Okay I rode Chrome after work today to see if I could figure out what was going on yesterday. What I've decided is that he's sensitive!!!
The differences from yesterday are that today it was easily ten degrees warmer (40sF) with no wind, I used only a halter so no bit and I used the fluffy fleece saddle pad. I only rode for around thirty minutes.
Okay so I put his halter on and got on bareback. I walked him around a few minutes and then started trotting up and down the driveway and weaving around trees in the circle just like yesterday. He was great. Eager, forward, responsive, etc.
My jacket has stupid things on it that get between my leg and the saddle or my leg and his back and it bruises! I asked him to stop so I could tie the strings up to keep it from bruising us and he slammed on the brakes. That was my first clue and I started paying attention. Remember we were in a halter!
So after riding around at the trot for a while bareback I took him to the car, got off, stood around, pet him, etc. Then I got back on bareback and rode him around. He was exactly the same. Forward walk and trot, slamming on the brakes when I asked him to walk or whoa. I tried cantering bareback, but I was too nervous so he wouldn't do anything except trot really fast.....
Then I took him to the car and saddled him up, but I used the fleece pad this time instead of the thin one. He shifted around a tiny bit when I tightened the girth, but not as bad as yesterday. So I hopped on and he walked off as eager and forward as before. I felt no difference at all between bareback and the saddle. We walked and trotted around some more, then I tried cantering.
He wouldn't canter the first time and tried to stop at the car (which hubby says is my fault because I've stopped him there every time I've cantered before.... I never noticed that before). So I tried again and he cantered, but he ducked his head. I overreacted because I was gun shy from yesterday and jerked his head up. He stuck his head straight in the air and tried to stop, but I remembered the comment saying if I let him stop he thinks it's okay so I pushed him on past the car and he cantered fine, but with his head in the air.
I cantered him several times after that and he still tried to stop at the car from habit, but he kept going when I asked him. When I told him to slow down with a vocal cue and no rein pressure he still threw his head in the air. :( Also on our last canter I told my hubby that was good enough because he didn't try to buck and his nose wasn't way in the air. Hubby said, "Aren't you going to praise him?" Oops!!! I wanted to cry when he said that. I haven't been praising him because I've been so absorbed in whatever we are working on and in my own fear. *fail!*
So what I've decided is stopping at the car is habit, the bucking was probably from the weather and feeling good and the overreactions and sensitivity is because he is terrified of getting yanked in the face. :( Yesterday the first time I asked him to canter he did it so easily and willingly with a great upward transition. After he bucked and I yanked him up he was running into the canter with his head in the air. Today he was running into the canter with his head in the air.
So I've decided to stop cantering him unless it happens naturally until I can get some lessons. I don't want my fear of him bucking to ruin him to cantering and riding in general. He's such a great horse. I won't do that to him. We will continue to trail ride and do some long trots, but the cantering will just stay on the back burner until I learn to quit yanking on his face out of fear. My hubby is also convinced that me yelling at the dog yesterday is part of what had him so over reactive because I always yell at him when I yank him out of a crow hop. Sigh. Why did it take me this long to figure out the problem???
I'm still going to pay close attention to the weather, the saddle, my riding, etc. to make sure I'm not missing anymore clues. I'm going to focus on making riding enjoyable for him again and I'm also going to stick with my plan of no feeding him after riding. I'll also make sure I'm not stopping by the car all the time. Yesterday was the first day that I had spent much time working him at the trot for long periods of time too because he is so energetic with the cooler weather. He's normally so lazy, it's hard to not take advantage of his willingness to move! I will make sure not to drill him though.
Thank you everyone for your comments. I really appreciate them. I'll keep you updated on how we're doing. :D
I was surprised this week to learn that my horse prefers one saddle pad to another. I reasoned that I can't always use that nice new sheepskin pad, so I put the old no-slip pad on her. She always accepts saddling well, but after I was done she stood there unhappily and then took a few steps and acted as if the saddle was killing her. "I can't move!" It wasn't even tightened yet - 4 holes to go. I asked if she was trying to tell me something so I started over with the sheepskin, and she didn't act like she was dying. Wow. Now I need another sheepskin because I cannot just have one working pad.
ReplyDeleteI've never had a horse show such preference for a pad before, and it's odd because the first year, I only had the non-slip pad. I guess she's spoiled now: )
For Chrome, I think a 10 degree difference is huge. Does your donkey react to cold weather by running around more?
That's really interesting about the saddle pad!!! Maybe I need to get another fleece one too. Our spoiled ponies! Yes my donkey runs around like a nut when it's cold and he was running around while I was riding Chrome the other day... And we were cantering toward the pasture when he was bucking!! Maybe he was playing??
DeleteDon't beat yourself up, we have to make mistakes to learn from them and there are few animals so forgiving as the horse.
ReplyDeleteChrome and you will get there with practice and patience.
Nancy used to crow hop when I first cantered her last year, she thought she was being super rebellious. I just laughed and closed my leg to coax her on - could he be growing?
When they go through growth spurts some horses find it difficult to coordinate themselves and mess to cover the fact they can't find their feet
I'm glad they are so forgiving. I just hope I haven't built a permanent negative association. I doubt he's growing, but he does have loose stifles so cantering has always been a little sticky for him. I just need to keep building his strength. I think neither one of us is ready for a lot of cantering right now but we will get there. :-)
DeleteI was lunging the grays yesterday and remembering several trainers who told me to never let the horse stop by the gate. I guess a lot of horses naturally want to stop there to say, "Okay, I'm done. Take me back to the barn and feed me." It's also true to not always stop your horse in the same spot, because horses are great at anticipating habits, but if you are short on space for cantering, it's probably good that Chrome stops when the room runs out. I know Bombay would run right into a fence if I didn't stop him.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that there are a lot of factors to stay on top of when it comes to things that affect horse behavior. The Nevada horse trainers I worked with taught me to pay attention to those things and work around them. The Arizona horse trainers I worked with taught me to ignore all those factors and just make the horse do what I want. I suppose the best approach is a balance of the two. Some issues can't be ignored, like pain or health problems, while others are unimportant, but persistent, so it's best to teach the horse to ignore them.
Yes I think it definitely has to be a balance between the two. :) Horse are definitely good at anticipating. I'm just so oblivious I don't notice when I'm doing the same thing every time. I guess it's time to be more aware of what I'm doing when, why and where. :)
DeleteI think you're being way too hard on yourself. You're riding a 5 yr old horse you trained by yourself around bareback and in a halter. I know Grand Prix riders who couldn't do that! That's really awesome! Of course there's going to be bumps and bobbles, he's only 5. You're doing great, just keep plugging along over these speed bumps!
ReplyDeleteThank you Shannon. This comment almost made me cry. I really appreciate it. I needed the perspective. :D
Deletesounds like you're doing great work! i sometimes try to break each signal down into smaller pieces - like if you ask for canter, and he canters (even with nose in the air) - that's GOOD!! once the canter button is installed, you can refine the transition and help build his strength to carry himself. same with downward transitions - you can smooth them out over time, but it's definitely good that his 'whoa' button is firmly installed :) good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You're right, at least he does have a great "whoa" button because he used to have a really bad one LOL!!! Maybe since we've gone the extreme in both directions now we will settle into a happy medium. :D
DeleteI'm normally pretty good at breaking things down into smaller pieces because of the clicker training I did with him. Maybe I need to get back to that. We need the structure, but it's so cold! Using a clicker is not fun when your hands are frozen lol. Maybe that's something we can work on in the spring. I think right now we're just going to enjoy ourselves and I'm going to pay attention to see if any of the tack is bothering him. :)