thanks, I have used carrots after he went thru puddles a couple times. He stopped evry time he heard the velcro. I may keep some with me. The fear thing is pretty much under control, lessons helped me with that, becoming a better rider and figuring the 3 ft. jump the lesson took over crossrails(2x was experinced dressage horse learning to jump, instructor wanted me to ride her because I was strong and she liked me)I had a tad of fear that day when I lost my stirrup. But I can always turn him, it's the surprose thing. Luckily he isn't that way every ride. Maybe I just have to drill him over and over and ride alert. Laurie ----- Original Message ----- From: Tina Rushing Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2002 9:52 PM To: LADurgin@xxxxxxx Subject: Encouragement Holy smokes, you do have your hands full. I can't offer any additional
tools, it sounds like you are using them all.
My filly was a handful; I raised her from an egg and have been riding her
since she was 2.5 years. She really scared me for the first 2 years. She
is 8 now and much better, but I'd be a liar if I said I never had a
frightened moment. She is nimble, powerful, and intelligent.
I took a few riding lessons which helped but much was just mental and I had
to do that alone. I can't afford riding lessons and don't have access to an
arena. I don't have a riding buddy so we are always solo. A good "golden"
riding pal is a huge help and I would be grateful to have one.
If I had to narrow it down to one thing, I would chose "don't fight". My
horse is easily distracted, so it was not hard to turn her attention. She
would completely forget about the battle she was preparing to wage and do
the little thing I'd ask her to do. Oh, COOKIES helped (Manna Pro Apple
Wafers). I believe that this horse would jump through a ring of fire for a
cookie. It is important to teach that cookies are earned, never taken. I
could say, "cookie?" and she would become completely distracted in
anticipation of the command that would earn her a cookie. These days we
don't have to resort to this very often but I'm not above pulling it out if
I need it. It helped recently when I was tossed and I needed to catch her
out in the wilds... "Hey-yah, COOKIE baby?" brought her from a gallop to my
hand (whew, was I happy!)
Good luck with your horse. I'm sure you have a smart one that could make
you proud one day but if you are unhappy (bad matches happen) you will
surely be able to find him another good home. There are plenty of good
horses out there needing good homes. I have bought and re-placed horses
several times and I found this to be very rewarding.
Tina
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