I worked with Baker for about 36 minutes yesterday. I started out by haltering and leading him to the tree. Since I was on my own yesterday, I used an in-hand whip to encourage him from behind. Every time I put pressure on the halter to move forward, I simultaneously told him to "walk on", and if he did not respond promptly, I tapped him on the behind with the whip. He actually walked quite well by my side with very little encouragement from the whip. However, when we got closer to the tree, I noticed a small river running nearby.
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| The "river" in Baker's paddock |
We have had way too much rain lately, and there is a small creek that runs through the woods near his paddock. When it rains really hard, the creek sometimes overflows and runs through the paddock. As we got closer to the water, Baker was definitely concerned. He slowed down, and it took a lot more encouragement to get him to walk forward. So, he had his first eventing lesson! I continued to ask him to walk forward, just as I always do, although now he wasn't as responsive (just like back in the beginning when he was first learning). No worries! As soon as he would take a step in the right direction, I would praise him and scratch him. It really didn't take long before I got him to step into the water, and then over the water. Once he got through it the first time, he was quite relieved, but then I just turned him around, and we did it all over again - several times. Each time over and through the water got easier, and we didn't stop until he was quite relaxed and moving forward with very little encouragement. This will definitely pay off down the road when we are galloping on a cross country course and have to jump through a water obstacle! Once we completed that task, I tied him to the tree, where I proceeded to groom him, pick his feet and flyspray him. He was perfect for all of this. Then we moved on to the real hard lesson for the day - more desensitization with the clippers. I left him tied to the tree today - partly because I didn't have anyone helping, and partly because, so far, anytime he has pulled back, it has been with very little effort, and he has given up quite quickly. Today was no exception. Whenever he did get nervous and pull back, it was not very strongly or for very long. I am no longer worried that he will hurt himself in the process, which is the main reason for all the precautions. When I turned the clippers on yesterday, he was not as curious as he had been the day before. He was definitely more worried, so I kept things a little on the easier side. I basically rubbed the running clippers all over his body until he showed signs of relaxation - licking and chewing. As soon as he would relax, I would praise him and turn the clippers off, giving him a small break. I rubbed him all over, except mid to high up on his neck and head. He was a lot more nervous when I approached that area, and I really wanted to keep things positive this time out. I repeated this exercise several times until he was relaxing more willingly, and not as nervous when I would turn the clippers back on. I will probably have to repeat this several more days before I can move on, but who knows! We finished out the session with more leading back towards Fiona. We halted several times along the way. He seemed a little irritated, so he was a bit fussier when I asked him to halt, but we eventually got it. Once we got closer to Fiona, we tried a few trot sets. Those went pretty well. He moved forward willingly, with very little to no encouragement from the whip, and did not try to bolt away out of control. He stayed more by my side while we trotted. Finally, I asked him to put his head down so I could take off the halter. He was fussy again for this, but I persisted, and he eventually put his head down so I could take the halter off. One thing I am always telling my students - you must continue asking for what you want until you get it. You can never give in and let the horse get what they want. They will remember that and try to take advantage of you the next time. That's not to say that they will be dangerous, but they will definitely be less cooperative, and it will be even harder to get what you want. Things won't always be easy (the good stuff never is ☺), but keep being persistent and you will prevail!
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