Observations in Groundwork and Riding
Since the last post, I decided to come up with a strategic plan so I don’t leave the sessions feeling quite discouraged like I did last week.
With the first horse of the day, I decided to ride like I normally do, but without the wand. I did not carry a clicker, but did carry rewards.
This session went particularly well, because I was happy to be actively riding and schooling this horse. He felt happy and I was happy, and the ride was effective.
Every time he did something well, we came down to halt and I rewarded him with a treat and giving him praise (social reward).
This strategy seems to work really well for this horse because he naturally wants to move forward so he listens really well to the leg aid.
For the second horse, who happened to be Rue (my personal horse), I decided to experiment riding with the clicker and treats. I typically ride with treats, so this was nothing new, but I’ve only ridden with the clicker a handful of times.
Going in to this ride, I really wanted to evaluate 1) her understanding of the aids and 2) her motivation or desire to work. It should be added that anything I ask for under saddle, I always am sure that it is confirmed from the ground prior.
We began the session on the ground and she was phenomenal. There was one person outside of the indoor that was distracting her, but not so much that she couldn’t mentally come back to me and continue to focus throughout the session.
We relaxed together on the ground and were able to establish a connected walk, did some leg yield in both directions on circles and straight lines, backed up, and stretched long and low. She willingly marched up to the mounting block and we began under saddle.
Once I was on, we walked to the center of the arena, after having to use a couple of leg aids to keep her walking forward. I had decided that I really wanted to evaluate her this session and see just how motivated she is. I decided to begin with asking her to move her haunches with one leg aid.
Nothing.
I waited for what felt like forever, and asked one more time, lightly.
Crickets.
In this situation, I would normally kick harder or tap her with the wand to get her moving. But I can’t stand the idea that I need to “force” her in to movement.
Not only does it feel counterintuitive, it is counterintuitive. How can I build a conversation based in relaxation if I am hitting a horse which automatically makes them tense up?
Internally I was screaming, but I also knew that this year, I fully commit to becoming a better horsewoman, For that reason alone, I challenged myself to stay patient, and thought of the saying, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Not this time… I refuse to stay in this same place; I want to be better than I am now.
As time went on and there was still no response from Rue, I decided to get creative, and instead I was going to click when she did one of two things: either shift her weight at all (which usually then encouraged a leg to move) or if she relaxed/expressed any calming signals.
She did both of these things fairly frequently, and so I was able to click + reward and get a conversation opened.
But that was as far as we got for that day. When I cued with my light leg aid and she gave the biggest shift up to that point, I dismounted and ended the session. (I had thought this through beforehand and knew that if I was able to do some productive groundwork prior to mounting, I wouldn’t feel as unproductive if the results under saddle were less than stellar, which they were).
I know the importance of rewarding every small try and also ending on a positive note. Both of those training practices have served me well over and over again.
When I say it was “less than stellar,” it’s because I’m beginning to realize just how disconnected she feels under saddle, and it’s frustrating and hard to bear. I want her to enjoy movement together and I want her to be motivated enough to go forward on her own.
Thankfully, a trainer I really admire did a series on Lazy Horses that afternoon, and the information felt really true in my heart. The main theory is that horses who are healthy and well want to move, and horses that are unwell are also unmotivated and have no desire to move.
She encouraged everyone to really evaluate your horse’s diet (focusing on the liver) and then to prioritize relaxation in all training. Her suggestions were right on par with my current trajectory so I decided to make some changes.
I decided to take Rue off of her vitamin/mineral supplement + alfalfa pellets, and find a specific herbal blend targeting the liver. I found one from a Chinese herbalist that was recommended to me, and so I plan to start that along with some alfalfa pellets as soon as it is delivered. I’m going to feed Rue the best quality hay that I can, along with the liver protocol, and just observe the outcome.
Ironically enough, the blend is called “SV EQ Tension Relief” and describes tension in the body as related to stagnation of Qi (energy).
I’m going to trust the universe is leading me here. Maybe I will get lucky and she will begin to feel more energetic. Maybe she won’t change at all, but I’ll never know unless I try.
I also asked myself, “What else can I do that may make her feel more motivated?”
Trail rides. She loves trail rides, so I’ll begin to incorporate more of that again to see if it encourages her to walk actively on her own. I also plan to routinely incorporate my SureFoot pads in order to help her muscles release deeper tensions, and to continue opening and strengthening the structure of her hooves.
Taking the toe back slowly
Though I’m discouraged about the riding, I’m really excited to be tuning in to her and, hopefully, helping her body heal on a much deeper level than ever before, as opposed to simply “pushing her forward.”
The last three horses of the day each really deserve blog posts of their own, so I’m going to save my observations of them for another day.
