Lots to talk about today! I had a great session with Moose 2 days ago I didn't get to talk about yet, and have been reading a great book! So, here goes!
The Book: I've been re-reading Ray Hunt's book Think Harmony with Horses and I don't know why, but I've gotten sooooooo much out of that book by reading it this time. I bought it maybe a year ago, read it, thought it was good, but now I just seem to really grasp what he's talking about. I understand it and can apply it. That's why Moose did so well!
So, my session with Moose: Well, there's quite a few topics that fit under this, but I'll try to sum it up for ya. Since Moose's got Scratches, I decided to take it easy today. Just walking and trotting. No cantering for now, since that's hard for him to do relaxed even on a good day.
Well, I decided to try out some principles from Ray's book. Mostly going back to the foundation. And I was really thinking about one quote from his book: "Horses get to where they'll do anything they can for you, but they know that you will for them too." It really got me thinking. Well, then I wonder how sure Moose is about what I'm asking him to do! I was also thinking about the Phase 1 before Phase 1. How I don't have a "get ready" cue. It's just a "go" and then "you should've gone." By not having a "get ready" cue I wasn't setting him up for success. This was further emphasized by another of Ray's points which was that in general people ask for the horse's attention way too much. I can relate to this, just by watching how some people are with their horses. And I realized that not having a "get ready" cue meant I expected his attention all the time, and that isn't fair.
With these things in mind, I went out to play with Moose. I took everything back to foundation level. I focused a lot on FH yields today, since his HQ moves noticably easier than his FH. And I was astonished! My horse is way smarter than I give him credit for. After 3 repetitions of bringing my energy up (get ready), focusing, phase 1 with stick, followed by 2, 3, 4, he moved off my focus. I was really proud of him. And now I'm making my own program of saying "get ready" before I ask anything, until it becomes an ingrained habit.
I also experimented with non-chalance. I really tried not to move my feet, and having an attitude like that of Dave Ellis. I talked about attitude a lot when I audited a clinic of his, so if you want to know about that check out August's posts. It worked out really well. If I did phase 4, I did it with justice and without raising my energy.
And I fixed one of our super-long-time issues! On accident! One of the things I see Linda do during Circling Game is to stop Remmer and have him back up. Now, logically, this would be smart to develop in a round pen. Well, before this summer, I didn't have a round pen. So, whenever I tried to get him to stop at the Circling Game, he'd face me. And if I tried to get him to back, he'd always back facing me. At first I encouraged it, because he's trying after all. But I didn't know how to get him to realize that when I ask him to back up, I want him to back from where he is, not turn and face me, then back. Well, using our newfound FH moving abilities, I asked him to move his FH without me moving my feet. He did, but then he turned and faced me. I had to move my feet, but then I asked him to move his FH again, since the last thing he did was move his HQ, and that wasn't what I asked for. We kept this up for a little while until he finally stopped perpendicular to me. I about jumped for joy when I realized what I had just done! My horse stopped perpendicular to me!
I realized that I have inadvertently taught him to turn and face me, and then act. So, it was my problem not his. But I'm so excited that I figured it out. This book really is doing wonders to my awareness.
And based on impulse I went to Barnes & Noble the other day and bought a book by Buck Brannaman and one by Bill Dorrance. I'm reading the one by Buck right now, and it's interesting. It's more about his life story than horses, so far, but I'm finding a lot of parallels between his life and Monty Roberts'. It's still interesting to hear, but I think the one by Bill Dorrance is more designed to teach you about the horse. After all, it's like 370 pages! Now, there's a natural horsemanship textbook if I ever saw one! I'll let you know what I think about it once I start reading it.
