Help! My horse is herd bound!

I’ve been thinking and reading, reading and thinking, and after five or so years of riding Copper I have finally connected all the dots – my horse is extremely herd bound.

The reason it’s taken me so long to pick this up is because he doesn’t exhibit the typical behaviors you’d expect in a herd bound horse – behaviors that Joey showed.  Copper doesn’t whinny longingly or loudly, he doesn’t refuse to go out on trail rides alone, he doesn’t pace around looking for his herd, or anything like that. 

But last night I had an epiphany – Copper’s herd bound-ness manifests itself in different ways.

1. He always drags his feet when you go to catch him and bring him in from the paddock. He has the slowest walk ever; he’s coming, but he will move like molasses on a cold day. He always has the grumpiest face while you bring him in, groom and saddle – in fact the only time he doesn’t look cranky while you have him out is when you feed him.  Naturally. 

I have checked his bridling, his saddle, his feet – I don’t think he is in pain, and for me, the biggest indicator is that it isn’t pain related is that his gear has been changed and refitted over the years, but his behavior hasn’t changed. It’s gotten worse.

I could be wrong about the pain thing, but I am always looking out for that, and I think the problem is bigger than that.  I think it’s a mental thing. Pain problems are easy to solve, mind problems are not.

2. He races under saddle. He has always been like this. The minute you hop into the saddle he is off, off and away! He doesn’t like standing still for mounting, he wants to run/trot as fast as he can whether you are trail riding with other horses or alone, or schooling in the arena, or jumping – whatever you are doing in the saddle, Copper is fast.

In the past I attributed this speed to his racing history.  He was trained as a trotter for at least six years (he was foaled in Sept, 2000 and his last registered race was 2006), and that sort of conditioning will impact a horse’s personality. So I assumed that he just like racing and running.

Now? I’m not so sure. I think that Copper is simply trying to get the riding over as fast a possible so that he can run back to his herd.

3. He likes to bolt off when you un-halter him in the paddock. This didn’t used to be the case; after I leased him out and got him back unexpectedly, he started this habit. Previously, he’d just amble back to wherever the herd was, but now 90% of the time he’ll take off at a gallop.  I turn him to toward the fence and get him to tuck his nose in and down towards me when I slip the halter off, but he is really good at turning on a dime and – excuse the French – pissing off like a bat outta hell.

These are the three main reasons I have come to the conclusion that he is, in essence, herd bound.

What do I do?

I don’t think it is my riding – I am willing to admit that we have had our share of struggles. I have really had to adjust my riding so that I am not pulling on his face, and I try very hard to control his speed with my seat.

We have been working together a lot better than previously – I have been using lateral work to switch his mind from “Charge! Forwards ho!” to “Oh, I have to think about which foot goes where.”  This has been working really well for calming him down and slowing down his trot and canter without hanging on to his face.

BUT if the underlying problem is not just “Speed is fun!  Whee!” like I thought it was, then all of these techniques aren’t really addressing Copper’s main problem.  He doesn’t feel safe away from his herd and he does NOT enjoy riding, like I thought he did.

Oh help. I guess I’m going to have to do a lot more reading and thinking, because I haven’t the foggiest clue how to go about reaching Copper and changing his mindset.

I don’t know if ground work is the answer, or maybe riding him out on trail rides and dismounting and feeding him in the middle of the ride? I really don’t know what to do at this stage, but I’m not giving up on trying to find a solution.

See, in the end, I think that Joey and Copper actually have/had similar problems. But Joey was at least willing to communicate and reach out, whereas Copper is very shut off. How do you open up lines of communication when your horse doesn’t want to talk to you? How do you begin to show them that work is good and fun and safe?

So many questions that I don’t have the answers too… I think I’m going to write a letter to Mugwump.  I need help.

See ya,

bonita

Facing fears – humans and horses working together

I was out on a trail ride the other week with Copper (It isn’t often that I go down to the horse yards without Isabelle and when I do it’s time to hit the trail!); and we met a ‘monster’ in the form of a mini dirt bike.

