Hi all !
It's been a while since i've been on the forum, I went through a hard time at work and with my health but I'm so glad to be back, i missed reading you guys :D
Since i'm back, i thought i'd give you an update on where i am with Dayka.
The biggest change i guess is that i finally found better housing conditions for her. After 8 months of being on her own things were pretty terrible (rearing up or bolting when handled, charging at me, biting, etc), just an accident waiting to happen really.
Last December my neighbours and I decided to try to put our horses together. They have an old pottock pony mare and a small donkey, It was a bit complicated at first, the older mare wasn't really happy about the "intrusion", I had to get creative to get her to accept Dayka but they are now a happy, peaceful little herd. She should be staying with thoses horses as long as i live there so that's really a relief. I do separate her from the others every day though to try to beat her separation anxiety over time. She spends the day in grass paddocks within eyesight of the herd and i put her back with her friends at night.
With this new situation the change in Dayka was pretty dramatic, after only 3 days of being with them she was back to her sweet gentle self :)
At that point I had stopped riding her for a while so I decided to just give her time to heal from the long isolation. I started riding again in February and from the moment I sat in the saddle I could feel she was a different horse. It's hard to explain but she was just relaxed, waiting for my cues, not worried about anything around her, you could just feel she was "at peace".
Since then i've kept to a regular schedule, riding 2 to 3 times per week, in short sessions. I've also been taking her out every other week for a longer ride outdoors. First ride we did with 2 other horses and she was so good, only spooked once at a big and very loud machine but after that she would just look around when something worried her but kept on going, eventually even leading our little group. I was really proud of her. I've also taken her out on my own, she's definitely more tense, getting nervous about things that don't usually bother her (like bridges) but she doesn't try to fight me when I ask her to calm her down.
When we're not outdoors I ride her in one of the grass paddocks where i keep her. At first she was only looking at her friends on the other side of the fence but now she's understood that for a given amount of time she needs to focus on her rider. We're working on loosening her on both sides and following directions at a walk. Couple of weeks ago we started adding a little bit of trotting straight lines and big circles as well. She still systematically resists new exercices but as long as i stay calm and give her time to understand what i'm asking she'll do it.
I'll upload a video of us when I find the courage to actually find a video editing software :)
Talk to you soon !
Lucie
It's been a while since i've been on the forum, I went through a hard time at work and with my health but I'm so glad to be back, i missed reading you guys :D
Since i'm back, i thought i'd give you an update on where i am with Dayka.
The biggest change i guess is that i finally found better housing conditions for her. After 8 months of being on her own things were pretty terrible (rearing up or bolting when handled, charging at me, biting, etc), just an accident waiting to happen really.
Last December my neighbours and I decided to try to put our horses together. They have an old pottock pony mare and a small donkey, It was a bit complicated at first, the older mare wasn't really happy about the "intrusion", I had to get creative to get her to accept Dayka but they are now a happy, peaceful little herd. She should be staying with thoses horses as long as i live there so that's really a relief. I do separate her from the others every day though to try to beat her separation anxiety over time. She spends the day in grass paddocks within eyesight of the herd and i put her back with her friends at night.
With this new situation the change in Dayka was pretty dramatic, after only 3 days of being with them she was back to her sweet gentle self :)
At that point I had stopped riding her for a while so I decided to just give her time to heal from the long isolation. I started riding again in February and from the moment I sat in the saddle I could feel she was a different horse. It's hard to explain but she was just relaxed, waiting for my cues, not worried about anything around her, you could just feel she was "at peace".
Since then i've kept to a regular schedule, riding 2 to 3 times per week, in short sessions. I've also been taking her out every other week for a longer ride outdoors. First ride we did with 2 other horses and she was so good, only spooked once at a big and very loud machine but after that she would just look around when something worried her but kept on going, eventually even leading our little group. I was really proud of her. I've also taken her out on my own, she's definitely more tense, getting nervous about things that don't usually bother her (like bridges) but she doesn't try to fight me when I ask her to calm her down.
