Loping

Thursday in class, we started working on loping. Rose's lope is very fast and it feels like her rear end is connected to a rocket. It feels that she is a little more unbalanced It was hard to lope with her because she wanted to either bite the horse in front of her or kick the horse beside or behind her. She did well at walking and trotting, I was able to keep a loose rein circling both ways with other horses during class. I worked with her on Saturday morning. She decided to get some frustations out by bucking, biting, and crow-hopping before breaking into the lope, which is a three beat gait also known as a canter in english riding terminology. At the end of the session I can't say we were loping perfect circles, but some barriers were broken down. Rose is also starting to sidepass and move off her front and rear end. I have a week and half to the final where we have to do some ground work, and the an riding portion that includes a walking, trotting, loping, backing up, and yielding front and rear.

Mediation

Hmm, today in class we worked on leg pressure, and we eventually wanted to spin. None of us got close from what I saw, except one person that was working with an ex-reining horse. It helped me personally because I had a "high" with Rose and then an a low, where neither Rose and I really didn't want to work with each other. Part of that is because I see the end goal vanishing, and our progress has slowed. When working on the ground it the goal was to prepare to ride. It is also hard for me cause I am learning so much, and just having hard time breaking down old habits and inserting the new ones. The exercises today we worked on getting our horses to respond to leg pressure by moving off a feel of our legs helped. The first step we had to work on was getting our horses to go in a small circle with slack in our reins( which are still are lead ropes tied to halter) and have the correct bend. We have going to the left down pat, and struggling and little bit to the right. So hopefully next time we can just work ourselves into the smallest pivot.

Play Time

If only she was always looking like this all the time.


Inquisitive Mood, she is hard to keep away from the camera, hence why her nose usually is pointed to the camera.



Rose is not in a happy mood, just look at her ears and her red eyes.

We raced against each at ultimate pole bending, were we just supposed to weaved down and back. As you can see Rose and I still need lots of work. We are on the far side. We didn't win, but we learned.

Sylvia, my peer was working with her horse and was pulling the log with her horse. Rose was interested in it. Maybe we will be able to do this. I got a kick out of, I was glad that she walked over, and wasn't scared of it, but curious about it.

This is the smaller ball, Rose isn't quite for sure what to do with it. The sad thing is that the ball has already been deflated because of use.

March 6, 2009

Today I was able to work with Rose for about an hour. I spent half on the ground and in the saddle. On the ground I spent some time with the bridle. As this was the first time that I even used it with Rose. I quickly found out that she disliked the bridle. We played the friendly game with it for at least 10 minutes. I was able to place the bit in her mouth, and fully get the rest of the headstall on her. I let her play with it a little bit in her mouth, and took it off, and rode in the halter. Rose loved me for that. She must had some previous experience with the bridle that was unpleasant. She is one of the smoothest horses I have ridden, and is very fun to jump, its not very fun for her yet though. After riding her, I just took everything off and we played in the arena. I was super excited because while playing I got Rose to hop on the bridge, and she enjoyed this experience. I just had to suggest for Rose to hop on it. It was one of those moments, that lingers, and makes you all giddy inside, that makes you want to be with Rose 24/7. Its to the point where she will choose me in the arena compared to other horses. I some how instilled that trust into Rose. I am friend and leader.

Photo Op

Up close pics of Rose, and the second time I rode her. Now that we are riding, it is harder to get videos and pictures of what we are doing.

Left Brain verses Right Brained

I have a hard time distinguishing between a left brain horse and a right brain. In mine my, I think about half of the horses are going to be left brained and the other right brain. Its not a great paradigm to get stuck in because it limits your ability to identify what your horse is and what you need to do. If doing the seven game, with a left brained horse you will need to get bigger, and with you a right brained horse you need to get smaller. A left brained horse is usually friendly, willful, and mischievous, compared to a right brained that will be more bracy, tense, shy or timid.

Seven Games in Detail!!!

