HOW TO DO BOX REST/STABLING
This time of year we are often restricted on our horses turnout time. I tend to get LOTS of messages this time of year with horses behaviour suddenly flipping. Now this can have so many factors (including pain!) but one of the big ones is decreased turnout and in some cases no turnout.
I want to start by saying if you yard cannot offer some kind of turnout (days of torrential rain is an exception) throughout the winter...MOVE YARDS! We don't have lots of land available in the UK as a whole but especially in the South, this makes it really difficult to have appropriate sized paddocks for horses. But I promise you there are yards that will be better! You may have to sacrifice some of the human luxuries, but your horse will be happier.
Inevitably there will be times where your horse has to stay in. I currently have a horse on box rest as he knocked himself and has a slight swelling and lameness, luckily he is nearly ready to go back out in the field. We have done lots to keep him as happy mentally as possible whilst he has been in. Some things we have included:
🚶Allowed him to walk around the yard (as advised by our vet)
🐴 Always ensure he has a friend in with him - we have swapped this friend so that the rest of the herd don't suffer!
🌿 LOTS of forage - in many different forms (loose, slow feeders etc)
🥕 Enrichment - treat balls, lick mats, foraging boxes, hay blocks etc.
We always want to ensure he is as happy as we can make him whilst he is in. We have also been taking him on walks (with our vets permission) to help him get out and about and prevent too much running around when he first goes back out.
One of the most vital parts of box rest is to ensure they have constant forage - slow feeder haynets are excellent for this but we also give them some loose hay so they have different eating positions.
Let us know in the comments your best tips for keeping your horse happy when stabled 👇🏼
#horsetraining #you
MOUNTING AND RIDING - FOOD ANXIOUS HORSE
Gemma and Elsa are doing AMAZING!
I have the pleasure of going to help Gemma and her adorable Redwings pony Elsa. When Elsa first arrived she had some anxiety around food . Gemma has done lots of positive reinforcement previously and has been doing an amazing job with her. We found a combination of constant access to forage, water, being near her friends and chaff mixed with some grass nuts was the ultimate combination for Elsa.
Gemma has done an excellent job of helping Elsa understand cues from the ground and they have been on lots of walks exploring their local area. Elsa has had some previous riding experience but we aren't sure how long ago/what she got up to etc. so we started from scratch.
Gemma has sat on Elsa a few times and she has been super. We set up an amazing pole exercise that I picked up from Trudi Dempsey: Equine Trainer and Behaviour Consultant to teach Elsa to come between two poles, touch a cone and be in the perfect position for Gemma to get on. Once she was good at this we introduced Gemma on the block and gradually putting some weight on her back and then getting on.
The first combination of videos was about 2 weeks before the actual riding ones!
Once Elsa mastered this, we set up a combination of cones. This gives Elsa a clear indication of where to go next. We will now introduce the walk-on vocal cue ridden so we can gradually remove the cones.
Amazing job Gemma and Elsa! Can't wait to see you out and about having fun 🥰
Thank for allowing me to share!
#stressfree #younghorse #equinebehaviour #equinebehaviourist #horsetraining #foodanxiety #positivereinforcementtrainer #equinesofinstagram #lucybuttequinebehaviourist #positivereinforcement #younghorsetraining
APRIL AND AIMEE
How can I use positive reinforcement with my young horse?
My horse gets overwhelmed when using food, can I still train using positive reinforcement?
These two questions I get asked regularly. The answer to both is 100% YES!
Young horses (and all horses for that matter!) love learning new things and using positive reinforcement makes it enjoyable for them and us!
Something I find very useful for foals in particular is using 'scratches'. They are often super itchy so using this form of reinforcement can be very beneficial. It can also help when horse and/or owner are learning how to use positive reinforcement.
If horses find food overwhelming and it easily takes them above threshold, we first need to assess why this is happening. Often this is due to positive reinforcement being used incorrectly. This can be anything from: frustration due to low frequency of reinforcement, using a high value food or anything in between. If horses find scratches reinforcing we can use this and practice the positive reinforcement with food in protective contact.
Here April and Aimee are showing the use of scratches to reinforce April for standing on cue. We first introduced this in protective contact and we were sure to find April's most itchy spots before hand! It's vital to keep sessions very short with lots of breaks, especially for young horses.
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Well done April and Aimee! 🥰
#positivereinforcement #younghorsetraining #younghorse #equinebehaviour #equinebehaviourconsultant #horsetraining
PHOENIX'S STORY
A few weeks ago I got the pleasure of meeting Phoenix and Lily.
Phoenix has had a a complicated history and was hand reared due to sadly losing his mum. He has also had an array of physical issues including breaking his jaw. All of this had contributed to him displaying a variety of different behaviours when interacting with humans.
Luckily for Phoenix, his owner knows the importance of having access to plenty of turnout, forage and friends! This is always the first thing I check.
Phoenix used to bite his owner when she was leading him in from the field. This behaviour is fairly common within young horses as they often use their mouths to play and communicate. Our aim was to keep Phoenix below threshold and therefore he was better able to learn how to lead and stand calmly.
We did some positive reinforcement training in protective contact (behind a fence) to begin with to help Phoenix understand what we were asking of him. We then brought him out and worked on some basic leading and standing skills. As soon as he began to get slightly above threshold we took him back into his field to relax for a few minutes. We repeated this multiple times until he was able to walk in and out of the field in a relaxed way, all by using positive reinforcement.
I am very pleased that as soon as the next day I had a very positive update from Lily, to let me know that Phoenix was leading in and out from his field in a relaxed manner.
It's all about understanding body language and helping our horses understand what we are asking of them! And also making it enjoyable for them 🥰
Well done Phoenix and Lily ❤️
TOUCH FOR BODY AWARENESS AND STRENGTHENING
A concern often had for touch training is how can it progress. Darcy has always struggled to be straight and build up the correct muscle over her top line as she often braces in her neck when moving. This is the same during groundwork, ridden and in the field!
I have introduced a touch, follow and hold cue with her to help move her body into the position that will help strengthen it in the correct way.
She has picked it up very quickly and what used to be a rushed falling through her shoulder position, is now relaxed and allowing her to bend correctly and lift her back. It has been great for her to get her to understand the feeling and build the strength before we ask for it ridden.
She still has some strengthening work to do but I am happy with the progress🥰
THOROUGHBRED TRAINING VIDEOS
This week I got the pleasure of seeing a few lovely thoroughbreds and their super owners. Both with their own challenges and fears, we helped them to overcome these and made super progress with both.
Theo and Georgia found the fun in positive reinforcement and Theo now loves following the target stick. The very scary tarpaulin was not so scary by the end of our session and he overcame a variety of fears. Well done Georgia and Theo!
Lee-Anne and River have also had their difficulties over the last year but with Lee-Anne's careful management River is much improved physically. It's so important to listen to your horse! We worked on halting in a straight line as he finds this difficult. River picked positive reinforcement up very quickly and Lee-Anne did a fab job! Well done to you both!
Equine Behaviour Consultant. Helping owners understand their horses with a welfare-centred approach.
