Blondie beginnings of Spanish Walk
Returning from Anja Beran’s workshop, I decided to teach Blondie the Spanish Walk.
The exercise helps to lift the shoulders which is beneficial to her since she tends to throw her weight forward down.
It is a bit tricky because she has been taught a leg lift in order to get to some sort of school halt and rearing (why???).
She used to pull her front leg up whenever she got stuck, I didn’t want to bring this behaviour back.
To avoid this, I immediately ask for forward after Blondie brings her front leg up. The focus is on step forward and less on up, which is why I click on the forward step instead of the lift.
Note that these steps are the very beginning (Always remember the film the first trials 😉 they will become useful later on)
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde
Only the best for our super model 🥰🔥🦄 (a.k.a. George Clooney of Predarezzo)
Malou training week 8: Introduction of flexions
Being able to request a release at the poll into a tiny lateral flexion is the keys to the kingdom for me. When the horse is able to release on a subtle request through hands or lead rope or reins, you can start any new activity in relaxation which is crucial.
They need to learn this, as do we.
When my Feldenkrais teacher first asked me to release my head into her hands, I could not do it. It requires a lot of trust to release our precious head and neck into someone else’s hands. And if you don’t practice it, you wouldn’t know how to let go of your neck muscles.
Why would we ask our horses to give us their head? Because it allows us to communicate with the them with nuance and finesse. Direct contact of our hands on their head (and body) or indirectly through lead rope and reins, is tactile communication.
Requesting and getting slight flexions allow us to check in whether they are tense or relaxed and if they are relaxed, we can influence their entire body through these small flexions. In a relaxed horse, these flexions travel through their entire body (as they do for us).
I can’t stress enough how important they are.
I’m beginning to teach Malou how to respond to a request for a give into a tiny lateral flexion. Initially, I use three target points: hands on nose and chin and my forehead at the point where she should “fold”. The last point will soon disappear and in the end I can transfer from my hands to lead rope and reins.
Malou is more stiff on her right. So I started teaching it on the easier left side.
You can see in the clip that the right side is more challenging. But you can also see why its important to work on that side because even at a halt I can shift her weight from the overloaded right shoulder to the left by just asking for tiny flexion at the jaw line. Isn’t that wild.
Malou’s training is done together with @equitazioneinarmonia
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #
Malou training week 7. Shoulder balance
Starting a young horse is not only about putting a saddle and rider on her back.
If you want to have a riding horse that is enjoying the rides and keeps enjoying them for many years to come, you must work on balance.
When you put a rider on a horse’s back, you disturb their balance. They will put more weight on their shoulders. And most often, one shoulder will carry more weight than the other.
Malou tends to overload her right front leg, even without a rider. In order to avoid future lameness on that leg due to chronic overloading, we must teach her how to shift her balance a little to the left shoulder so both legs carry the same weight.
This clip shows the very beginning of teaching Malou these weight shifts from the ground. As we go around the circle, I am asking Malou to bend ner neck to the inside and shift the weight from the right to the left shoulder. This round around the circle of cones is the result of many turns around individual cones until she could continue in that balance around the circle.
As we progress with the training, she will get better and better at it. However, the tendency to fall on her right shoulder will always be there and it’s her owner’s @gymnastricks.hundefitness responsibility to keep reminding Malou to carry herself in a good and healthy balance.
Malou’s training is done in collaboration with knowledgeable and skilled @equitazioneinarmonia
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde #equitazioneinarmonia
Malou training week 7. Getting in the saddle
When you are on your horse’s back, you are disturbing her balance. At the very beginning we do not ask for standing more than a second. It’s similar to balancing on a bicycle at a standstill. They need some movement to find balance.
They will fall on the shoulders forward but also to the side. Malou tends to put more weight on her right shoulder. With the rider, it gets worse. To avoid wear and tear on the right front leg and improve her balance, we need to teach her how to distribute her weight equally on all four feet. This will be a life long journey but she will get better at it.
In this short clip you see me and Giulia @equitazioneinarmonia celebrating Malou’s small weight shift under saddle.
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde #equitazioneinarmonia
Malou training week 5. Getting in the saddle
When your horse is aligning herself to the saddle and shows no signs of worry when you put weight on her back, then you can get on. I would not do too many repetitions of adding weight to the stirrup. If you have prepared her well, and she stands firmly at the mounting block, then get on. Make sure you wear a helmet and have a helper on the ground. The ground person is leading the horse, the rider is a passenger. Your horse does not understand yet any of the cues coming from the person on her back. Walk on and let her experience this new challenge.
If you are on your own, you can use the mats and verbal cues to get your horse to go forward.
In the saddle Giulia Gaibazzi @equitazioneinarmonia
Fabulous horse by @gymnastricks.hundefitness
Full session on
https://youtu.be/2cRrL18Ox_I
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde #equitazioneinarmonia
Malou training week 5. Preparing for the rider.
I am teaching Malou to bring the saddle to me. @alexandra.kurland.5 calls this lesson “Capture the saddle”. For this, I am using Malou’s Western Riding pad, which allows me to wiggle and make the saddle relevant. I am also teaching her where she will find the food when the person is on her back. And she gets to practice her mat skills 🤩
Malou is the jewel 💎 of @gymnastricks.hundefitness and I have the honor of training her together with @equitazioneinarmonia
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde #equitazioneinarmonia
Malou training week 4. Building the saddle.
Sometimes things are easy.
To get to this point with Blondie was a huge challenge. Malou on the other hand was cool as a cucumber 🥒
Super preparation by @gymnastricks.hundefitness
Next step is the real girth and then the saddle with help from @equitazioneinarmonia
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde
#equitazioneinarmonia
Malou training week 4. Building the saddle.
I used a similar approach to Blondie’s training which was total overkill because her owner @gymnastricks.hundefitness prepared Malou very well. But you can never assume anything so we started at the beginning.
The movement cycle stepping forward, click and dynamic food deliver to reset.
I am then fading the saddle pad into that same loop so that Malou brings herself under the saddle pad as she comes forward, click, feeding backward to reset. Repeat. I’m so enjoying this training collaboration with @equitazioneinarmonia
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde
Malou 3 weeks
I am testing Alex Kurland’s Mounting Block lesson.
The aim for Malou is riding but before even thinking about that, we need to make sure that she is confident with a rider on a mounting block, next to her side and higher up than normal. We want her to approach this rider, align herself to the mounting block and eventually bringing the saddle to the rider.
In this session, I am asking whether she can yield her hips, shift her weight back and bring herself forward next to me on the mounting block.
She is still a little nervous in the strange environment. The other horses are in the forest next to the arena and comfort her a little.
She is handling it quite well, I am pleased. She also gets better with the mat.
Malou is owned by Gymnastricks and trained in collaboration with Giulia Gaibazzi, Equitazione in armonia
We have a resident deer who enjoys hanging out around our outdoor school. We see him so regularly that we named him “Tino”. The horses still freak out when he makes his sudden appearances though.
A friend of mine @gymnastricks.hundefitness was filming us as I was explaining @alexandra.kurland.5 ’s training progression when Tino suddenly came by. He provided a great opportunity to show the benefits of the foundation lesson “Head lowering” 😅Thanks Tino 🦌
#animaltraining #classicaldressage #horse #pferd #clickertraining #clickertraininghorses #clickerhorse #clickertrainer #positivereinforcement #clickerpferd #clickerpony #clickertrainedhorses #clickertrainingpferde
