Putting Simple Concepts to Use - My Personal Beliefs - and More at the Construction Site

What we do now is not necessarily a forever thing. Like all things in horsemanship, the answer to many questions are: it depends..... 

So we are doing a bunch of things that may (or will) change over time. She is learning a lot right now and my main goal is building confidence and trust. Once we have what I feel is enough of that, some of my work with her will change. 

Little "tricks" I learned from somewhere and now regularly use:

Matching Steps: when walking, keeping in rhythm with her; matching steps - synchronicity in the movement, I feel, can only help in being connected.

Rhythm: I often wave the flag back and forth gently, like a metronome, when we walk. It reinforces my personal space... but horses do well with rhythmic intention in all things.

Smelling poop: she is allowed to smell poop on the trail anywhere, anytime. For now. I am quite sure it has helped her feel secure and confident, to know not only that there are horses around, but that whatever information she is gathering for from the poop, gives her a better idea of where she is and who is around. She is allowed to be a horse. We are not in a hurry. All is relaxed and good.

Backing: periodic backing her up as a basic safety measure and reinforcement of my personal space. Never a bad idea. I try to use this in a lighthearted way. And actually, attitude should be its own category. A light attitude can be sensed by the horse, and if you can throw in a ready-for-a-laugh, humorous position, even better.

Flagging rather than yanking, or bumping the halter when eating grass. I can't always do this -  so I do end up bumping with the halter, but I am looking for the best way to make "moving on" her idea rather then mine.

Consistently using particular words: most commonly (and she knows it very well already), "ready?" when changing anything, but also "touch" or "touch it" when inviting her to be curious, "graze" and pointing to the ground when I am going to allow a grazing session, "no" (usually said in low tone and drawn-out in anticipation that she will get it - and to try again... like "no-o-o-o-o...?", and "OK" (for so many things - much like "ready", generally indicates a change of some sort. 

X's and O's in your body language: when you think about it, it makes sense... an "O" shape is softer and more friendly than an "X". I am thinking (or try to) about what message I am sending my horse all the time. If I feel she's missing a point or needs redirection I will adopt a more "X" feel. When she's soft, I am soft (and vice versa hopefully), and I am using more of an "O" shape to my body. Standing tall with both arms out is an "X" and when energy is brought up it will push her away. When I shrink down, connect my arms and create an "O" shape it is more inviting.

THE MOUTH: I am sure I wrote about this in a previous post, but in my experience the mouth is the biggest source of sensory input (under "normal" circumstances). I am constantly "reassuring" her with lip touches from my hand (at least reassurance is what it feels like). 

I do allow feeding treats from the hand, but I believe this is a many-layered option. Some horses it seems, can not be fed by hand (in my opinion it may be possible but they will need additional training). Like Zante my previous mare, Kai relishes the treats but I am mindful of how I give them. And like Zante, Kai has now learned that she gets the treat when I say "away" and raise my flat palm up to her face. She has to turn her head the other direction. We are working on making the duration of the head "away" longer than a few seconds. 

Horse skulls are really big, and really hard. You don't want one swinging into your face when they are expecting a treat (or any time)! Just as with feeding itself, we constantly work on manners; she has to wait for her grain and for her treats. Feeding has become very easy and she is not the least bit pushy, which she was initially.

Also - I love my friend's comment years ago, "I'm just a Pez Dispenser"...! Ha ha...!  Maybe we've all been guilty of this at times. 

When, why and how you give treats is worth being mindful about. But don't punish yourself (your horse may end up doing that for you)!

Additionally I stick my fingers in her mouth, a lot... for various reasons. I have found it helpful for interrupting a thought process - kind of get them to think. Kai was on a rampage in the yard yesterday when my neighbors' horses both left for a ride. She tore around, galloping and bucking for a number of minutes. I came out and wanted to help her feel that she is not alone. After another few minutes of me playing with her (trying to turn her frenzy into a "fun" session, essentially) she was calm and when I felt I should, I had my fingers in and out of her mouth, which then further calmed her. To top it off I used some Jim Masterson methods. She went back to grazing. Also, just letting the horse know you CAN put your fingers in their mouth... makes things like medicines, worming, etc. just that much easier. 

