I would call this Harvey’s first real ride. Almost. We are still taking it easy. Letting him hang out, enjoy having a person on his back. There is no rush. No time limit. No reason to do anything but make friends. The hard stuff will come.
The video is nearly impossible to see. I lightened it up the best I could. The phone was facing close enough to straight into the sun to drive it insane. It really wants to save me from bright videos and always does its best. Making most of my pictures or video during bright days almost this dark 🙄 Hopefully you are in a dark place to watch it.
The interesting thing about this session was our rate of reward, ROR. I started out with a very high ROR. I want him to know he’s doing good and to be excited about this riding thing. Once I got on the first time though it was a problem. He was to excited, looking too hard for his reward. It wasn’t possible to get food out and ready for him fast enough to keep him calm.
I got off and we worked on settling down and not expecting food so much. I asked him to drop his head and be calm, and hold it there awhile before I clicked/treated. Lowering our ROR greatly.
When I got back on he was calmer. I stroked his neck, he dropped his head and exhaled. He was actually calm this time. I let go of the fence and we took a few steps together staying calm. It was a very successful ride.
A high ROR is often recommended to keep horses calm and engaged. In theory this works. In reality, we are back to letting the horse decide. Every animal is different and we have to look to them to see what is going to work instead of going by what we think ought to.
Choice?
Speaking of Harvey preferring his right side for things…
Here is the speedy version of saddling him. Please watch with the sound off! I forgot to remove that and with it sped up it sounds ridiculous. Harvey is loose for the whole thing and chooses to come stand for the saddle. He also chooses to have the saddle put on from the right. As soon as I got the big heavy thing switched around to be put on from the left. Dang horse.
He is also free to leave if he wants. Granted not very far. For the sake of all of us concerned smaller distances make life easier, and closed gates keep the other horses away. He can still leave though and although I could go get him it would be a sign to me that he wasn’t happy with what was going on. A sign that I need to do things differently.
I had a discussion recently with a horsewoman and trainer that I always enjoy and respect. She was discussing her ideas on choice. She felt that choice is the greatest motivator of all. By using +R we are giving the horse a choice. He can choose to do the trick / behavior and get the treat or not. At liberty he can choose to walk away if he doesn’t want to play with us. But … Doesn’t -R also give them a choice? The horse can choose to back away from the pressure or stay. The horse’s choice / behavior decides the outcome. As long as the pressure is released the instant he makes the decision to back then he has created a situation where the pressure is released. He has been given a choice. It is when the horse has ‘no choice’ – no way out of the situation – no relief eg with flooding, that creates a terrifying and confusing situation for the horse.
I would sure like to think that in my use of -R I am listening to what my horse has to say, without flooding and terrifying the horse. After all we are doing -R at liberty leaving him free to go any time he wants.
While I feel a horse should be given choices in training and in life I think we offer them the same choices we do small children. Both if free to make any choices they wanted would make terrible ones. A horse would happily eat alfalfa or corn until foundered. A child would stay up all night eating candy until foundered. They would be happy, in the short term, but life isn’t about being happy all the time. There is no fulfillment in that. True happiness, contentment, self satisfaction, comes from the hard things we accomplish, the difficult choices, practicing restraint. While I’m not sure horses are able to process things that deeply, that doesn’t mean immediate gratification is the answer to all their problems either.
It is up to us as the adults in the relationship to offer horses choices to make. The same way I offer a child a choice between broccoli or carrots, of going to bed now and getting a book read to them or staying up a little later and giving up the story, I offer a horse the choice of moving away from a stirrup touching his side and getting a cookie or standing there and not getting a cookie. As long as we don’t poison that deal by escalating pressure the horse is free to choose.
When we take away the choice we can poison the cue. When we force a child to sit at the table until they eat their cauliflower that child may never touch cauliflower again for their entire life, sorry mom 
😉 If we force a horse to stand while we strap a saddle to their back they may never happily accept a rider.
