A close up showing the three D-rings.One on the front for lungeing and two on the sides for ground driving.
A closeup showing the noseband, the D-ring, the old leather dog collar and the two layers of adhesive foam (found in the kids craft section of Hobby Lobby). Breaking the welding on the D-rings and spreading them to get them around the noseband was probably the hardest part. And we couldn't find our leather punch so we had to use a nail. That was fun lol. I think it turned out great even though it's not much to look at. :)
My husband hugging Chrome. Of course Chrome looks handsome in anything. I think the rivets make it look kind of nice. :)
My handsome boy getting ready to smile.
Our favorite trick. Such a cute smile!!
Showing off his cute baby teeth. :)And what you've all been waiting for. The video! Sorry it's so long. I didn't want to cut anything out. I added captions, but if you don't want to read them I'll explain here. I've only taught one horse to ground drive and that was in 2000. I only did it a few times and had no idea what I was doing. So this is only the second time I've taught a horse to ground drive and the first time using clicker training. :) I'm horribly unorganized and at the beginning I completely forgot to put the clicker in my hand so the click was very delayed.
I started out having my husband lead him so he'd get used to me walking behind him. When he was doing well I had my husband lengthen the rope and then eventually leave us on our own. During this session I was simply clicking for forward movement, preferably straight. Like all babies he kept wanting to turn to face me, but I was actually really proud of how well he stood and waited for me to bring the treat to him instead of trying to turn to me. So proud of my boy! Anyway enough talking, here's the video.
I'm so happy!!!!!!
wow, excellent! Looks like he did really really well for his first session. And great idea to have your husband help, I think that can really help the horse start to figure it out and not make it seem so totally foreign.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to try--I like to ground drive between cones tied to the fence (or other specific objects) that I have to horse target. Going from point to point can help give the horse a purpose, which can often increase the willingness to offer forward motion.
I'll often start with a consistent pattern, which can help build confidence, but then change it up later, so the horse has to listen to my cues. For instance--heading toward two cones maybe 15 ft apart and the horse has to listen to the rein cues to see if we're going to the right one or the left one.
Your lungeing cavesson looks really nice as well. Actually, custom made is probably better than buying one, because it looks like it fits him really well. (I've seen some designs that were big and bulky and didn't seem to fit the horse very well.)
Mary
Get out the plow! Hehehe. He is such a big old momma's horse. I never gave any thought to how a horse learns to do that, but now that you have enlightened me I can see what a complex skill it is to learn. You are so patient. He is one lucky horse.
ReplyDeleteMango Momma
Nice video, thanks for sharing. Congrats on your training progress!
ReplyDeleteIs your Zepplin finally shedding? My donkey is finally shedding in patches and looks awfully silly.