An example of when ears pinned don't mean aggression or frustration. Just relaxed and drinking...
Dancer is strikingly beautiful, isn't she?
But look at her nervous eye below!
I got the 22' line and put it to use for the first time. Satin likes to stick to me, whether it's because she gets un-confident when she's confused at the end of the line or she knows she can be lazy and stand still when she's at my side, could be either. But I decided that right now I am working on showing her that I'm not going to get upset with her, no matter what tricks she pulls. She knows how to "get my goat" and has lots of tricks up her spotted sleeves, and she really enjoys getting a rise out of me. Typical LBI!
So I want to show her that her partner is patient now. I can handle anything she throws at me with love.
A few days ago...
I put her on the 22' line and backed her about 15' to start, then sent her on the circle. She walked about 2 steps then turned and asked a question. I just smiled and allowed her to come back to me. We did this a dozen times, each time I let her come right back. Then I started asking her to stop part-way back to me. She didn't seem nervous and responded well. I didn't want to over do it, so we wandered off to do something else.
I was trying to get her to step onto a stump, but she wanted to jump it. So she jumped it back and forth, even when I wasn't asking for it. She really seemed to be having fun just spending time with me (and me being patient and loving instead of demanding).
I've been working with a sensitive alpha mare (one of my boarders), just doing the friendly game and some porcupine with lots of gentleness (she's a RBE TB mare and kicks out when being blanketed). She has shown huge improvement just with a few sessions of friendly game. How cool is that!
3 comments:
what is bodhi with the letters? is this horseanality you are talking about?
Yes -- their "horsenality" is broken down by the two sides of the brain (based on function); the right and left. The horses that more often use their left side of the brain are thinkers. They process information and absorb. The right side of the brain controls their flight instinct; these horses tend to respond quickly and don't do a lot of thinking - they stay true to their flight nature. Horses can switch back and forth based on their response to a stimulus.
Then the horses are broken down by "extrovert" and "introvert" - basically how outgoing their responses are. You can go even further as to define their level of 'spirit'.
So Satin is mostly Left Brain (LB) Introvert (I). She spends a lot of time observing, thinking, touching. She's curious, brave, mouthy and pushy. She gets bored easy and is argumentative. LBI tend also to be very food focused.
Satin is pretty consistent with her personality. She stays left brain even when she's bucking.
Dancer is clearly very right-brained. She's panicky, can't stand still, flightly, nervous, etc. She's usually RB Extroverted. Sometimes when she's cornered, like in a stall, she goes introverted and freezes and becomes very distrustful.
I can find the cute horsenality chart for you. It's used more as a guide to learning horses so that you can know the appropriate way to respond to their actions.
If Satin was to start to buck on a line, I may immediately change her train of thought and try asking her to stop and side pass or something. But if I tried to do that with Dancer when she's Right brained, she would freak and get more anxious! So with Dancer I have to do a LOT of approach and retreat. If she's scared I immediately take all pressure off.
I used to think (as many traditional trainers/riders do) that taking away pressure just gives the horse what they want and they 'win'. They aren't forced to perform whatever task you were asking so next time they can 'get away with it'. This is not true with a RB horse.
I'm really starting to get into the 'flesh' of the Parelli method and am thoroughly enjoying his philosophies!
I think you are rifht Bodhi is left brained like Satin. Both my TBs were right brained like dancer. I enjoy both, they come with different training challenges for sure. Yeah staying quiet with Dancer is very important, she is not naughty and really wants to be good but when her brain shuts down she can be hard to communicate with. Satin is a lot like Bodhi! Always asking why? Do I have too? What do you do when I do THIS! If you ever want to play with Bodhi you are welcome to it. He is really good at liberty.
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