It's a fairly good indication you are building a solid bond when they willingly come trotting up to you.
I can be 100m away from this lad and he will still have his full attention on me. He seems really relish the liberty work we are doing and often asks to do a little more.
I managed to catch a tiny glimpse of the boys playing today. Notice they are both mouthy with each other but there is no malice. In fact, Rio nips Flint on his side to goad Flint into playing after Rio's first attempt is ignored.
When I first saw this it was a huge ah ha moment for me and made me want to completely rethink how I approach biting behaviours.
How often do you watch your horses interact? Do your observations ever influence how you interact with them?
Exposure "training" with horses
When the horses are ready, we try to expose them to as many things as possible to help build their resilience to novelty events. Around their home base we can safely say the mares are unperturbed by
- pigs 🐖
- cows 🐄
- sheep 🐑
- chickens 🐔
- tractors 🚜
- barking and running dogs 🐕
Chilled Mares
The girls doing some self-desensitisation while some new fences are being put in.
The sun is out, birds are chirping, I'd say it's a headshot kind of day ❤
#amryddawnwelshcobs #shelyrondisgleirio #chestnuthorse #welshcobnz
#headshots
#ponystallion
There is always some sort of drama going on around here - this morning, when I opened the shed door to feed the girls out of the rain, I found a crime scene!!
#lifestylefarm
#lifestylefarmers
#amryddawnwelshcobs
#cowsarenaughty
#cowsarecool
I am so very impressed with this guy. He arrived in May. It has rained pretty much ever since so we've had very little opportunity to work together and get to know each other. I've done maybe 2 or 3 sessions of liberty with him (at walk in his muddy sacrifice paddock), the farrier has been a couple of times, he's been taught to back up at liberty and he has learned to wait patiently outside his stable for his meals. Thats about it. As far as I am aware he has never done anything like this prior to coming here.
Today there was a little break in the weather. As you can see though there are more storm clouds looming in the distance and a thunderstorm is brewing. But I took the opportunity to try free lunging him anyway.
This is only our second attempt. The first time in this paddock and the first time at trot. It's obviously not polished in any way, shape or form but what I do see is a highly responsive and trainable horse who tries very hard to please.
Oh and it's only his second time meeting the flag. I also wasn't able to give him my full attention as I was also trying to video at the same time.
Our tb gelding is also pretty trainable but he took much longer to learn this and looks like a bit of a dunce in comparison.
I really rate this little man.
P.s. I thought about trimming this down to show the best bits but I feel it is more important to show the full unedited session. Before this he was eating grass in his paddock minding his own business.
#libertytraining
#welshcob
#welshcobstallion
#shelyrondisgleirio
#beautifulstallion
#welshcobsnz
#welshcobnz
"Do less first" Ryan Rose
I apply this motto in everything we do with our horses, although I'm not sure I always apply it in the context of the intent. I use less gear, I tap into less emotion, and I ask for less in the beginning. If we want a relationship with our horses, we need to give them opportunities to develop the relationship from their perspective. To me, that also means giving them certain freedoms which is why most of the foundation work I do is done at liberty.
"Only ask yes questions" Warrick Schiller
I also try to back up Ryan's catch phrase with one of Warrick's favourite phrases. This one takes a bit of figuring it out and I have to admit, I am still adapting the way I train to include it more frequently. The times I have managed to set it up correctly, I immediately notice a more harmonious relationship with conflict behaviours suddenly melting away.
I have learned a lot from both these trainers. Do I agree with everything they say or do? No (and frankly I don't believe we should blindly follow everything any trainer does). I have found it so very rewarding to move away from dominance strategies into cooperative strategies.
It's so much healthier and safer for me to reward my horses with praise than it is to be in a position where I constantly need to apply some form of force.
#kindhorsemanship
#welshcob
#shelyrondisgleirio
#welshcobstallion
#trainablecobs
#welshcobsnz
#amryddawnwelshcobs
#groundmanners
#libertytraining
The girls thought they would come and help me make up this morning's feeds. UM. Thanks for the offer ladies but...
This guy tries very hard to please. He doesn't always get it right and that is ok with me. I love that the gentler I am with him the better he responds.
Because of how wet it has been we've been super limited for training opportunities and liberty is new to him.
In this video he is in his big paddock. He is free to run off and do as he pleases. Instead he chooses to listen and respond. This is only the second time since the paddocks became really wet that he has had access so I really can't blame him for taking a sneaky mouthful of grass.
Shelyron Disgleirio in action
It's still super wet here in Clutha so Lydia Reynolds (Shelyron Welsh Cob Stud) has kindly provided us with some video Shelyron Disgleirio in action from late last year. More to come
