Gallop

The other day I went riding in the state forest with a friend. She was riding Bess, while I was on Gally. Unbeknown to my friend, the ride was supposed to test Gally. I haven't cantered Gally much, and I have never galloped him. Normally when I ride out, he still looks around too much at everything, to get him into a gallop. The only time he gallops is in the paddock, and then he throws in a couple of pigroots. So my question was - when he is with another horse, and galloping, will he pigroot?

A well trained horse should know the difference between playing in the paddock and being ridden, and they shouldn't pigroot with a rider. But with a green horse ... sometimes they forget.

Luck added another test for me - motorbikes. Not one group, but two! One from the front, one from behind. This had Gally rocking on the spot, but I was able to control him, which boosted my confidence a lot.

On the way home, my friend was in front, and I suggested that we go for a canter/gallop up the hill. She didn't need convincing, and kicked Bess into gear. I clamped my legs on tight, and waited for the pigroot. It never came. Instead, the thoroughbred woke up in Gally, and he galloped. And he raced. And he had to be first. And when he was first, he suddenly started getting all looky again and slowed down to a canter. But then he heard Bess breathing down his neck, and he got going again.

This time I kept the legs on and we cantered all the way to the top of the hill. Even when Bess had long ran out of steam and slowed down to a trot.

The listening horse

I hate it when horses do stuff because it's just routine. I want my horse to notice me, and listen to me. Listen to what I am asking it to do. A horse that listens to me, will also (hopefully) talk to me. Not in words, but in his own little horse language - raising of the head, attention of the ears.

Gally has now learnt to move his hind quarters away from me (and not kick out) when I gently push with my fingers. (Yay!) He has learnt to stand still (and not kick out) when I brush his hind quarters. (Yay!) But he is not great when it comes to picking up his back legs.

Just the other day though, I saw him thinking. I asked him to pick up a hind leg, and he initially stood still. I kept asking. So he moved away. I kept asking. So he lifted up his leg ... and kicked out.

Ok, so we're not quite there yet. Training in progress. But he was thinking. He went through all the motions that he knows I approve of, trying to find something that would satisfy my prodding.

(Please don't hold it against the horse for kicking out. Firstly, his kicking out is not very dangerous - I've seen much worse. Secondly, it is his natural reaction to being prodded by something. All I have to do, is replace the reaction with the response I would like.)

The Carrot Stick

I've bought myself an official Pat Parelli Carrot Stick. (Yes, it is orange.)

I'm not a big fan of buying specifically endorsed training aids because, usually, they are over-advertised, and over-priced.

However, I have been watching Wrangler Jayne's videos (which are fantastic, thank you Jayne), and I now understand how to use the carrot stick to train the horse, and that an ordinary dressage or lounging whip just doesn't cut the mustard.

Riding Intuitively

I used to get my horse saddled, walk into the arena, glance at my watch, and then ride for an hour. I had some vague concept of a warm up, and what I wanted to work on, and then a cool down. But it had to be an hour. Sometimes, it was more. But I used my watch to tell me whether we were finished.

These days I ride a lot more intuitively. That is, I consult my intuition. Regarding everything.

I get my horse saddled and walk into the arena. Then I stop and listen to what my intuition tells me to do. Sometimes, I will walk my horse in hand a bit before getting on. I get on and again listen to my intuition. It might tell me to walk two 20m circles. But those two circles have to be perfect. Then I might change direction, and do three 20m circles. Then we might do some circles in trot. or go large, or do some turns on the forehand. And finally, my intuition will tell me that we are finished.

The beauty of riding like this is that you become a lot more in tune with your horse. Your riding is much calmer. You become a lot more focussed on the task at hand - which, oddly enough, is exactly what your horse is focussed on. And you search for perfection in your current task, because you don't know if that's the last task for the day or not.

When I ride Gally in this manner, he responds like a pro. He is keen to cooperate with me, and try and do what I am asking. In fact, his willingness to move away from my leg has astounded me. (Remember, this is a horse that was labelled "bomb proof" by my coach, and "a bit lazy" by my trainer.) Since I have started riding Gally in this manner, his progress has just astounded me.

(Usually these work outs last somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes. But it's all very high quality work.)