What a day! Sunday is my working day at the barn and with the help of Robin, I got done really quick with mucking. More time to play with Shyloh!
Shyloh's mane is crazy frizzy. It looks like she blow dries her hair every day, especially her forelock. What to do with it. . .?
Braid it of course!! Casi's mane is growing out and starting to fall to one side, so I braided his, too! And somehow Ryleigh's tail got knotted all around the leg straps of his blanket, he got a tail braid to prevent this!
Hopefully these braids will help tame her mane. Or perhaps I should just get some Frizz-Ease or something.
I had time before feeding to harness Shy up and work with her on line driving and dragging stuff. She did really good with the line driving, but the dragging stuff was another story.
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| Going this way. . . |
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| Going that way. . . |
I did a few things to prepare Shy for dragging a toboggan. Before I even put her harness on, I showed it to her, had her approach it, and drug it behind me like a fool. After I put her harness on, she refused to get near it! I admit, I was getting frustrated with her. Shy refused to go near it and if I tried to drive her by it, she completely stopped. I also tried to lead her to it, but she was not budging. I tried a few different methods to get her near the toboggan, but I was unsuccessful.
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| Hey, I am not supposed to be doing the pulling here! Shy is just watching. |
Then, I had an epiphany! Click and treat! I grabbed my clicker and a handful of granola. I asked her to step up and as soon as she put a leg forward, I clicked and treated. I kept at this until she was right at the toboggan. Amazing! And so simple! Soon she was touching it and I was walking all over it and Shy was fine with it. Then, I scooted the toboggan. Shy started, but remained put. I scooted it again and she had no response, so click and treat. I did this a few times, but she was distracted by the sound of Clutch and Notch running like a whole herd in their paddock.
Or, what we thought was Clutch and Notch! Turned out that some unidentified horse managed to lift the gate between Clutch and Notch's paddock and the pasture where Ryleigh, Mocha, Dante, and Caesar (the wild boys) are. The two herds switched places completely and the wild boys thought they were awesome. It was them that we heard running back and forth, playing in the muddy paddock, running around the shelter, and just having themselves a good old time. So one broken gate and four very muddy, rowdy horses later, we finally rounded everyone up and got them to where they needed to be. Whew.
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| Silly braids |
So, back to Shy and the harness. I really need to get more consistent. But these darn things called a job, family, and other responsibilities keep getting in the way! I am going to try my best to harness her up and work on pulling stuff at least once a week. I also need to work on the whole riding thing. . .
Why isn't there enough time in a day to do all we want with our horses darn it?!! I'm in the same boat you are - I have great plans, but have trouble getting to it with any consistency. But. We'll get there my friend!!
ReplyDeleteSay, when you click and treat- do you have trouble with her being nippy after giving her treats by hand? Or are you having her use a target and thus feeding off the target on the ground?
For far, Shy has not been nippy. She has (but always has had) a strange habit of licking hands. I do not use a target. I am actually really surprised how well behaved Shy is for the treats. She respects my space and has not rushed me. This is good, since she is SO food motivated!
DeleteUmmmmm......I am sticking to my story that it was not MY pony that took the gate down! Ryleigh was just going along with the system to be popular. :) BUT....thank you so much for helping me with shampooing his tail and braiding it for me.....and also, thank you for wrangling his dumb ass back into his own pasture! :)
ReplyDeleteI think it was Notch. That is his M.O.!
DeleteNo problem, aside from some mud, his tail is still in place!
I did some line driving with Pippin today, too (which I think you saw on fb). He was awesome! I didn't have his harness on, but ran the long lines through his stirrups. This didn't work so well on Monday, but I tried again. I'm going to get out the pvc pipe and make some sort of contraption for him to pull this week. We have a lesson in mid march.... driving. I need to have him ready!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that your work with the clicker is translating to success in practical applications.
Just don't make the PVC pip look like a candy cane! Pippin will want to eat it for sure :)
DeleteI am really happy with how well Shy responds to the clicker. The plan was to just use it for tricks and fun stuff, but hey. . .whatever works!
Ahh, frizzy forelocks! Lady has one too, but unfortunately hers is also very short, so I can't even braid it lol. They all look very pretty =)
ReplyDeleteI noticed you said that Shy has a habit of licking your hands - Sugar does as well. We figured it's because she likes the taste of the salt on our hands.
Yeah, I figured it was because of the salt. She is so gentle, no teeth at all.
DeleteAhahaha. Braidy bunch.
ReplyDeleteBraidy Bunch! So cute!
ReplyDeleteShy is a good girl. She wouldn't race around and break a gate and get rowdy - would she?!
Well, she did break the fence when she lived outside. . .but that is because she leaned on it to reach grass!
DeleteShe was not part of that rowdy group yesterday, I don't think she would break a fence on purpose. . .but she is a Halfinger and that part of their make-up, fence breaking :)
The Braidy Bunch- I like it!
ReplyDeleteGood work with the clicker training, it's amazing what a little positive reinforcement can do :)
So amazing! I can't believe it took me getting so frustrated to think of it. And it was so easy.
DeleteCute braids!!! Way to go on remembering the clicker. Works great for getting them over things they are afraid of. Can you take the blinkers off you driving bridle? That might make her more comfortable. :)
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