It always fascinates me to watch horses interact with one another. My established herd understands that I am the lead mare when I am around. Piero on the other hand, has yet to figure that out. He has asserted his position above Astro, and understands he falls beneath Tango. Yet when Scottie runs toward the fence where Piero is located on the other side, Piero stands his ground, pawing and flinging his head around. He was attempting to behave this way with me too.
When I approached him today, he turned and walked away from me. I then told him he had to keep moving, and moving. After about ten minutes of cantering around, and me running along, he finally stopped and faced me. Yippee. I immediately turned my shoulder toward him, and lowered my head. If he attempted to look away or graze, I slapped my thigh, made noise, whatever it took to keep his attention. It was either that, or he'd be moved again.
Piero is working hard to understand what I am asking of him. He steps back when I shake the lead rope a few times now. We'll keep working on that to improve the timing. When I lead him he is following at a nice position behind my shoulder, and he stops when I stop, and does not attempt to get ahead of me. He is learning to yield his haunches to me and to be driven forward. He is clearly accustomed to being lunged. I am striving for him to understand the difference between lunging and being driven. I point right, and he does go to the right, so I am very pleased with that. The next nice weather day we have I will tack him up for his ground work, in preparation to be ridden again.
Loretta
Clear Communication/Visible Results
Friday, February 27, 2009
Teaching Piero Ground Work Day 3
It always fascinates me to watch horses interact with one another. My established herd understands that I am the lead mare when I am around. Piero on the other hand, has yet to figure that out. He has asserted his position above Astro, and understands he falls beneath Tango. Yet when Scottie runs toward the fence where Piero is located on the other side, Piero stands his ground, pawing and flinging his head around. He was attempting to behave this way with me too.
When I approached him today, he turned and walked away from me. I then told him he had to keep moving, and moving. After about ten minutes of cantering around, and me running along, he finally stopped and faced me. Yippee. I immediately turned my shoulder toward him, and lowered my head. If he attempted to look away or graze, I slapped my thigh, made noise, whatever it took to keep his attention. It was either that, or he'd be moved again.
Piero is working hard to understand what I am asking of him. He steps back when I shake the lead rope a few times now. We'll keep working on that to improve the timing. When I lead him he is following at a nice position behind my shoulder, and he stops when I stop, and does not attempt to get ahead of me. He is learning to yield his haunches to me and to be driven forward. He is clearly accustomed to being lunged. I am striving for him to understand the difference between lunging and being driven. I point right, and he does go to the right, so I am very pleased with that. The next nice weather day we have I will tack him up for his ground work, in preparation to be ridden again.
Loretta
When I approached him today, he turned and walked away from me. I then told him he had to keep moving, and moving. After about ten minutes of cantering around, and me running along, he finally stopped and faced me. Yippee. I immediately turned my shoulder toward him, and lowered my head. If he attempted to look away or graze, I slapped my thigh, made noise, whatever it took to keep his attention. It was either that, or he'd be moved again.
Piero is working hard to understand what I am asking of him. He steps back when I shake the lead rope a few times now. We'll keep working on that to improve the timing. When I lead him he is following at a nice position behind my shoulder, and he stops when I stop, and does not attempt to get ahead of me. He is learning to yield his haunches to me and to be driven forward. He is clearly accustomed to being lunged. I am striving for him to understand the difference between lunging and being driven. I point right, and he does go to the right, so I am very pleased with that. The next nice weather day we have I will tack him up for his ground work, in preparation to be ridden again.
Loretta
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Piero's Ground Training Day 2
Today was a good day. Bright and sunny, no wind. Piero seemed much less angry today. It was evident in his expression. He is one stubborn pony. When I ask him to move, and boy can he move-FAST-he plays the game with me for much longer than I would like. Running around two acres gets tiring really quickly! When he finally did stop and look at me, he came right to me. Exactly what I wanted. We did this at least 3 different times today. I am hoping within a few days it takes less and less time for him to stop and face me.
Today I had him follow me for a few steps after he joined up with me. I would stop and give him verbal praise while rubbing his nose. The nose rubbing fascinates me. He, Scottie and Astro all do the same thing. Even if they do not like getting their noses rubbed, when working on ground training they will drop their heads when they hear verbal praise in preparation for that nose rub. We repeated this several times and I was very pleased with him.