The Seven Games is one of the biggest breakthroughs when it comes to teaching communication between horses and people. It is a systematic approach based on the same games that horses use to establish friendship and dominance. The horse that consistently “wins” all seven games
becomes alpha. We need to learn how to become our horse’s alphausing the same strategies
as horses do, rather thanthrough force, aggressionand intimidation. Horses are natural followers. They look for natural leaders. Under good leadership they lose their fear, become calmer, more confident and responsive.
Before you ever get on a horse’s back, you should get to know him. The myth that has lead so many of us to just saddle up and get on is what gets so many people into trouble.

A horse has every right to give you trouble if he doesn’t know you well enough,
or objects to the way you treat him. Don’t just get on him! First establish a
relationship. You need connection, understanding, and acceptance from your horse.
You need a language through which you can communicate and be understood.
It is your responsibility to become your horse’s leader and teach him to become
calmer, smarter, braver, more athletic, to trust your judgment, try whatever you ask him without resistance, yield to and from pressure, negotiate obstacles, go sideways and back up with ease.
The Seven Games will help you to do this, and it will also serve as a diagnostic
system to help you find holes in your horse’s development, to know why they are
there and how to fix them. Every single thing you do with your horse is one or a combination of The Seven Games. If you can become skilled at all seven, so good that even your horse is impressed, there’ll be no limit to what you can do or learn to do with a horse given the time, the attitude, and the pathway. I’ve given each game a number because it’s important at first that you play them in order when you’re learning and teaching them to your horse.
The first three games are “principle” games. They are like the alphabet.

The Friendly Game#1
This game convinces your horse that you will not act like a predator and that you are friendly and can be trusted. You need to gain his confidence and be able to touch him with a friendly “feel” everywhere on his body. Any areas he is defensive about tell you if he is suspicious of you. By using approach and retreat you can progress to where you have permission to touch every inch of every zone without forcing him to
endure it, to where he actually enjoys it. You can then advance to using ropes, sticks, flags, coats, (anything you can think of) to help him become braver, more confident and less skeptical. Keys: smile; rhythm; approach and retreat; desensitization.

The Porcupine Game#2
This is how you teach a horse to follow a feel and move away from pressure applied with your fingertips or the Carrot Stick. This game prepares him to understand how to respond to communicative feel (or pressure) from the rein, the bit, the leg, etc. This pressure is applied with a steady feel (not intermittent poking) and steadily increasing intensity until the horse responds, at which time the pressure is instantly released. It is applied in Four Phases, each phase getting progressively stronger. Releasing only when the horse responds. In this way, it’s the release that teaches the horse he made the right move. Reward the slightest try with instant release, rubbing (as in the Friendly Game), and a smile. The Porcupine Game#2 needs to be taught in all Zones. Keys: concentratedlook; steady pressure; four phases.

The Driving Game#3
This game teaches the horse to respond by following a suggestion, where he moves without you touching him. It can be effected at increasingly longer distances as you advance through the program.
Again, four phases are important, with no change in rhythm, and as soon as the horse responds, you relax and smile. It’s kind of like “constructive spooking,” but your horse must not be afraid. Learn to drive your horse in all directions using the Zones. Keys: Concentrated look; rhythm; four phases.

The next four games are the “purpose” games. Now that you
have established the “alphabet” games you can combine them to
form “words“ and “sentences” to have a language.

The Yo-Yo Game#4
By wiggling the 12’ Line, send the horse backwards away from you. Then bring him forwards toward you in a straight line by combing the rope. There are four phases and “hinges” that come into play when being effective in this game. Play the Yo-Yo slowly at first, on flat ground. As it gets better, get more provocative and play it on uneven ground, at a faster pace, over a pole or log, or on a longer rope. This is how you teach a horse not to run over you when leading him and develop suspension and self carriage in his movement. It will also help to counter balance forward-aholics, improve your stop, and develop a slide stop. Keys: straightness; responsiveness; imagination.