When we're not outdoors I ride her in one of the grass paddocks where i keep her. At first she was only looking at her friends on the other side of the fence but now she's understood that for a given amount of time she needs to focus on her rider. We're working on loosening her on both sides and following directions at a walk. Couple of weeks ago we started adding a little bit of trotting straight lines and big circles as well. She still systematically resists new exercices but as long as i stay calm and give her time to understand what i'm asking she'll do it.
I'll upload a video of us when I find the courage to actually find a video editing software :)
Talk to you soon !
Lucie
About trotting circles: start with walk and with a slight bend in the neck to the inside of the circle [so you can see her eye from the saddle], talk to her with the outside rein while using your inside leg to gently push her rib cage out [this should produce a nice bend to her body while she would stepping underneath herself with the back leg [that will drop her hind end and produce engagement]. It would be wise for her to learn this in the walk before graduating to the trot. In training a horse to engage. it`s all about conditioning of the biomechanics and the horse`s thought process. You cannot do enough of this exercise.
Hope that helps
Bud
This is a great example of 'putting the needs of the horse first'! Congratulations!!
Horses can only express themselves through behavior. Dayka has shown you in the past she was not happy, now she is telling you that her needs are met and she'll be your partner. Great work!!!
Hope your health is good again and work is without too much stress...
I'm really looking forward to your video and the continuation of your story with Dayka.
Keep the good work going,
Miriam
I was glad when you answered that Bud, because that's exactly what I had been doing ;p
I don't ask for complicated things in the trot yet.
Typically we'll start walking a few ovals on each side to get her going forward, then do spirals, serpentines, needlepoint or figure eights. I try to do 2 of these exercises per session and change each time which ones we do so that it doesn't get too boring for her.
In between exercises we'll either do some walk/trot transitions or do "pratical" exercises (picking up things from chairs, opening gates, opening maps in the saddle, carrying stuff from A to B, etc) or just take a break if she needs one.
After the second walk exercises, if she feels loose enough, i'll ask for an oval in the trot then a large circle and another oval. She's just starting to be able to do a full circle, she has enough balance now but she still needs a bit of strength to maintain the full circle (she'll still try to escape the circle sometimes after the first half by going a straight line or trying to canter).
I haven't had much luck filming that but i'll try getting the next one, i'd love to get some feedback on what i can do better.
Meanwhile, we've been going back to basics these days, to finish something i never really finished since I was working her on my own (my teenage neighbor has been riding Dayka with me but that's another story, i feel too lazy to type more today :) haha)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnF_WZnz7LiF618OPLDoAkR_7amEYUZTa
A suggestion that might help the timing of the exercise would be to pause a little longer between each of the segments. I.E.
Dayka standing at a distance and looking at the mounting area, Dayka being called upon [cued] to come to the mounting block, Dayka responding or not to the call, you reinforcing the call with a slight tap on the off side with the long line only if Dayka has not moved,[ at this time make sure that your helper continues to kiss or cluck to reinforce the tapping on the side cue], ALSO , GIVE DAYKA A CHANCE TO RESPOND [ three seconds], then, if no response, begin with more tapping, but at an increased energy level with the long line until Dayka makes a move toward the mounting block, then pause and praise. The pause is so important with our training as it gives the horse an opportunity to be part of the decision making of the request. In my opinion, this very short moment or two has the potential to bring about a strong riding relationship between horse and rider where they reach for each other`s FEEL and riding the mind is just around the corner..
Lucie ,Dayka really improved over the course of the video. I would encourage you to keep on keeping on with this exercise. With the incorporation of the pause, perfecting this exercise would lead you and Dayka to the discovery of many gold nuggets with future training exercises.
Thanks for the video and your openness. This helps us all.
Kind regards
Bud
I've been doing small sessions everyday since the second video, just 4/5 repetitions before riding, she's really getting there.