Woody had his third schooling session today. He was perfectly sound, but he has a number of issues that I am working on to start with.
1. Straightness.
It is such a very long time since Woody was happy on his feet that he really does struggle to use his body properly and work straight. If I hold him so that his shoulders are directly in front of his hips, and keep them there, he walks a 30 metre circle, not a straight line. It is very interesting to be on him and feel it happen. I can straighten him properly, with some difficult getting through his resistance to doing something that is now very unnatural to him, by making sure that each hind leg pushes through equally into a frame that stays the same length each side. I am finding it difficult to describe exactly how I am doing that, but he finds it hard to do at first, and then discovers how to keep it for 20 metres at a time, which is enough for now.
2. Panic
He does panic easily! A gentle tap with the whip to ask him to go forwards can send him shooting backwards across the arena. I worked on this today because he must accept that he goes forward and I will not keep kicking him because it will desensitise him to my leg aid. He stopped panicking about the whip by the end of our session. Sometimes turning or stopping can also cause "unreasonable" panic, in which case we repeat it until he stops hyperventilating and does it nicely.
3. Contact
WPO warned me that he has a VERY sensitive mouth. And he does. In fact I think it's currently oversensitive and I am in the process of persuading him that he needs to trust my hands and to listen to them. To do that the contact has to be there and stay there and sometimes he gets agitated by this, but again he is getting better and better at responding reasonably to the contact. It is now quite easy to get him to go forward to the bit and flex downwards and forwards in walk, not too difficult in trot, and simply horrible in canter :-)
4. Forwards
He sometimes feels rather lazy, but I think that most of it is simply that he is unused to being able to go forwards with comfort. Combined with his mouth issues and overreaction to the whip, asking him to go forward off my leg, backed up by a whip tap, into hands that are soft but will not release completely, can be very entertaining! This is changing rapidly and I think he will be able to put it together much better next time we school.
He is already amazingly improved from his first session last week, and I know that next time he will make a similar improvement. In particular I have been able to massively slow down the cadence of his trot, which was like a pony. Partly it is because he is now able to use his feet (which are at last growing some toes on the front!) and partly he is rediscovering how to use his body.
Today I have made a tentative date with a friend to take him to the farm ride and go round it slowly on December 10th. In order to make that date, I will want him to be totally or very nearly totally sound between now and then. I think the chances are pretty good.
C
Woody is certainly a training challenge. Once he does learn to accept your hand, it will be easier to accomplish the straightness and forward. He needs to know it's OK to lean a little so you can push him into the bit, working on even strides from both hind legs.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me as if you are absolutely on the right track with your methods and patience. His physical issues have led to some bad training and that is always tricky to undo. As he feels better and better, it should get easier.
I am rooting for you both to get out on that farm ride. Woody needs a "happy day" in the field.
It's a vicious circle Jean, or maybe a virtuous one? He has to start to work straight if he is to grow feet which will allow him to work straight. If he continues to work wonky his feet will grow wonky to match, and we'll have a sound wonky horse instead of a sound straight one!
DeleteC
I understand completely. And you are going to have to be diligent in working him regularly so his crookedness doesn't develop too much as he wanders about on his own. You have a big, but rewarding job ahead of you.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a really soft bit to use? When I had a Saddlebred that was far too light in the mouth, I ended up with a soft rubber bit so he would be bold enough to lean on it. It's hard to ride a horse straight when there is now connection to the front end.
Plenty of those long stretchy walks you like will help too. And you can try "combing the reins" to get him to take the bit a little more. It's not an easy task if his mouth has been mishandled in the past.
He's in a plastic bit Jean. I wouldn't say he has been mishandled, mouth-wise, but I would just like to persuade him to take more contact, as it makes life so much easier.
DeleteC
Oooh, just thought of another tactic if you haven't tried it, although you well may have.
ReplyDeleteSpread your hands wide on either side, thinking of them as a set of railroad tracks and just kind of let their weight dropping down be the contact. Then, try to ride his body between the tracks, helping correct any crookedness by opening either rein more to the outside and kind of down as you go along. Makes you focus on controlling his body, gives him a steady platform, and creates a kind of physical/visual concept of "straight" as it's "between the rails."
I've not tried that Jean, I'll give it a go on Monday when he schools next.
ReplyDeleteC