Since Ani's experiences being thrown twice from Mag, she is strangely determined to get back on him. I'm astonished but I'll go along with it.
He associates Ani with that Spring day where her rain coat flapped. As long as she has a helmet on, we can try.
He used to not want Seli on his back either, but has since decided she's OK
Ani asked if we could ride at the fancy arena - TP's place, a 30 minute walk for us. I told her it costs 7 Euros per visit, and told her I'd pay half.
I warned her about how persnickety the owner is, TP, but they seemed to get along fine, as TP sat in the observing area (her terrace) with her new Airedale puppy.
Mag fruck out as always on the lunge. Does he think I want a display of temper or does he really need to let it all out? I have no freaking idea. I reward him when he's good, and I push him when he switches into rodeo mode. All I do is step toward him (put pressure on), when he bucks and bolts, and I say calmly, "Go on like this and we'll keep going on like this." It doesn't seem to work with him, so I have the feeling he needs it. He's the laziest Arabian I know, and fighting uses up so much more energy than being good - it's a mystery.
Finally he was dark with sweat with veins standing up and I asked if Ani wanted a try at lunging my nearly un-lunge-able horse! (I wonder why we say "veins" - are they veins or arteries or both? A question for weight lifters.)
She wanted to.
She said, "It should be fine, he's exhausted now." I said, "Or not, you never know."
She was able to get a walk jog both ways which was great. I listened to TP bitch about her boarders. I know, having boarders sucks, that is why I don't have them. "She would not pick up her arena things after riding!"
Lots of people come here to ride now, for 7 euros. A PRE showed up, doing Dressage in the big arena today as we were in the roundpen, so...TP made 14 bucks for that hour. AND I was forced to RAKE the roundpen after, even though she has a tractor!
Finally Ani wanted to get on Mag and tried and failed. He just walked away from her. So I got a mounting block and he refused to stand next to it if she was on it. I take his refusals seriously and I'm glad Ani does too. She said, "Maybe another time."
I said, "Now I'm curious if he'll let me on." And he stood there unmoving, perfect. Ani said, "He wants his mami."
I walked around and jogged a few paces and then jumped off, wanting to see if Ani would try again. She did, and instead of refusing to align with the mounting block, he just threw his head way up. I asked her to wait until he dropped his head and started breathing again. We stood there quite a while and then he relaxed and she very carefully got on, talking to him and rubbing him. He was worried but held perfectly still. I envisioned all four hooves staying rooted in that spot and they did. I gave him a few cookies and he got lots of praise from us.
TP watched the entire thing and was pretty surprised.
After a couple minutes Ani got off and praised him. It looks like this is going to be our routine now: ) I said, "To go any slower would be impossible!" She agreed, "He'll teach you patience!"
This is the second time Ani has mounted and just sat there and then got off (July was the other time - on trail).
Isn't it odd when a horse says "Not you, but you can ride me."
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9 comments:
Mag does not like uncertainty. He knows what to expect from you but not from Ani. I think going slow is a really good idea.
I love a horse with personnality and who is as loyal to me as I am to them. I will not ride other horses, nor do I want others to ride my horse. Otherwise it confuses the connection and the aids.
I hope you got a chance to get some good riding in, with lots of trotting, cantering and transitions while you paid for the arena time?
With the exception of Lostine, all of my horses will let anyone ride them. Whenever I see someone else ride off on my horse, I think, "This is scary. Anyone could just walk into my backyard and take my horse, and my horse will go with them."
Lostine was the only one who tried to intimidate other riders. She was so good with me on trail rides that I kept thinking she was the best horse for friends to ride, but I was wrong. She often would just take off at a lope and blow right through any stop signals, and not until the rider indicated that she wanted off would Lostine stop. I decided to just accept that she was my mare, and wouldn't even let trainers ride her, because I was worried for their safety. She got just what she wanted, I guess.
I am the opposite of ND: I *want* other people to ride the Dragon for a couple of reasons:
* Watching her makes people go "ooooh," but RIDING her makes people go "WOW!" And then they want to go get a standardbred for themselves. Mwa ha ha ha.
* Fee can learn things from other riders that I don't do well. Example: I am really good at haunches-in. For some reason, my brain gets stuck on shoulders-in. Patty is the opposite, so we traded horses for a session, and she taught Fiddle a good strong shoulder-in and I taught Flower a good strong haunches-in. Then we traded back and coached each other. With the horses already thinking about what we were trying to ask, we got more success!
* I am not immortal. If something happens to me, I want a safety net in place for my horse, and that is a lot harder to have if she can't be ridden by other people. I've taught her all kinds of weird skills for the same reason: if she needs a new home for any reason, she will adapt more easily to new demands.
MHO, and YMMV.
T, thank you for your support.
