I have found a marvellous book called 'How To Get Into The Head Of Any Horse In Minutes', by an old cowboy called Marv Walker. It is along the lines of join-up and the Monty Roberts stuff, but a lot easier to understand. I have always been into the physcology of horses, and love finding out how they tick. I have always said you can learn more from just watching your horse, than from any teacher. As I one-time teacher, I also said 'you can teach anyone the mechanics of horse-riding, but to be a rider, you have to have feel, and that can't be taught'.
The basics of this book teaches herd dynamics in very simple terms. The horse either becomes the leader, or he follows. You have to make yourself the leader of the herd, plain and simple. If the leader wants a space, he claims it. The followers move out of his way. If the leader walks off, the followers....yup you got it. They Follow. In the wild, horses fight, sometimes to the death, for leadership. As you don't want to physically fight your horse, you have to use your brain, and not allow him to challenge you. You must be the leader at all times.
With this in mind, I have made a round(ish) pen from electric fencing. Charlie was a doddle. In we went. I sent him round the outside. I was carrying a lunge whip.....not to crack it, but as an arm extension. Following the book, after a couple of laps I moved to the outside to block him. He changed direction. Two more laps, he stopped to await instruction. Then I turned my back on him and walked off. He followed. He followed every change of direction and pace. Job done. We have had what Marv Walker calls a bonder. Since then, whenever I am in the field, he comes to me and follows me. I can feel the difference.
I had him in the stable the other day, while the others were grooming. Having given him a quick brush, I sat down. First he came over and put some straw on me, then he stood guard. One ear on me, one flickering round to listen for danger. What a good little man he is.
On Saturday I was in teaching mode. First up Chanice Who Helps On Saturdays, on Daisy. We used the round pen. And a couple of fence posts set very close together. First we used them to practise riding into a halt. Next we used them to make tight figure of 8's. I got Chanice to use her legs to move Daisy's hind legs and I could see it dawn on her face (Chanice not Daisy), that she could control each leg. Hers as well as Daisys. We then went for rein-back. I did a lot of loose work and what I call 'Follow Me' with Daisy last summer. Yes, 'Follow Me' is the same as a Bonder, or Join-up in theory. Hence Daisy reined back at a click of a finger, with Chanice learning the ridden aids.
We then tried with Lulu and Jo. Having done it once, Lu refused to do it again. I have never come across something so stubborn to reinback. Needless to say, in the field she is reining back at a vast rate of knots just to a finger-click.
After all this work, we grabbed Polly and Lauren, and went for a walk down the lane and back. I was going to take Charlie in hand, but wanted to be able to grab Daisy should anything untoward should happen. I'm not sure what that would be, as I don't think aliens landing would freak out Daisy, but you never know. So I took the dogs on leads, and we had a lovely walk, with Lauren and Chanice grinning away. Sadly there are no pictures of this as I had lost my phone at this point.
Today we had the farrier. They all came in....The Shetlands shared a stable and at one point were both rolling in the straw at the same time....How Cute! Good job they didn't get their legs tangled! Daisy had the other stable, Lu and Charlie tied up outside, and Polly free-range. Once Charlie was done we moved him up a bit so i could wash his feathers in Maseleb shampoo. It kills everything...ticks, lice, mites, fleas......His feathers are so thick, he could have a whole flock of birds nesting in them. But he has been scratching his legs a lot, and I don't want to take the feathers off as they are fab. When the farrier asked what I was using, I told him, a very expensive (£24 a bottle) shampoo which killed mice! Of course I mean to say lice and mites.....but you never know, there may be mice in there along with the flock of birds.
He was an angel. I then cut a bridle path, just so the headcollar has a place to sit. I was also able to trim his beard, thin his feathers, thin his forelock and thoroughly brush out his mane and tail......He was almost nodding off.
Until we moved Lu to the other side of the farriers van so Polly could be done. Lu had a moment of thinking she had been shut out, and barged between the van and barn.......Not really enough space for a thoroughbred, let alone a Haflinger. That woke everyone up.
Daisy, who has been a bit lame, has laminitis again. As she only seemed a little lame on one leg, we thought she had a slight sprain.....but on the concrete she was clearly doing the laminitis stance. 'She hasn't lost weight' the farrier exclaimed, to which Jo and I replied in stereo......'Oh yes she has'. It could have turned into a panto at that point. He suggested we leave her in to stress and box walk the weight off. We don't want to put her in that situation, so she is out with the shetlands now. She should be getting the prescribed diet of 9lbs of fresh air and a bucket of water.
