Gia - session 76 - A day of many firsts!
I got on Gia yesterday without lunging first again. She was a little fidgety with standing at the mounting block - no better or worse than the last time. I made sure to praise her when she did the right thing since she really lives for the praise! She was much less tense when I first asked her to move off at the walk. After only a few minutes, she was quite relaxed walking in a figure 8 and over the poles. I also asked her to move off my leg whenever she felt crooked, and she complied fairly well. We repeated everything at the trot. She was a bit stiffer on her left side, but otherwise, she did really well!
I decided to add a new "trick" to her repertoire yesterday. I started to teach her how to "turn on the forehand". She had already learned how to do this from the ground, so now it's just a matter of reminding her of the cues and doing it from the saddle. In a "turn on the forehand" (I'll call it "TOF" for short for the rest of this blog), the horse should stand fairly still or make a very tiny circle or pivot with its front feet, and its back feet should describe a larger circle around the front feet. The main cue for TOF comes from your leg. In my example, we will TOF to the left. You would bring your right leg slightly behind the girth (maybe 4-6 inches), and press, asking the horse to move its hind end away from your right leg to the left. A lot of horses will try to move forward whenever they feel a leg cue of any kind, so, at the same time, you may need to use your reins to tell the horse NOT to step forward. BUT the main cue should always come from your leg, NOT your hand. When teaching TOF to a horse, you will sometimes need to use a whip to accentuate your leg cue and help the horse figure out what you want. If you have to use the whip, it should be in a rhythmical, tapping way, not in a punishing way. Gia did fantastic with her first TOF cue yesterday! I brought my leg back, and at first she didn't move because she didn't know what to do, so I added the whip very lightly. She moved her hind end right away! As soon as she did, I stopped cueing her and patted her and added a verbal "good girl!". I repeated the exercise several times in each direction until she gave me one TOF without me having to use the whip at all. It only took a few tries before she understood the exercise. I ended the TOF lesson there for the day. I can do this a little bit each day and it won't overwhelm her and she will get very good at it.
So, then I decided to add another "trick" - opening gates. I really hate to have to get off my horse anytime I want to ride outside the arena, so whenever possible, I teach them to stand still near the gate while I open and close it. This is actually harder than it sounds, especially with the way some of my gates are attached to the fence, and most especially with the ones that have hot wire over them! So, this exercise takes a lot of patience, but it's so worth it in the end. Yesterday I had wanted to take Gia up to the round pen to work on the canter, and she was doing really well with her other work, so I felt she was ready to walk outside the arena in a familiar area (like going from the arena to the round pen and back again). So, the only obstacle in our way was the gate. I could have asked Rebecca to open the gate for me, but Rebecca won't always be here to do that, so I thought I would see if Gia and I could do it by ourselves. Opening the arena gate is probably the easiest one since it is set on a long side and not in a corner. And my gate latches are easy to operate with one hand too. The hardest part is usually getting the horse to move up close enough to the gate and stand still. Often they will stop too early or too late, and then you have to re-position them over ... and over. Or, they will get up to the gate, and then swing their hind end away, making it hard for you to reach the latch. This is where TOF will come in handy ☺. Or, they will get up to the gate in the right spot, but then they won't stand still, especially right at the moment when you have to lean down to open the latch. It can take a lot of time and re-positioning and can be very frustrating. You really have to go into it with the mindset that you will not be able to rush through this exercise - pack your patience! So, I asked Gia to approach the gate. She was nicely close to the fence, but we overshot the latch when I asked for the halt. That just meant that I needed to ask for my halt a little sooner the next time. Which I did. She stood very straight and still without much reminding from me. She did not seem bothered at all when I leaned down to open the latch either (and I had to lean down much farther than usual on her!). Her body was slightly in the way of the gate once I got it opened, so I had to ask her to move just a little bit, but she complied very easily! A lot of horses would move too much or swing their hind ends too much. Once I got the gate open, I asked her to stand quietly for a few seconds. I never want a horse to rush out an open gate. That can be very dangerous and lead to bruised knees (mine, not hers). She had no problem standing still. Then I asked her to walk out the gate, into the wide open, up to the round pen. This was a little nerve wracking for me since I didn't know how well she would behave being ridden outside the arena, but Gia was perfect and quiet!