ND, No, I have arena trauma since seeing Ani flinging from his back. I'd rather stick to trails for a while. I need to feel safe.
NM, how can I access your blog?
NM, Aarene, you both have the perfect examples of why to do the opposite! NM, there are exceptions to every rule. Lostine. Aarene, most horses should, as NM would agree, to be able to carry more than one person. For their own sellability as you said, and for me, as a matter of training.
Just like the people who tell me, "If Mag hates lunging, just don't lunge." OK, but...call me old fashioned but I think lunging is a stage of training, a process. Leading, lunging, long lining (hopefully!) and riding. I consider it a phase to a trained horse, just as I consider being able to be ridden by someone new is a phase of a trained horse.
My friend S2 lets no one ride her great horse Chili. And I understand. He's perfect. He never considers doing anything else than her wishes. It's magical to observe. But.....
OK
I'm the last person who says horses are intuitive, they figure us out, they act beyond our comprehension. Cuz I think horses are simple.
BUT
I push their envelope to encapsulate the wealth of info that comes from one rider to the next. They can tell us apart. And one hurts, one pulls, one is heavy, and one pleads and gives cookies. They instantly learn to differentiate us. Also, I weigh twice as much as Ani, so.....it's amazing to me that he would prefer me on his back to her, she weighs 100 pounds soaking wet.
I think you all know my selfish reasons for putting friends on Mag. But honestly, they both have shown delight in it (see my blog in Spring, before Ani was thrown, she taught him side passing at a walk and had so much fun).
And Seli, if I ever catch up to her again, says, "I love to ride the sports car every so often!" when she's on Mag. And Mag acts sporty with her, but is forced, time and again, to stop and wait, so.....
Aarene, I will ride Fiddle before I die! But before that, come to Germany, meet the donkey, and ride Mag.
NM's comment cracks me up, because I'm not sure anybody she hasn't pre-approved could get a halter on the Dragon. And anybody she has pre-approved is probably approved by me.
It isn't just people she knows--there are some people she knows and doesn't approve. If she gives somebody a wicked look, it's my job to make them stop doing what they're doing (usually patting her head, she hates that).
She has never given a wicked look to a a child, a cat, or a veterinarian (even when she was in pain), but she did give them to farriers who got fired later for different things. She adored my first farrier and loves my current farrier--I hope Mel lives forever, because Fee comes up to her in the field to be caught!
We joke that my horse isn't steal-able because she eats trespassers. It's only sort of a joke.
Not all horses are people lovers; I have been blessed with many that are but some of them are quite particular, as your Mags is. Nothing wrong with that, it's just his own special personality.
Most Arabians are sensitive to their rider. She's a hesitant rider. All my Arabians could sense this, and it wasn't just that they only wanted me on their back. From the moment she got on him, she trained him how to react. I'm glad she's making progress, but lets face it, she's not a very good rider. Arabians prefer confidence. I find that my cattle dogs have always been very sensitive also. One Texas Heeler I had (a BC/Blue Heeler cross), if I so much as raised an eyebrow at a horse, she was on it. Humans have lost that sensitivity to their surroundings and fellow creatures and tend to project themselves into animals. "If I just show this creature how much I love it, how gentle I am, what a NICE person I am,it will respond." Nope. Police dogs track the adrenal scent that fleeing perps leave. Animals can smell fear. Mag is no different, if anything, he is more so. I'm glad she's made progress, but I have my doubts about her riding him. I would just leave it where it is. Don't train Mag to be a bronc.
Shirley, Peculiar, but also a blessing, Mag is - I thank God I found him.
KB, I wish you could see the way our local shepherd works his sheep through the neighborhood. He just glances and the dogs watch his glance! He doesn't even speak or whistle! It's beautiful to watch, and he legs puppies tag along to learn, he doesn't even have to train them, I think: )
I wonder if you're right. I certainly didn't feel confident my first time on Mag's back, at the dealer's, when he said he'd tossed the previous buyers. And after he removed a small carabiner from my saddle, that might "Set him off". !!! He barely let me ride him - he said if I hadn't led Mag around the arena first, he would have forbidden it, so sure he was, that Mag would toss me.
I have his worry in my head all the time, still. *sigh* They sell hundreds of horses per year and none have a warning in their sale ads, but Mag's did. "Needs TIME to get to know you first."
Hey that "adrenal" scent, I think I know what that smells like. Does it smell like urine? Isn't that what we expel when we panic?
"Don't make Mag into a bronc." *lol* Good heavens, I hope not. If Mag says yes, OK. If Mag says no, no way. We both respect him.
I hate that I've painted a picture of Ani that she's timid/uneducated, but I've only said what I've observed.
Things should get crazy next Tuesday, as I ride with her for the first time with her new lease mare Moni, a young, green Haflinger. Oh boy. Excited and nervous...
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