Be sure to be careful and know where the gums vs. teeth are!

So... back at the construction site across the street: 

She is basically so chill: we are both generally relaxed while walking. I did catch her in the second video below of having a little alert reaction to something. I thought I'd include this to show she IS actually a horse and not a unicorn.

Anyway most of these just show how mouth-oriented she is. She bites and/or eats practically everything. 

So far no actual ingestion of cellophane wrap.

If you made it this far in this very verbose post, thanks for watching and reading!

The Obstacle Arena Across the Street

Here in Pine Ridge (FL) the new-house-building is a bit insane. The formerly-empty lot across the street was purchased and is now under rapid construction. I'm so sad to lose even more of my park-like-setting here, but it has provided another opportunity with Kai! 

So yes, we have trespassed a number of times 👀 

The main thing I garnered from her original adoption video was that I believed she was more curious than afraid; this has proven to be true. 

The first weird thing that arrived was this plastic "cage" protecting a drainage/town water thing. After it arrived she spent more time in the smaller paddock looking across and essentially "asking" to go check it out, so we did. As you can see it is black, shaped weird, and ripples in the wind: potentially quite scary.

In the next few days we walked all around. Her take-it-all-in demeanor is awesome. I reassure her with lip touches.

As usual I had to discourage her from actually eating things. This time it was the concrete mix.

😆

More Walks; More Amusement

We walked to the Equestrian Center (EC) yesterday.. Took mostly road and one segment on the horse trail. No Tori. She is really improving nicely with not eating grass and not having to chat with other horses. 

All went great. But not without incident. Expect the unexpected! We had just gotten on the horse trail from the road and the last segment of the walk before we hit the EC.

We were passing by a 10-foot-high or so grove of Palmetto. Suddenly - and fluidly - Kai heads herself into it. This is a tiny bit odd maybe, but at home, with the large palmettos in her big paddock, if she wants to get from point A to point B and palmettos are in the path, she plows right through the center. Yeah, this is kinda weird but I'm used to it.

So she continues walking with me, parallel to the path but three feet deep into the palmettos. At this point of course: “where is my camera!” But as usual I am late.

Then she stops, backs up... looks like she's going to sit down!...  and Ah ha!… she is … scratching herself?? .. By now I've got the phone out but of course she comes towards me finished (and seeming pleased with herself). 

So I thought I would give her another chance… I walk in the reverse direction to see if she will perform the same "scratching technique". However instead of going parallel now she goes perpendicular ...and right INTO the grove!

Lost the lead line; lost the video. The grove is thick and tall, and I could not follow her. A possible panic for many people (no line on her...) but I I was pretty certain she’d come right back. ..so I kissed, and out she comes, calmly walking up to me. 

So what you see in the video is this- and apologies for the crappy recording but I did not expect this!

And just as a review...  a screenshot from the video for emphasis!

Back on the trail... we arrive at the EC. I’m not allowing her to eat any grass. She is being super. We pass two paddocks with two horses each in them (and they are very interested in us)... we stop and look from a distance of 40-50 feet. Resuming the sandy trail walk to the round pan.... she decides she’s going to have a roll. 

Here? Now?? Yes.

I love this horse!

We did some actual "work" in the round pen - yielding hindquarters, some "lunging" at liberty... she still gets sticky at times; seems to decide somewhat randomly when she will travel happily one direction vs. another. I try and make it a game - interspersing "fun" (hard to explain... and sometimes I think she thinks I am nuts, but the idea is to not take everything too seriously, allow her to be  the horse she is, and sure reward every try). 

As in my last post, I have had periods of anxiety over whether I am doing right by her. 

I have to admit that actually it has been a fantastic experience so far. I often don't communicate as many positives as I feel. It is really so fun and gratifying!

Thanks for reading!