We did a little bit of learning to back up with just a shake of the lead. Stopping when I stop while being lead, and staying behind my shoulder while being lead. I think he is a very intelligent, yet stubborn guy.
I also spent a few minutes working on pressure and release with head lowering. I figured that would be easy for him. I want there to be many things he does correctly while in ground training so he can receive a lot of praise.
I gave him his first really good grooming since he arrived here. Wow, what an absolutely beautiful coat this little guy has. He is a very dark dapple gray.
(I am working on a better pic of him)
An interesting observation I had while doing ground work with Piero, is the feeling that no one had ever interacted in this manner with him before. I believe this led him to feel not quite sure what to make of me.
Piero seems to be completely unaware of flexing through the poll. I've seen some of this little guy's moves, so I know he is flexible. Today I was able to get a tiny bit of flex to each side. An improvement over yesterdays stiff neck and circling. I'm going to take that with tiny baby steps because I don't want to confuse him.
This little 12.2h pony almost seems to be challenging Scottie for a leadership position. He has asserted himself above Astro in the herd, and does submit to Tango. I have not let him together with Scottie yet because of Scottie's behavior toward him just across a fence line. When Scottie runs at the fence, Piero will paw the ground and throw his head around. What a little tough guy. Unfortunately for him, Scottie is not going to back down, and size will win that one. Scottie can eat that little pony in a few bites! Hopefully that won't happen!
I'll let you know how it goes on day 3!
Loretta
clear communication
visible results
Today I had him follow me for a few steps after he joined up with me. I would stop and give him verbal praise while rubbing his nose. The nose rubbing fascinates me. He, Scottie and Astro all do the same thing. Even if they do not like getting their noses rubbed, when working on ground training they will drop their heads when they hear verbal praise in preparation for that nose rub. We repeated this several times and I was very pleased with him.
We did a little bit of learning to back up with just a shake of the lead. Stopping when I stop while being lead, and staying behind my shoulder while being lead. I think he is a very intelligent, yet stubborn guy.
I also spent a few minutes working on pressure and release with head lowering. I figured that would be easy for him. I want there to be many things he does correctly while in ground training so he can receive a lot of praise.
I gave him his first really good grooming since he arrived here. Wow, what an absolutely beautiful coat this little guy has. He is a very dark dapple gray.
(I am working on a better pic of him)An interesting observation I had while doing ground work with Piero, is the feeling that no one had ever interacted in this manner with him before. I believe this led him to feel not quite sure what to make of me.
Piero seems to be completely unaware of flexing through the poll. I've seen some of this little guy's moves, so I know he is flexible. Today I was able to get a tiny bit of flex to each side. An improvement over yesterdays stiff neck and circling. I'm going to take that with tiny baby steps because I don't want to confuse him.
This little 12.2h pony almost seems to be challenging Scottie for a leadership position. He has asserted himself above Astro in the herd, and does submit to Tango. I have not let him together with Scottie yet because of Scottie's behavior toward him just across a fence line. When Scottie runs at the fence, Piero will paw the ground and throw his head around. What a little tough guy. Unfortunately for him, Scottie is not going to back down, and size will win that one. Scottie can eat that little pony in a few bites! Hopefully that won't happen!
I'll let you know how it goes on day 3!
Loretta
clear communication
visible results
Piero's Ground Training Day 2
Today was a good day. Bright and sunny, no wind. Piero seemed much less angry today. It was evident in his expression. He is one stubborn pony. When I ask him to move, and boy can he move-FAST-he plays the game with me for much longer than I would like. Running around two acres gets tiring really quickly! When he finally did stop and look at me, he came right to me. Exactly what I wanted. We did this at least 3 different times today. I am hoping within a few days it takes less and less time for him to stop and face me.
Today I had him follow me for a few steps after he joined up with me. I would stop and give him verbal praise while rubbing his nose. The nose rubbing fascinates me. He, Scottie and Astro all do the same thing. Even if they do not like getting their noses rubbed, when working on ground training they will drop their heads when they hear verbal praise in preparation for that nose rub. We repeated this several times and I was very pleased with him.