At first I was surprised at Copper’s reaction – I thought he’d be ok with them as he is ok with traffic, but maybe he didn’t expect to see it.  Anyway, it wasn’t going – thank goodness for that! – as it had broken down. There were four young men fussing over it on the side of the track.  When it came into view, Copper stopped and grew very, very tall.  I could feel his hunches dip and I knew instinctively that if anything got much more scary he would spin and bolt for home. So I twisted my fingers into a chunk of his mane, and called out to the blokes “Please don’t turn that bike on until we are well away from you!”.

Then I sat quietly. Copper started to walk forwards all tremble-y and snort-y. I felt him hesitate and encouraged him just a little by swinging my right seat bone forwards.  Only a little nudge with my seat, nothing more!  He gave the bike a wide berth and then walked away, still ready to run, but much happier now that it was behind him.

When we were 20-30 meters down the track he finally let out his breath and felt quite proud of himself!  It was rather cute. 

Copper is funny though, he’s at the bottom of herd hierarchy, but he doesn’t look to humans for leadership hardly at all.  Whereas Joey, although he was high up in the herd (second or third I think), would turn to me for guidance.

One time Joey’s trust in me was really pressed home.  I had turned him out in the small paddock that our dressage arena was in to get some grazing while I worked Copper.  He was jumpy – it was a windy day, Copper and I were in the pens a couple of meters away and he hadn’t been turned out in that area before, although we had ridden in it plenty of times.

To top it all off, a ute appeared out of “nowhere” and I could see that it had caught Joey by surprise and freaked him out.  He stood by the fence, high-headed and wide eyed, ready to run.  I called out to him – the usual soothing noises “Steady Joey, easy boy”, wondering if I needed to go over there and reassure him. 

Then he looked at me, and I could read his mind.  “Is it ok?”  he asked – clear as day.

I said, “It’s ok boy, steady”  and he just stood there, holding my gaze with wide eyes, the whites showing, while the ute bumped and bounced past him and down the bottom of the jump paddock to disappear out on to the dirt driveway we drive in on.

Then the spell was broken and he went back to grazing whilst I saddled Copper.  I had goosebumps on my arms.  That was the second time Joey and I had ‘clicked’, when we had been on the exact same wave length. 

(I so wish I hadn’t had to sell him! *sniff*)

He’s the only horse I ever remember doing that with.  I’ve been able to understand what my other horses have been saying to me, but he’s the only one where it’s been like we can read each other’s minds.

Did he trust me more than Copper does?  Or was he more willing to try and communicate more clearly?

I’m thinking about this, because comparing the two stories, well, it’s two very different experiences.  Copper, in that scary situation on the trail, did the job himself.  Yes, I did encourage him, but he basically took the situation in his own hooves, as it were, and did it himself.  I didn’t feel like we were a team at all, he was not looking for guidance from me. 

Joey would do the same thing sometimes, but in situations that were really crucial – ones he felt like he couldn’t manage or didn’t understand, he would refer to me.

Was it because he ultimately trusted me more, or because of his personality – being a different kind of horse, with a different background?

Copper is a willing partner, but he doesn’t give any kind of input.  He’s just there to work, in a way.  Is it asking too much to want more?

I don’t know, but I do know what can be achieved now, and maybe one day I’ll find another Joey, and hopefully it will be the right time for us this time!

See ya,

bonita

Training Tip: Riding bareback

So Joey’s being doing really well with the spotty and completely infrequent riding schedule we have at the moment.  It’s great because I wasn’t really sure that he had the temperament for that kind of riding, but he does. 

Of course, we don’t really get any where fast and he gets totally lazy, but we are improving a little bit at a time I think.

I have even ridden him bareback for the first time!  I wasn’t sure that he’d be ok with bareback riding, but he was really good.

It took a bit of time and patience to get him standing along side the fence long enough for me to hop on, but he is a quick learner and the next day when I did it again, it was much faster. 

I trained him to stand up for mounting by leading him in close to the fence and getting him to stand right next to it.  I would be on his right side as I  maneuvered him into the right position, then after I halted him, I would go around to his left and slowly hop up on the fence. 

