Re: RE: Slower Ld's

["Whitney Bass" <wbass@montananet.com>]

Kathy,
It's great that you have done as much "control" training as you have.
However, if your horse isn't responding properly to your requests in all
situations, I believe you need to spend more time establishing a line of
communication with your horse.  It is true that with more rides, comes
experience -- but a horse that is "rude" and tries to "cut off other horses"
is a danger on the endurance trail.  I've been around a couple horses like
that (who, by the way, have wonderful manners otherwise, and lots of
endurance miles), but continue to be fairly dangerous and obnoxious out on
the trail, especially the first half of a ride.  So, while your horse may
get better about the excitement of it all with more rides "under his girth"
=-), he may continue those BAD habits indefinitely.  One way that has been
effective for me in getting my horses to always be in tune with my requests,
is to request a lot of them.  When I'm out riding, I'm never just along for
the ride -- I'm always asking my horse to do different things.   These
things include simple requests, such as, wanting more collection or
extension, or asking to lower their head, or to engage their hindquarters
more, etc.  It also includes doing things like asking your horse to maintain
pace without having to "hold" them at it, or sidepass while trotting down
the ride, or going off trail to jump a couple logs or go around a few trees.
In other words, I try to keep a dialogue going between my horse and I at all
times -- that way they always EXPECT it, and LOOK to me for what they should
be doing.  This kind of training (along with round pen work, etc.) seems to
carry over to all situations -- even when there is excitement and adrenaline
involved.  And I can't stress enough the importance of starting a ride AFTER
everyone has left, if you're having a problem with your horse getting too
excited.  It makes the first half of a ride much more enjoyable for both
horse and rider (and he doesn't waste all that needed energy) -- and don't
worry, there is PLENTY of time to pass people in 50 miles, even if you start
5-10 minutes late.  Hope this helps!  And good luck on your upcoming rides!

Whitney


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Mayeda" <kathy_mayeda@atce.com


> But at his first endurance ride he was a maniac. He was totally rude
> and did his best to cut off other horses as well as fighting the bit
> the whole way.  He is just competitive and if he wants to beat
> another horse at the beginning, he's a tough hombre.