The Circling Game#5
Do not confuse The Circling Game#5 with longeing! Longeing sends a horse around and around, in endless circles and is totally mindless. The Circling Game#5, on the other hand, stimulates the
horse mentally, emotionally and physically, and teaches him to stay connected to you. It keeps a softness in the line between you and works more mental connection as well as developing a positive pattern or performance pattern of curves and circles. There are three parts to this game: the Send, the Allow, and the Bring Back. After you send you horse out onto the circle, relax and leave him alone. Smile and pass the rope around your back giving the horse the opportunity to take responsibility for maintaining motion on the circle. Do not fall into the trap of clucking him along, as this creates a dulled out attitude. Do a minimum of two laps and a maximum of four, otherwise your horse will get physically fitter, but his mind will go to pot. I use all of The Seven Games to get a horse physically, mentally and emotionally fit. Disengagement of the hindquarters is very important. It’s what you do when you bring him back (stopping him out on the circle is not done until the Harmony program. You need your horse to think about coming to you at this point). It is how you teach a horse control – mentally, emotionally and physically. Keys: Three parts:Send, Allow, Bring Back; Four Phases; responsibility for the horse.

The Sideways Game#6
Note this is sideways, not side pass. It is about teaching the horse to go sideways equally to the right and left, with ease. Teaching your horse to athletically move himself sideways is important for several reasons: for developing suspension, for lead changes and spins, and as a counter balance for “forward-aholic” horses (like ex-race horses!) Start slow and right, use a fence or rail to prevent forward movement. (You’ll learn how to do this without a fence in the Harmony program.) Keys: long rope; Zone 1 and Zone 4; Four Phases.

The Squeeze Game#7
Horses by nature are claustrophobic. They are afraid of any small or tight spaces because this spells disaster for prey animals. The Squeeze Game#7 teaches your horse to become braver and calmer, to squeeze through narrow spots without concern. Start with a large gap and as your horse gets more confident, make the space smaller and smaller until it is just three feet wide, like the bay of a horse trailer. You can use the principle of The Squeeze Game#7 to teach the horse to jump, go into trailers, wash bays, racing barriers, roping boxes, bucking chutes, help him get over cinchiness... Keys: walk backwards; start with a large space; Four Phases; practical challenges andapplications.

February 10, 2009 Midterm Happened

Well, midterm happened. I didn't get a video of the course that which was a test for midterm. I was nervous enough and forgot about the camera. Th obstacle course though consisted of a pole walk through, a jump, going over a bridge, over a tarp, figure through 3 cones. The last object was passing through three ground poles back and back and forth, then have the horse wait for u to bring have his front hooves come the first ground poles, then back up where the back feet are passed the las pole. Each obstacle was 20 points so it was worth a 120 points. Rose did what I told her, she was good. If anything I was nervous. Our worst object in my opinion was the ground poles, and the best would be a tie for the pole walk through that is shaped like to L's coming at the bottom, and the jump. This means we are now moving onto mounted work, thus more challenges for Rose and I.

Catch Up

While working in class, they had some Parelli videos displaying on the side of the wall, this was the a new stimuli to Rose, she watched it intently. At one point everybody had the horses gathered around, and all at once during a video a couple of horses were running front on, all the other horse spooked. We concluded that the horses thought the videoed horses were going to run into them. This clip was about trail loading.


This clip included ideas on how to have horses walk over uncomfortable things for them. Rose wasn't as interested in this one as she was trailer loading. I think one day, it would be fun, if all the students brought snacks and everything, and watched a movie, and let the horses we are working with, join us.


Rose knows its easier to push the barrel, instead of jumping over it. In this video she pauses when she goes through the barrel because of the other horse in the background. She must have been in her own little world when pushing the barrel.

Has your horse ever scratched you and just won't stop, well I have gotten Rose to stop when I flatten my head, thus I will scratch her head if I have it in another form, then have the stop sign. This video doesn't show this happening, but it still goes along the principle. Which is to stop. I have yet to teach Rose to be a good actor and react what we have been learning so you can the best points that has happened. So please forgive the videographer.

