Hope this works! Norty baby horse, and training tip from the top (on the floor!)

kerilli

kerilli

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This is an online friend (gotta love fb) on his young horse yesterday. briefly. ;) ;)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150473418167622

definitely worth watching!
fwiw, the last time this youngster dropped him, it "bolted a mile to the safety of the trailer".

So... why the difference? he's spent a lot of time lying on the floor in the paddock and teaching the horse to come to him for carrots. yes, really. i thought he was winding me up, but apparently not... it's a Bruce Davidson tip, apparently.
So, now the horse thinks "ooh, person on the floor, CARROTS!!!" and instead of high-tailing it off to a dubious fate (and to be serious for a second, i know people who've had horses gallop off and kill themselves, let alone the risk to other people), it comes back and stays safe.
in Reed's words,
"I feel he is looking towards me as a place of trust and security now, or at least as a vending machine"
and
"By the way, I still carry treats and regularly lay down right after I get off after a regular ride or lesson. I make sure I do this everywhere I can and not just in a fenced area."

Definitely something i'm going to work on with ridiculously-flighty-Ellie, bad weather notwithstanding. I know it's rather off-the-wall but it's infinitely better than a loose horse with stirrups flapping, reins trailing, galloping away like a crazy thing... and let's face it, however sticky we might think we are, we can all get dropped spectacularly here and there!
Thoughts?
 
lol does Bruce Davidson have any tips for staying on???:D That horse sure knows how to drop him :eek:

Having said that, what a great training tip - I'd never have thought of that - though lying on the ground with a dirty great horse looming over you probably wouldn't fulfil many people's idea of health & safety ;)
 
Great idea - however slightly concerned that my too intelligent horse may think the quickest way to carrots is assisting me to the floor on every possible occasion :)
 
PapaFrita said:
I might try that with my 2 :)
Question; do you have to stay on the floor for them to come back?
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Knowing my luck, and what with the weather over here, I would be lying in a large puddle :(;)

Actually, thinking about it, my horses tend to stop and look down at me with an exasperated expression on their faces when I wobble off, whereas the kids' ponies tend to bog off and I spend ages trying to catch them, so I may make the children do the lying on the floor training instead :D
 
PapaFrita said:
I might try that with my 2 :)
Question; do you have to stay on the floor for them to come back?
Click to expand...

Only if you are old, tired and need a moment to catch your breath.

Being the person in the video, I will say, I don't always do this training and I definitely don't give treats after a disobedience! I try to only make it a reward for being good and trusting.

After this little distraction, I did some quick ground work - walk, back, leg yield, and just general fussing with the saddle etc. - got back on and while he was still excited, he was focused while we did a few loops and trots in the snow. Only after that did I get off and give him a treat.

The baby is an unraced TB named Rien who is one of the quickest horses on his feet I ever have ridden.

In the end, riding in deep fresh snow is like going back to being a kid! And while that is wonderful, I still have the same accidents except my body is much older.

Reed
 
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wilde2 said:
Great idea - however slightly concerned that my too intelligent horse may think the quickest way to carrots is assisting me to the floor on every possible occasion :)
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Brilliant!!!


Mine also come back. Always seem surprised that I fall off. Heavens knows why! I got hit from behind by a motorbike once, and fell, my arab of bolted down the road and I shouted his name, he practically skidded to a halt and came back to me. Amazing really. Never forget it.
I must admit, now I think of it, whenever I finish a daily poo pick, I sit down with the dogs and have a tendency to lay on my back watching clouds. (great way to stretch out the back!) I also always have Polos in my pocket and snuffly naggies around. My old horse even used to stand behind me like a mare with a sleeping foal. I guess I have been doing the same as for years and not realised it!
 
RAyers said:
Only if you are old, tired and need a moment to catch your breath.
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LOL, well that's me :)
Will you be falling off a lot in future? Just to make sure the training works :p :p

FTR, I think you handled Rien's high jinks very sympathetically. Someone posted a vid not long ago of a girl falling off (refusal) and cracking horse over the bum with a whip *can't find shocked face smiley*
 
PapaFrita said:
LOL, well that's me :)
Will you be falling off a lot in future? Just to make sure the training works :p :p

FTR, I think you handled Rien's high jinks very sympathetically. Someone posted a vid not long ago of a girl falling off (refusal) and cracking horse over the bum with a whip *can't find shocked face smiley*
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I plan to stay on as much as possible. Rien has a lot of potential (and attitude to go with it) so I need to stay on as we move up. :)

As for the sympathy, thank you. He did exactly what he is being trained to do, come back to me and to not do stupid things to get himself hurt if I do fall off. I better not get after him! I actually have a lot more video and just after this one cuts off, you see me stamp the snow off my feet, turn to Rien, laugh and pet him some more on the neck to settle him. I know that 99% of his mistakes are because of my errors. It is just the nature of the game with babies. I feel if you think you are never coming off then don't get on.

I also knew there was a real possibility of this happening. This was a whole new situation for Rien and he was already up due to the cold. So why should I get mad at him? :) This was a great training exercise for both of us and I think his trust in me grew a bit because of it.
 
Excellent idea, a great way round what is a big problem, might let my friend know, she is forever spending half an hour at BE events catching horses after her boss has fallen off, again :cool:
 
I absolutely love this!
What a wonderful baby to come back like that!
My horse used to stand right by me if I fell off and look at me as if to say "what are you doing down there?" We had an amazing bond though - mainly cupboard love as he associated me with with his feed. However, I used to spend many a summer evening sitting in his field and he would always come over and stand next to me even though I didn't have any food. He would also follow me around when poo picking.
I would really like to think that he just enjoyed being with me. He would also respond to voice commands like stand, steady etc without me holding on to him at all.

Your horse is very lucky to have you....
 
My advice, be VERY patient. I usually had my iPhone to play solitaire while Rien figured out what the hell was going on. And, yes, the other boarders at the barn thought I was an idiot. Ironically, I showed this video (the long version) to my jump trainer today and she was VERY impressed and admitted she had her doubts when I started this training.

Old school training is still the BEST school. I double checked with my girlfriend who told me about this when she attended a talk by Bruce Davidson that this was what he really said and she verified it.
 
I used to break horses for a lady and one of the things she did was put a numnah on the horse then pull it off onto the floor and chuck a handful of food onto it, she was so bloody fast at it and yes the horse would turn around and eat the food. She then did it with an old saddle. I should be grateful that I was next ! Forgot about til this post reminded me.
 
Brilliant!

The Dizz normally stands and looks at me in a very puzzled manner (though that is partially her normal expression - think beautiful bimbo :cool::D). However, she is usually very food orientated and it would be good to have her trained to this for that 'just in case' occasion :cool:

Thank you K and R for sharing :D
 
The magic of titbits. This was how my mum trained my ponies once I was off the lead rein - if I fell off, they ran straight to her. If I ever come off, horse gets a polo and a pat as soon as its caught. Simple.
 
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