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[RC] Using TTOUCH/TEAM methods to improve relationship with horse (long) - Karen CasemierAs I've mentioned briefly on some other posts, I had a very serious riding accident last fall - I was riding my husband's TB who we knew was very herd bound, and he was spooking and bolted back to the barn. I bailed and broke my neck (actually a good thing I jumped off, because he continued to jump over a five foot high electric fence to get back into the pasture, took down two lines of fencing, and most likely did not land on his feet).I was cleared to start riding again at the end of April, but I've had to take it really slow. First, let me give some credit to my mare: she was not ridden at all for over seven months, and I just climbed aboard as soon as my doctor cleared me for riding, and she was wonderful. However, now that it is time for me to get out of the arena and on the trails, I'm having some anxiety. I was fine for the first few weeks of riding, when I stuck in our "arena" (a flat grassy area in front of our barn, next to the house). Now that I'm riding out, I'm not nearly as confident. I do a lot of work in about six-seven open acres we have at the back of our property. Because Mazzie hasn't been ridden much, she's a little spooky and hot (she's always a little hot, but usually not spooky). In the past, none of this bothered me - in fact, on days she was being silly, I would often warm her up well, and then let her have a nice gallop in the field to get it out of her system. She has a lovely canter and gallop - she's naturally balanced - and she's so sensitive that I could always just rock my weight back into the saddle and she'd start to slow down. And her spooks are easy - she stops and drops, but it just take a couple seconds to get her back. She has never bolted with me, but now of course I'm hyper sensitive about it. I'm riding defensively, and that affects her, and it's starting a vicious circle. I'm frustrated - before the accident, I had reached a really nice point in my riding. I completely trusted Mazzie, and she me, and I was feeling confident in my riding for the first time ever. I felt like I could do anythiing with her. Now I feel like I have to start all over. I have in the past played around with Linda Tellington-Jones methods - both the ground work and the TTOUCH. Mazzie will never be a simple, easy horse (she's difficult to saddle due to years of wearing a poorly fitting saddle, and she's very marish on the ground at times)- and these methods seemed to have positive results for her. But I was never consistent with it. What I want to do now is start to build back the bond we had, re-establish our trust so that we both feel more confident in each other out on the trail. Just gritting my teeth and sitting it out is not having the affect I wanted - it's increasing both my tension and Mazzie's. I need to do something to break this cycle before it gets worse. I'd like to stick with TTOUCH/TEAM stuff because I'm familiar with it, and I know it has had good results in the past (unlike the Parelli games, which were a disaster with my mare). Because I haven't been consistent, I'm not sure if I can get really experienced with the TTOUCHes using books and videos alone (I have quite a few) or if I need someone to help me out at first. I'd like to hear from others who have used these methods and what type of training schedule they used, what kind of results they had, etc. I'm open to other suggestions as well, but I don't want to try anything too far out of my comfort zone right now. If I have to start over, so be it. I'm just looking for a little direction - I'm sick of feeling this way. I want to enjoy riding again. Thanks! Karen Casemier and Mazzie (who wishes her person would just get over it and RIDE) _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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