tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post5345300239319351611..comments2023-06-10T06:38:37.815-07:00Comments on Life With My Herd: 1.25 Hours and the Eleventh CommandmentAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-67872025164559701582014-03-19T08:41:51.862-07:002014-03-19T08:41:51.862-07:00Some great ideas bouncing around here in the comme...Some great ideas bouncing around here in the comments- and I sure agree with what you said in your last comment. At any rate, it sounds like it will be an interesting way to work him and I hope to read some good reports on it. Also, since you have his teeth done, it should also help. Shirleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15454110560303310751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-46746677480786813862014-03-18T20:29:32.866-07:002014-03-18T20:29:32.866-07:00All it took to turn my clydey cross mare from a qu...All it took to turn my clydey cross mare from a quiet ride to a skin-twitching explodey-horse was a new load of hay, same sort but maybe higher in sugars or nitrates or something. Not sure what but it took her only about four days to turn into a fire-eating monster. It doesn't take much with some horses. In her case I had to soak that load of hay for 20 minutes before feeding to get my sane horse back. <br /><br />Have you ever had him tested for EPSM (PSSM)? Keechyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13508060247369251383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-74638764210468373792014-03-18T19:54:37.703-07:002014-03-18T19:54:37.703-07:00My first guess would be feed. You've been ch...My first guess would be feed. You've been changing it around and maybe you've hit on a combo that would be fine for an endurance horse but is not so good for Trax at this time. :) Keechyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13508060247369251383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-57786166545829870062014-03-18T14:04:35.036-07:002014-03-18T14:04:35.036-07:00This sounds like entirely plausible reasoning for ...This sounds like entirely plausible reasoning for why he is doing what he is doing to me. If he isn't wanting to lope nicely, start working on things to engage his mind...Big circles, little circles, straightening out, moving his ribcage this way and that way (into and out of your circle). If he takes off...<br /><br />Fence work! <br /><br />I'm not fond of the 'letting them run' thing either. It's one of those things that may be beneficial initially...and maybe even necessary...like the one-rein stop thing. But after a certain point, they have to start learning to stay checked in and building on that mental stability. <br /><br />That's why work with Jet was so slow for so long...and I still can't push him too hard...That horse was mentally ready to check out at the slightest thing. I just had to keep working him and building on his mental stability. That has meant keeping him 'with' me and mentally engaged every.step.of.the.way., cause when that big horse checks out...It's game over and I know he can hurt me real quick. BTW-I'm not comparing the two horses really. They don't have anything in common outside of the propensity to 'check out'. Trax's is a learned behavior. Jet's is...Well, I'm kinda guessing it's something he's lived with from a young age or was born with, because he has always been 'different'.<br />BrownEyed Cowgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03610547057139295854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-92091724498358062462014-03-18T00:16:10.480-07:002014-03-18T00:16:10.480-07:00Sometimes you will get the warning signs like you ...Sometimes you will get the warning signs like you did and that is all that comes of it. The horse throws a few of them at you, they stick with us or bounce off and we change things up a little, just enough to delay the meltdown. But it is still there, still building momentum, until the day it finally happens. <br /><br />I agree with BEC on this one. He's been mentally challenged by the work and found a way to avoid it. He's been given the option of running and started taking advantage of it. I think the rollbacks may work, but instead of letting him check out, it will be putting his mind to work and keeping it engaged. When is the next rollback coming? To keep him from anticipating too much with the rollbacks, you may just try working on your canter departs on the correct lead & stopping straight. If he anticipates the stop & canter depart, throw in a rollback. Keep things interesting to keep him focused. And above all else, don't forget to praise him excitedly when he does things right. If they never know what is right, how can we expect them to repeat it? <br /><br />Cut-N-Jumphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10355349642284506192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-76709841662785472452014-03-17T22:48:26.221-07:002014-03-17T22:48:26.221-07:00I am sure willing to try it. I'm pretty much w...I am sure willing to try it. I'm pretty much willing to try anything that doesn't involve endangering me or him. <br /><br />When we started, before I asked for any "forward" at all we did side passes, leg yields, back through the L, side pass over the L, and lots of moving the shoulders. He was soooooo focused, it was crazy. I even thought, wow we are going to have a good day. He was even very nice at the trot. When we first asked for the lope he was just loping, not really running away, but not really with me either. Usually we can do that for a little while and then he softens down, is ready to work and we are good. But today he never softened down, and it seems to me, now that I think about it, the last time we rode it took him a long time to come down too. So maybe the problem is that I am allowing him to disconnect in the beginning assuming that he is going to come back on his own. He is recognizing that I am leaving it up to him to come back to me and he has decided he does not want too. Probably because like you said, it gets him out of doing the hard stuff. <br /><br />When I rode with Mark he didn't love it when I let Trax run himself down. I guess maybe this is why. Perhaps if we do like you said, lope around but never make that full lap, do our roll back, and then go out again, he will get the message that checking out is not okay. <br /><br />Perhaps he feels that by leaving it up to him to come back to me, I have let go of my leadership and given it to him. If given the chance to lead he will always choose to lead at mach 9. <br /><br />Thanks guys! your input has really helped me think this out and given me some things to work on. