I had about 3 hrs today as R took E to the British Wildlife Centre, dropping me off first. I had decided to go out down the lane as had the dog. D was more interested in me today - good feedback from yesterday!
He is now happy to be haltered which is a great improvement to the early days when I used to follow him round for 10 minutes before I got enough interest to put the halter on with ears pricked. I gave him a quick brush and put the bareback pad on. There was quite a lot of yawning going on so I took my time.
I warmed up in the bottom paddock around the trees and, as usual, D was his strange mixture of RB/LB, switching from one moment to the next. He didn't like going round the trees (circling!) and pushed his shoulders in, shaking his head at me. I decided to back him up downhill towards the barn and found a weak spot in our foundation! He was quite unconfident and not sure what I wanted. After a few goes, I decided to porcupine him back so I could control his direction of travel more easily. This brought on the old argument about whether I can put my hand on his face.
I had already come to the conclusion that my exaggerated head rubbing in response to D's shove-off was not working. I suspected he was enjoying it and it was becoming a pattern all of it's own! So, today, I followed on from yesterday with porcupining his head down when he resisted. We left the field LB and had a very nice walk down the road. D loves climbing up a bank at the end. It's really high at one point but he gets straight up there all pleased with himself!
In my new quest to keep him calm-submissive at all times, whenever D got a bit RB, I got his attention back by zig-zagging across the road. This was great for follow-the feel which I also realised I need to do much much more of so that he's really light. Should also help with any napping issues. On the way back, D rushed a bit but I was able to slow him right down by asking him to match my "moon walk" which was fun. At times, I find him surprisingly responsive - I'm always grateful!
M called a few times, as usual D didn't respond once which is nice! When we got back, M was grazing, another good step forward. We went into the shed. D & I had a drink and then went into the top right field below the church. He was a bit apprehensive but I got him busy and went slow!
Over the session, I had a huge Aha! Now this is nothing I haven't heard before but it really hit home today. I have got to have dominance over Z1 in order to get D's respect. Fantastic! It's such a concrete outcome to work towards. I don't think he'll give it up easily but when it comes, I think it could change everything!!!! A few more ahas:
- Go slow when D is unsure but don't let him dwell - disengage/transitions etc.
- Keep control of his head head & neck - don't allow a brace to continue uncorrected
- Work towards complete dominance over Zone 1! by:
- Lots of backing up from the nose
- Driving the front end round
Now for the ouch moment! I broke my thumb nail right off! Serves me right, it was too long anyway but...how interesting...it was an extreme head flip-up that did it as I put my hand on his nose. So now I have a reminder! I was a bit cross as I thought he'd become a bit more accepting. I got him to back up all over the place from his nose after that! Some really soft ones too.
However, what I did notice was, as D became more subdued in the head tossing department, he became more fixated on biting the rope below his chin. He seemed to be replacing one dominant protest with another! He would get the rope right into his mouth and give it a good chomp. Initially I sawed it to and fro to try to get him to think "no thanks" but, a bit like the extreme head rubbing, he seemed to like it rough! Being a bit cross, I reverted into dog training mode and fixed a gimlet eye on D with a "Tsss" noise as he went for the rope. I have to say this was more effective (followed by a diversion) but I'm not sure how this fits in with Parelli! Will find out...........
Onto the mounting...it went really well and nothing's broken. (Phew!!!) I followed the new mantra of aiming always for calm-submission so didn't allow more than a moment of brace. I either porcupined D down, got him to flex right round or just follow a tiny feel enough to take the brace out of his neck. Amazing! What a change in attitude! All this is really starting to make sense to me from a dressage perspective now. You never ever ride or even warm up with a brace as it's completely counter-productive. I know we're always being told that everything on the ground relates to what you do on top but I think you've (I've!) got to experience it for it to become reality.
I sat on today with no worries at all and each time, did a slow-motion emergency dismount, D's getting much softer and quicker to flex which is making it much easier. The only thing which is a slight concern is this pre-occupation with biting the rope - or indeed me! D is not averse to trying to grab my boots, joggers or anything within reach so he's not there emotionally yet. That said, as these are all LB behaviours, I'd rather have those than the RB tension any day. In a perverse way, it's flattering he feels confident enough to try it on!
No comments:
Post a Comment