We did a little bit of learning to back up with just a shake of the lead. Stopping when I stop while being lead, and staying behind my shoulder while being lead. I think he is a very intelligent, yet stubborn guy.
I also spent a few minutes working on pressure and release with head lowering. I figured that would be easy for him. I want there to be many things he does correctly while in ground training so he can receive a lot of praise.
I gave him his first really good grooming since he arrived here. Wow, what an absolutely beautiful coat this little guy has. He is a very dark dapple gray.
(I am working on a better pic of him)
An interesting observation I had while doing ground work with Piero, is the feeling that no one had ever interacted in this manner with him before. I believe this led him to feel not quite sure what to make of me.
Piero seems to be completely unaware of flexing through the poll. I've seen some of this little guy's moves, so I know he is flexible. Today I was able to get a tiny bit of flex to each side. An improvement over yesterdays stiff neck and circling. I'm going to take that with tiny baby steps because I don't want to confuse him.
This little 12.2h pony almost seems to be challenging Scottie for a leadership position. He has asserted himself above Astro in the herd, and does submit to Tango. I have not let him together with Scottie yet because of Scottie's behavior toward him just across a fence line. When Scottie runs at the fence, Piero will paw the ground and throw his head around. What a little tough guy. Unfortunately for him, Scottie is not going to back down, and size will win that one. Scottie can eat that little pony in a few bites! Hopefully that won't happen!
I'll let you know how it goes on day 3!
Loretta
clear communication
visible results
Today I had him follow me for a few steps after he joined up with me. I would stop and give him verbal praise while rubbing his nose. The nose rubbing fascinates me. He, Scottie and Astro all do the same thing. Even if they do not like getting their noses rubbed, when working on ground training they will drop their heads when they hear verbal praise in preparation for that nose rub. We repeated this several times and I was very pleased with him.
We did a little bit of learning to back up with just a shake of the lead. Stopping when I stop while being lead, and staying behind my shoulder while being lead. I think he is a very intelligent, yet stubborn guy.
I also spent a few minutes working on pressure and release with head lowering. I figured that would be easy for him. I want there to be many things he does correctly while in ground training so he can receive a lot of praise.
I gave him his first really good grooming since he arrived here. Wow, what an absolutely beautiful coat this little guy has. He is a very dark dapple gray.
(I am working on a better pic of him)An interesting observation I had while doing ground work with Piero, is the feeling that no one had ever interacted in this manner with him before. I believe this led him to feel not quite sure what to make of me.
Piero seems to be completely unaware of flexing through the poll. I've seen some of this little guy's moves, so I know he is flexible. Today I was able to get a tiny bit of flex to each side. An improvement over yesterdays stiff neck and circling. I'm going to take that with tiny baby steps because I don't want to confuse him.
This little 12.2h pony almost seems to be challenging Scottie for a leadership position. He has asserted himself above Astro in the herd, and does submit to Tango. I have not let him together with Scottie yet because of Scottie's behavior toward him just across a fence line. When Scottie runs at the fence, Piero will paw the ground and throw his head around. What a little tough guy. Unfortunately for him, Scottie is not going to back down, and size will win that one. Scottie can eat that little pony in a few bites! Hopefully that won't happen!
I'll let you know how it goes on day 3!
Loretta
clear communication
visible results
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Plight of Piero the Pony
I never realized how much I loved ponies. Two summers ago I got an itch to buy a pony. For my daughter, of course. Sadly, we had her only 8 weeks and she had to be put down. She was very ill with a liver disease. That's another story entirely.
This past summer the itch came back. I've always wanted a paint. There's just something about those colors. So I was thinking, paint pony. Works for me. I found the BEST paint pony ever. I really am getting to the point here. I only realized after having Astro (the paint pony) for a while, that I just have a thing for ponies. Funny since I also have a thing for Drafts. They do look kind of cute together. Sorry, back to the point.
The other day a friend calls me up and says she has this pony and asked if I will take him. She's had him for a few years, but he is not ridden regularly and she felt it wasn't fair to him. She let a friend borrow him and while at the new place he started to misbehave. The new barn didn't have time to deal with it....enter Loretta.