Getting in the round pen was also a bit precarious, since the gate is a bit narrow and it has a "roof" overheard that is a bit low. We managed to squeeze through though, and shut that gate from horseback with no problem. Once in the round pen, I did not get off to warm her up at the canter, and we went right into the trot. She was a bit tense at first, but once she had relaxed I asked for the canter. She hesitated and felt a bit squirmy at first, but then stepped into it ... with NO bucking!! She did the same thing in the other direction, so as promised, I took her back down to the arena, opening the round pen gate from horse back easily, and closing the arena gate from horseback as well, to try the canter in the arena for the first time. She was super about all the gates! Once in the arena, I got her into a trot on a circle. When the trot felt good, I asked for the canter. Gia was a bit confused, probably because I have never allowed her to canter in the arena, and the only place she knows about cantering under saddle is in the round pen. Horses can be very set in their routines. So, it took a few tries asking for the canter, but then she stepped into it, again with NO bucking! She only cantered about 1/4 of a circle and then quit on her own. We did the same thing in the other direction with the same results. I let her end on that. It was a great start to cantering in the arena, and she had done a LOT for the day for a young horse.
Once she was untacked, I took her out into the yard for clipping. She was slightly anxious, but only for a few seconds. After clipping a few whiskers on her muzzle, I moved up to her bridle path (the area of mane just behind her ears). Since this is so close to the ears, it can be a troublesome spot to clip, and I hadn't attempted this area with her before. She stood perfectly still and gave me absolutely no problems as I clipped the entire bridle path! That was the last spot to really work on with the clippers (besides the ears, but I won't worry about that until I need to). So, I won't be clipping Gia again until the hairs grow out a bit more, probably for a few months.
When we were done, Gia was exhausted! All in all, my session with Gia only lasted about 40 minutes, and I didn't ask her to work too physically hard, but she was mentally tired from all the questions asked of her. She was practically falling asleep in the cross ties afterwards. It's always important to keep in mind the mental demands you put on your horse, not just the physical ones!
I decided to add a new "trick" to her repertoire yesterday. I started to teach her how to "turn on the forehand". She had already learned how to do this from the ground, so now it's just a matter of reminding her of the cues and doing it from the saddle. In a "turn on the forehand" (I'll call it "TOF" for short for the rest of this blog), the horse should stand fairly still or make a very tiny circle or pivot with its front feet, and its back feet should describe a larger circle around the front feet. The main cue for TOF comes from your leg. In my example, we will TOF to the left. You would bring your right leg slightly behind the girth (maybe 4-6 inches), and press, asking the horse to move its hind end away from your right leg to the left. A lot of horses will try to move forward whenever they feel a leg cue of any kind, so, at the same time, you may need to use your reins to tell the horse NOT to step forward. BUT the main cue should always come from your leg, NOT your hand. When teaching TOF to a horse, you will sometimes need to use a whip to accentuate your leg cue and help the horse figure out what you want. If you have to use the whip, it should be in a rhythmical, tapping way, not in a punishing way. Gia did fantastic with her first TOF cue yesterday! I brought my leg back, and at first she didn't move because she didn't know what to do, so I added the whip very lightly. She moved her hind end right away! As soon as she did, I stopped cueing her and patted her and added a verbal "good girl!". I repeated the exercise several times in each direction until she gave me one TOF without me having to use the whip at all. It only took a few tries before she understood the exercise. I ended the TOF lesson there for the day. I can do this a little bit each day and it won't overwhelm her and she will get very good at it.
