I've done this before but apparently not enough, given the accidents we had in April with poor Ani.
It was my first time leading Mag along Hohestrasse (the fast street) since Winter where I almost lost him repeatedly due to his freaking out about vehicles.
Today he was fine, only one huge truck pulling a trailer upset him. Although it went OK all in all, I chose to take the back trail home, not needing to endure it twice in one day.
The owners were sitting on their terrace beside the round pen as we arrived, as our audience.
I had tucked the two rain coats conservatively into Mag's breastplate to minimize the flapping at first, and everything was fine. The owner commented, "Mag is tired today." Indeed the weather had a heavy calming influence, there was full sun, 22C, and no wind. That was during our warm up, jogging phase.
My gosh I know next to nothing about Western Pleasure, but Mag's jog is so slow I feel like he's missing his calling living with me.
There was bound to be a moment or more when Mag lost his mind, and it came when the horses who live there suddenly approached the roundpen from their pasture strip adjacent. Yah, he lost it. Deep holes in the sand remain as proof, as Mag whirled around tail tucked scrambling full speed.
I had a heavy duty lunging cavesson on, and although I'm sure it's not comfortable for him, I have a lot of control with it, and he eventually stopped that insanity.
In small steps I'd change the two rain coats around on his back, so they were less strapped down, and one on either side of him.
Mag and I played our "Eye-Neck" game again! He must love it, cuz he initiates it. I watch him as he trots around, and when he drops his neck, I look away. When he raises it in the scary end, I look at his face. Then he reconsiders and drops his neck again, to the ground often. I look elsewhere, anywhere.
It's a game cuz he's in control of where I look and it's true, that horses don't really love you staring them in the eye. It's the perfect alternative to side reins, cuz the horse chooses to drop his head. And it's kind of a fun game to play. I want to look at my lovely horse, but he redirects my gaze to the sand or the distance. And he enjoys it so much.
The rain coats, however, were difficult.
He did not like them, his eyes told me, and his body tension, but he never freaked out today because of the rain coats attached to him, so....*shrug*
I've done lots of sacking out with him (he's uncomfortable with bath towels!) and lunging but again today he dealt with it without panic, but I don't know when I'll be able to actually wear a rain coat on his back.
If I had a place to lunge him here with fabrics, I'd probably see some change in him, but I have a 30 minute hike and a 7 euro fee to use an enclosed safe area, so it's not progressing as it could.
Not sure what to do about that.
As to our weekly rides with Seli and Momo, Mag was again good for Seli, but Momo tripped the entire time I rode him, which makes riding stressful. She said his hooves are long but he was also seeking out the edges of the trail constantly, which was annoying cuz he's only got one eye and cannot see well. So riding him was not relaxing or fun, but observing Mag with Seli was as always, fascinating.
And yes, he does spook at her dog, it's not just me worrying about it. She'd told me it was just in my mind but suddenly her dog returned to us full blast across a field and ended up directly under Mag's tail and he spooked. But, eventually he'll understand that dogs just do that when you ride out with them, they run away and run full speed back to you under your tail.
He fought as always at our halting, our stand requests, and Seli halts him cuz she wants to talk to me, and I'm behind her, and she wants to look at me. I take the chance to stop Momo as well, and Momo did not want to stop either, on this day. Hrm.
Mag pawed the ground, threatened to rear, tossed his head, chomped his bit obsessively, and whirled about, anything he could think of to say, "Let's go" but Seli is great, she doesn't get mad at him, she just tries her best to get him to wait. Not always successfully, though, and sometimes she lets him proceed before she actually says OK.
I took her to Hohestrasse to the deer farm (fallow deer). She'd never been, and Momo and I took the lead. Momo doubted me several times, stopping, and I said, "Go on, it'll be fun!" and then we saw all the deer, nervous of us, but we didn't get the big show of them running full out with the huge antlered males guarding the girls. Oh well, I like showing Seli new things, cuz she's been around a long time and still has not seen the trails around here.
It was her first time that Mag let her mount without my help, but Mag ran into me in the process, as if I was not standing there. That means he's stressed, cuz Mag knows not to run into me.
