Susanne, "A proverb says: "One crow does not hack the eyes of another" ....
That is her response to me sending her the video I showed you yesterday.
This is hopefully the completion of the agony of the month of February 2019, where I failed my Medic test, and learned the following about my horse:
***
I put Susanne's email through Google translate (so cute) but it will give you an idea how she assesses my horse. Surprising to me, she knows his name!
This is her email response to me after watching the video I blogged yesterday, of trainer Lukas riding Mag in 2016. Below are her words (in Google).
Susanne: I would like to say that I would like to refrain from tearing my colleague here.
Nevertheless, I give a professional judgment on the ride: The colleague (who probably rides English) has put your horse too much inward. The Volten were too narrow. The untrained Mag, who had found no balance, went over his shoulder to the outside. Your horse could not implement this task for lack of gymnastics.
Also, he had learned long before this ride, to escape the rider very strong, if he does not like something. He escapes the way that it becomes dangerous. The approaches of rearing up clearly speak for it.
Horses learn this behavior from weak riders and this does not develop to that extent in 5 minutes!
The colleague did not know your horse, was in a dangerous situation in the area and had no chance to lunge the horse beforehand. He did the right thing: he became passive, otherwise Mag would have exploded.
I would have dismounted too.
Your horse has learned to escape the rider long before this ride. The rider could not easily solve this in this situation. I suspect that he is inexperienced otherwise he would not have faced such a situation and risked a few Euros.
Your horse needs to be put into 3-month professional corrective training.
But this is only possible in an enclosd area and then continues in the arena. The rides should take place at least 3 times a week and go for a few months. Afterwards you should be coached, so that you learn to ride your horse and assert yourself with him.
Dear Lytha, I have now given my answer from a professional and professional point of view as a rider. This is only an impression. It could be that I would revise my opinion again, if I knew your horse better.
Always remember that we make people who make horses what they are!
You wanted to hear my technical point of view, I gave you an answer. I hope you are not angry and can handle my words.
I wish you a nice day!
regards
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13 comments:
I agree, and I disagree with Suzanne.
The behaviour in the Lukas video was probably not new, it might have been simmering in the background for a long time. It could be confusion of aids, it could be learned behaviour from him testing and winning in minutiae, it could be his genetic code coming out.
Do you tend to avoid conflict?
An easy (but expensive) solution could be professional training, but its not the only one. I went back to your posts in 2016 and you have come a long way baby! You ride on your own, tie Mags everywhere, and have gotten a much better handle on new situations (dogs, screaming neighbours, trees down) with Mags.
You are smart, courageous, and tenacious. Break down your goals in little bits and keep chipping away at it.
You keep looking for external guidance and support as the solution. What I suggest is that you have all the answers you need. Now its time to go do it. Exit analysis paralysis.
So, whats the goal for 2019?
Mine is stupid simple: pick up objects off barrels (eventually at speed) and open a gate with technical precision.
Trainer gives some good advice, and I don't know many horses who WOULDN'T benefit from three months of training. If you and Mag want to do that, great, I'm sure it would be beneficial. BUT how a trainer rides and interacts with your horse is not you. Be assertive with him, get out and ride, work through problems as they arise (which is mostly things you are doing).
If you need the support of a trainer to tell you that you are doing it right, then do that. Or, do what I did: get on my green horse, make mistakes, and correct them. If something large behaviorally looms, get help. In the beginning Major (and Mag from what I remember) couldn't stand still for 5 seconds in the forest. Now, there are days when he is great. And others where he tries to jig the whole time, and I go back to my training toolbox to work on solving it. Can you find the confidence to do it? (spoiler: I think you can)
Be Confident. With your horse. With your medical knowledge. Stop Doubting and Do.
If I recall correctly, didn’t Mag have a habit of dumping people when he was for sale? Yet, he’s (knock on wood) never done so with you. He also objected to Ani riding him. Perhaps, he’s one of those one person horses & you’re his chosen person?
Agree with Nat, you've come a long way! But - professional training is always helpful to get you through something sticky, before making it worse. I think Mag is just plain bored with it all & is showing it.
ND, because of our hay doubling in price, and other unexpected expenses this year, it's not possible to send Mag away again. (Winter 2017)
I consider it avoiding conflict when I give up on riding around a tree.
My only goal for this year is the same as last, try to enjoy riding again.
Irish, Exactly - what horse wouldn't benefit from 3 months training? And that other thing she said, "Your horse needs to be worked every single day." Yah, what young horse wouldn't benefit from daily work?