Quotes from -Become Perfect Partners:How to Be the Owner Your Horse Would Choose for Himself by Kelly Marks

I found this book by incident at the college library and found so many good insights and quotes that I decided to put one big post full of her quotes, so I hope you enjoy the feasting like I did.

" I am not a teacher; only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way." George Bernard Shaw

" A very simple example of feel for me is when my riding instructors tells me to look at the the clouds when I'm trying to execute leg yield, for example. It helps me to "feel" better by, I think, removing one of my senses- sight- which otherwise would intervene and try to solve the problem for me." Carolyn Bostock

" The quieter you become the more you can hear." Babe Ram Dass

" Look and you will find it- what is unsought will go undetected." Sophocles

"Every Compassionate hand is a healing hand." Pamela Hanney

"Horses stay the same from they day they are barn until they day they die... They are only changed by the way people treat them." Tom Smith- trainer of Seabiscuit

"Happiness is not where you find it but where you create if for others." Anon.

" Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives, and remembering what one receives." Alexandre Dumas

" All the time you're with your horse you're training him- wether you meant to or not." Kelly Marks

" Its not what you're teaching, it's what they're learning..." Kelly Marks

" Don't fool yourself you ever have control of your horse- all you really have is influence." Kelly Marks

" We need to reconcile common sense with 'science sense'." Marc Bekoff

"Hitting means you've lost it. Get help." UK TV advertisement

"Our kind may be able to bully other species, not because we are good at communication but because we aren't. " Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." Albert Einstein

" To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." Oscar Wilde

" Show me your horse and I'll tell you who you are." English Proverb

" There can be no friendship when there is no freedom." William Penn

" I can tell you that while there's not one person in the audience tonight who hasn't heard of me, seen me on television or read something about me, I can also guarantee that not one horse that comes in tonight will have ever heard of me, seen me on television of read anything about me." Monty Roberts

" It's funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."
W. Somerset Maugham

" There's no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse." R.S. Surtees, Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour

" In riding a horse we borrow freedom." Anon.

" Without discipline, there's no life at all." Katherine Hepburn

" When you are driving a car and you have to stop suddenly, do you flop forwards? Unlikely, because you are aware what is going to happen so you anticipate and tighten the appropriate muscles in the thighs and abdomen to keep you upright. Apply this method when you're riding."
Kelly Marks

" Learn all the technical stuff and then forget it, just play!" Charlie Parker

" Don't learn the tricks of the trade- learn the trade." Anon

" My religion is kindness." Dalai Lama

"If the pupil has not learned, the teacher has not taught." Anon.

" It is better to ask some questions that to know all the answers." James Thurber

" I'm grateful for all my problems. As each of them was overcome I became stronger and more able to meet those yet to come. I grew on my difficulties." J.C. Penney

" You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm!" Collette

" Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect." Samuel Johnson

" We cannot solve the problems we have created withe the same thinking that created them." Albert Einstein

" Every difficulty slurred over will be a ghost to disturb your repose later on." Frederick Chopin

" The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary!" Anon.

" Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is a progress. Working together is a success." Henry Ford

"Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free- and a worth a fortune." Sam Walton

" Two Americans were talking about their ranches. The first one brags "Why, my ranch is so big if I start riding at 6 o'clock in the morning, I still haven't got the other side by 10 o'clock that night. " The other rancher replies, " Yeah, I once had a horse like that." Kelly Marks

" Every time you ride, you are teaching or unteaching your horse." Gordon Wright

" People are always good company when they are doing what they really enjoy." Samuel Butler

" To get where you want to go you must keep on keeping on." Norman Vincent Peale

" Deep thoughts: if you're a horse, and someone gets on you, and falls off, and then get rights back on you, I think you should buck him off again right away." Saturday Night Live

"Racehorse: An animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time." Anon.

" Why is it that a woman will ignore a homicidal tendencies in a horse, but will be furious at a man for leaving a toilet seat up?" Anon.

" If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong." Kelly Marks

" If you can't be a Good Example then you'll just have to be a Horrible Warning." Catherine Aird

" I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." Thomas Jefferson

" An amateur will practice until she can get it right. A professional will practice until she can't get it wrong." Anon.

