Training Takes a Back Seat...

** To read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship training methods click back to the first few posts…

TRAINING TAKES A BACK SEAT...

For the last three weeks other commitments have moved to the front of my activities forcing mine and Max’s training to take a back seat.

Looks like my plans for longer training sessions won’t be realized until after Christmas.  Until then, I’ll be doing short training sessions to keep Max and me in practice.  We’ll learn some new skills along the way, but our progress will probably not be very fast paced. 

We still need to complete disc four of Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  We were there three weeks ago when other activities began to take my time. 

Since then, I haven’t had many rides, so no progress in the saddle.  We haven’t progressed on the ground either.  But we are doing just enough groundwork so we don’t get totally out of practice.

We’re going to begin working on the exercises on disc four of GRCG-2 next Monday. 

We’re experiencing some snags in lungeing for respect – stage 2.  Max is not rotating around on those hind feet and taking off in the other direction.  But we’re working on it. 

Hopefully, training will be taking a back seat for only a few more days…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Happy Thanksgiving

To read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship method click back to the first few posts...

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Post coming after Thanksgiving...

Good, Long Session...

If you're new, click back to the first few posts to see how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's training methods.


GOOD, LONG SESSION...

As of today we’ve made it to disc 4 of Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2.  There are only four more exercises in this series, so we’ll be starting Series 3 soon.  YEE-HA!!

We flew through desensitizing with the plastic bag, body, face and head.  We had no problem with throwing the rope to stop either.  It only took a couple of times throwing the rope and he stopped.  I totally forgot about see-sawing the rope.  We’ll work on that another day.

We practiced side-passing.  Max is getting pretty good.  Not perfect, but okay so far.  He tends to keep moving a little bit forward while side-passing so that he’s right up to the fence after a few steps.  I need to watch the segment again on side-passing to see what the correct correction is for that.  He’s really trying though.

We also worked on Lungeing for Respect – Stage 2.  CA is right about getting the steps down before you try this with the horse trotting or cantering around.  He’s also right about taking your time between each step until you get them down.  I took it really slowly at first.  It helped tremendously.  After a few slow times I sped it up just a little.  Here again, Max and I aren’t perfect with this exercise.  He’s not rotating around on his hind feet like Clinton Anderson wants them to.  But… he kind of does, sometimes.  We’re working on it.

We ended our groundwork with a walk through the woods.  We walked back and forth down a short trail about three times.  He did great.  No spook.

We worked about three hours today.  It was a good, long session…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Sorry for the Delay...New Post Coming This Week…


Meanwhile...

If you're new or haven't read the first few posts, click back to read how Max and I came to use Clinton Anderson's training methods.  Leave a comment if you like...

Another Long Session...

We had another long session on Sunday. 

On the ground we worked on backing, yielding forequarters, side-passing down the fence-line and we lunged a little.

I’m going to move on and introduce the next exercises on Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-2.  We’re not perfect at the exercises we’re doing now, but with practice we’ll get better.  We need to work on something new so things don’t get stale. 

So, I’m going to introduce throwing the rope and stopping, and see-sawing the rope this week.  We’re also going to do desensitizing with the plastic bag.  I don’t think Max will have a problem with it since he’s pretty laid back.  

I’ll let you know how we did.

We had an hour-long ride again.  We worked on yielding hindquarters at the standstill, backing, trotting and posting and cantering.

Max is really tossing his head when we yield hindquarters at the standstill and I’m not sure why.  He gets very irritated, tossing his head and chomping on the bit.  I put a chin strap on his bridle after I read about it keeping the bit from sliding through his mouth, but after this ride I took it off to see if there will be a difference. 

He wasn’t doing all that anxious behavior when the strap wasn’t on the bridle, so we’ll see if there is a difference tomorrow when I ride without the chin strap.  And I don’t think the bit was really sliding through his mouth anyway.  I was just trying to be pro-active.  I don’t think we need it. 

Also, it’s a chain strap because that’s all I had.  I think Clinton Anderson only uses leather chin straps.  Leather probably feels better than the chain, and probably does the job just as well as a chain. 

I’m not progressing quickly with the riding exercises at all.  And it’s me, not the exercises or Max or anything else.  I canter now, but still need to canter more to get super comfortable with it.  Once I get really okay with it, we’ll move forward.  I’m not going to push it. 

Another long session tomorrow…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn

Longer Sessions...

            See how Max and I got to this point using Clinton Anderson's methods by reading the first few posts.


LONGER SESSIONS...

             Max and I had a good, long session on Saturday.  On groundwork, we’re well into Clinton Anderson’s Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground-Series 2. 

We worked on backing with me lifting the clip under his chin and him backing.  He’s doing well with it.  We also backed with the touch and rub on the nose exercise.  He’s doing well with that one, too.  They’ll both require steady practice to get near perfect, but we’ll do the practice and make the grade.

We did changing eyes, we lunged a little.  We practiced side-passing slowly, slowly along the fence all the way down, then the other side all the way back.  (My arms were killing me half-way down the fence line.)  Again, it’s not perfect, but it’s a start.    

We practiced the touch and rub on the ground.  I’ve got it now.  I’m glad I stuck with it.  I was feeling so awkward in the beginning with this exercise.  No wonder Max wasn’t getting it.  But I’ve got it now and we’ve made great progress.

Our groundwork session lasted a litttle more than an hour.

Then, we had an hour-long ride.  It doesn’t sound very long, but it was for us.  I’m trying to slowly increase our training time both on the ground and in the saddle.  It'll take us a while to get into better shape and do really long sessions.  When under saddle, Max has a tendency to want to stop before I’m ready to stop, so we’re going to have to get over that.  And right now I'm thinking slowly increasing riding time is the way to work on that.

We practiced trotting and posting, we cantered and we practiced backing. 

We also yielded hindquarters at the standstill.  Since we’ve been doing the touch and rub at the hindquarters on the ground, we’re making much better progress with it in the saddle.  It's definitely worth doing on the ground.  The connection from the ground to the saddle is happening. 

While he usually gets it to the left, he doesn’t want to yield his hindquarters to the right when I’m in the saddle.  He tosses his head like crazy.  (It’s a bit unsettling.)  I’m not exactly sure what’s causing him to toss his head so much.  I try to make my signals clear and direct so there’s no confusion about what he’s expected to do.  I’m hoping this is just one of those examples of, “sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.” 

We both could use more long sessions…

Have a good ride

Greenhorn