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Spirit Spam
I was putting on my paddock boots yesterday, preparing to groom Spirit, tack him up, and lead him down to the neighbor's ring for his weekly lesson, when Colleen, the trainer, pulled into my driveway and knocked on the door. We have had several lessons "washed out" due to thunderstorms, and she had just heard that one was forecast for 5 p.m., about 15 minutes into our lesson. To spare me from taking Spirit down there and having to turn around and come back, she was offering to do the lesson in the paddock (Kathy, who has the ring, was out of town and while I would still be able to use the ring, it was not as if the trainer had to be there for her).
The paddock is Spirit's "home," and we realized he might be a little less cooperative being asked to "work" there. Plus, the terrain is not as even as the ring, and Laddie is there to distract him! All of these things, however, could be learning experiences, so we gave it a whirl.
I finally have a way to confine Laddie in the barn (the extra, extra long red "stall guard" in the first photo) without tying him up, so we did that.
Laddie watches from the sidelines as Colleen and Spirit pass by (I wanted more of Spirit in this photo, but wasn't fast enough!).
Sure enough, while Colleen worked him loose on the ground, Spirit at first kept trying to get back to his "buddy." (Another reason I'd wanted a way to keep horses either in or out of the barn, since Spirit running into the barn with a rider on top would be very dangerous.) Then she rode him a bit, noting that it was good for him to practice carrying a rider up and down a "hill" (our slight slope) to get used to using his hind end more.
Then it was my turn. This, you should know, is the first-EVAR photo of me on Spirit. Collen tried to get him to put his ears forward (what horse photographers are always trying to do), but he didn't want to pay attention to her, but to me. So we just laughed and gave up. (That's a rueful smile on my face.)
One thing Spirit likes to do is stop and refuse to move forward, because he wants the lesson to end. He had been doing this with me last week in the ring, too, and my squeezing him with my legs, even kicking him, didn't seem to make much of an impression on him. I had been privately wondering if I should use a bat (crop) on him, but didn't want to suggest it. So I was surprised when Colleen said after watching us yesterday, "I think what you're going to need with him is a little flick with a crop." (Not beating him, just to make that clear!) "Do you have one?"
I told her where it was, and she retrieved it from the barn. I felt bad tapping it lightly against his shoulder as she suggested, but it made a huge difference!
Movin' on out! (In the first photo here, I'm actually trying to get Spirit to slow down and engage his hind end as he speeds up going down a slope. Colleen caught me on the "pull" part of "pull and release," so yes, I am deliberately engaging the bit there.)
English riders may be wondering what in hell my hands are doing so far off to the sides. In the Bill Dorrance method we're using, the hands are visual aides for the horse, rather than things hauling away on the bit (if you want him to turn to the right, for example, you turn your arm at the elbow to extend your right hand out to the right, and the horse can see this out of the corner of the eye. If your hands are too close in, he can't see them.) You also ask the horse to start moving forward by repeatedly moving your hands back and forward on each side of his neck, with a loose rein, while using leg/heel.
I had a horse years ago who had a habit (Spirit does this, too) of walking backwards when he didn't want to do something. That's hard to stop! I carried a crop with me then to tap his hind end to get him to move away from it -- forward, in other words.. I ended up having to use it only a few times over our 18 years together -- the mere presence of the crop was enough! From yesterday's lesson, I think that's what will happen with Spirit, too.
The paddock is Spirit's "home," and we realized he might be a little less cooperative being asked to "work" there. Plus, the terrain is not as even as the ring, and Laddie is there to distract him! All of these things, however, could be learning experiences, so we gave it a whirl.
I finally have a way to confine Laddie in the barn (the extra, extra long red "stall guard" in the first photo) without tying him up, so we did that.
Laddie watches from the sidelines as Colleen and Spirit pass by (I wanted more of Spirit in this photo, but wasn't fast enough!).
Sure enough, while Colleen worked him loose on the ground, Spirit at first kept trying to get back to his "buddy." (Another reason I'd wanted a way to keep horses either in or out of the barn, since Spirit running into the barn with a rider on top would be very dangerous.) Then she rode him a bit, noting that it was good for him to practice carrying a rider up and down a "hill" (our slight slope) to get used to using his hind end more.
Then it was my turn. This, you should know, is the first-EVAR photo of me on Spirit. Collen tried to get him to put his ears forward (what horse photographers are always trying to do), but he didn't want to pay attention to her, but to me. So we just laughed and gave up. (That's a rueful smile on my face.)
One thing Spirit likes to do is stop and refuse to move forward, because he wants the lesson to end. He had been doing this with me last week in the ring, too, and my squeezing him with my legs, even kicking him, didn't seem to make much of an impression on him. I had been privately wondering if I should use a bat (crop) on him, but didn't want to suggest it. So I was surprised when Colleen said after watching us yesterday, "I think what you're going to need with him is a little flick with a crop." (Not beating him, just to make that clear!) "Do you have one?"
I told her where it was, and she retrieved it from the barn. I felt bad tapping it lightly against his shoulder as she suggested, but it made a huge difference!
Movin' on out! (In the first photo here, I'm actually trying to get Spirit to slow down and engage his hind end as he speeds up going down a slope. Colleen caught me on the "pull" part of "pull and release," so yes, I am deliberately engaging the bit there.)
English riders may be wondering what in hell my hands are doing so far off to the sides. In the Bill Dorrance method we're using, the hands are visual aides for the horse, rather than things hauling away on the bit (if you want him to turn to the right, for example, you turn your arm at the elbow to extend your right hand out to the right, and the horse can see this out of the corner of the eye. If your hands are too close in, he can't see them.) You also ask the horse to start moving forward by repeatedly moving your hands back and forward on each side of his neck, with a loose rein, while using leg/heel.
I had a horse years ago who had a habit (Spirit does this, too) of walking backwards when he didn't want to do something. That's hard to stop! I carried a crop with me then to tap his hind end to get him to move away from it -- forward, in other words.. I ended up having to use it only a few times over our 18 years together -- the mere presence of the crop was enough! From yesterday's lesson, I think that's what will happen with Spirit, too.
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Thanks for the pictures. I like seeing them, and I like seeing you atop Spirit.
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When Whisper was cranky, I'd get a crop, pointedly show it to Whisper, and then hand it to the kid. She almost never had to USE it, once Whisper knew she had it!
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Exactly! ;-P
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