Sunday, September 23, 2012

Establish Success





This week while riding Dusty I had an epiphany of sorts.  When cueing Dusty into the trot she needs no more than a feather light touch of my calf and she surges forward.  Her pace is just a little bit too forward, and I then have to half-halt and slow her down to where I want her.

It occurred to me that it might almost seem like a punishment to her when I slow her down.  I mean, here I am asking for the trot and she gives it to me.  In the next second, I take it all back and make her slow down.  She may be confused by this conflicting set of cues.  Or she just thinks I’m crazy and don’t know what I want.

So after discussing this with my trainer/daughter, we both agreed it would be best for Dusty and myself to set her up for success.  By this I mean that, while walking, I get the positioning and pace I think will make it easier for her to succeed, and only ask for the trot transition in a situation where she is balanced and positioned in such a way that she is not likely to blast off in the first place. 

We do this on a circle, starting at around 20 meters.  Once she was relaxed and paying attention, we’d walk a smaller circle about ¼ of this in just one corner of the arena, and ask for the trot just as we were heading into the corner from the center of the arena, so there was plenty of rail and corner for support.  Dusty wasn’t asked for the trot until we were all satisfied that she wouldn’t shoot off like a rocket.  You can feel when the time is right to ask just by the softness felt through the reins and the swing through the back.  

If the transition went smoothly and the trot was quiet and soft, we continued through the turn and trotted on the 20 meter circle.  If the trot was speedy or resistant, we stayed on the ¼ arena corner circle until it was under control, came back to walk and started over.

With just a few tries, I did get a consistently nice transition and pace and an even nicer halt this way.  We repeated the whole process in the other direction with the same result.

We’ve decided to keep working with Dusty this way until she realizes that the trot doesn’t have to be at Mach 10 all the time.  If we make it easy for her to succeed when she does it right I’m sure she’ll pick up on it quickly, she’s a smart girl.

I think it’s a good training concept to set all the horses up to succeed and make them feel good about their jobs.  Who wouldn’t feel good about getting it right instead of wrong most of the time?  It’s a good way to instill confidence in a horse and in humans for that matter.  We all need to feel good about ourselves and in turn it will make us happier with what we do.


Postscript:  We worked on this today again and even though it’s been five days between rides she did wonderfully.  I set her up with the walking circle and it took less than half the time as a few days ago.  We trotted at a leisurely pace in both directions without a misstep or change of pace.  The halt was square and right on the money.  We kept it short, gave her lots of praise and treats when we got back to the barn. 

I’m very proud of her. It seems as if she might be saying something like “If you just tell me what you want in a clear and concise manner, then I’d be happy to oblige.”   At least that’s what I hope she’s thinking, but with Dusty you just never know.

Until next time
Quote for Today
A horse is an animal not a machine and is only as good as it's rider.

29 comments:

  1. Great training post! Thanks for telling us about it. Reading this will keep it in my mind more to set things up more for success, instead of fixing after the fact. And what a smart way you found to do it.
    You're right - who - horse or equine - doesn't feel good about getting it right?

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    1. Sometimes a bolt of lightening hits me from out of the blue and I see what could be more useful when dealing with a problem. Thinking outside the box does have its merits once in a while. Thanks for the comment.

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  2. I think that is a very wise training concept. Only ask when you know your horse can give it to you. Definitely a recipe for success and emphasizes the importance of preparation.

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    1. Thanks Val. I figure you can only go so long dealing with the same problem before you need to find a way to work on fixing it. Hopefully, preparing for success will work out for both of us.

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  3. Makes sense to me. Sweet Dusty!

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  4. Great post! Especially liked the last paragraph as to what Dusty is thinking. This is a nice example of how horses/people feel about knowing what is expected. Success is such a wonderful feeling for everyone. Dusty has proven that. Bravo!

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  5. P.S.
    Dusty is one beautiful horse! Wonderful photo.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment and I'll pass along to Dusty that you think she's a beautiful horse. Of course, I'm pretty sure she already thinks pretty highly of herself anyway!

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  6. Dusty is one smart girl. And you are such a good horse mama to be so attuned to what you think she needs to complete the tasks you ask of her. She's lucky to have you.