I'm curious where this will go, our riding out together. I hope I can truly enjoy Momo, and that she can truly enjoy Mag.
I'm living in the present now - doing my best anyway.
Today at the fancy arena I was greeting the owners on their terrace and Mag reached out to chomp on their wooden fencing and I didn't even think, I just smacked him in the nose to stop him. He was so offended, and rightly so, I've never ever told him not to chew on wood. It's just that they were right there staring at us, and their property is their pride, obviously, everything is just perfect, flowers lining the round pen, etc. Later I apologized to Mag, he can chew as much wood as he wants....anywhere else. And paw the ground to his heart's content - these things don't concern me.
Patience under saddle he will have to get, eventually.
The photo below was taken 2 years ago - wow, we so need an enclosure to make progress.
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9 comments:
It's so great that it's working out for you both to get out on the trails. Are you finding it helpful for yourself to see how Mag is with someone else?
Re: the rain jackets - my girl Ginger has to have a mini panic the first time I pull one out every fall after the summer without, even at 10 years old now. Lots of sacking out means she's actually pretty good with the rider doing random things or carrying noisy items once she knows that's what we're doing, but we still can't 'surprise' her with it, if that makes sense. It's like she has to mentally prepare herself first. They're such interesting animals :)
Camryn could be a lazy tripper. If I bushwhacked a few minutes she'd start picking up her feet properly after. Has to feel so odd trading horses. But, I'm sure it's beneficial to you both.
Every outing seems to improve upon the last. Our old gelding, 28 now, still won’t let us near him if we have a coat on, winter or rain. It’s been 8 years so I doubt it will change.
T, Ginger is like Mag then, that sacking out is fine, but needing the mental prep. It's so helpful to see Mag's reactions without being on his back!!
Camryn, it is so beneficial, you're right.
Sara, that's really discouraging to hear : (
Sacking out v. coping with "real life" : Mag is a smart horse. He knows what sacking out is, and he knows that eventually he will have to cave in and cope. He does NOT believe in his heart of hearts, that this has any transfer to the real world. He can cope with raincoats (eventually) as part of the exercise, but he does not (yet) apply his coping skills outside of the exercise. When you're done with the sacking out, you do something else, the raincoats are no longer part of his task. What if you were to do the sacking out exercises and then do something completely unrelated (shoulder in/haunches in, teaching to fetch a frisbee, ANYTHING!) with the rain coats still in play. He would hate it, of course. I had a student once who always got 100% on her spelling papers, but spelled the very same words wrong when writing essays--and she got mad that the errors cost her points. "It's not spelling class!" she would whine. No, it's real life.
I'm gonna guess that Momo's toes are long (tripping) and tender (seeking the shoulder). Is he getting a lot of fresh grass lately?
I don't know anything about the property you keep your horses on but is there no way you could build a safe enclosure? It's tough to make progress when you don't have a convenient spot to work everyday.
Mags is such a character!
The important thing is that even if Mag carries on this silliness, he will understand that you know that he knows that you know. I think "high energy" horses (which is a nice way of saying spooky) are always going to want to test you. They are always more aware and alert to their surroundings. The great thing is, is that you know how to deal with this, even if it's not always enjoyable.
Aarene, funny about the spelling quiz/real life. Your point is especially relevant when you see Mag's behavior around rain coats or tarps lying in his paddock. He'll go up and pick them up. Reflection of my behavior - I can speak in front of a group if it's my choice, but if I'm expected to, I freeze up and forget my name.
Shirley, there are a couple months when it is dry enough here that I can tape off a corner of my pasture and work on things, but it's on the side of a hill and after a few sessions, the ground is too rutted to continue, so it's almost not worth it.
KB, Did you know it's not just me wearing a rain coat, once Seli took off her raincoat from Momo's back, and Mag jumped away. To be honest I am still not sure how to deal with it, not really.
Aarene, Seli said it's cuz he's due for a trim that he trips - the horses were in Winter paddocks until a few days after our ride, so zero grass.
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