I was dreading going up to the fancy arena because the last few times Mag's been very difficult on the lunge line. I had my gloves on, I was ready for a fight.
All the way there I pondered what I could possibly do to lower our energy and get a canter without a rodeo.
TP met me and sat down to watch, it's always entertaining to see someone else have a fight with their horse. Next to the round pen, the neighbors were installing roofing materials. Walking around on their roof over our heads and banging a lot. I commented to TP, "Roof people."
My strategy was to jog Mag a while longer than I normally would, to the point where he's almost tired (he's not fit at all). Then I played the eye game with Mag. I look at his eye when his head is up, and as soon as he drops his head I look at the ground. This game is so fun because it works without any force at all, and you can see the horse likes controlling where I look. Every so often he'll have to giraffe at something in the distance, but then he'll get back into the game. We played and played, and when I finally asked for a canter, it was calm! Whew!
The other direction was much more difficult, so we played the eye game even longer that way. When I asked for a canter he had a moment where he levitated, hunching his back, preparing to explode...but he changed his mind. It's almost like he remembered that being good means we quit, and being bad means a lot more work. I don't know, but somehow he held it together and eventually calmly cantered two laps the hard way.
Then I got on and rode even though he was distracted by roof people, busses dropping people off at the bus stop, dog walkers, and horses. Their property is at the apex of the hill and you can see for several kilometers in all directions. You can see Cologne, which is 44km away! So, lots of distractions.
But Mag was perfectly focused when I got on, and the moment I thought about trot rhythm, he trotted for me. We did lots of lateral work, although he's not great at it yet. I just sat on him and talked with TP, rubbing his neck. She said Mag was very very relaxed and I said, "It's so embarrassing!"
She offered to hold him for me when I cleaned up poop and put away my things in the barn. She said he was staring off after me whenever I left, that he's very connected to me. She said, "He even looks at what you look at!" Hm! It's humbling, the way he keeps track of me, how my presence makes him peaceful. He knows TP by now, and knows her property and her horses, so it's especially nice.
She said when I take him for walks, I shouldn't let him look around, I should be a good leader and make him keep his head down like a Western horse. I said, "He's curious about things, I wouldn't want to take that away. When riding, I can ask for a lower head, but just leading him, I don't care where he's looking."
I told her I'm looking forward to the day Mag is as trained as her horse. Wish I had an arena to ride in this Winter.
Mag picked up some of my tools today, as usual, and I got the clicker to teach him to pick up his Jolly Ball but for some reason when it's my idea, it's not as fun - or he's just thinking about treats and not picking things up anymore. Oh well, we'll keep working on it.
I'm so proud of him for behaving under the roof people!
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He's being so good! Yay for both of you!
I agree about letting him look around while you walk with him, but it might be okay to control his head *sometimes* when you're on the ground, just so you know you can. And then have some kind of "okay" signal so he knows that he is free to look around again? Just an idea.
Arena in winter: I suppose the fancy arena sand would be wrecked if you worked on it when it's wet? Gahhhhh.
Aarene, yes, the fancy arena is off limits if it has rained in the last 24 hours. She's very very careful about her property (don't blame her, it's probably what I'd do).
What I forgot to mention in my post today - I was unsettled because Mag was staring off in all directions so often, so I led him around, around, around, and he kept gawking and stopping and stopping and gawking, and I was getting nervous about riding there. But when I got on, he just stood there (letting it all hang out) and my little exercises kept him with me, and the entire time. I was definitely flashing back to the time Tami helped me with Mara in that very round pen, and she could not calm down for one moment, not even to accept a treat from my hand! Freakshow, that mare, but sad, that she so little trust had in humans. And now, she's happy, I'm happy, and I think Mag is happy.
Hey, 10 minutes ago someone showed up to buy my last Horseware Ireland winter blanket - woo! I have 100 Euros in my hands for a blanket that just didn't quite fit right. So happy! But for some reason I'm thinking of making more purchases - I want some faux suede half chaps like yours (were they deerskin?). So soft...OK stop!
Ooooh, this is one of my favorite topics. I'm very curious about the riders I see out in the desert who train their horses to keep their heads down and their eyes on the trail. I admire how disciplined the horses are, but wonder how they get them that way. Because Bombay and Gabbrielle precede their spooks by raising their heads, I've been conditioned to brace myself when a horse alerts on something. However, Rock has taught me that it's no big deal. He just gets interested in something he sees, and them moves along without the panic attack.
Mag is such a good horse. I am like you - I let Carmen look as much as she likes as long as she is behaving.
My halfchaps are synthetic--and machine washable--and super cheap! http://amzn.to/2m1wmi5 Purple is best, but good news for you, they come in black. Or beige, if you want to spend your life washing them, bleh.
NM I think it's reasonable to teach a horse a head down cue from the ground, and even while riding, but I think it's unreasonable to expect an Arabian to go down the trail with its head as low as a QH, which was her point - that his ears should be at withers level. (LOL) At the barn last Winter there was a horse I'd never ride, a Paint, who never paid attention to his environment, until he would notice something and spook huge, dumping his rider. He would phase in and out of awareness, forgetting he was a prey animal I guess. I didn't appreciate her sentiment that a good leader's horse will have its head down, trusting its leader. If my horse wasn't looking around at everything, I'd be worried he wasn't having fun out there. OK, in the arena it's different, but that's cuz I don't Clinton Anderson my horse on trail, making trail riding into arena work constantly. (But when needed/wanted, I do lateral work and bending on trail too, for fun.) I'm sure you know the difference in all 4 of your horses between their normal head height and the one that might precede a spook or bolt. They teach us that well..
He loves you.
Tina, have you seen that cartoon of the rider hugging her horse, "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH" and the horse says, "I tolerate you, small bipedal predator." I have a hard time believing horses can love humans, I think they get very attached to their herdmates, and we can be members of their precious herds. When he nickers, it's usually "Git food" or "Open gate!" certainly not "Why were you gone at work all day?" I've already had the honor of having a heart horse. But when I saw Mag swing around to keep track of me as I went out of sight, that was very "heart-horse like." I believe heaven is a place where lions and lambs can lie down together, and predator humans can be loved by prey horses. Something to look forward to.
Still it's very nice of you to say it: )
Ha! I am the Dragon's preferred bipedal predator. In Draconic, that's as close as you get to love...unless there are cookies?
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