Friday, February 12, 2016

Groundwork and glass recycling

I took Mag for  his third walk today and he was spectacular, scaring drivers and bus drivers passing by, with his high  neck and tail over his back. Fortunately for me, he is polite on the lead despite stress and snorting.

I have to admit I was not completely calm, I refrained from coffee this morning.

The horse followed behind as we made our way to the hiking trail parking lot/glass recycling station. I went further in, to the Schutzhund club. I had this idea that their gravel parking area could serve as a place to do groundwork with a horse, despite the puddles and trees everywhere.

It was great. Except for all the trees.

I intended to teach Mag, for the first time, to follow my finger to tell him which direction to make a circle around me, and then disengage his hindquarters to stop, facing me. And then to follow the other finger the other way, and so on, and then to stop altogether, and to back (stopping and backing he should know by now). Then the reverse on the line, from circling me right to left without hesitation.

It didn't all go smoothly. The disengaging the hindquarters was too abrupt for him, and he told me so by shaking his head at me defiantly. I needed to start with more intensity that I needed, knowing how lazy he could be from his past, so I felt the intensity was justified. For example, I didn't start him moving around me at a walk, but rather at a trot, because I wanted to instill the impression of forward and "NOW"  so he got a little offended. No bad language, just the head shaking, til I got what I wanted and toned it down.

I let him just walk around me, and change directions every half circle. It started to get good and I wanted to keep going but I realized that it was enough, so I stopped.

He tends to creep forward to me for touching and I kept backing him, but moving toward him and rubbing him behind his ears or giving a bit of carrot.

I tried to work on standing still but Mag just started tearing roots out of the ground and eating them and grabbing whatever plant he could, and even digging at the earth. Hm, what to do.

I walked him over to the Schutzhund center, with all their obstacles, and stood with my back to their gate, wiggling it to see if that bothered him. No response. I told him how he doesn't want to know what happens here. "Here they make predators more aggressive than they would normally be." (Nothing wrong with that, the only dog breed I truly love is the GSD.)

I saw that standing there, with nowhere for him to go, and no trees to uproot, tear down, he had to settle a bit. I think that's a good place to start for tying training in the woods, stand where he has nothing to do but wait. We'll see.

A lady came with a Bernese and Dachshund, both off leash. I stood there and Mag became entranced by them. "What is this amazing circus!" He held perfectly still, straining his neck toward each dog as they walked by. The dogs were the first thing that made him hold still. He looked like one of those Scottsdale Arabians that are now practicing their poses in Arizona. I think even that dog lady appreciated that.

Then someone parked at the recycling center and started dumping glass into the containers. Mag was disturbed, but stayed with me. I laughed, "Yes, we all have to do it here, recycling. Do you want me to give you the many types? Plastic, paper, glass, garden, kitchen waste,...it goes on....and it's by law.."

I didn't let Mag stop at the recycling center, even though we passed right by the guy doing it. Mag was uptight, prancing by his Jeep, putting on a show for the guy. I reminded Mag to stay behind me and he did. 

After that on the sidewalk toward home,  so safe - but even a commuter bus passed by Mag and he only flinched. I consistently make him just stand still, but not away from traffic, just facing away if he needs to leap. He consistenly stands still and lets the vehicle pass. I can't wait to see what he'll do when the horse-drawn carriages go by, when the weather warms up.

I forgot to say that this morning I brought out a big tarp and it really bothered Mag, so I hung it on the fence above his food and water, and by the end of the day, the wind was whipping it around, and he was fine with it.

Once home I just let him go but did not feed him or release them to pasture. That's just my thing, when returning home, there won't be any reward of any kind other than the massive reward of being home.

30 minutes later I turned them both out and ....

tonight...

I decided that tonight they could stay out all night.

Like grown ups. OK College students.

I put out hay, fed them both beet pulp, and left the gates open.

My animals are not to be found. It's dark out, 8 pm, and they're enjoying their freedom.

Gute nacht.

PS - I'm watching Scottsdale and loving the examples of great horsemanship, and hating all the unhappy horses (Western Rollkur!?). But the examples of kindness and happy horse performance make up for that. Wow. And I have the best horse of them all.

13 comments:

kbryan said...

Things seem to be going really well with him. Your happiness and excitement with him comes across in your writing. Has he and Bellis taken to one another? Do yo have a plan for when you'll ride him? Would love to see more pictures. Have a great weekend!

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

Thanks for reminding me of the horse show. I wait for it all year and usually forget to write the dates down and either miss it or go on the final weekend. I hope I can actually spend a whole day there this year. When I have been able to go in recent years, I got stuck in traffic for several hours and could only watch an hour or two of the show before having to get back. I think I won't invite anyone to go with me, because that's half the problem. I have to go on their schedule, and most of my horse friends are habitually late by several hours. Glass recycling containers at a trail head? If I had to mount my horse there, I'd be timing it in between dumpings. As is, I usually mount by the barn, and have learned to let my horse face the other horses, because if someone bangs up against a gate right when I'm mounting and my horse can't see what is going on, I find myself going for a wild ride.

