Monday, June 18, 2018

Not Panicking Part II

So I left off down in the dumps about my relatively crappy ride on Sunday. I panicked, and threw several fixes at her all at once, and got back on her on Tuesday. I'm not sure if it's the bridle, the ulcer meds, the change in fly boots (and bute to kick the tiny bit of swelling out of the window) or the fly bonnet, but she was back on Tuesday and did some lovely WTC work and we continued to work on bending.

We did some review work on loading, and I got my trailer fixed up as best we could, and I rolled out Thursday afternoon trying to keep my anxiety levels under control for the clinic with Tik Maynard. After being failed by google maps a few times, we finally made it and unloaded at the farm, and I got Arya settled. We walked, and she was rude, but she didn't seem too horribly anxious, despite being alone in the barn.



Our lesson with Tik was bright and early Friday morning, and I got there early and tried to not be too anxious. I don't have media, unfortunately, as I was the media for the rest of the riders, but here are the main take-aways from our lesson. Arya came out very distracted and walking all over me, and Tik took her from me almost immediately.

The main things we worked on were:

1. Sending/change of direction
2. Woahing
3. Backing
4. Crossing front or back feet
5. Being less/non-reactive to the whip as an extention of the arm.

And I got a lot of really good nuggets as he worked with her, as well as watching her improve in her focus and ability to think-before-reacting:

- Start off with super high expectations of the horse, and those expectations go super low the minute the horse starts trying for you.

- Move the feet when distracted (my reaction is to pop the line)

- Using standing still and attention/pets as a reward

- The horse should have 100% of your attention when they're in your space. You can take your mind off them only if they are out of your space (4' radius, Tik parked her out at the end of her line)

- Halting can happen by pulling the head in or by pushing the hind end out. Teach both ways.

- Use your grip on the line as a barometer to relaxation; how hard are you gripping the line, how much force does it take to create a change.

- The stick follows the line of the circle  - open arm, don't point it at her, that will just send her backwards.

- Use body and stick as a right angle to push the front end.

Arya started out very hot and defensive of the stick and wasn't really taking direction; she just wanted to go out on the line and bolt around like she knew what she was doing, gosh. Tik kept her engaged and thinking, and moved her feet in a variety of ways, not just doing one thing at a time. She was nervous about the whip and slowly chilled out reacting to it, which was definitely progress. Tik waived it above his head and would toss it over her neck as she moved, and she slowly got less defensive about it. She still didn't seem to get the whip cue on her hind end meant "move your hip away from me" vs "bolt" so that will be one to work on. I was surprised and excited to see that she can move sideways on the line, and I think the cue Tik used was very clear in body language as to what was desired.  By the end, Arya was much softer through her body and was really trying, and I think it was a positive clinic that left me with some really good tools to develop at home, so that we can travel more and I can re-assert control and feel safe with her more easily.

There was some really positive take-aways for me, mentally, too:

- Everyone, including Tik, thought Arya was very very smart (and also very sensitive). This is going to be a challenge because she is super smart, and being fair to her sensitivity is going to be a bit like the Eddie Izzard joke about shower temperature gauges in this clip:


- Rushing her isn't going to go well. He asked me if I had an agenda or plans with her, and was very happy that I have another horse to ride and have fun with, because that's the program Arya needs; she needs time and patience. I'm willing to give her both, and I'm very happy that this was reinforced for me.

- Tik liked her. Which makes me happy, because I adore her, and I think she's a very magnetic horse. I'm excited to keep working with her and making things better.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like you got a lot of productive tips to use going forward! 😀

    ReplyDelete