Instead of concentrating on the method we use to teach a horse perhaps the important thing is in offering them a choice. Letting them take a roll in deciding if they are ready or willing to continue with the next step in training. Watching and listening for our cues from them. When a horse is working with you, ready and willing to take that next step it is possible to happily face challenges and take those difficult steps and even practice restraint. The hard things in life that make it all the better in the end.
Biting
Harvey is willing to take the bit but isn’t enthusiastic about it. Could this mean he doesn’t like this bit or that it hurts him in some way? Possibly. Since it has done nothing but sit in his mouth it seems unlikely. What seems more likely to me is that he has had unpleasant experiences or even that he’s used to having it pulled on instead of taking it the way my horses do. I can hold him still and put it on. That doesn’t mean I want to.
Here he is learning position and how to come get his bridle. We are targeting the bit with his mouth. Eventually we will be targeting the inside of his mouth. In the end everything comes down to targeting 
🙂
Once he is taking the bit I will watch to make sure there isn’t anything about the bit itself that is bothering him. He will get a say in what he gets ridden in.
Sitting On Harvey
Harvey’s second “ride” about a week ago. Maybe sitting on would be more appropriate? Just chillin’ and making it a fun thing to do until he gets comfortable with the whole idea. Spent the whole time, ten, fifteen minutes or there abouts, getting on and off and petting and feeding. Sometimes he wants to swing around and let me on from the right side. I don’t care which side I mount from, whatever he’s comfortable with.
It’s interesting though, him preferring the right side. There was no way he was letting me on his right side when I first started playing with him. I think his former people only ever did anything from his left. Some people don’t agree about the importance of getting horses used to things from both sides. It’s kind of good that they didn’t. He is fresh on that side with no bad memories to overcome.
Bringing Home The Cows
We woke up at dark thirty this morning to go help move cows. The guys hauled their 4wheelers over and we rushed to get saddled up and try to get to the highway in time to help them cross. Coyote was not in a hurry. He was plodding slowly along behind as rusty zipped along in the front. I didn’t think there was anyway we could make it.
Occasionally I would take his lead rope and prod him along a little. We’d trot until my daughter would declare trotting not be fun any more but instead too bouncy and we’d slow to a walk.
As we went the sun started to show over the hills we were riding towards. First a pink and orange glow, then peaking brightly over the pastures bathing us in it’s orange glow. She asked me to take a picture. I was thrilled to. Our horses glowed.
We beat them to the highway! We stopped to say hi to the rest of the help, then continued down the road to meet the cows. Rusty was worried about the cars passing on the road, then the buildings we had to go through, but mostly about the cows coming over the hills in the distance. Coyote was wanting to turn around and go home. Rusty was tense and looking worriedly ahead. Thinking of the worst possible outcomes, as I like to do, I thought about what would happen if Rusty spooked and caused Coyote to take off back across the highway. I got off and held onto the reins.
Rusty settled down once the cows got close and he could see what was going on for sure. I got back on, keeping a hold of the lead line, and we were sent ahead of the cows to keep them out of one of the yards. We trotted to the yard but couldn’t get through the ditch. So we kept going looking for a way through. The cows followed us beautifully. Instead of darting off through the trees the cows ran across the road right where they were supposed to go. We stepped to the side letting them pass.
From then on both sides were mostly fenced. We followed along in the field in case they found an open gate. They were in the usual hurry to get home, trotting all the way. We trotted a little too. My daughter kept wanting to know if she was running yet. So I decided we would try. I let Rusty go and for once instead of trotting that supper fast Morgan trot Coyote broke in to a lope. She laughed and giggled until she said it was time to WALK!
Back home in the alfalfa I set her and Coyote free again. They did a wonderful job of helping push the cattle across. Coyote took her slow and easy like the perfect pony he is.
Rusty did a great job on his first time with grown up responsibilities. He was overly energetic but not bolting. He was worried about the highway, buildings, barking dogs, and cows but never offered to do anything but look. It was a great ride with a wonderful companion. I hope we get to do it more often!
Threshold
In +R training reaching, or avoiding a horse reaching, its threshold is often talked about. Threshold is the point where a horse is very emotional, it has reached a point of fear and reaction where it is no longer capable of thinking and learning, only reacting.
