Posts Tagged ‘clicker training
Spending My Time Wisely
On Friday I did something I haven’t done in a really long time…but was long overdue.
It was a surprisingly mild November night, and after finishing all of my barn work and chores I decided to spend some time with Minnow. Armed with a few brushes (and the dachshund bundled in his winter coat) I settled myself into the pile of hay in Minnow’s stall. Minnow munched around me, occasionally giving me and the dachshund kisses (he’s so sweet like that). I scratched his itchy spots, brushed his muddy coat (from all the rain we’ve had) and basically just enjoyed being with him. I sat in his stall for about an hour before dragging myself away.
I’ve always known the importance of just enjoying my horses, not asking for something specific from them, just letting them be horses and observing. Its of huge importance for horses to bond with their owner/rider/special person – and to be undemanding of your horse helps to accomplish this. But, in actuality its always hard to find time to do this. You carve out time to go to the barn – and you want to “do” something. I know the feeling, I’m guilty of this all of the time. But horses don’t feel this same need, and sometimes its better to do nothing.
I think I spent the most time doing nothing with Minnow when I was in college. When he was in his most intense part of training with me I decided to bring him to college with me. Needless to say I think I spent more time at the barn evading school work than anything else. But it brought Minnow and I much closer.
I’d just sit in his stall and watch him eat hay, or I’d lay in the grass with him while he got his fill. I even studied in the pasture while he was just “being a horse”. Most of the time he ignored me, but occasionally he’d wander over and nuzzle my hair, or tug at my boots – signs that he was interested in me and what I was doing in there with him. Getting a horse interested can sometimes be one of the toughest things to accomplish – and for Minnow especially, these steps were huge. He was a pony that was easily terrified of everything – but rather than touching it to see what it was he opted to completely ignore the situation – to the point where when faced with a strange object he would turn his head all the way around so he didn’t even have to look at it. So bringing curiosity out of him was always a major struggle for me. So with each time Minnow CHOSE to touch me, or my books he was becoming more and more curious – curiosity that helped me to get him over his fear of the mounted games equipment, fear of noises, fear of pretty much anything.
So on Friday night as I sat in Minnow’s pile of hay I thought back to those wonderful days we spent together in college and I vowed that I MUST do nothing with my horses more often.
Getting past the Scary
Boomer's finished haircut
After Boomer received his haircut (which by the way I love now) my mom and I decided it would be a good idea to work with Blitz and the clippers. Our clippers are really loud – and I’d be scared if they came at me! And while Boomer took to the clippers with hardly any problems at all, he’s not the average horse. I’ve always said I’ve never seen/had a horse quite like him that is pretty much unfazed and curious about everything. Blitz on the other hand is naturally more cautious. It takes him a few days to get the courage to touch scary things while it will take Boomer mere minutes. But the fact is Blitz will get over it, he just needs a little more time.
So anyway, onto the clippers. With the help of the clicker we attempted to get Blitz used to the scary clippers. He was actually pretty good. We didn’t snip any hair (other than my mom’s little mishap and a few whiskers) but we made good progress with him. You can watch the video below.
Blitz was untied throughout the session – although I did hold the end of the rope just as a precaution – so if he decided to move away he was able to. Surprisingly he stayed very still and other than a turning of his head occasionally he wasn’t too horrified – mostly because we made it enjoyable for him. I think with a few more session we’ll be clipping his hair in no time!
Blitz also had a breakthrough the other day with my mom. She took him on his very first trailride alone! Like I mentioned Blitz really isn’t brave at all and going anywhere alone is a huge step for him. My mom felt comfortable enough that she thought it would be good experience for him. She said he was a bit nervous but behaved himself quite nicely. This is a great step because trail riding alone gives horses great confidence – if done properly. Horses are herd animals, so asking them to leave their comfort zone of the group is very stressful for them. But to have a horse that can go anywhere and do anything alone is wonderful. I’ve been fortunate to be able to train most of my horses to be this way – and both of our young guys are well on their way to being able to do this too.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Can’t use the Accelerator if the Brakes are Cut
Blitz and my mom warm up
On Sunday Boomerang and Blitz traveled 2 1/2 hours to the site of the United States Equestrian Team training facility, Hamilton Farm, in Gladstone, NJ. It was a long journey (with us up at 4am) but it was well worth the trip for the hour of riding we did due to what we accomplished alone. We were to compete against two other teams in the pairs division – teams with top riders and ponies much more advanced than our boys. My mom and I saw this as another step in their training – to play against better/faster horses…and for the boys to keep their cool.
See in mounted games many of the horses feed off eachother. They stand at the start in a line waiting for the flag to drop, one horse jigs and gets excited, the next starts to rear, and before you know it the whole line is dancing around with adrenaline. Adrenaline – its the curse for all of us, how do you control a 1,000lb animal that can’t control its own emotions? Trick question – because you can’t! But you can teach your horse how to control these emotions – inturn making your horse controllable to you.
