I had a moment of serendipity last week, when right before I went out to do chores, I was reading one of my Richard Maxwell books that just had arrived and I ran into the "what to do if your horse does x" list. And one of those items is "What to do if your horse is hard to catch".
Arya has been off and on hard to catch for most of her time with me. It has gotten worse, especially lately, and tends to coincide with her being difficult or impossible to ride. The respect is totally gone when she's like this, and translates to both on the ground and under saddle work. So instead of opening the gate and letting the girls run in and out like I have been, I've been walking them in and out, and requiring Arya to be caught every night. This weekend was a long holiday weekend for me, so I not only got to do more horsing than usual, I also had three solid days (make that four, with today) of being able to catch Arya multiple times.
It seems like her moods come in waves: the first night, she hooted and hollered around bucking, kicking and leaping for probably forty-five minutes before she abruptly stood and let me walk up to her. She then didn't want to lead, and got groundworked heavily all the way into the barn because we don't refuse to walk nor do we run over the human. NOT OKAY.
The next night involved less running (thankfully, as she had sweated up both her liner and blanket and had to stand with a cooler on for half an hour the previous night) and more of her power walking away from me looking stressed before she relented. The rest of the week, she seemed to have figured it out. It took 10, 15 minutes, tops, to catch her for dinner, instead of the protracted 45 minute affair. And then on Saturday, she decided to revert (also, catching her during daylight is TOTALLY DIFFERENT, in her mind) and ran around a whole bunch. She played and galloped and bucked a ton, and actually spooked Bailey through the fence with her kicking antics. Bailey. luckily is totally fine, as her blanket took the rope burn, and lucky for me, that blanket is a Smartpak Ultimate, so it's replaceable now that it has a hole.
After my first catch Saturday, I worked the naughty horse on the ground, and put her back out. And caught her again much more easily that evening. Sunday, I caught her at least twice, if not three times. And yesterday, another two. And today, by accident, she got another two good catches.
Today's catches were easy; the first one involved less than a minute walking away from me, and absolutely no shenanigans once being led, and the second (shockingly, because she'd been turned out less than 30 minutes before because my farrier was late) was effortless.
I'm trying to think up what I want to tackle next with her, as the catching item seems to be becoming more consistent; her groundwork has continued to be wholly obedient and respectful. I have, in the sessions I do quickly once catching her (mostly because I feel like I have to do something with her when I catch her, or she could fall back on her old trick of allowing herself to be caught and then acting shocked and being a pill when you try to lead her anywhere) started to focus on yielding her poll and to the sides, and on stepping under and disengaging the hind end. This has been improving, as, slowly, have her manners in her stall. She still isn't trustworthy loose when I'm in her stall, but she is starting to figure it out.
On other fronts, I don't think I am going to continue with the SmartTranqulity supplement. Despite my great hopes, it really seems to be the work, and not the supplement, that is making a difference. I do still wonder if I should try Smart Mare Harmony, just because a friend with a similarly smart-but-anxious mare had great results with it, but haven't made up my mind. I had some hope it would help, but she doesn't seem any less reactive to the sounds and situations that tend to set her off, and she definitely isn't lacking in energy to run around and/or scare her sister through the damn fence (it wasn't electrified but now it is. Hopefully that deters any attempts at freedom). I didn't expect it to knock her on her ass like sedation, but I was hoping for a more relaxed demeanor than I am seeing. If she gets worse once the paks run out, I might change my mind, but for now, I'm going to skip the extra cost and try to keep feeding relatively simple without a lot of extras.
On the Bailey front, we've been riding, and she gets very confused and stands behind me while Arya runs in circles around us on her bad catch days. She's a good girl, but she also gets hard to catch if her sister is being a shit, so hopefully the time I'm putting into walking Arya down (and the energy - walking through super deep snow is exhausting!) will benefit both horses.
Arya has been off and on hard to catch for most of her time with me. It has gotten worse, especially lately, and tends to coincide with her being difficult or impossible to ride. The respect is totally gone when she's like this, and translates to both on the ground and under saddle work. So instead of opening the gate and letting the girls run in and out like I have been, I've been walking them in and out, and requiring Arya to be caught every night. This weekend was a long holiday weekend for me, so I not only got to do more horsing than usual, I also had three solid days (make that four, with today) of being able to catch Arya multiple times.
