Ok, so I am hijacking an answer from Mel in another thread (Docile horse won't longe) because I wanted to address what she said without hogging that thread. I hope you are OK with this, Mel! Otherwise, I am sure the Support people can delete this. :)
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Here is what Mel wrote:
"Horses use their heads in all of their communication of Equus, they tell each other to go away, come here, yes, no the direction they are going to travel and much much more. We can use this to communicate to them too our intention.
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In using the move forwards head movement nodding up twice whilst you are facing the same direction of your horse they will move with you. When in the saddle they are focused on your head more if you've been using it in communication on the ground. Not only that when in the saddle your horse will feel your body movements too as you move your head, so if you jerk your head upwards twice, see how this affects your body, all the way through to your legs. This along with other aids helps the communication between you and your horse.
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Like jumping a course of jumps in the arena, as you come over the jump you look to the next jump so your horse knows where to go, the horse is watching your head all the time. You'll notice in shows the rider who uses their head, the horse completes the round well, the one who does not they horse gets yanked around and doesn't know where to go.
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Everyone who comes to me for lessons has to first communicate on the ground before they can get on their backs, even if they're ridden before. They have to move the horse forwards, backwards, turn them left and right all with head movements, minimal worf cues and zero pressure on the dually.
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The horse show's its direction by it's head, when you see your horse walking to you in the field if their head is straight to you, they'll come to you. If their body is straight towards you, but their head turned to one side they'll turn away from you."
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Horse Behavior and Training
Head nodding = going forward
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And now what I wanted to say in connection to this:
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The other day, when I was long lining my boy in the indoor arena, we ran into a "speed-bump" as he suddenly decided to root himself to the ground when I asked for a trot.
It had gone fine several times up until then. He just have this unfortunate habit of deciding he isn't amused anymore, and I can't seem to get a handle on that problem.
At this point he pointedly ignores any and all voice/body cues I know he knows, and I had no one there to help me by walking by his head.
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Sometimes raising the energy is enough but that day was one of the days when raised energy just gets him even more rooted. Sometimes it's as if he thinks: "this is so uncomfortable; I will just brace myself here until it stops."
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Knowing from experience that there is little point in arguing with him, I asked him to just move his feet until he started walking again and tried to come up with an idea for something else to do to end the session on a good note.
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That was when I remembered Mel's post and since Nalle has always been very attentive to body language, and I can change direction just by looking at the spot I want to go to, I decided to play around with this.
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So I asked for a halt and waited a good ten seconds before I nodded my head - and what do you know: He started walking. Intrigued - because this is a completely new aid for me - I stopped him at uneven intervals, at different places in the arena, and with different time lapses before I nodded. It worked every single time! LOL! (Almost! I had to click my tongue once or twice when he lost his focus on me.)
We were at it for 5 or 10 minutes before I called it a day and walked him back home.
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I did try to get him to trot too by nodding but that didn't work at all! Besides, trying to jog and nod your head at the same time is NOT something I recommend! I probably looked - and felt! -like a head banger at a rock concert. My neck also threatened to snap, so... no more of that! LOL!
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Curious if any one else, besides Mel of course, has successfully tried nodding for forward going?
(I wonder how this will pan out at a future dressage test when I need to great the judge by nodding my head!? ;) :D )
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Also, would be delighted for suggestions for what to do when Mr.Smartypants decides he is in charge and ignores voice cues and stops instead of increasing tempo or changing gaits.
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It goes without saying that I always check if he is bothered by something physical (surcingle moving forward etc) but 19 times out of 20 there is nothing that I can detect.
It feels mostly like a test of wills to me, but I am stumped for what to do! He desensitizes himself in no time to stimuli and then raising the energy usually gets the opposite reaction instead.
Good morning Kiki. To answer your question directly, yes I use the head nod all the time when moving my horses. It was taught to me many years ago by one of my mares [Rosie O` Grady]. The name says it all as she is a very animated individual in almost everything she does in life. So her head nod, when moving other horses around, is most noticeable. That also goes for dogs, cats, chickens and whatever needs to be moved when she comes upon them.
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.At first, I didn`t know what I was looking at and certainly did not use the gesture in my training, but when it finally dawned on me,[ after my horse training knowledge grew], what was actually taking place with the horses, I put that gesture to use. It has proven to be a very effective tool for me especially when training at liberty.
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.The descriptive narrative that you used in relating to how you felt and must have looked after doing the head nod thing while moving your horse, was hilarious.
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.The only suggestion that I might give you with the upward transition problem stems from my take on what transitions do for us and our training of horses. Focus and intention has to be right out there in front. We are using pressure and release to signal either upward or downward to the horse. If, as you say, the horse already understands and complies with these signals most of the time in an efficient manner, then you probably have an attitude problem. If this sounds like a possibility, I would remove the long lines and ask for the transitions at liberty. Try to be very decisive when asking for a change. You might have to use a dressage whip [as an extension of you arm] for encouragement because you are now doing this at liberty. I find that transitions develop a horse`s mental, coping skills and for this reason they are very effective.
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.`See what the other folks have to say.
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.Respectfully, Bud
Hi Kikki, Mel advise me to nod my head and it works for me and Shilo!! Great tip.
PS- after surgery I now have 4 titanium plates in my neck and 8 titanium screws.....so nodding and jogging for me...NO PROBLEM!!!! No chance of snapping neck here !!! Ha ha ha aha .
Hilsen fra Dionne og Shilo.
Good Idea Kicki and not a problem :D It won't work in trot, it's just a the go forward request. For trot you would need to bow your head slightly leaning forward with your body as if you are about to break into trot yourself, looking to the hind quarters and increase your energy. If in hand at the side then applying the same leaning forward and breaking into trot yourself works when they are working with you.
When you talk about gait changes are you meaning in saddle or ground work?
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Dione, fantastic and well done!
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Bud, knew we're on the same page ;)
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When noticing how horses communicate together, once the horse realises we are using it's language we can refine our movements, you'll find the neck snapping can become a soft movement and the horse will respond. Starting big and refining down..
Once you get accustomed to using your head, then the body can be used more in working with your horse. From bending it's body, asking for extension and collection this is all possible from our body language with the horse.
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What is brilliant about it on the Online Uni, is that everything Monty teaches here works inline with the Equus language. Something Monty mentioned a while ago is that he doesn't always realise that what he does with his body when he's communicating with the horses as he's been doing it so long. It's good to watch how Monty moves his body, arms and head when he works with the horses.
Mel
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Thanks, all, for the responses! I'm reading with great interest.
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Bud, I value your knowledge very highly. I too think this is an attitude problem, and you are probably right about the liberty work being helpful, but I am a bit hesitant to let him loose. Partly because I lack a good place to be and partly because I am not trusting him to "be good" if I put pressure on him. Do not wish to get into a situation where we have a "Mexican stand-off"!
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Mel, thanks for the tip on how to start the trot. I will try that one next time! :)
I am talking ground work here. We haven't done much work under saddle and what has been of that has mainly been on the trail in company with other horses. No problems with transitions then! Ha!
Always good when with other horses, have to keep up ;)
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What schooling area are you working with Kicki or is it in the field?
Mel
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