Mag's tied up right now and I'm not speaking to him. Not that he knows why, but I'll tell you.
I decided to show Kati my "hide" in the woods, and teach her how to use a compass and map. Well, she's map and compass challenged (she told me beforehand she has no sense for her surroundings - and apparently you need that for this game). So it took a lot of traipsing around, off trail the entire time, and Mag just lost it.
He was fidgeting, biting reins, tossing his head, pawing, doing everything he could to say it's stupid, we should go somewhere. Since Kati was there at his side the entire time, I felt it would be OK to stay mounted and show Mag it's no good to fuss.
At one point he started kicking at some branches lying on the ground, and Kati thought he was tangled up, but I know he was just using them as an excuse to be kicky. Kati said, "He's not used to this area, this underbrush." I argued, "We
spent two days here this week, in this exact spot, these branches underfoot, setting this up."
Then he escalated and started half rearing, and Kati reached out and grabbed him just in time as he tried to dodge to the side and leave the area.
I had lost one rein when I slapped him on the side of the head, and he almost did leave. Kati almost fell down over a stump, but kept him.
Then he settled for a moment and kept following her around until I asked him to go on the other side of a tree as Kati did, and he felt that was the ultimate in unfair/wrong/cruel and he did the whole thing again, rearing a little and spinning to escape. But Kati just barely caught his lead rope and really had to work to keep ahold of him. So I'm on his back yelling at him, using one rein, and he's trying to drag Kati along with him on his escape route.
I don't know how but we managed to get him stopped and then he ...sort of...gave up. He was never calm, even when we were done and walking home. I told her he's pissed at us, for the unfairness of walking circles/standing off trail. She said, "Yes, he's annoyed with us." I said, "He's angry."
She said, "And you?"
Me too.
Understand that the entire time we were orienteering, we were talking and I was explaining to her how it works, despite his antics. I wasn't letting myself get totally freaked out, but I wasn't completely chill either. I realized I still don't know what his true bad is.
Kati praised him when I jumped off finally, and pet him a little. I said, "YOU can cuddle with him."
On the way home the neighbors who loves horses were gardening along the street and he stopped to say hi to his favorite neighbors. As usual they said how beautiful he is, how wonderful, and he stretched out to touch their hands through the chain link fence. I said, "He's bad horse today." They tried to argue with me but I just laughed.
So this is the behavior I had Summer 2016, when I realized I needed help, and that my husband on the lead line was going to get hurt and wasn't up to the task of holding onto Mag when he wanted to flip out.
I'm not coming up with any strategy in my head about how to work on this in a way that might be easier on both of us. Using a bit of woods as an arena, as we often do, can be overwhelming for a horse who now knows what trails are for, what his job in the woods should be. I'll have to ask Kati if she can come up with a plan to make it less stressful for him.
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6 comments:
Typically when a horse starts to fidget like that the answer is to make them work- small circles, big circles, just move until they figure out that it really is better to stand still. It's a work in progress with Carmen. I'm spending more and more time with her at the end of the ride just sitting in the ring and not getting off. It's clear that it's bugging her- 'hey you get off and we go to the barn, remember?'
But patience is part of it too. Trying to keep them still when they don't want can lead to more issues. Move them and move them (even a series of turns on the forehand, whatever) and then say 'hey, how about a rest now?'
Pulling away from a handler is a big concern because he hasn't yet figured out that he's to yield to the poll pressure no matter how much he wants to go the other way. I would be tempted to use a chain over the nose as back up so he can get a quick sharp correction. My other thoughts are to not try to hold him still- that gives him something to fight. Instead correct and then release with the expectation that he will stand there. At home you can work on ground tying- that is always useful and would be invaluable for you on the trail.
not sure if any of this is helpful. HOwever, I will say that you probably do have a good idea of what he will do.
Maybe you need to move him first, fast and far because Arabian, and then go to the woods to stand around. Ashke is not a patient horse and has a hard time standing still especially out in the world.