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-58388390671508683262014-03-17T21:47:00.546-07:002014-03-17T21:47:00.546-07:00I have never seen Trax act like this, so I am unce...I have never seen Trax act like this, so I am uncertain if this would work with him or not, you'll just have to use your best judgement...<br /><br />When he takes off running like that and blocks you out, can you sit down on him and make him rollback on the fence...Even if he just wants to take off the other direction...Just sit down, pick up that rein that is closest to the fence and just pull him right into the fence and make him change direction, when he does, just let him decide what he wants to do once he changes direction. If he wants to take off again, let him run around to the other side of the arena and roll him back on the fence again. Rinse and repeat, more and more often until he decides that running off and having to rollback is just too much work.<br /><br />If he doesn't want to run off, then you can work on some more bending, flexing, moving shoulders and really get him to soften for you before you ask him to lope again. But definitely ask him to lope again. If he is nice about it, call it a thing. If he wants to run off again, repeat the fence work.<br /><br />Like I said, I don't really know what happens to him (in his head) that cause him to do this with you, cause I have never seen him really do it...But it almost sounds like he is using the tactic to get out of work. I know that doesn't seem like a logical reason to a person, because we view running willy-nilly like that as harder work than the little bit we are asking them to do...But to a horse, running is easy. It's the mental work you tax him with...and I do not mean that you are overtaxing him mentally...I mean, he is just not real fond of having to mentally work through things, it's mentally taxing for him to do so...so he just locks that brain up and runs away. The perfect horse response. I can actually say, without sarcasm, that Trax is the prime example of a horse engaging his 'flight' response. Through previous owners he has learned that 'fight' is futile and you don't really put enough pressure on him to warrant a full-on fight on his part, but he's still not wanting to willingly participate, so he is like, F* It...I'm outta here. The brain shuts off and the feet move. <br /><br />The 'key' is making this running off business more physical work than it's worth to him. This has been his evasive tactic for a long time now and you have made a lot of progress with him in regards to it and now it's just time to clue him in that enough is enough.BrownEyed Cowgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03610547057139295854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-87716343939839485372014-03-17T21:10:59.537-07:002014-03-17T21:10:59.537-07:00CnJ is 100% right on this one.
However, you shoul...CnJ is 100% right on this one.<br /><br />However, you shouldn't feel like you 'lost' today. You stuck it out with him until you came to some sort of terms and tomorrow he may be all sunshine and rainbows. He didn't exactly get what he wanted out of the situation either, which was probably getting you to give up. <br /><br />Today was just a day. ONE day. It was a bad day, but still...just a day.BrownEyed Cowgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03610547057139295854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-44502748495320329792014-03-17T19:25:52.617-07:002014-03-17T19:25:52.617-07:00I just have to keep telling myself that it took 6 ...I just have to keep telling myself that it took 6 years for Michael to break through to Shine, I have to let go of my urgency. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-87660816907402323852014-03-17T17:27:47.387-07:002014-03-17T17:27:47.387-07:00Come to think of the warning sign was there, and I...Come to think of the warning sign was there, and I even recognized when I saw it, but then promptly forgot about it when he calmed down. On the lunge line when asked for the lope, he hit the end of that long lead rope and about yanked me off my feet. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get him to lope the circle. I had to switch directions, ask for it, get it, and let him go at it for a while. Then we switched directions again and he was fine. But that was my warning sign. <br /><br />So perhaps next time when he is like that I need to recognize it for what it is and make that days lesson about anything other than loping. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15617546413512282387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-62701637807808319422014-03-17T15:12:57.812-07:002014-03-17T15:12:57.812-07:00Sometimes they just get a wild hair up their ass a...Sometimes they just get a wild hair up their ass and there's nothing you can do about it. They aren't in the mood and trying to bring them around, just sends them further down the road. <br /><br />Sounds like he had a bit of a relapse back to the days of his previous life. Running seems to get him away from the demons inside, even if they are still with him at every stride. Horses like him will revert back to square one when things come up. They go back to their old ways of what worked to bust them out of whatever is stressing them out. For Trax it is running, some horses go all out NFR, some flip over, some check out. Some horses you may never know what sets them off, others will give you warning signs of the impending meltdown. The warning signs may be subtle and difficult to 'read' and others will be blindingly obvious. Every horse is different and why or how they go off. Cut-N-Jumphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10355349642284506192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1551110757601242898.post-22635191183574769822014-03-17T13:56:04.605-07:002014-03-17T13:56:04.605-07:00That sounds very frustrating. Wish I had some sug...That sounds very frustrating. Wish I had some suggestions. Andrea -Mustang Sagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00576342393431178404noreply@blogger.com