I'm so lucky to have a friend who does EMMETT and I absolutely love receiving videos of the herd zenning out during a session 💚
The 'top' horse or 'lead' horse is often confused with the loudest horse in the herd.
The top horses in a herd (or the most sensory efficient) are the quietest. They do the least amount of work.
Faith, my 3 year old off the track has the most sensory efficiency in this herd dynamic. Faith stays or moves towards the hay when I make up feeds while the other 2 come up and watch with much anticipation.
This video shows just how much energy Faith conserves and how much the other 2 use.
6 minute video on how I mouth horses.
It's important to identify their try, expect they will not give as much as they did 10 second's ago while understanding they're still trying and per my post below, they don't know if that bit will ever come back out.
One day I'll get a pivo and stand 😂 Don't do this with one hand
Ride number 2. Ride 2 was about seeing how comfortable we can carry someone and how comfortable Gus can be led from the back but especially for the Clydesdale, how alert they remain with their surroundings instead of internalising.
First sit and walk today for Gus 🦄
Another way to reduce all that chitter chatter on the mouth, especially if your horse isn't following smoothly behind you!
Privilege is the opportunity to be trusted to start someone's horse.
Reward is teaching them along the way, and letting them sit and watch the process. Angus and his first saddling today.
So uneventful, as it should be!
Halter Hobble 🐴
Waking up the shut down horse.
Shut down horses are those that, due to past trauma, neglect, or consistent negative training methods, have emotionally and mentally "shut down." These horses may appear obedient and calm, but this demeanor is often a mask for deep-seated fear, anxiety or aggression. "Waking up" a shut down horse requires patience, time, and a thorough understanding of equine behaviour. The goal is to rebuild trust and stimulate the horse's natural curiosity and willingness to engage. Here are key steps involved in this process:
Establish a Safe Environment:
Create a calm and stable environment where the horse feels safe. Consistency in daily routines and gentle handling by familiar people can help establish a sense of security.
Build Trust:
Trust is the foundation of any relationship with a horse. The horse nees to feel comfortable to express themselves in any form as they come out of their shell without punishment. Guidance is key!
Engage the Horse's Curiosity:
Introduce new objects or experiences in a non-threatening way to stimulate the horse's curiosity. This could include kids kicking a football to stimulate the ears, a different horse's poo to stimulate the nose and someone lurking in the bushes to stimulate the eyes.
Go at the Horse's Pace:
Be patient and allow the horse to progress at its own pace but also don't let them hide away. Pushing too hard or too fast can result in setbacks and going too slow won'tencouragethem to search. Celebrate small victories and be consistent in your approach.
Seek Professional Help:
Consider working with a professional trainer or behaviorist experienced in rehabilitating shut down horses. Horse's can display a range of confronting behaviours and seem to 'regress' when they start waking up. When a horse knows you're listening and the start to feel comfortable in communicating back to you, much of their suppressed emotions with come out in many forms.
Consistency and Patience:
Rehabilit
Fence hogging= opportunity
Teach the side pass and discourage the fence hogging at the same time.
Please excuse the terrible filming from the pocket 🙃
Good preparation makes for good progress!
We've been through the motions in the halter and today was time to reintroduce the bit. We were very soft in the mouth, we looked around and observed our surroundings on the fire break and we picked up the correct lead first time each side. So I stopped, got off and we walked back and put her back in the paddock.
I think it's so important that we hop off at random so horses don't destinate back to the mounting block, the gate or wherever you usually dismount. It's also important that you dismount where you get good progress on young and learning horses to really reward the positive progress.
Would you get on this horse?
If yes, why?
If not, why?
How many times have you heard 'just let them buck it out' instead of 'give them a chance to think it through'?
Instant relief from discomfort doesn't necessarily reward unwanted behaviours. Like everything, it's subjective. When you want to teach a horse to accept something, you should want them to think about it. Sure, you can strap a girth up and send them out to buck until they stop, but why would you encourage shutting them down when you can encourage them to think about that pressure and problem solve.
A belly rope is also effective in teaching upward and downwards transitions, making transferring groundwork to the saddle a much more comfortable process.
Here's our first session on what was her 'bad' side.
I like to translate as much as I practically can. From the ground, to tacked up to working above them.
It's not essential to work them like this but if I can get the same softness above them as I can on the ground, then I'll like my chances more of a thinking and confident horse when I get on them.
This 3 year old filly is soft and responsive on the ground but braced and stuck from this perspective so I'll keep working her until she's fluent in her movements and moving forward into my question.
Don't forget to have fun with your horses!
Sometimes, you've got to let your horse lunge you 😆
Before I ride, I go through a check list.
Here's what the hind quarter yield looks like from the saddle!
Those crazy young Thoroughbreds!
Carrot is a really super star 🌟
What's your floating issue 🤔
