I went back to the barn to ride Secret again today. I really had no idea what to expect. I pushed her hard mentally yesterday to get her to overcome her fear. She never broke a sweat but mentally I know she was exhausted. At least the wind was not blowing as hard today so that was an improvement.
Beth was there riding the hills with her two geldings. She told me that her gelding Red has become afraid of the corner in the indoor that Secret hates. Libby's horse Katie is also scared to go in that corner of the indoor. At least my horse is not the only one who is scared!
The first thing I did was hand walk Secret in the indoor around the perimeter both ways. She was still nervous. I turned her loose. She rolled, bucked a few times and then trotted back and forth in front of the door trying to find a way out.
Right. Obviously we need a new answer to the question.
I went and stood in the corner she hates. My plan was to stand there until she got brave enough to walk down there and see what I was doing. I was there about a minute when something kind of cool happened.
A Kings of Leon song came on the radio and since I had nothing to do and I was bored, I started to dance. I was having a great time. Before they hit the first chorus Secret was standing next to me. I stopped and petted her and then kept dancing. She stood there in a relaxed frame the entire time. When the song was over we walked to the door and left. I tacked her up, Beth wished me luck and we headed back inside.
I mounted up and walked her around the indoor both ways. No problem. She walked through the scary corner with a little extra inside leg, but nothing else. She trotted around in a relaxed bent frame both ways. She did transitions and she was light and responsive to the aids. After twenty minutes she went through the scary corner like it was one of the other three, without the whip or any extra leg. My happy horse is back.
Secret needed the tough love session on Wednesday. That extra push (okay, a lot of push, my legs were tired from pushing her over to the rail) to overcome her fear and trust me was vital to any future success we will have this year. If she cannot get around the indoor at home, how will she react at a horse show or on a trail ride? I know I dug myself a pretty deep hole by coddling her at the beginning of the fear issue and then trying to ride indoors Sunday when I was not focused on riding. I will not make those mistakes again.
But I am going to continue dancing with my horses. The tough love session fixed the riding issue but dancing with Secret gave her back the confidence she needed when I was on the ground. When Killarney and I start practicing water crossings this spring, Kings of Leon will certainly be playing.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Fear Issues - Part 2
Monday I did not go to the barn. Tuesday was absolutely gorgeous so I long lined Secret in the outdoor arena. She loved it, the sun was shining and she was spectacular in lines. That is one really athletic horse and I was wicked excited when I left the barn. But I knew we had a really tough ride coming up and I was not particularly looking forward to it.
On Wednesday I went to the barn in the morning, knowing I would be alone. I wanted to ride alone so that Secret would have to focus on me and there would be nothing (besides the fear) to distract her and no one who could "save" her. Mother nature did not cooperate and gave me high winds that were blowing the side of the indoor open several inches and then slamming the plastic back down onto the wood frame. This increased Secret's fear factor several notches.
Secret was loaded for bear as soon as we walked through the door. I turned on the radio in the indoor. I thought the white noise might help. The first station I found sounded okay but a rap song came on and when they changed singers to a guy with a deep voice Secret lost it. I put on a different station and that was a bit better. I hand walked her around the perimeter of the indoor several times. She never relaxed but she stopped trying to leap in my pocket so I mounted.
The first ten minutes were awful. I was pretty focused on the task at hand but a couple of times I found my mind wandering. My thoughts were, "Is this really worth it? I could just take her home and bring Killarney or Remi over, they won't care about the noise in the indoor." I quickly re-focused and kept riding. A strong inside leg and a steady outside rein and slowly, ever so slowly, Secret started getting closer to the scary corner. By the end of the ride she could get around the arena both ways, do circles in the scary corner and whatever else I asked. She was still scared but she did it. When I dismounted I hand walked her around the perimeter of the indoor again but it still took a lot of work to get her to walk next to me. Ground work is supposed to make the saddle work better but I felt our saddle work was a lot stronger than anything I had done with her on the ground.
On Wednesday I went to the barn in the morning, knowing I would be alone. I wanted to ride alone so that Secret would have to focus on me and there would be nothing (besides the fear) to distract her and no one who could "save" her. Mother nature did not cooperate and gave me high winds that were blowing the side of the indoor open several inches and then slamming the plastic back down onto the wood frame. This increased Secret's fear factor several notches.
Secret was loaded for bear as soon as we walked through the door. I turned on the radio in the indoor. I thought the white noise might help. The first station I found sounded okay but a rap song came on and when they changed singers to a guy with a deep voice Secret lost it. I put on a different station and that was a bit better. I hand walked her around the perimeter of the indoor several times. She never relaxed but she stopped trying to leap in my pocket so I mounted.