This made me smile. I guess because of btdt. The important part is that he sorta gave up. That he learned, and you learned. He's actually improved since those walks with your husband. He's another year older. You're getting there. You both survived. Kati handled it well. This ride was a success. I wish I could insert a thumbs up emoji here.
This is so familiar. "I know what I'm supposed to do and you are STUPID!"
Gahhh.
Sometimes the rules change, horse.
I think that ^^^ may be the hardest thing to teach: that sometimes we do stuff differently. I was better about teaching that to Fiddle than to the Toad or Story. Toad never believed me. He was convinced we were lost and doomed if we ever went the opposite direction on a familiar trail. At endurance rides he always recognized routes we had taken before (even YEARS prior) and did not believe me if the marked route was different. And gawd only help us if the trail we took in the morning was shortened or lengthened for a different loop in the afternoon.
I tried to throw Fiddle as many "random numbers" as possible when she was young. Now she just permanently thinks I have attention deficit problems (which is true).
Teresa, thanks for offering your advice. That is the traditional solution and in a safe space, might work, but I would have ran directly into a tree if I'd tried to turn a circle, or fallen over the branches on the ground. I actually asked Anja today, "Is there anywhere safe here I could circle my horse?" She said, "No." Circling can work, but often leads to a fight, an escalation (have you read Anna Blake on circling?). I've had a horse prefer to circle than to do what was asked (walk forward), so she would just circle on her own, insanely. The concept of circling is "making the wrong thing hard" but it is not, unfortunately, making the right thing easy. Or at least, not easy enough, for the Arabians I've known. Making them tired to encourage them to stand still will produce a very fit horse who still prefers to not stand still, in my experience. A stud chain over the nose would have been VERY helpful. I don't have one but I do have a rope halter for next time.
KB, this is the advice I was given at the boarding barn last Winter from the barn owner and her partner, a vet. Both of them said I need to RUN Mag for an hour every day, and then I won't have any more issues with him, such as the day he spooked and dumped me. In the spirit of openmindedness, I took him the the arenas every day and let him loose to run. And he just stood there, day after day. He didn't feel the need to move, and I didn't think forcing it would have been right. I've never subscribed to the idea that running will help an Arabian settle down, at least not when the horse has 24/7 turn out with space to run anytime he likes. I believe it will produce a very fit horse who is just as likely to spook and dump me (which was the ladies' example behavior). I did talk to Anja about the idea today, and we pointed to the bay QH standing immobile in his pasture - Chilly. Chilly is the perfect example of a horse who will beg to stand still - it's how she trained him. When he was bad, she made him run. He started being very, very good! He's unlike any horse I've known in this way.
KB, smiling - well, I can smile today, not yesterday. "sort of gave up" exactly: ) But learning experience, yah. Survival is also good: )
Aarene, random numbers. I like it. OMG Baasha was just like Billy about an altered trail. If a tree had fallen down and we had to turn back, he'd flip out, "SchoolsOutForTheSummer!" and turn into a basket case. At the time, it was no big deal, cuz I was that "immortal" age.
I agree with what Teresa and others have said here. He's a young energetic Arabian horse and you might both be happier if he has to do a little high-energy work (hills, trotting) or at least has a chance to observe things in an interesting place before he has to do what he considers boring work (like standing around in the same place where there is nothing new for him).
I think you're managing well. You also seem to be really good at reinforcing for yourself and for him that horse-related activities are not necessarily horse-centric moments, which I think is important to avoid him considering turning into a dangerous spoiled brat. The weirdest things I read about other horse-people on your blog are the ones who fret and panic about their horse's comfort and turn down activities due to concerns which seem to go way beyond realistic concerns about safety, mental, physical and emotional well-being, boredom, etc. But you seem to be quite practical and pragmatic about that while still caring for him, and I think that's really positive and will pay off. A year ago? Or so? You might have gotten really upset about his acting out, and been in a funk about it. Today you're in SUCH a great place.
Pat yourself on the back. :) You did that!
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