    The forwardness is hard for me to relate to, though, as my mare is the opposite and it's taken me a long time for her to trust me enough and take me seriously enough for me to move into a faster pace than a walk. There was a time when I could squeeze, kick, spank, and swing my reins with huge energy and she would ignore it all and stay in a walk. Or she would just stop and stand still. And I would get a charlie horse and leg cramps from all of my kicking and squeezing.
    Of course, I realize now that I am very lucky that she was so patient and understanding and didn't get teed off at me and buck me off for doing all that.
    Perhaps the reason why she refused to move into a higher gear is because in the past when she did that, her rider shut her down, or maybe her rider fell off and it upset her?
    I can only wonder, but I am very grateful that my Apache mare trusts me enough now that I'm able to move her into a trot with just a squeeze of my calves.
    Now we are starting on her moving up into a canter easily and smoothly and I'm excited because she has such a comfortable, easy-going lope. I've only gotten that lope one other time and I'm looking forward to having that anytime I ask :)

    ~Lisa

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    1. Apache is worth her weight in gold. She's such a special mare. You don't find many smart safe girls out there who will take care of their rider. Hope you enjoy cantering when the time comes.

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  7. You are right that this works for horses and humans, plus there is the confident self esteem bonus. I think we should vote your daughter in for President in November. It would be great to have someone who knows how to set up for success.

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  8. d.j.,

    You're right, self esteem goes a long way towards making anyone feel good about themselves and what they can accomplish.

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  9. Love the epiphany and how you worked out a plan to do what Dusty needs with clear, consistent cues.

    One thing that was trained into me wrt upward transitions was that I was never to ask until I was organized and the current gait was in good balance. It makes such a difference in the quality of the transition. I'm not sure about Dusty but with Keil Bay we sometimes have to do big big trot first and then ride down to a more normal trot. In his case I think the big trot work helps stretch things out and warm things up, so if I've asked for it and it's BIG I try to ride it out and sort of "breathe him down" - harder if we've had a break from riding but when I can do it, it works.

    The best thing is that we're riding! It's fall! So glad to read these informative posts.

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  10. billie,

    I can relate to Keil Bay's BIG trot and can see where it would help things stretch out and warm up until you can ride down to a more normal trot. It's hard to describe Dusty's starting trot because she's the first smaller horse (15.1) I've ridden in years. I would say since her stride is not as huge as I'm used to it feels more like maybe a fast western jog? She's really not stretching her body out like she would in an extended trot gait. She's very speedy until I can get her to slow down and use herself correctly.

    Love this weather too, I wish it could be like this all year. Glad you're getting in lots of ride time.

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  11. Wow!! What a great epiphany!!! It makes sense, but sometimes the obvious things are hard to see. Good for you and Dusty!!

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  12. Thanks Linda,

    Occasionally some small piece of light makes it through to my brain!

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  13. dusty is definitely one of those horses who seems to just need someone to find a creative way to explain to her exactly what they want and she seems to just look at you and say, 'well, duh, why didn't you just say so?'

    i think this is also going to work wonders for her canter transitions when she gets there, too...

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    1. Jme,

      You're a big help to Dusty and me. If it wasn't for your helping us I don't think we'd be as far along as we are. Thanks,

      I think her canter will be much better than last years before she hurt herself. If its anything like we saw on the lunge ill be happy with that.

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  14. You are speaking my language! I started riding the arena again and my mare sounds so much like Dusty, in her sometimes reactive processes. THIS IS EXCELLENT advise, from the Epiphany to working follow through!

    Dusty, your mom really loves you and has such caring ways...my Wa mare thanks you for teaching her, so nicely!

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    1. KC,
      Good to hear you're starting to ride in the arena getting Wa mare ready for the winter. Hope my working through problems with Dusty can help.

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  15. That is nice. It can be quite hard to break a situation down - st least for me it can - to figure out what needs to be changed. That is a very nice horse-centred approach. They are so obliging if we could only be clear.

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    1. Marie,

      It seems to be an ever evolving process to try and get it right. But worth the effort.

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  16. You guys are so good! I can just see Ray Hunt smiling down on you and giving you a big thumbs up! Dusty is a lucky horse.

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  17. I hadn't thought about that before - the fact that asking them to slow down may seem like a punishment! Obviously that could be situational, there are some horses that do that just to make us mad! But that's a great thing to think about, especially if you feel like your ride is frustrating you or your horse, maybe they are doing what they think you want, and maybe you need to reevaluate and ask differently or set them up differently!
    Thanks!!

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  18. This is great!

    I never thought about the fact that asking them to slow down seems like a punishment, it's a great thing to remember if you or your horse gets frustrated, they might feel like they're giving you what you asked for. I'll just have to remember to reasses and go from a different direction!

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  19. Hi Marissa,

    I think the best thing we can do for ourselves and our horses is to always think about what we can do to make it easier for the horse to understand what we are asking for. And if they seem to not get it then think outside the box until we find a solution to the problem.

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