The first ten minutes were awful. I was pretty focused on the task at hand but a couple of times I found my mind wandering. My thoughts were, "Is this really worth it? I could just take her home and bring Killarney or Remi over, they won't care about the noise in the indoor." I quickly re-focused and kept riding. A strong inside leg and a steady outside rein and slowly, ever so slowly, Secret started getting closer to the scary corner. By the end of the ride she could get around the arena both ways, do circles in the scary corner and whatever else I asked. She was still scared but she did it. When I dismounted I hand walked her around the perimeter of the indoor again but it still took a lot of work to get her to walk next to me. Ground work is supposed to make the saddle work better but I felt our saddle work was a lot stronger than anything I had done with her on the ground.
Fear Issues - Part 1
Secret has been having some fear issues about the indoor lately. This is justified, I know where the fear is coming from. The indoor is a cover-all building, so it is a metal structure with a thick plastic covering. Think greenhouse but much bigger. When the wind blows and you are in the indoor it sounds like you are on the sinking Titanic. Snow sliding off the roof makes an incredible zipping noise that even I have jumped at. Shadows play on the walls. From a horse's perspective it is a potentially scary place. My goal is that she should trust me enough to recognize the fear but also believe that I will not let anything harm her. At first I tried to coddle her. I let her stop and look at whatever frightened her, told her she was a good girl and then continued. I know this is against all conventional wisdom, but I had never tried it before. It increased her fear.
Her fear got to such a point that on this past Saturday I could not get her around the indoor arena. At this point I was pretty disgusted with the whole idea of sweet talking her through her fear and I picked up the dressage whip. I rarely ride with a whip so she knew I meant business and I never had to touch her but she got around the indoor. She was not happy about it but she did it.
And then came Sunday. A side note of interest (because I have to claim responsibility for my share of the "bad rides") is that I had major upheaval in the non-equestrian parts of my life on Friday. I was not a pretty picture this weekend and probably should have avoided the barn.
When I arrived at the barn Sunday it was a full house. Three others were also riding in the indoor. Kaitlin decided to leave so that left three of us. Secret was wired as soon as I mounted. I started walking around the indoor and she immeadiately started popping up and spinning trying to avoid the far end of the indoor. Hello dressage whip. I took her up to the far end and started schooling up there in the "scary" half of the indoor. She was not happy but she was doing it. Then a chunck of snow zipped off the roof and sent Jamie (a horse) bucking down the rail and his rider fell off. Secret came unglued. "I am not the only one, there are monsters here!!" Knowing that Secret's prescense (and complete hysteria) were not going to help Jamie's young rider overcome her trepidation of remounting, I went to the outdoor arena and finished my ride there. Secret was fabulous outside, responsive, on the bit, happy and relaxed. I finished first but when they were done working Jamie, I hand walked Secret in the indoor arena. Oh boy, a serious hole has been dug, I could barely get her to walk next to me around the arena.
Her fear got to such a point that on this past Saturday I could not get her around the indoor arena. At this point I was pretty disgusted with the whole idea of sweet talking her through her fear and I picked up the dressage whip. I rarely ride with a whip so she knew I meant business and I never had to touch her but she got around the indoor. She was not happy about it but she did it.
And then came Sunday. A side note of interest (because I have to claim responsibility for my share of the "bad rides") is that I had major upheaval in the non-equestrian parts of my life on Friday. I was not a pretty picture this weekend and probably should have avoided the barn.
When I arrived at the barn Sunday it was a full house. Three others were also riding in the indoor. Kaitlin decided to leave so that left three of us. Secret was wired as soon as I mounted. I started walking around the indoor and she immeadiately started popping up and spinning trying to avoid the far end of the indoor. Hello dressage whip. I took her up to the far end and started schooling up there in the "scary" half of the indoor. She was not happy but she was doing it. Then a chunck of snow zipped off the roof and sent Jamie (a horse) bucking down the rail and his rider fell off. Secret came unglued. "I am not the only one, there are monsters here!!" Knowing that Secret's prescense (and complete hysteria) were not going to help Jamie's young rider overcome her trepidation of remounting, I went to the outdoor arena and finished my ride there. Secret was fabulous outside, responsive, on the bit, happy and relaxed. I finished first but when they were done working Jamie, I hand walked Secret in the indoor arena. Oh boy, a serious hole has been dug, I could barely get her to walk next to me around the arena.
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