My first thought after going to observe him was that he is misunderstood. I am at times clairesentient with animals, especially horses. (That simply means that I pick up their feelings, or intuitively know or understand what they are feeling.) He had been checked by a vet and his feet are great, so I decided to take him.
He arrived on Sunday, just 3 days ago. He seems very mad to me. He quickly has established his place in the herd, above Astro & below Tango. I have not turned him out with Scottie yet. Scottie wants to eat him, so I'm delaying that for as long as I can. I pretty much am just letting him chill for a while. Relax and know we love him and will care for him.
He's an interesting character. I asked a few things of him, basic ground and respectful behaviors. He learned fairly quickly that when he walks away from me I will take over and tell him to move. He seems to understand that he will have to keep moving until he stops and faces me, and at that point that I want him to come to me. I am pleased about that. He appears to be totally relaxed on the ground. Did some rope work, fligging over his head and ears, nothing bothered him. What puzzled me is that mad feeling. He continued to hold onto it, even had his mouth clenched. I saw him lick and chew maybe once during the 20 minute session we spent together.
He clearly does not understand flexing at the poll. We went in many circles and didn't get anywhere. I finally decided to make the request so quiet that his head was hardly bent at all. But at least I felt him give so I could reply with a release. Hopefully he'll get that soon. I think pressure and release is a new subject for him. He is only 10, so he should pick it up quickly. I plan on pretending like he was not ever broken, so I won't be getting on him for a while. I am also counting on the assumption that he has never had a human establish themselves as herd leader. He seems puzzled by my behavior. It fascinates me how different they all can be. Astro accepted it right away. He would say, "Ok, is this what you want, here, like this, like this?
I have to put my kids to bed, so long for now.
This past summer the itch came back. I've always wanted a paint. There's just something about those colors. So I was thinking, paint pony. Works for me. I found the BEST paint pony ever. I really am getting to the point here. I only realized after having Astro (the paint pony) for a while, that I just have a thing for ponies. Funny since I also have a thing for Drafts. They do look kind of cute together. Sorry, back to the point.
The other day a friend calls me up and says she has this pony and asked if I will take him. She's had him for a few years, but he is not ridden regularly and she felt it wasn't fair to him. She let a friend borrow him and while at the new place he started to misbehave. The new barn didn't have time to deal with it....enter Loretta.
My first thought after going to observe him was that he is misunderstood. I am at times clairesentient with animals, especially horses. (That simply means that I pick up their feelings, or intuitively know or understand what they are feeling.) He had been checked by a vet and his feet are great, so I decided to take him.
He arrived on Sunday, just 3 days ago. He seems very mad to me. He quickly has established his place in the herd, above Astro & below Tango. I have not turned him out with Scottie yet. Scottie wants to eat him, so I'm delaying that for as long as I can. I pretty much am just letting him chill for a while. Relax and know we love him and will care for him.
He's an interesting character. I asked a few things of him, basic ground and respectful behaviors. He learned fairly quickly that when he walks away from me I will take over and tell him to move. He seems to understand that he will have to keep moving until he stops and faces me, and at that point that I want him to come to me. I am pleased about that. He appears to be totally relaxed on the ground. Did some rope work, fligging over his head and ears, nothing bothered him. What puzzled me is that mad feeling. He continued to hold onto it, even had his mouth clenched. I saw him lick and chew maybe once during the 20 minute session we spent together.
He clearly does not understand flexing at the poll. We went in many circles and didn't get anywhere. I finally decided to make the request so quiet that his head was hardly bent at all. But at least I felt him give so I could reply with a release. Hopefully he'll get that soon. I think pressure and release is a new subject for him. He is only 10, so he should pick it up quickly. I plan on pretending like he was not ever broken, so I won't be getting on him for a while. I am also counting on the assumption that he has never had a human establish themselves as herd leader. He seems puzzled by my behavior. It fascinates me how different they all can be. Astro accepted it right away. He would say, "Ok, is this what you want, here, like this, like this?
I have to put my kids to bed, so long for now.
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