An unexpected "issue" arose this week. I was bringing L into the barn Wednesday night. And there was a SCARY THING in the barn. A dog bed <sigh>. Right there. On the floor. Where IT DOESN'T BELONG. Sometimes. I swear. So L decided it was ok to run me over to escape this threat. She didn't. But she tried.
She does this now and then because I get sloppy. She's a very good horse and I tend to be..well..undisciplined. Sometimes I don't notice things I should when I handle L. My trainer calls this "letting her get away with stuff". What happens is L loses confidence. In me. She starts to think she has to watch out for herself. She's also a very smart horse and she has to think I'm smarter than she is. It took me a *long* time to figure this out. That's always a challenge. Getting her to think I'm smarter than she is. Or at least wonder about it.
So, for example, as we ride, I have to tell her "no, not now" when she *thinks* of snatching up a mouthful of grass. If she actually snatches up that mouthful of grass? Or even makes a move for it? Too late. And trust me on this, she'll cover a quarter mile of pasture at a dead run snatching up a mouthful of grass with every stride. If she thinks she can.
So the question is not "why did she do that?" but rather, what made her *think* she could do that.
And of course, what to do about it. That's easy. Be the "leader", insist on good manners and be consistent. Always. The hard part is getting her attention. Which is where the groundwork comes in! Or, perhaps better put, showmanship. One needs to *lead* their horse on the ground. Be in control of every move. There's no downside to having solid groundwork and we return to it time and time again. As a matter of fact anytime you handle a horse you're doing groundwork whether you know it or not.
So yesterday we did showmanship. To remind both her and me that "whoa means whoa". We moved every which way and I was sure to have her respect my space. While halted she let her face drift towards a nearby branch. And she snapped at it. I got her across the shoulder with a crop before she'd even wrapped her lips around a leaf. And she leaped backwards 3 feet and looked at me like she was thinking "what's the *matter* with you!" and that was our magic moment. She knew I was paying attention and we were done. This time anyway. It really isn't fair for me to have to do this every year. I got her attention and what I have to do now is just keep her attention.
A horse will never ever *ever*, even "accidentally", bump into a lead horse. Horses *always* know exactly where the lead horse is and will *never* get in its space. A horse willing to get in your space is a "drop everything right now and fix it" thing. And master your showmanship skills. Practice over and over.
I like this. A lot. Might even be a new favorite.
I could really relate to this post. It took me a while, but since Gem went to bookcamp last year, I now understand why it is so important to be the one in charge. I am still a work in progress in this area, but I am much much better than I was a year ago. You are right - consistency is key. Gem respects me more and is much more willing to listen to me, both on the ground and when I am in the saddle.
ReplyDeleteThat beer looks delish. :-)
I've been doing this a long time and it's a lesson I have to learn over and over again. I feel bad because my lack of discipline puts L in a position where I have to smack her. Fortunately it's a timing thing rather than a force thing. Timing is everything!
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