AareneX said...

again with the happy, happy progress.

Good boy, Mag!

EvenSong said...

Sounds like good progress! Good on ya for stopping on a positive note with the ground work.

ninergirl04 said...

It sounds like you and Mag are making progress in increments -- which is a good thing. Love that you end your sessions on a positive note and give him "soak time" to think about what he's learned. And, yes, I'm sure that your boy is just as good looking as the boys being trotted out at Scottsdale. I'll be tuning into the show this weekend. It's considered the most popular/prestigious show here in the states -- even over the Nationals. A win there is a real feather in one's cap. :-) I'll be rooting for the Varian bred/owned horses for sure as they are my ideal. I get to go back to Sheila Varian's farm this April for a clinic on "The Varian Way" and I always come away wishing I could afford one of her horses. I'll have to keep playing the Lotto and win in order for that to happen. Enjoy your weekend! Vicki ~

Kitty Bo said...

How great that he is learning what his job is----deal with his environment and look to you. Good boy!

lytha said...

Kbryan, I'm not near the point of riding him yet, I will think about it when he is less reactive when I take him for walks. The donkey and horse have bonded and now that he's settling in, he gives her dirty looks at feed time but she doesn't let it bother her, she does what she wants.

NM, Does David Boggs ever not win 1st?

Vicki, I'm enjoying it, trying to pick the winners and in some classes I can, in others I'm helpless. I was dismayed to see David Boggs win a class by a landslide - the judges gave him an excessive amount of points as if they were afraid he'd only win by a couple points. Was his horse really 9 points better than the others?

lytha said...

Kbryan, about the lack of photos, I feel I need both hands when I lead him around still. I still don't know what he's gonna do so I can't bring a camera along. I need to get my husband to come along on walks, but the stopping for training (stopping and backing) would be annoying. Eventually I hope for pics of our outings.

ninergirl04 said...

@ Lytha: David Boggs!! People either LOVE him or HATE him! All I know is that he runs a huge operation and has very, very rich clients with lots of advertising dollars. I didn't see the class that you mention but I've seen enough shows over the years to know that when he walks in the ring he usually walks out with the win. He is a very controversial handler -- to put it mildly. Now his brother, Bob, seems to be very well respected and I have never heard the negativity that is associated with David. The Polish State Studs have sent David some of their very best stallions and mares and he wins with them, the stallions stand at stud here for a couple of years/the mares contribute embryos or foals and then go back home to Poland. Lots of politics in the show ring -- but then that rears its ugly head in any sporting event. I used to raise and show Irish Setters for several years and political judging is very present there as well. As we all know, unfortunately money talks. On the other hand, he does get some of the very best quality horses to show. So who knows? :-) I always wonder if the owners (sometimes syndicates) of these horses don’t ever question if their horse won because of its exemplary breed qualities or was it mostly because David Boggs was on the end of the lead. But then some people only care about “the win” and the strokes to their ego.
Did you get to see Equator PASB show on Sunday? He's by QR Marc (a Marwan Al Shaqab son) out of Ekliptika (a Ekstern daughter) of the famous "E" line of Poland's mares. I missed it unfortunately but he won his class so he’ll be back for the Championship class. He’s owned by Michałów State Stud and is on lease for two years to Aljassimya Farm’s U.S. operation here in California. He’s one of the heavy favorites to win the Stallion Championship. http://www.aljassimyafarm.com/featured-horse.html Btw, did you know that Ekstern’s sire, the renowned international sire Monogramm, is still alive and well and living the good life at the ripe old age of 31 here in California with his long-time owners? Here’s the link to his Facebook page if you want to check out how gorgeous he still is: https://www.facebook.com/Monogramm-328190473866105/timeline Well, back to the Scottsdale live feed! Vicki ~

lytha said...

I did not see Equator but I saw Elijah PASB and he didn't show well at all, and didn't even look clean. Thanks for the links! QR Marc has Ali Jamaal, my favorite Arabian horse. They sure don't seem to worry about keeping things "Pure Polish"!

Achieve1dream said...

I want to watch the Scottsdale show! Where are you watching it? Online?

Mag is such a good boy! That's such a great idea to use the parking lot for ground work!! As hard as the arena was you're not really missing anything lol. At least gravel isn't deep. Plenty of good distractions too.

I'm looking forward to pictures and videos too but I understand why you want a hundred percent of your attention on him right now so I'm being patient. :-D

lytha said...

Achieve I'm watching here: http://www.iequine.com/events/2016/02/scottsdale-arabian-horse-show

You have to enter an email addy and then you can watch, but you have to click between 4 different arenas to see different classes - they run simultaneously. For me it's hard cuz I'm asleep during most of them: ( But still enjoying, I'll try to do a post about my observations (and criticisms) soon.

Achieve1dream said...

Thank you for the link!! Looking forward to your post.