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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:55 pm 
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KDS wrote:
Do you mean how to teach others that your horse is allowed to say no? Or how to teach others how they can teach their horse to say no? (hmm... difficult sentences)



How to teach the people that there horses can say "no."

Ivy

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:25 pm 
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ivyschex wrote:
KDS wrote:
Do you mean how to teach others that your horse is allowed to say no? Or how to teach others how they can teach their horse to say no? (hmm... difficult sentences)



How to teach the people that there horses can say "no."


Maybe by asking yourself "why would I want my horse to say no?"... when it´s clear for you what way of interacting with the horse has what outcome (and in the other direction: what way to choose when you have a certain goal in mind) then it becomes much easier to explain it to others.

If you need some ideas on that, you might want to read the topics about leadership and equality (listed in the Links to threads topic).

Good luck with the book! :)


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:49 am 
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Circe prefers nothing on her head, this is no surprise. Circe is Haflinger, lots of pony blood.
This is why I am finding my boys so fascinating, Thoroughbreds were easy and predicable in their responses, Cob and Shire are very much more into pressure rather than away from pressure.


Susie, that's really interesting!

I was thinking about how much my energy changes when I've got the ability to yank on Circe's head and/or neck but you're absolutely right -- she is not wild about having anything on her head (this is part of where her 'knock-Leigh-over-by-rubbing-enthusiastically-with-face" tactics come from, I think).

Thanks for the pony insight!
:)

Best,
Leigh

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:20 am 

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Location: UK Worcester/Hereford border
Leigh, Circe is a beautiful horse sized pony.
Ben is my smallest boy, but he has a pedigree traceable more than 400 years, looks like a small anglo arab and predicably moves from a look just like a Thoroughbred.
He is the easiest to pressure without being aware that one is creating pressure, just staring at his beauty and telling him how handsome he is can be more than he prefers.
I have to be concious of downcast eyes, low shoulders, side on silhouettes
I could stare at Arthur all day, jump up and down with a lunge whip, shout and wave my arms, flap plastic bags.....unless I rattle a feed bucket, if Arthur has not chosen of his own volition to move, me and a ton of dynamite will provoke no reaction.
Daniel is between the two extremes, he can be an oasis of calm or a rampaging monster who cares only about barging his way clear before gathering thoughts and assessing the threat of any situation.

All that said, it is Ben who best responds to Adam Shereston and offer him an open door easy choice, Ben chooses easy, least pressure answers. It is not even essential to actually touch his neck with hand or cordeo, he feels air pressure from inches away and steps into the lifted release. Problem is, I have no plans to do any training with Ben, no spare children in the neighbourhood who wish to visit or ride, no job for him beyond babysitting the other two horses, and not enough energy or time to manage to train 3 of them, beyond caring, loving and hanging out, so I will work with Dan, include Arthur more as he will be 3 this year and let ben choose his own destiny, usually he likes to come in for dinner, pretend not to enjoy grooming, then sigh and give himself away by relaxing and asking for more.
As long as I hold his headcollar and allow him to put his nose in himself, Ben is easy, if I attempt to catch him then I can go 3 days without touching him. So to me Ben is small horse, Arthr and Dan are big ponies.
I aim for cordeo, but with Daniel and Arthur it might yet be a barbed wire gag with a Liverpool driving bit! (no I won't do it, honest.)

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:04 am 
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Susie -- Circe has obviously been reading this thread!

I played with her for a while and then turned her back out into the arena for a minute while I put together their dinners, and I left her halter on her (I pretty much never do this).

I got to talking and completely forgot she was still there -- in the gathering darkness I looked over to see my forlorn forgotten darling waiting patiently by the gate for me to notice her and bring her to dinner...

...sans halter.

She'd gotten it off -- I got her home and wandered around until I found it -- it's a soft, wide rope halter that she managed to completely untie.

Her Houdini capabilities are not limited to gates, apparently...

:funny: :funny: :funny: :funny:

I so adore her.
:D

xo
Leigh

PS: Sorry Ivy, we've wandered off base a bit...

PPS: Susie, speaking of bits, I went looking at wire bits online after your crack about the barbed wire gag :funny:
Man, I'd forgotten how tough the language is when people write about bits. It's been so long since I've even looked at any ads for bits -- so much stuff about "correction" and "getting attention" and "control" -- for example, for a 1/2 inch twisted wire bit:

"Extremely good bit if you need help getting your horse's legs underneath him and his rear end down. The short gag action collects a horse very well. The small twisted wire adds some "bite" to give this light bit more control "

Ugh.

PPPS: I'm sorry, my comments above about the bits are breaking our forum expectations about not blasting stuff outside of AND -- I just was so taken off guard because it's been so long since I've looked at any of this kind of advertising. I never was a fan of harsh bits but this is so far outside of how I think about how to engage with horses now that it just stopped me short! :ieks:

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 9:21 am 

Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:10 am
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"I could stare at Arthur all day, jump up and down with a lunge whip, shout and wave my arms, flap plastic bags.....unless I rattle a feed bucket, if Arthur has not chosen of his own volition to move, me and a ton of dynamite will provoke no reaction."

I've got one of those! - you can see him count the calories in a chunk of carrot, do the calculation on how many he'd expend coming over for it and deciding which is his winning option. He's been seen jumping a five barred gate from a standing start to get at a grass field!
He's his own pony!

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 6:33 pm 
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Quote:
you can see him count the calories in a chunk of carrot, do the calculation on how many he'd expend coming over for it and deciding which is his winning option.

:funny: :funny: :funny: :funny: :funny:

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