" Show me a horse who's been trained and trained and trained and still does not obey, and I'll tel you who the slow learner is!" Anon.

" Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." Andre Gide

" The fact that horses adapt so well to different circumstances is the reason they are subjected to so much abuse. Just because a horse is not complaining, it doesn't necessarily follow that he is happy and comfortable. In the wild an injured animal will be the most attractive to a predator, so horse have evolved to hide their pain as much as they can." Kelly Marks

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt

"My treasures don't clink together nor glitter. They gleam in the sun and neigh in the night." Gypsy saying

Circling Game

The Circling game is what the title says, it is built off from the porcupine and the driving game. In this game we ask the horses to go around in a circle. Its different from lungeing. During the circling game we want to cognition to happen. In this video, I have Rose going in a circle, but to challenge and advance both our abilities, I asked her to go in a circle and go over the jump.

Dominance & Phases

In a horse's herd, there is a leader, or horse that dominants over the herd. It is usually a mare. When working with horses we are trying to emulate the behavior of the leader and the dominant member of the relationship. I have found that Rose will accept my leadership and dominance, but over time likes to question it, and I have to reinforce my stand. Today for example after walking and forth across the ground poles, she wanted to come towards me, but I had not asked to do that, and that was the opposite of what I wanted to accomplish. So asked her to back up to where she belonged, she was hesitate so I went the the phrases fairly fast to get as big as possible to her. After she backed up in rapid manner I released the pressure from her and were no longer big. She stopped, licked her lips, and then was allowed to came forward in a respectfully manner accepting me again as the leader. Just through that, we were able to accomplish herself stopping better after going back and forth through the poles.
The Four phases are:
1. Hair
2. Skin
3. Muscle
4. Bone
These phases are used to show how to get bigger to a horse. You don't necessarily have to use this phases for everything. For example, when asking your horse to do the circling, the first thing you going to do is suggest, that would be your first phase, if the horses doesn't go, you would then encourage the horse by slapping the ground with the stick, and if needs be hitting the horse. The key is though to release the pressure that you applied the moment they did something good. Don't release the pressure if they went backwards or just had the wrong response, because everytime you will use that signal they will be conditioned to go backwards. Wait until they do something in the right direction, even if it means to release if they shift their weight forwards. You will then use that to build up to going in a circle.

Playing with the Ball

Rose likes pushing this ball around, but she thought it was a little scary for the ball to come back to her. I decided to work with her to see if we could play some ball. She got to the point where she could do whats in the video, and then we added another person to make a triangle to roll the back back and forth later on.

January 22, 2009

I having been working with Rose for about 2 weeks now. She knows all the games, as she was used in this class previously. Its mostly me learning the games and applying them. In class, we use seven basic games, the goal of these games is to teach communication between horses and people.
1. The friendly game.
2. The Porcupine game.
3. The driving game.
4. The YO-YO game.
5. The Circling game.
6. The Sideways game.
7. The Squeeze game.

We both don't have the games to perfection, but is the whole point. To always improve communication between us and the horse, and we also find different ways to apply these games.

10 Characteristics of Horses

1. The Horse runs when frightened.
2.The Horse is highly perceptive.
3. The Horse reacts quickly.
4. The Horse learns quickly.
5.The Horse has an excellent memory.
6. The Horse craves company.
7. The Horse communicates with body language.
8.The Horse must know who's boss.
9. The Horse can rapidly desensitized.
10. The Horse is a precocial species.
Dr. Robert Miller, D.V.M

Introduction to my Blog

Hello, this blog was created to document what happens in my Advanced Animal Handling Behavior Class at BYUI. I am Heidi. In this class, the focus is understanding and working with horses. Each student was assgined or was able to choose a horse, mine is Desert Rose, but I call her Rose for short. The name Rose is special as my middle name is Rose, which is from my mom's name Rose; this didn't influence the decision on picking Rose. I will keep this blog updated to show Rose's and I progression in the class. This blog will also contain some information that I have learned through this class.