I was thinking about this today while we brought cows home. We got to the highway, a little scary by itself. He wasn’t spooking. Rusty was looking, stopping, ears pointed to stare at the vehicals as they passed. I clicked and treated a few times. Coyote wasn’t worried. We made it across no problem.
But that was only the first of the triggers we were stacking all at once there.
Across the highway were two houses. One right on the corner with barking dogs in the yard. There were vehicals of the people who were there to help get the cows across the road. Rusty was still taking it well. We were able to stop and let them hang out for a few minutes while we talked to Cowboy Bill who scratched and loved on them both a little. Treats all around of course.
Then we met the cows. They were coming over the hill in the distance. Not close enough to smell or see clearly. We had about reached threshold. The triggers had been stacked to the point that he was tense and tight, ears up, frozen in place, staring towards this new threat. I got off and held onto him, no treats, he was past that. He settled down as they got closer and he saw what they were.
As we rode home behind the cows I had time to think. How do we prepare a horse ahead of time for those moments in life when reaching threshold is unavoidable? It’s going to happen no matter how much we avoid it in training. Life happens. I thought about training children, or raising as some people call it.
Some people say that raising children with only, mostly, kindness will not prepare them for the real world. Life is unkind, they say, children should get used to it.
On the other hand you have the people who feel that is unnessicary. That children raised with love and support are better equipt to handle the tough knocks of life because of the love and support they’ve recieved.
So what about horses? Do we get them used to reaching threshold by bringing them up to it? Let them get scared while we train and get used to it so it’s not a big deal?
As I rode and thought, I decided that this was like children. The more love and support they have the better equiped they are to deal with the difficulties. They don’t need to face the hard things to be prepared for them. Nothing really prepares us for the difficulties in life. I’m not saying horses wont ever be scared durring training or that the most loved of children wont face difficulties, but by not bringing them above threshold purposely as we train we teach them to trust us, that we are their safe place and will not hurt them. When they know that training, working, with a person will be a positive experience it is easier for them to settle back down and come back below threshold. We can offer reassurance and comfort, instead of getting after them for getting upset and pushing them further yet above. Rusty had certianly come back easy enough.
We didn’t encounter anything else upsetting on the rest of the ride. Rusty did a wonderful job on his first day doing grown up work. He moved the cows, worked alongside zipping 4wheelers, ponied Coyote, and did plenty of those walk trot transitions we’ve been fighting with so much. I think training him well below threshold helped greatly with that.
Leading Amarillo
I have a bit of a crush on Harvey. I tend to devote my time to him when I have a chance to work with a horse. Amarillo is still here though! He comes in to visit when the horses come up to say high. He’s gotten played with a little and had a sadlle on his back when Tanna was here to play. Mostly we’ve been loading the clicker and working on targeting.
He’s gotten to where I trust him enough to let him out in the yard to graze. They need to be able to be caught so I can put them away when the time comes. when I went out the other day we were playing a little as we went back to the corrals. He was being so good I decided to try to get some video. He led clear back to the corrals using only targeting! Such a good pretty boy.
Trick Or Treat
We got a couple of trick or treaters yesterday. So far out we don’t usually get any. These hoodlums were more trick than treat. They ate my pumpkins and left a rather nasty surprise on the lawn
Burrs
It’s not that I don’t try to keep the burs cleaned out from my horses manes. It just that when I do so they beg me to ride them instead!
Accidental Mounting
All this work with Harvey ends in one accidental mounting! Not that he isn’t ready for it. I just hadn’t meant to quite yet. We were practicing from the fence, letting him get used to me up there. This is his fourth time of doing that. Once out of the corrals and once in where he wasn’t real interested in getting close to the fence. And once at the gate when he started presenting his right side for a good butt scratching. Apparently he wants his right side up to the fence. I am letting him decide and he switches back and forth a lot.
I had been putting a leg over then right back off. He gets worried and I want him completely calm before I sit on him. This time I lost my balance a little and fell. Onto him It’s not graceful but he did a great job of it!