Once they were all done, we went in for a coffee. The farrier said he wouldn't need to do Charlie next time unless I did a lot of road-work. I laughed and told him how long it had taken me to get a head-collar on. I then said I felt a bit pressured by my peers who had 4 year olds that they were hunting and driving. He reassured me that going slowly and building up his trust was the right way forward with his back ground and said, and I quote "There's not a bad bone in that ponies body. Once you have his full trust he will do anything you ask".
Hell YEAH!
Charlie and I have at last got a truce. I spent a good week feeding him and gradually getting a rope round his neck.....and eventually round his face. Without the rope, he has been happy to come over and have a scratch, kiss, hug. Its been all on his terms. On Friday we had fenced the 1 acre, so were ready to move them. Off Lulu went with Jo to pastures new. Headcollar? Charlie? Not a chance. I was quite prepared to leave him, and keep coming back and making the fence smaller. But we thought it was worth Jo trying....after all she hadn't tried to sunblock him. It Worked. First Jo curled up in a ball on the ground......That got his attention. Once he had sniffed her all over, she walked off. He followed. Next thing she had put the rope around his neck, then face. I put the leather head-collar on him. They break under pressure.
The next day we arrived and they were fat and happy, knee deep in grass. Lulu had taken off her grazing muzzle, and Charlie had lost his head-collar. The whole field is surrounded with electric fence, so it must have been a mutual removal. Having punched in more holes, I thought it might take another week to get it back on.....but it took ten minutes. I sat down with a feed between my legs, and was able to quietly slip the rope, and head-collar back on. I hate leaving horses out with head-collars on, but sometimes it has to be done. Its no fun chasing a horse down. As long as the field is safe and theres nothing for them to get caught on, it should be ok. Leather head-collars should break quicker than nylon ones, so bear that in mind. All weekend he has been coming over for affection......and at least I can catch him if I need to. He has also discovered the pleasures of having his back scratched with the poo picker rake. Back to work soon.
Talking of work....we have found small and efficient riders for the little ponies. On Saturday, we now have Lauren, who rides Polly really well and her brother Samuel who has taken on Sweet-Pea. Despite falling off her 4 times, the first time, he thinks she good fun. To be fair he was bareback. And he handled her really well.
On Sunday we have twins......Molly and Daisy, who also ride Polly well. They haven't tried Sweet-Pea yet. All these kids are really young, all are cantering round alone, and they have all been to a riding school at Iken. So fair play to the teacher there. They have been taught well.
Chanice who helps on saturdays has been coming on in leaps and bounds as well......Daisy can be very pig-headed. BHS peeps look away now.....The other week, er, barefoot and er, hatless (sorry) I ended up demonstrating how to cope with her excitability without really doing anything. She is too lazy to keep jogging, pulling, cantering if you just sit quietly. In my defence I did tell Chanice to never ride hatless and barefoot. Not until she reaches nearly 50 anyway.
Oh Charlie and I have fell out......over sunblock. On Wednesday it was hot...New hot....that sort that burns unexpectedly. The one which makes sane adults look like cooked lobsters. I tried to put sunblock on his nose without a head collar. Stupid mistake. He clearly didn't like the smell......He trotted off, with his lip curled back, which made me laugh. Until I tried to catch him with the head-collar. No go. I had Thursday off. So today I had double punishment. Having caught up the other two first to give their hooves a good slosh of Kevin Bacon, I went to get Charlie.......Not a chance.
An hour later, of constant stalking him, we were both dripping with sweat. There's almost no chance of doing the join-up method in 3 acres. I had chucked the headcollar away by this point. Finally, by sitting on the ground, and feeding handfuls of fresh grass to the mares, did he dare approach me. At this point that was all I wanted. Him to approach me. I know in my head, its a baby thing....A protest, a few steps back, no biggie.....but in my heart it hurt. The boy that lets me sit with him while he is laying down to suddenly react like i have an electric prodder....Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
Jasmine on the other hand made me feel a bit better by sticking her head under my armpit and nibbling me. We have had a lot of mutual grooming sessions lately. If I kneel down and scratch her belly, she grooms my back. And she loves having her back raked with the poo-picker....
