Re: RC: Re: RE: Slower Ld's

["Robyn Levash" <questarabians@inreach.com>]

Penny,
I agree with what you are saying. We must do only what  the horse can
mentally handle and then  slowly add more distractions excitement etc. I am
very safety conscience and just will not do something that jeopardizes my
safety/health or the horses. If the horse cannot mentally "handle" a
situation it's time for backing up to the spot in which the horse can handle
the situation. I see alot of people out there on the rides just hangin' on
for dear life hoping their horse will eventually calm down. It's their
choice not mine, and their life not mine. Unfortunately, it is their horse's
mind and health that are at risk here. Yes, there is no argument that  some
horses are just  more challenging to train and naturally high strung due to
one or more factors such as : Their lifestyle (living in a boxstall
environment vs. pasture environment), breeding, personality, bad past
experiences, pain, etc. etc.or a combination of many factors.  My gelding
was 16 when he did his first endurance ride. I bought him when he was 12. He
was probably the most well trained horse I've ever ridden . He was a
successful upper level show/ dressage horse in his younger years and lived
in a box stall all of his life before I ever bought him. It was a real
challenge to help him overcome his anxiety around other horses (not in the
arena) but on the trail. He did not have trail experience at all when I
bought him at age 12. He was impossible to ride with other horses at first
but PERFECT to ride if he was by himself. So for two years I did nothing but
condition him alone on long training rides. Then I gradually added a
training horse/rider buddy. When he was OK with that we added another
horse/rider to the training ride etc. until I felt that he could finally
"cope" with the situation of a large group of people on a fast paced
training ride. That is why it was not until he was 16 (4 long years of
gradual mental training) before I even considered riding him in his first LD
ride.  His first endurance ride yes, he was very excited the first 10 miles
but not "unmanageable." He listened to my cues and was not dangerous or out
of control to ride. If he were, I would not even think about stopping him
and encourage him to do something that he could mentally handle and get his
attention back on me.  The best way I found  to "help" my horse understand
and cope with the added intensity and excitement of the endurance ride was
starting him five to ten minutes behind everyone. It was something that he
could handle. I had a lot of other people tell me that " you hold him back
and that is worse. He just needs to learn to deal with the excitement of the
ride and will just calm down eventually." I did not feel comfortable for the
health/safety of me orr my horse with following that advice.  I think it
took about  500 miles before he was able to cope well with starting with
everyone. I learned to realize that with sometimes going slow with (mental)
training you really end up going fast. A lot of people do not understand
this concept. Even though this gelding had so much show/ upper level
dressage training in his past, had I let this particular horse go like a bat
out of hell from day one in his first  endurance ride I am sure that I would
not have the same "sane" horse "mentality" that I now enjoy today. Goes to
prove that mental fitness is just as important if not more than physical
fitness.
Robyn
----- Original Message -----
From: sharp penny <penelope_75647@yahoo.com>
To: Robyn Levash <questarabians@inreach.com>
Cc: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 9:18 AM
Subject: Re: RC: Re: RE: Slower Ld's


>
>
>
>
>  He still gets excited, but he knows
> > how to deal with it now. I
> > am convinced that no amount of training in the
> > world would have been more
> > effective than just doing a lot of long slow
> > endurance miles.
>
>
>      Actually, you are just doing the next step in the
> level of your training. You begin a horses training in
> a calm controlled environment. As the horse learns and
> you get a level of 100% response . you go to the next
> level and train him in an environment that has "more
> outside distractions and stimuli". You work him in
> this environment untill you get that 100% and then
> move on the the next level,ect. Some people only need
> or want to reach a certain level and are happy staying
> at that level. Here the show horse comes to mind. In
> endurance you have to train your horse to "preform" at
> the highest level of excitement.
>     For example you trained your horse first in an
> arena or ring. When he was good there I bet you felt
> confident working in an open pasture. I would bet when
> you first rode him in a different environment he took
> a few steps backward training wise. The same goes for
> that first controlled trail ride, I bet you had to
> work to get his attention off of his surroundings and
> onto you. Eventually he was no problem on a calm trail
> or training ride. By going to an endurance ride you
> just upped the excitement level again. Just the next
> step in training, which you are doing now. Sure, he
> won't be as well behaved and as responsive to you as
> he was at the calmer rides. He will improve and settle
> because he has the training and disipline to draw on.
> Unlike the untrained horse he has learned how to get a
> grip on his emotional self. If you look at the horses
> that don't settle no matter how many rides they have
> done, I bet you will find they have never been taught
> how to handle their emotions in a calm controlled
> environment and then asked to work up through the
> levels of excitement.
>     A horse isn't trained until he responds to you and
> your cues 100% of the time in any environment, even
> when all hell is breaking loose around him. This takes
> lots of time and you have to work through the steps of
> the various excitement levels.
>     Basically training is just a way to teach a horse
> how to handle his emotions. A horse that is trained to
> the 10th degree in dressage has actually just learned
> to handle his emotions in that environment. Try asking
> a grand prix horse to piaffe on a trail. Most likely
> he will act up, not because he is lacking in training,
> its because he has not been trained to work in this
> level of excitment. If you wanted to be able to work
> him here you would have to work on the basics leading
> up to the piaffe on the trail environment. Please do
> not take this literally as I use this only as an
> example.  My point being is you can't jump from point
> A to D without doing the steps inbetween.
>
>   Penny
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Robyn
> > Robyn
> >
> >
> >
> >
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