Thursday, October 25, 2012

Round Ring: Copper's Second Session: First Saddling

 Today (10/21/12) is Copper's second day in the round ring.  Lady, the horse above, will also be saddled for the first time today.
 Copper was not to happy to have to go back to work today, and I had to have help in rounding him up.
He did not like the idea of that saddle sitting there in the middle of the ring.
 Before we get to the saddling I want him to stand still for a brushing first.
 To get him to do this for me we have to go over yesterday's lesson.
It took much less running to day for Copper to start dropping his head to the ground.
I keep him at the trot for several more laps, note that I no longer have to look at him for him to run.  He has learned what is expected of him in the ring so far.
 I let him slow to a walk, and put my hand out, which is the cue to come to me.
 As he walks to me I turn and walk away from him, and he follows like he learned yesterday.
 We stand and talk a bit, I rub him some,
and then start brushing him.  First on one side,
and them on the other.  Had he tried to move away from me I would have had him  canter a few more lap, asked him to come in, and asked him to come in, and tried again.  
I would have repeated this ever how many times it took to get him to stand for the brushing. 
After the brushing I introduced him to the saddle blanket. 
First I let him smell it. 
Then I walked away and got the saddle. 
 I let him smell the saddle, and he starts backing away.
So I put the saddle down and of to the races he goes again. 
 After several laps I call him back to me.
 I do not put a hand on him,
rather I let him 
follow me 
back to the blanket. 
 I put in back on his back, and go get the saddle.
 Let him smell it again,
 and this time he stands still as I through it on his back.  Note I do not try to gently lay it on his back so as not to disturb him.  I put it on him the way he will be saddled for the rest of his life, had he shied or spooked away I would have just had him do a few more laps and start again.  Remember, I am training (conditioning) him to be saddled by anyone at any time.

I let him stand there to get used to the feel of the saddle before I  start to cinch the girth.
As I reach under him I am looking for him to run, but he stands. 
When I clinch up for the first time I do get it tight, for the horse could start bucking at anytime. 
 Copper took this quite well.
Now he gets to run with a saddle on for the first time. 
 He does do a little bucking, but it is over with quickly and we did not get a picture of it.
 A few more trips around
 In both directions, at the walk,
trot
 and cantor. 
The other horse are outside the ring to let which ever horse I may have inside with me, that I am the center of our world, and what is outside of the ring is of no consequent.
I just liked this picture. 
After a few mor directional changes 
it is time 
 to call him back to me.
After he stops I let him rest a bit, 
and pet him and have a conversation about what he has just done. 
It goes like this, "Good Boy, you so smart, what a good horse, 
you are going to be such a great ride, etc., etc."  
 Now I take the saddle off.
 Put it on the ground,
and let him follow me around a bit. 
Then I pick the saddle back up to re-saddle him. 
I let him look at it, 
smell it, 
and he back away.   
I stand still for a minute,
and walk to his right side.  I want my horses to take a saddle from either side, so I teach them this from the get go. 
 He now stand still for his second saddling.
 Cinch him back up,
 and a few more trips around the ring.
 In both directions.
 Then I call him back to me,
and let him follow me a little. 
 Then, because he has dome so well, I step up in the stirrup.
 First on the near side
 several times.
 After getting down we have that conversation again.
 Now I walk around him, he think he should follow me, but I make him stand to let me walk
but I make him stand to let me walk all the way around him. 
Then we have another conversation, 
and I walk to his other side. 
Where I stand up in the off side stirrup.
I want every horse I train to accept a mount from either of its side.   I know that you have heard stories of how a cowboy could not mount an Indian horse and visa vera.  This was because the horse had been trained to be mounted on the one side but not the other.  I do hot know why the Indians mounted from the right, it was probable because most of them were right handed,  but I do know why the white eyes mounted from the left.  It was a carry over from when the Calvary cared sabers o their left side and could not swing the side with the sward up and over the saddle if they mounted from the right side of the horse.  That is also why we call the left side of the horse the near side, and the right side the far side.
After walking back to his near side 
 I stand up in the stirrup again.
 I lay acroos his back to give him an idea of what will be coming next.
 Copper's lesson for to day is done, and he did well.
He get to go play and eat. 
 As I was letting Copper out of the ring Lady, who is also under training, ran in to the ring.
 She is yet to be saddled too, so never let a training opportunity go to wast.
 A few direction changes,
She is curious about the saddle too. 
 A few more laps, and turns,
And then I call her to me, and let her follow me around.  Now just why does she follow me around?  Ni, she does not love me, it is an instinctual behavior, and one I take advantage of.
 We walk up to the saddle,
 and I stop and pick it up.
Oh, she is not ready to be saddle, and runs off 
dropping the saddle on the ground. 
After a few more laps I call her back to me. 
 And she come up to the blanket,
 which I put on her back.
 This time she stands to be saddled and cinched.
 I tell her how good she was, and send her around the ring.
She is noot happy with the saddle, and did a lot of bucking to try and throw it off her.
She decides that is a wast of effort. 
Now I am using her feet to come to accept what it is I want hew to do,
and that is to accept the saddle. 
 10 or 15 laps ans she has had enough.
 I call her back to me, see my open hand extended to her, that is the cue to come to me.
After petting and talking to her 
I stand up in her stirrup,
First in the near side, 
And then on the far side. 
We have another long conversation. 
After that I unsaddle her, and let her run out to her playmates. 
It has been a long day, and I am sure that Copper and Lady are both as glad, if not more so, that the lessons are done.

The reason I added the part about Lady was to show that my method will work for any horse, some horse take more time than others, but you can manipulate their environment by putting them in a round ring or at the end of a lung rope. Every thing I have shown you that can be done in a round ring can be done with a lung line, it is a lot more more effort and takes longer.  After you have changed their environment you use that confined space to take advantage of their inbred instincts to learn how to adapt to their environment of which you have become an integral part.  They do not figure us out by reason, they do it by trial and error.

When I put my hand out to call the horse into me, and he just stands there I make him run again.  He learns that is not what I want, and remembers after a few time of it got getting the rest he would like to have.  When he turns to me after I out my hand out, and I let him stand there before I make him run again, he just learned that is one way of getting a pause, and remembers.  When he takes a few steps toward me and I back up, and he follows, and then I pet him, talk kindly to him, and don't make him run, he is starting to get the idea of what I want him to do.

When I use that word, idea, it is metaphoric, just as when we refer to a horse thinking.  Horse cannot think, the do not have the words required for thinking.  They cannot reason, but they can remember what has worked in the past and react to situation that invoke that memory.  That reaction becomes part of their learned instinct.  That is why horses react faster than we ever could, because we have to think before we do something.  Except for the thing we train our body to do without thinking, such as changing gears in a standard transmission, the steps to a line dance, a Marshal Artist response to any attack he has trained for years to react to.

I will ready admit that my way is not the only way to train a horse, some people use treats, others clickers, but regardless of the methods they are manipulating their environment, and using their inbred instincts to learn how to adapt to their environment.   There is no such thing as Natural Horse Training, for training is not natural, but the horse's learning instinct is natural.  Remember, you are always training your horse, if you let it get away with a bad habit, you have tough it that that is alright.

Suggested reading:
The Instinctual Horse 
Round Ring: First Session

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