I rubbed his back, and croup (the point over his hips between his back and his quarters) reach over and rub his opposite side.  If he was happy with that, I leant over his back a little bit and when I thought he was ready I’d put my leg over.  If the fence isn’t high enough to do that, I’d jump and lean over his back on my stomach, then swing my leg up and over.

If Joey moved forwards before I hopped on, I’d back him up and then take him around and line him up again.  If he’d swing his hind quarters away, I’d push them over again, and then take him around and line him up again. 

Putting him back in the place I wanted him to be is an important step before lining him up alongside the fence again because I want him to realize that moving forwards or sidewise isn’t going to get him away from the spot I want him to stand.  I also do this if he tries to move away while saddling or bridling him, and it’s a great training tool under saddle if he won’t stand still.

He is a bit nervous when I’m riding him bareback, but he listens to me – for the most part!  He did decided to see if he could try it out and refuse to walk on and away from all his mates in the paddock, but I soon squashed that idea.  Thankfully where I’ve been doing the bareback riding really is an ideal area to try it out in.

Basically the herd is in a big paddock up the back of another paddock that is next to two other big paddocks.  There is a narrow laneway that runs down the middle – it has a paddock on either side.  This laneway allows you to get access to the paddocks up the back. 

It’s a five to ten minute walk to get down there, so it’s a nice stretch of enclosed area that has lots of soft, squishy grass for emergency dismounts! I walk down, fetch Joey out of the paddock (I bridle him rather than riding in a halter – I don’t want to lose all control thankyouverymuch!) and ride him back down the laneway.

Oh, and I definitely wear my helmet! 

I am really happy though, because I think that we are making progress and building trust by experiencing different situations and scenarios together - like bareback riding.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ll be able to take him out on solo trail rides soon, which is a huge step from where we were when I first got him!

Next up: taking him out in the trail and getting him used to competition atmosphere. 

See ya,

bonita

Three Things

I haven’t been doing much with Joey due to the rainy weather, however there are three things that happened over the last few times I visited him.  I was pleased about them, so here they are.

• Lounging:  I went and lounged him yesterday as the ground had finally dried out.  He was just in a rope halter with a line, and he did really well!  Yes, he had excess energy, and yes, he still cuts in on the left lead {I’m trying to fix it, but it’s proving difficult} but when I was watching him trot and canter around I couldn’t help but remember the first time I ever lounged him.  
  
  He was hopeless! He pulled and yanked on the lounge line, even though it was clipped under his chin to his bridle, wouldn’t obey my voice commands, tried to bolt off and circle?  What’s that?  It was more like, um, random squiggles.  Yesterday?  Reasonably soft, willing, listening and engaged in nothing more than a rope halter, plus, actual circles!  He really has improved!
  

• Trot poles:  We did them on the lounge line quietly, and even kicked it up a notch by raising the end pole up on tires.  To be sure, that blew his mind a bit, particularly when the pole MOVED if he kicked it.  Still, we walked over them all calmly with nose stretching in the end and didn’t even freak out when I picked the pole up after he knocked it down several times.  Methinks he is learning.  Yay!  Break through!
  

• Trust:  This is the biggest one, but two things have happened that make me think he is learning to trust me more.  One, the other day I led him into the pen that has sails stretched over it with out a single bit of hesitation.  Sure, he did boggle a bit when he realized where he was and he had to have a good sniff around, but that was it.  I couldn’t even lead him near the gate of that yard when he first arrived at the paddocks.
  
  Secondly, he freaked out yesterday when my dad went to try a new saddle on him – mostly because he had eaten his dinner and didn’t want that thing near him.  It wasn’t good that he did that, we really need to work on his attitude towards saddling.  But what was good was that even when he was ‘trapped’, stuck between the fence and the saddle – he still responded to me.  I could see him thinking about charging past me and trying to get away; very dangerous because he would have basically pushed right ‘through’ me.  But I blocked him with my shoulder and told him to stand and I could see him listening.  He didn’t like it, but he did listen.  I got my dad to back off a bit then, and I hope it was enough of a release that we put the saddle on and then basically took it off again. 
  

Small events, but good ones none the less I think!  Now if only I wasn’t so scared to ride him.  *sigh*  One step at a time I guess.

See ya,

bonita