Hi guys,
I'm hoping someone out there has experienced this and maybe has some pointers. I have (amongst a number of other horses, including colts and fillies and I've never experienced this)) a 2 year old clydie/TB who is to be my future dressage horse. I bought him as a yearling and he is so super friendly it's not funny, he literally wants to to follow you everywhere, we used to joke that he'd curl up on your lap if he could, he's almost like a poddy calf. The problem I am having is that most of the regular cues (ie equus) I use with all my other horses have no effect on him at all. He is just literally baffled that you would want him to go away from you. Join up with him was the hardest I've ever had to work to send a horse away and he reacted quite explosively at first, once he actually went away, which took major effort.
He is always friendly and he's not a nippy colt that's wanting to play games with you, it just seems he doesn't get the most basic communication. I've watched him with the herd thinking that somehow I'm not sending clear messages, but even with the other horses he is oblivious to their cues (facing up, eyes on eyes, ears back etc) and it will take literally a bite on the the face or neck to get him to move away. He just seems oblivious to the usual signs. Could he somehow have missed this vital info growing up? Or could he be a bit slower than the other horses?? (Gasp!) Sorry to be long winded, but I'm wondering how firm I have to be? Working with the dually has worked wonders with his leading and backing up etc but say I'd like to move him away from a gate to bring a horse through, it seems he is oblivious to my efforts to back him up or move him (I'm talkng waving hands up in the air, flicking a leadrope shoulder to shoulder, stuff that normally makes a horse move quick smart), he just looks at you with absolutely no concern and actual genuine interest. My farrier says he needs to be made afraid and suggested a good hard whack with a poly pipe which is something I won't entertain, he is not disrespectful or cheeky, it's like he just doesn't understand. I don't want to damage his friendly, happy to be around people nature.
Any suggestions would be most welcome, I don't know how I can be any clearer or firmer without actually physically using something to tap him with.
Thank you!!
Ailsa
Alisa
Wow! At first I though that maybe he was not a very bright horse or was mentally incapacitated, but you say that he follows your cues with a dually halter, but when at liberty he does not understand that you or other horses may want him to move away from them. I would not worry about Join Up with this boy since he already looks to you as a leader and is willing to work with you. So the steps that I would work on is actual liberty work where you teach him to move off you with just a hand signal or a body movement. You will need to be patient with him and repeat your cues many times before he will respond correctly. I would use the dually and back him up while showing him your hand signal for backing up As you progress with this you will use the dually less and less until it is just hand signals. I would also do this in a closed round pen with no distractions. One thing that I might check would be his eyesight. Does he respond to quick movement of say a plastic bag waved in front of him? If he is not responding to outside stimuli I would as you vet for an assessment.
Cheers
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for your help, I'll definitely work on the liberty based signals. I've got join up so firmly entrenched as what must be done first that I was unsure how to proceed when it was so difficult. His eyesight appears fine, he makes big spooky eyes at anything he hasn't seen before just like any other horse and then is fine with whatever it is. I think he may just be a little slower and less reactive than other horses. Most every other horse I've worked with comes off the dually halter pressure so fast but he is sort of immune to it. It's very curious, he's obviously very tolerant, I've just never seen a horse this unfazed before.
I'll let you know how I go with the liberty work in the round pen.
Thanks again!
Hi Ailsa,
Adding to the great suggestions that Dennis gave, I would work with the Dually and getting a better response on bodylanguage. Working with colts that don't respect your space, you sometimes have to get this set very clear. This might help him reading your signals better.
So start a normal Dually session, with pressure on the trainingband etc. and then gradually get bigger with your bodylanguage and less strong with the Dually. Watch Monty do the "Dually-dance", at the end of a session, with no pressure on the leadrope anymore.
Your colt will benefit from being able to understand your signals and maybe those of the other horses too, when he gets the message that it all has a meaning for him.
By the way, find another ferrier! What your colt doesn't understand YET(!), cannot ever be pushed into his brain by violence. Make it easy for your colt to understand what you want and he'll do it for you!
Miriam
Thanks Miriam, I really appreciate your advice as well as Dennis'. I think it's going to be a lot of repetition with this boy as well as some very obvious Oscar-worthy body language performances lol. And yes, the farrier is on the way out!! Cheers guys, and thank you!
Ailsa
Hello Ailsa,do you think he could have been over handled as a youngster?I was thinking that with him being half Clydsdale he probably is less reactive too.How about use the Dually accompanied with rhythmic clucking/kissing noises? Being part draught horse he may respond well to voice cues. The other thing was having Purpose in your leading work,ie have areas where you stop,maybe back up a tad ,then move on and head to another stop,and try not to pet him when you work him perhaps, just be steady and matter of fact with him .I had similar situation with a horse I had and having a clear purpose really helped him take his attention off me and onto what we were doing.Walking over poles good too.All the best!
Hi Sasafras,
I'm thinking that may have been the case, he is like a poddy calf that's been bottle reared. I have spent the last few days working with him and have used everyone's very helpful suggestions, I've had to be pretty dramatic with my body language but I'm happy to say it's really worked! He's now much more reactive to me. And the poles idea was fantastic too Sasafras, that really woke him up and made him focus.
It's wonderful to have this forum and such great help from kind people!
Thanks again guys and best of luck with your horses :)