RC: Re: CONTROL AND COURTESY

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>Several people who saw him, independently suggested
>more control.  I have no way to duplicate the "adrenalin
>rush" in competition!
>
>It is my "rookie opinion" is that we need this in competition.
>The ride would be easier on BOTH of us.
>
Hmmmmm....who's having the adrenalin rush???  ;-)  If he's fine during
training with other horses, it may be *your* adrenalin that's making him
ditzy!  Try to approach a competition the way you train...and get him used
to starting out very calmly and -- most importantly -- get him used to
obeying your commands no matter how excited he gets.  A snaffle has very
little in the way of brakes and would be something to aim for...but while
you're training him to listen to you with light cues, a little more control
would not be out of line, IMO.  And do lots of "Stand Still" training along
with the "Slow Down" and "Whoa Dammit" cues...it's mostly about obedience
and submission. 

When I first started Blaze out on the trails, he would have some absolutely
impressive "Toad" episodes...you know, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!  (He's been
the hardest one to train, so far, outside of the arena.)  Since he's
normally ridden in a french-link snaffle in the arena (basically no brakes
in the bit and about the mildest snaffle you can use...the brakes come more
from your seat and weight), getting a handle on him when he would get
excited or spooky was a bit of a challenge.  (We would judge how good he
had been on a ride by the number of Toad episodes. ;-))  I *added* an
english hackamore to give me more brakes for a couple of times, but that
proved a bit too cumbersome...altho it worked.  I would only pick up the
reins on the hackamore if I *really* needed them.  An english hackamore is
milder than a western style one but still can be severe if used with too
much enthusiasm.  

After a couple of times with that set-up, I decided to try a solid mouth,
low port pelham with two sets of reins so I could ride him on a long rein
or with direct (snaffle) reining for most of the time and only pick up the
reins attached to the short shanks (curb reining) when I needed a bit more
influence.  I wanted to continue with the snaffle bit since I use trail
time to work on their dressage training a bit (long stretches of trail
rather than going round and round in the arena are a great time for
schooling.)  It worked beautifully and it would usually just take me barely
lifting the second set of reins and he would decide to listen.  It was
still cumbersome because I was dealing with two sets of reins.  I'm not
unaccustomed to riding with two reins (learned how from one of my dressage
instructors) but I just don't like to since I'm not that swift with them
and I feel like I'm continually untangling my fingers with two sets of
reins.  I continued with this until I found I was not using the curb reins
more than one or two times as light reminders during a ride.

From there I went to a solid-mouthed, low port Kimberwicke with the reins
attached to the top slot -- basically a snaffle with a hint of brakes with
the chin strap...(The Kimberwicke has more of a curb action if you put the
reins in the lower slot...still a fairly mild bit that isn't going to
become too severe in normal novice hands.)  By then he'd gotten pretty good
about obeying so this was sufficient.  We are now currently in a side-pull
with the Kimberwicke attached and in use at the start of a ride.  As soon
as I feel he's got his brains where they belong, I remove the Kimberwicke
and ride with just the side-pull.  He loves the side-pull and knows that it
he starts ditzing around, we go back to the Kimberwicke.

All of this occurred during a very short period of time (probably no more
than a half dozen times out with the Kimberwick, for instance.)  The
important point here is that, all during this time, I was working on
insisting he listen to me and obey me.  When we'd accomplish that task at
one level, I'd then drop down to the next lower level of persuasion....and
so on.  I hope to soon need nothing more than the side-pull for any
situation with him.  He also gets to graduate real soon to have a student
on him when out of the arena...and I'll be switching my training time to my
new horse.  (I think I've made a decision...and I'm really looking forward
to starting the training on the new guy...altho I will miss riding Blaze
since he is really a horse of great character and a lot of fun to ride!)  

They learn very quickly that when they are naughty, they get stronger
persuasion (which includes that horrid game show buzzer noise also
<g>)...and when they're good, they are very, *very* comfortable.  James, my
former trainer, taught me that, in regards to both cues and discipline,
start with the minimum that you need to get the message across and then
keep backing down until everything is just a whisper.

Sue


  


sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=