful, but having a horse who has their mind engaged where communication is reciprocated between them and the rider or handler, will go a lot further and be a hell of a lot safer than the horse who rushes through without thinking.
To follow on from my last post, getting Eli to roll back out of the yard with no fence to help.
He doesn't yet understand that he needs to be rocked back until I say go, and you will see he gets a step or two before trying to walk forward where I reinforce with that backwards step before asking for turn.
Another way to help with a roll back is to slowly spiral in and when the spiral gets too tiny you step them across and then walk out. I will try to get video of it at some stage.
The are lots of different manoeuvres you can teach your horse to get them moving off your leg and responsive 😊
And yes he isn't over keen with contact from the bit, he is getting used to it, I didn't pull him backwards though 😊
So I did a thing.
Super chuffed with the young man, he didn't even flinch at it!
