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monkeys riding greyhounds...
Feb. 17th, 2007 10:58 pmSo I went out to the barn today thinking I would hop on the Deputy for a little more walking and a few steps of trot, and ended up riding for about 45 minutes.
Another student was having a lesson on her horse, and she had had trouble last week with the horse not wanting to go forward, He would sort of stop, then dodge sideways and unseat her, though she stayed on. Being a handy little horse (1/2 quarterhorse) today he shied with her and she went off, and fell a little awkwardly on her arm. She didn't feel up to getting back on him, so Peggy asked me if I wanted to work him. I said "Sure." (I grew up on 15.2 hand QH's and feel comfortable with them). I put my saddle on (me in a kid's saddle is sad-- my butt is just too big for that) and hopped on. He seemed TINY after Fontana. I noticed immediately that the horse acted completely deaf to my leg. I tapped him with the whip and he moved out a bit. We started working at the trot and Peggy said, "He's screwing with you-- he can do more- get after him". I ask for more, and he tries to stall. I gave him a good crack with the whip and he did his freeze, duck, and buck routine, which threw me forward. I cracked him again as a reprimand, and he almost got rid of me, throwing me up onto his neck. I reached down for the bucking strap to pull myself back into the saddle, and suddenly noticed there wasn't one- I've gotten used to them on Peggy's saddles but haven't put one on mine yet. "Crap," I think, and grasp at the wispy little 2-3 inches of mane at the base of his neck and pull myself back down. "You wanted to ride," Peggy crows. "You're goddam right," I yell, and sit back, pull his head up, and send him on.
This horse has got some issues going on.
1. He doesn't always go forward off the leg because A. he's gotten away with NOT always going forward off the leg and B. he seems to feel claustraphobic at times and this also makes him afraid to go forward off the leg- probably been caught in the mouth a time or two and maybe ridden with a little too much hold on his mouth.
2. He resents the whip, because A. he's probably been smacked sometimes for not going forward when he felt it was an unfair reprimand and B. because he does have a bit of an attitude problem about who's in charge here.
I work on getting him more forward, and not putting up with crap, but at the same time not hitting quite as hard with the whip, and being more generous with my hands. We trot some, canter both ways, and he has a nice canter. I pat and praise him when he does things right, and work on getting him forward in his gaits and in transitions. We do some transitions, and at the walk when he starts to slow down I bump with the leg, if no response he gets the whip, and if he goes to faster walk, trot, or canter, he gets praised.
We do some more trot work and he starts to get tired. I ask for more forward and he pulls his stall, duck, dive, and buck routine. I smack him hard for it, and he bucks again and I'm up on his neck again. "Well done," I compliment him, because I've been sitting pretty well and I know his tricks and he's still just about managed to get me off for the second time. We work walk-trot transitions and he decides to try evading by stepping into canter instead. I simply push him forward into a bigger canter, and he seems surprised but accepts it. We finish up on a good note and his owner allows herself to be persuaded back onto him while I lead them at a walk for a few laps. He's a nice little horse but he has a bit of an attitude problem, and I think his issues have gotten to the point where not being able to toss someone for one workout is going to fix it- he's got to consistantly move off the leg and go forward, and to realize he's not running the show, and that can be a difficult thing to deal with for a rider whose had her confidence shaken. He's not mean though and he doesn't truly want to dump his rider-- he just wants to object to the point where you quit trying to make him do the thing he doesn't want to do.
Another student was having a lesson on her horse, and she had had trouble last week with the horse not wanting to go forward, He would sort of stop, then dodge sideways and unseat her, though she stayed on. Being a handy little horse (1/2 quarterhorse) today he shied with her and she went off, and fell a little awkwardly on her arm. She didn't feel up to getting back on him, so Peggy asked me if I wanted to work him. I said "Sure." (I grew up on 15.2 hand QH's and feel comfortable with them). I put my saddle on (me in a kid's saddle is sad-- my butt is just too big for that) and hopped on. He seemed TINY after Fontana. I noticed immediately that the horse acted completely deaf to my leg. I tapped him with the whip and he moved out a bit. We started working at the trot and Peggy said, "He's screwing with you-- he can do more- get after him". I ask for more, and he tries to stall. I gave him a good crack with the whip and he did his freeze, duck, and buck routine, which threw me forward. I cracked him again as a reprimand, and he almost got rid of me, throwing me up onto his neck. I reached down for the bucking strap to pull myself back into the saddle, and suddenly noticed there wasn't one- I've gotten used to them on Peggy's saddles but haven't put one on mine yet. "Crap," I think, and grasp at the wispy little 2-3 inches of mane at the base of his neck and pull myself back down. "You wanted to ride," Peggy crows. "You're goddam right," I yell, and sit back, pull his head up, and send him on.
This horse has got some issues going on.
1. He doesn't always go forward off the leg because A. he's gotten away with NOT always going forward off the leg and B. he seems to feel claustraphobic at times and this also makes him afraid to go forward off the leg- probably been caught in the mouth a time or two and maybe ridden with a little too much hold on his mouth.
2. He resents the whip, because A. he's probably been smacked sometimes for not going forward when he felt it was an unfair reprimand and B. because he does have a bit of an attitude problem about who's in charge here.
I work on getting him more forward, and not putting up with crap, but at the same time not hitting quite as hard with the whip, and being more generous with my hands. We trot some, canter both ways, and he has a nice canter. I pat and praise him when he does things right, and work on getting him forward in his gaits and in transitions. We do some transitions, and at the walk when he starts to slow down I bump with the leg, if no response he gets the whip, and if he goes to faster walk, trot, or canter, he gets praised.
We do some more trot work and he starts to get tired. I ask for more forward and he pulls his stall, duck, dive, and buck routine. I smack him hard for it, and he bucks again and I'm up on his neck again. "Well done," I compliment him, because I've been sitting pretty well and I know his tricks and he's still just about managed to get me off for the second time. We work walk-trot transitions and he decides to try evading by stepping into canter instead. I simply push him forward into a bigger canter, and he seems surprised but accepts it. We finish up on a good note and his owner allows herself to be persuaded back onto him while I lead them at a walk for a few laps. He's a nice little horse but he has a bit of an attitude problem, and I think his issues have gotten to the point where not being able to toss someone for one workout is going to fix it- he's got to consistantly move off the leg and go forward, and to realize he's not running the show, and that can be a difficult thing to deal with for a rider whose had her confidence shaken. He's not mean though and he doesn't truly want to dump his rider-- he just wants to object to the point where you quit trying to make him do the thing he doesn't want to do.