I really want a trainer but I have to respect that trainer and I have to be actually benefiting from the lessons and not just throwing money away to be told I need an arena or round pen.
Camryn, Mag was considered dangerous and I was encouraged to buy another of their sale horses, due to all the bad experiences Mag had with strangers trying to ride him (he dumped at least 2 of them). After seeing Mag refuse to let Seli and Ani on his back, I'm wondering if he's getting worse - I'd love to have Susanne get on him but it's up to Mag (and Susanne!).
Connie, apparently he hasn't learned that misbehaving creates more work, not less. I try.
2019: try to enjoy riding again
Do you enjoy it now?
Why and why not?
What are you missing?
I wonder if it would be insightful for you to sit down when you have a lot of time and space to think, and do a little role-play game: To totally imagine that you are your new trainer, give yourself a trainer name and everything. Maybe also an honorary royal title. Anyway, in this game you're the best, most amazing trainer with the most experience on horses in the history of humankind. It's a game. BUT IT'S REAL. You have to do everything with that truth in mind for the length of the game. Absolutely ZERO second-guessing or injecting reality into it. No whining that it's hard or stupid or it's not true anyway. And then all you do is write out everything you would tell yourself, like the Amazing Trainer tells Lytha, what she should do to fix her horse-related problems. Because she is the world's leading expert on the subject, she will have a lot to say. Write and write and then get up and do something and then come back and write some more. Let your opinions change, even let your mind wander to other topics, but always in the voice of the expert.
When you're done, set it aside for a few days, then take it back out and read it.
Everyone here is saying good stuff.
All I can add to it is this: if what you're doing doesn't work, do something else. Doing more of the same thing and expecting different results is...well, we know what it is.
Since there are no CMOs in Germany, and there won't be, why would it be essential that he circle the tree endlessly? When he and you come to America, practice it then. That's my thought.
So I needed time to reflect. I watched the video. Mag is totally escaping out his shoulder and trainer is not really correcting. Also, when Mag takes a good step the pressure keeps up without relief so how does he know what is wanted? He seems confused and that makes him escalate.
As for the tree thing - the end goal is for Mag to circle it a number of times. But that is not where you start. It starts with maybe going half-way and then rewarding. Gradually it builds up.
3 months training might help. It might not. It doesn’t really matter if others can ride your horse. It matters that you can.
You have don3 some amazing work with Mag and can help him go farther. My impression from reading your blog is that your self confidence has eroded. It also seems that Susanne is not seeing your skills. I read about your rides and am always impressed with you and Mag. He has some things. So do we all.
This is just advice. Only you know if it’s of any value.
Teresa, Ah, so if I'd only been allowed to do it the way I wanted, with breaks, it might have worked. Instead I was told to keep circling, don't stop.
Even if we had the money for training, I have no trainer to send him to, no one I trust. And even then, Mag has "stranger danger" and would probably require more than 3 months to get started with someone else.
Sirje, that's right up my alley - role playing and planning on paper (actual paper). I already have a list of goals for Mag and me, I should probably write down how I would accomplish those goals if I were a brilliant, knighted by the queen horse trainer with Sir as a title: ) Thanks for your help.
I've known a lot of people who sent their horses off for 3 months training, and they came back more screwed up because just because you call yourself a trainer doesn't mean you know what you are doing, as you can see with that guy. Honestly, I've not been particularly impressed with anybody so far. I think you are a better trainer in many ways. Mag isn't rank. He's a little green still, but basically he's not dangerous. And I had to agree with making him go around the tree too many times. Not worth it really, and it can be schooled a little at a time. That guy was definitely doing a tight volt that any green horse would have had difficulty with. That's why volts in a dressage test aren't until higher up. Training level test is a 20 meter circle. Just doing that in a nice balanced way takes time. An unbalanced horse will throw it's shoulder in or escape to the outside even in a corner. That's why trot work is so important. Little steps at a time. Arenas are not round. They have straight sides so that the horse can first learn to carry the rider in a balanced way in a straight line, then through the corners. I know I'm preaching to the choir here. Sorry.
I've been following along and thinking about you! So many great suggestions in the comments, you've sure got some fantastic and knowledgeable blog readers! Loved Teresa's thought that it only matters that you can confidently and comfortably do what you want to do with Mag.And you know him best! Also, you've made such progress on your own. I like the idea of writing out your goals and then working backwards into the how's and why's of making it happen.Maybe you could get help with one specific thing at a time (if needed!) then work on it on your own until you're ready for more. I feel like a lot of trainers want to try to fix all the things and teach as if you are part of their program/riding discipline and it's overwhelming and often not relevant to our specific goals.
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