Sparky's First Training Session

This morning I fed all the horses, then took several of them out one at a time so Sparky could see how things work here at Bit of Honey.  This gave Sparky a chance to observe what is expected of the horses, and evaluate how I am as a trainer.  She watched very carefully, and did some of her dancing around if she was unsure of what I was doing.  She got to see me work with Bo in hand over the ground poles with his bells, ride Fergie, ride Highboy, and teach a couple riding lessons.  By the time I was working with the third horse Sparky had mellowed and wasn't concerned about what was going on anymore.  Overall the pacing is mostly gone, she much prefers munching on her small mesh hay net to running herself ragged, especially if the running doesn't earn her any attention.  It's an interesting feeling to know I'm being evaluated and my teaching audited by a horse, but it makes for a much easier first session when the horse has seen me work before I ask anything of her.

When I took Sparky out of her paddock she was a bit jiggy.  I had my helmet on and she was in a rope halter so that I could get her attention more easily than in the extra padded lunging cavesson she usually wears.  I had a long lead line attached to her, and she walked out to the round pen with me in a relatively mannerly way.  We did have to stop and back a couple times so she wouldn't get ahead of me as the geldings came over to gawk at her.  When we got into the round pen I sent her out on my line and had her do a quick series of transitions including walk, trot, whoa, reverse, trot, walk, etc.  I changed the gaits fast and often, so that she was really having to think to keep up with me.  After she got the idea of the game she settled down significantly, and rather than anticipating my next command she began to wait and watch me really closely to see what was going to come next.  It was like a fast game of Simon Says with a horse.

This had a couple great effects.  First it made her pay really close attention to me.  Second it settled her down and gave her something to think about, since we know she was bored in her previous training program.  Third it established me as the leader and as the one dictating the course of our session without me having to be rough or bully her.  This is really comforting to a horse like Sparky, who gets stressed if she thinks she has to be in charge.  Fourth, it gave her a reason to stand quietly, because she had to be sure she wouldn't miss my next cue.  It worked because I did it fast and randomly, never getting into a pattern that she could predict.  If I had asked her to just run until she was tired we would have been there all day, since this type of horse can go SO MUCH LONGER on adrenaline than a human.  By making her think about which command was coming next I was able to slow her feet down and get her to be calm and stand quietly in anticipation of the next maneuver.

Once I had her attention and she was standing quietly I tied her in the round pen to my blocker tie, so that if she pulled back suddenly the lead rope would gently slide through, since I've been told she doesn't tie reliably.  I used the curry comb on her left side, brushing vigorously to loosen up dirt and hair, removing the sweat marks from her pacing from yesterday.  She has a history of biting, hitting people with her head, and kicking during grooming sessions.  When I first tied her up, she very slightly began to swing her head in my direction.  I continued what I was doing, but I gave her the stink eye.  Just slightly changed my posture and gaze so that I glanced at her eyeball and put a little more weight on the leg that was nearest her head.  She immediately put her head straight again while giving me a look that said, "sorry, Kim, but I had to give it a try, didn't I?"  When I began to curry her sides and haunches she began to lift a hind leg, but I totally ignored it and continued what I was doing, while standing in a position so that if she were to kick she couldn't hit me.  She only lifted her left hind once, realized it wasn't going to change anything about what I was doing, and placed it back on the ground.  The stink eye is a trick I learned from Samson my warmblood.  When he needs a squirrely youngster to mind his manners Samson just cocks one ear towards the fresh kid, and slightly shifts his weight onto the foot nearest the kid.  This works every time, so I've started incorporating it into my own training.

Since Sparky was figuring out how to work with me in a well behaved way, I untied her and sent her back out on the end of the line for more fast Simon Says, to redirect her attention to following my cues again rather than experimenting with me.  This way I am directing the activities we do, not her.  I am fair and kind and gentle, but I take no shit.  Once I had her listening obediently I tied her up again and continued grooming.  She stood like a lady and let me finish with the curry, then the hard brush, and then cleaning out her hooves.  As a reward at the end I asked her to do Simon Says with me, but while I was leading her in the round pen rather than lunging her.  This made it a little trickier and more interesting for her, since she had to incorporate my sudden stops, starts, trotting, spinning around and running the other way as well as the voice commands, and follow me while staying in a very specific position in relation to me.  This girl likes to think!  Now that Sparky has the idea of what will be expected of her in-hand and with a human on the ground, we'll teach her owner how to play Simon Says and hopefully we'll have a much more cohesive team on our hands!