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| Angry, sweaty, steaming horse |
It seems like her moods come in waves: the first night, she hooted and hollered around bucking, kicking and leaping for probably forty-five minutes before she abruptly stood and let me walk up to her. She then didn't want to lead, and got groundworked heavily all the way into the barn because we don't refuse to walk nor do we run over the human. NOT OKAY.
The next night involved less running (thankfully, as she had sweated up both her liner and blanket and had to stand with a cooler on for half an hour the previous night) and more of her power walking away from me looking stressed before she relented. The rest of the week, she seemed to have figured it out. It took 10, 15 minutes, tops, to catch her for dinner, instead of the protracted 45 minute affair. And then on Saturday, she decided to revert (also, catching her during daylight is TOTALLY DIFFERENT, in her mind) and ran around a whole bunch. She played and galloped and bucked a ton, and actually spooked Bailey through the fence with her kicking antics. Bailey. luckily is totally fine, as her blanket took the rope burn, and lucky for me, that blanket is a Smartpak Ultimate, so it's replaceable now that it has a hole.
After my first catch Saturday, I worked the naughty horse on the ground, and put her back out. And caught her again much more easily that evening. Sunday, I caught her at least twice, if not three times. And yesterday, another two. And today, by accident, she got another two good catches.
Today's catches were easy; the first one involved less than a minute walking away from me, and absolutely no shenanigans once being led, and the second (shockingly, because she'd been turned out less than 30 minutes before because my farrier was late) was effortless.
I'm trying to think up what I want to tackle next with her, as the catching item seems to be becoming more consistent; her groundwork has continued to be wholly obedient and respectful. I have, in the sessions I do quickly once catching her (mostly because I feel like I have to do something with her when I catch her, or she could fall back on her old trick of allowing herself to be caught and then acting shocked and being a pill when you try to lead her anywhere) started to focus on yielding her poll and to the sides, and on stepping under and disengaging the hind end. This has been improving, as, slowly, have her manners in her stall. She still isn't trustworthy loose when I'm in her stall, but she is starting to figure it out.
On other fronts, I don't think I am going to continue with the SmartTranqulity supplement. Despite my great hopes, it really seems to be the work, and not the supplement, that is making a difference. I do still wonder if I should try Smart Mare Harmony, just because a friend with a similarly smart-but-anxious mare had great results with it, but haven't made up my mind. I had some hope it would help, but she doesn't seem any less reactive to the sounds and situations that tend to set her off, and she definitely isn't lacking in energy to run around and/or scare her sister through the damn fence (it wasn't electrified but now it is. Hopefully that deters any attempts at freedom). I didn't expect it to knock her on her ass like sedation, but I was hoping for a more relaxed demeanor than I am seeing. If she gets worse once the paks run out, I might change my mind, but for now, I'm going to skip the extra cost and try to keep feeding relatively simple without a lot of extras.
On the Bailey front, we've been riding, and she gets very confused and stands behind me while Arya runs in circles around us on her bad catch days. She's a good girl, but she also gets hard to catch if her sister is being a shit, so hopefully the time I'm putting into walking Arya down (and the energy - walking through super deep snow is exhausting!) will benefit both horses.
agreed that the practice you're doing is likely going to help more than any supplement, so probably best to save your $$$ (you'll get more bang for your buck with lessons or training anyway - a typical lesson costs about the same as a couple books + a month or two of supps).
ReplyDeletedid you ever watch the Stacy Westfall Jac series? it might be useful if you're looking for ideas on progressing the work you do with Arya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBiv66nAvj4
Had to giggle a bit about the work being more successful than the supplement! That's usually the case! I had Q on a few supplements WAY back. None ever made a difference in her temperament. Work did though! Slow and steady with consistency helped us build trust and she's INFINITELY better about all things now. Sounds like you're on the right track with the work you're doing. I'm sure you'll get there!
ReplyDeleteI think the supplements were mostly for me, to be honest ;)
DeleteShe’s kind of a fearsome creature when she acts out, and she acts out a lot lately. I know I must Telegraph a certain amount of nerves to her when I ride - hopefully we can figure things out on the ground so I can feel safe when I get back on her. It’s hard to ride out the difficult stuff when you know you can’t afford to get hurt and miss work. I am not as tough as I used to be!
I had a very hormonal gelding and raspberry lead (Mare magic specifically) worked really well for him, I know you can buy it in bulk from health food stores for cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI may have to try that again before I go to smartpak again- Arya often reminds me of a hormonal teenager who doesn’t know why she feels the way she does quite a lot. The look on her face while she power walks away from me is pretty extraordinary. So many emotions!
Delete