So, then I decided to add another "trick" - opening gates. I really hate to have to get off my horse anytime I want to ride outside the arena, so whenever possible, I teach them to stand still near the gate while I open and close it. This is actually harder than it sounds, especially with the way some of my gates are attached to the fence, and most especially with the ones that have hot wire over them! So, this exercise takes a lot of patience, but it's so worth it in the end. Yesterday I had wanted to take Gia up to the round pen to work on the canter, and she was doing really well with her other work, so I felt she was ready to walk outside the arena in a familiar area (like going from the arena to the round pen and back again). So, the only obstacle in our way was the gate. I could have asked Rebecca to open the gate for me, but Rebecca won't always be here to do that, so I thought I would see if Gia and I could do it by ourselves. Opening the arena gate is probably the easiest one since it is set on a long side and not in a corner. And my gate latches are easy to operate with one hand too. The hardest part is usually getting the horse to move up close enough to the gate and stand still. Often they will stop too early or too late, and then you have to re-position them over ... and over. Or, they will get up to the gate, and then swing their hind end away, making it hard for you to reach the latch. This is where TOF will come in handy ☺. Or, they will get up to the gate in the right spot, but then they won't stand still, especially right at the moment when you have to lean down to open the latch. It can take a lot of time and re-positioning and can be very frustrating. You really have to go into it with the mindset that you will not be able to rush through this exercise - pack your patience! So, I asked Gia to approach the gate. She was nicely close to the fence, but we overshot the latch when I asked for the halt. That just meant that I needed to ask for my halt a little sooner the next time. Which I did. She stood very straight and still without much reminding from me. She did not seem bothered at all when I leaned down to open the latch either (and I had to lean down much farther than usual on her!). Her body was slightly in the way of the gate once I got it opened, so I had to ask her to move just a little bit, but she complied very easily! A lot of horses would move too much or swing their hind ends too much. Once I got the gate open, I asked her to stand quietly for a few seconds. I never want a horse to rush out an open gate. That can be very dangerous and lead to bruised knees (mine, not hers). She had no problem standing still. Then I asked her to walk out the gate, into the wide open, up to the round pen. This was a little nerve wracking for me since I didn't know how well she would behave being ridden outside the arena, but Gia was perfect and quiet!
Getting in the round pen was also a bit precarious, since the gate is a bit narrow and it has a "roof" overheard that is a bit low. We managed to squeeze through though, and shut that gate from horseback with no problem. Once in the round pen, I did not get off to warm her up at the canter, and we went right into the trot. She was a bit tense at first, but once she had relaxed I asked for the canter. She hesitated and felt a bit squirmy at first, but then stepped into it ... with NO bucking!! She did the same thing in the other direction, so as promised, I took her back down to the arena, opening the round pen gate from horse back easily, and closing the arena gate from horseback as well, to try the canter in the arena for the first time. She was super about all the gates! Once in the arena, I got her into a trot on a circle. When the trot felt good, I asked for the canter. Gia was a bit confused, probably because I have never allowed her to canter in the arena, and the only place she knows about cantering under saddle is in the round pen. Horses can be very set in their routines. So, it took a few tries asking for the canter, but then she stepped into it, again with NO bucking! She only cantered about 1/4 of a circle and then quit on her own. We did the same thing in the other direction with the same results. I let her end on that. It was a great start to cantering in the arena, and she had done a LOT for the day for a young horse.
Once she was untacked, I took her out into the yard for clipping. She was slightly anxious, but only for a few seconds. After clipping a few whiskers on her muzzle, I moved up to her bridle path (the area of mane just behind her ears). Since this is so close to the ears, it can be a troublesome spot to clip, and I hadn't attempted this area with her before. She stood perfectly still and gave me absolutely no problems as I clipped the entire bridle path! That was the last spot to really work on with the clippers (besides the ears, but I won't worry about that until I need to). So, I won't be clipping Gia again until the hairs grow out a bit more, probably for a few months.
When we were done, Gia was exhausted! All in all, my session with Gia only lasted about 40 minutes, and I didn't ask her to work too physically hard, but she was mentally tired from all the questions asked of her. She was practically falling asleep in the cross ties afterwards. It's always important to keep in mind the mental demands you put on your horse, not just the physical ones!
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