As the other horses reared and danced Boomer and Blitz stood like statues waiting for their cue from us to take off. And take off they did…well Boomer did atleast, Blitz’s idea of taking off is a few speeds slower – but thats fine, because thats the way my mom likes it. I decided to use this fairly low key competition to ask Boomer for a little bit of speed. Despite the overnight rainfall I felt the footing would be ok so I used the opportunity to test out his wheels. And wheels he has. We aren’t too far off the speed I want out of him, but I definitely don’t want to ask for it all yet.
I strongly believe that the “meltdowns” of many a games ponies are due to the fact that the riders push them too much too fast. As a rider in an extreme speed discipline its hard to not want to go fast all the time. Once you feel that rush its in your blood and its hard not to want to feel that all the time. But for a young/green horse going fast is the last thing you want to do. In training, ponies should be working on spins, stops and most of all control. You can’t step on the accelerator if your brake lines are cut!
So when I asked Boomer for a little more speed I only did so because I was comfortable in knowing that I for one had a really good stop on him. I say whoa and he slams on those breaks (and of course looks for his reward haha). I also knew that he had his adrenaline under control. Our months of racing up hills than asking him to stop and stand after a flat out gallop have really helped to teach him to control his emotions.
So speeding away we went. I was so proud when several times we came neck and neck with another rider and thanks to Boomer’s speed we actually crossed the finish line first! And what I didn’t expect out of Boomer’s speed was that he actually transferred it over to my vaulting. If you have been following along in my posts, you remember that we’ve been working on leading (and not biting) while under saddle. All in the hopes that Boomer will match my speed when I’m ready to vault on. So in the past several weeks we’ve completely stopped working on vaulting and focused only on the leading part. I expected Boomer to be somewhat respectful while leading, but I still thought he’d revert back and stand still while I vaulted. I definitely was surprised when I placed my hands on his neck (in my typical vaulting position) and he proceeded to take off in a controlled canter. Wow this is exactly what I wanted (I really made sure to make a fuss and click and reward him)…however since I didn’t anticipate this my vaulting was a tad delayed. Sadly I’m a little rusty on my speed skills since we’ve spent the past year doing things slowly. So when I vaulted I kept ending up behind the saddle – or missing alltogether. Thankfully Boomer didn’t buck me off and I was able to claw my way into the saddle as he galloped towards home.
All this made me realize in what bad shape I’m in. I’ve been focusing so much on Boomer’s progress I forgot to keep myself up to par. Looks like I’ll be spending the winter doing pushups again!
Anyway to wrap up the day. We placed 3rd – but respectfully points wise. And although we didn’t take home the blue ribbon, we were both extremely pleased with the boy’s progress and thats all that really matters. Riding to us is about personal goals. Winning is nice, but if you can’t be happy with what you have done/accomplished than none of it really matters. Each day the Trick Ponies learn something new, and for that we are proud. We are thankful that we have been able to create a partnership and a language with our horses – and it makes riding and competing that much more enjoyable for everyone involved!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Boomerang’s First Haircut
Boomer has a lot of hair. And when I say a lot…I mean a lot! If Mane n’ Tail got a hold of him – he’d be their new spokes-pony for sure. Because not only is it thick, but its got gorgeous natural highlights that shimmer in the sunlight. I’ve always loved horses with a full head of hair. Manes that flow in the wind – reminiscent of their wild ancestor’s locks (without the mats and burrs of course). So you may be wondering why I CHOPPED IT ALL OFF yesterday!!?? I’m sort of wondering the same thing myself.
I’ve always wanted to roach a horse’s mane. Because lets face it, in my equine sport of choice, mounted games, long hair just doesn’t cut it. Sure its pretty and stylish, but it gets tangled in your hands and your reins and it just basically makes multitasking near impossible. So I secretly always wanted to roach one of my ponies mane’s to see if it would make things easier for me while competing. So after my competition with Boomer on Sunday (which I really should of posted about first….but I just couldn’t wait to post about Boomer’s first haircut) and one jammed finger later, I decided what the heck if it looks stupid it will grow back!
So onto the haircut. The idea was simple. Roach Boomer’s mane so that I had about 2 inches left with the hopes that it would stand straight up – I opted to leave a little because #1 I was chicken and #2 I still need a little something to grab when I vault on or when Boomer decides to act like the baby he is and throw some bronco bucks. Then I realized…as far as I know Boomer’s never seen clippers before. Humm. Out comes the treat bag and my clicker.
Within a few minutes Boomer the wonder pony was letting me clip off his gorgeous locks with the heavy duty (super loud) clippers without so much as a flinch. All thanks to the clicker. I think if he had known I was stealing his hair he might not have been so tolerant.
I told him to keep his eyes closed until I was finished. 🙂
I was a bit scared after the first pass. Thank god we don’t have mirrors in the barn – Boomer would have never let me live this down.
But after some more touch ups and a shampoo and wash – I think it turned out ok. The real test will be next weekend when we head to the Prince George Equestrian Center for 2 days of competition. Hopefully I don’t dread Boomer’s first haircut.
So what do you think? Was this a horrible mistake on my part? Should I have cut it even shorter? Tell me what you think!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Happy Halloweenie!
In the spirit of Halloween here are some pictures of my Dachshund, Ammo, and his best friend, Trooper, dressed up in their favorite bearable costumes.
Ponies aren't supposed to eat Dinosaurs
But mom....he tastes so good!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
