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 Post subject: Freckle's New Exercise
PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:38 am 
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Location: Natal, South Africa
It needs a name.
I also want to know if any other horse does this.

For a while now, I have encouraging the games Laska and Freckles play together. The rearing, bouncing, kicking, biting, spinning and running together. I give this encouragement by laughing, clapping my hands and praising while they are doing it. Of course, there are many times they play together and I am not there to see it.

Several times during the last month or so, when I have praised their energy and wild movements, Freckles has glanced at me, dropped his nose to his toes, and jumped up and down 4 or 5 times on the same spot. :ieks: He's like a little boy exploring how to balance while bouncing on a trampoline for the first time. :funny: :funny: :funny: :love:

He sometimes turns a bit while he does this - like a pirouette. He keeps his nose down at his feet, as if he's watching his clever feet do something interesting. His feet leave the ground almost at the same time, with the front lifting ever so slightly before the back. He lands all 4 at the same time, flexes his whole body slightly, and jumps up again. He does it at least 3 times and never more than 5 times in a row. Then he looks at me all proud of his "new accomplishment" and waits for my admiration.

It's the cutest thing ever, and he looks like a pony on a pogo-stick. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


Last edited by Glen Grobler on Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:37 pm 
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Glen Grobler wrote:
It needs a name.
I also want to know if any other horse does this.

For a while now, I have encouraging the games Laska and Freckles play together. The rearing, bouncing, kicking, biting, spinning and running together. I give this encouragement by laughing, clapping my hands and praising qhile they are doing it. Of course, there are many times they play together and I am not there to see it.

Several times during the last month or so, when I have praised their energy and wild movements, Freckles has glanced at me, dropped his nose to his toes, and jumped up and down 4 or 5 times on the same spot. :ieks: He's like a little boy exploring how to balance while bouncing on a trampoline for the first time. :funny: :funny: :funny: :love:

He sometimes turns a bit while he does this - like a pirouette. He keeps his nose down at his feet, as if he's watching his clever feet do something interesting. His feet leave the ground almost at the same time, with the front lifting ever so slightly before the back. He lands all 4 at the same time, flexes his whole body slightly, and jumps up again. He does it at least 3 times and never more than 5 times in a row. Then he looks at me all proud of his "new accomplishment" and waits for my admiration.

It's the cutest thing ever, and he looks like a pony on a pogo-stick. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


When I was a young lad, in my late teens and early twenties I fancied myself a rodeo performer. I competed in some roping, tried bulldogging a couple of times, even rode bulls -once- and once only.

I also rode saddle broncs, and tried bareback bronc riding too.

You are describing one of the common movements a bucking horse does. I think you folks call bucking, buckjumping. One move is to plant the front feet and kick the hind quarters way up in the air with a mighty outward kick, and covers some distance forward with each buck.

The other is referred to as crow-hopping. The horse does what you say Freckles is doing. Drops his head way down and does a series of four footed springs into the air landing pretty much in the same area they rose from and often with a spinning motion.

However, this is done out of pain, fear, and training to fight back hard at having a person on top. The horse has a strap, with a quick release, tightly around his flank to make him feel captured. The lion, or other big cat that jumps on a horse to bring it down often comes in from the rear, goes up over the haunches, and hangs on, and uses their claws coming in under the flanks to gut the horse.

Of course horses have evolved to NOT want pressure in this area.

If one stops and thinks about it much play, by any animal species, including humankind, is based on violent confrontation. Our sports are just tamed down battlefield warfair.

Freckles play is about nature coming through and having him practice bucking off lions. That he does is up close for you, I think, warrants his trust for you. "Look, look at me mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, look at meeeeee."

Bonnie is like this too. She can't go to her hay pile out in the big paddock in the morning without bucking, running about, and generally cutting up for a few minutes first.

Of course that we live next to the deep dark forest, and we have seen sign of bear and lion here, as well as both live, might just lend to her "practicing."

Both she and Altea, once feeding has started still stop for the occasional "sentry," look about, and stare sometimes at the woods for many long seconds. Sometimes they tell me something is passing in the woods. Mostly it turns out to be harmless elk, even deer, on their morning feeding migration.

Once though both "pointed," very like a bird dog, at what I at first couldn't see, a coyote sitting quietly contemplating us. We were too many and far too big for one coyote but you could see the happy contemplation in his eyes of a really big juicy meal possibility.

Wish you had a video of Freckles crowhop.

Donald, Altea, and Bonnie Cupcake (yes, I have videos of her morning workouts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkfy6SbhoQ

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:30 pm 
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The other is referred to as crow-hopping. The horse does what you say Freckles is doing. Drops his head way down and does a series of four footed springs into the air landing pretty much in the same area they rose from and often with a spinning motion.


Thank you for naming it. Freckles only goes 4 or 5 inches up and not 3 or 4 feet like those rodeo horses, thank goodness. :funny: :funny: :funny: I've always thought of bucking as jump forward and up with a "lash out" of the hinds, sometimes with a twist. I've never thought of this (to me) strange movement similar tp bouncing on a trampoline as bucking, but then I've never seen any horse do it up close. This is only the 4th or 5th time he has done it, and it's the 1st time he appeared to do it "for me."

Sure, I've seen a few rodeos on TV, and I watched that "Toughest Cowboy" show once, but I didn't recognise this low-intensity version of that same movement. :funny: Freckles has a large "Look at ME" aspect to his play, which is probably because that "wild" stuff makes me nervous, so I giggle and praise as I get myself to the sidelines where I can be an unconcerned and appreciative spectator. :roll:

I wish I had video of it also. It's over so quickly I rarely have time to fetch the camera. This morning, for example, I was in my "office" which overlooks the back-yard, and I had the horses on lawnmower duty. :love: Frecks and Laska started playing, and at one point came close to the window I was looking out of. I laughed and told them they were so very pretty and powerful. Freckles stared at the window intensely. I put the light on so he could see me, and told him how gorgeous he was. He did his "crow-hop" thing for me and afterwards he literally grinned at the window and carried on playing with Laska. :love:

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Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 3:23 am 
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Kind of fishing around to find the words to best describe what Freckles is doing with you.

Took me awhile but if finally appeared.

He loves you.

Did you look at the video of Bonnie and Altea at Breakfast, with Bonnie doing her version of what you describe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkfy6SbhoQ

She crowhops and also does bucking kickouts.

This video ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoSJL5R4J3k&feature=related

... shows a guy getting bucked off just riding about in a pasture, probably going out to chase some cows. Not much of a rider, as you can see by the way he pulls the horse to stop him. The horse opens with a few crowhops - crawhops are harder to ride actually than straight out bucking - then the horse finishes the rider off and goes, empty saddle, to high kicking bucks.

People think the hat blowing off spooked the horse, but spooked horses rarely buck. My thought is that the guy may have had spurs on and hooked the horse when the horse spooked at the riders hat flying off.

But there you have a sample of both with one vid of one horse and rider. Lots of slow mo too.

Donald, Altea and Bonnie Cupcake

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:06 am 
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:applause: :funny: Yup, that's very close to what Frecks is doing. Their heads are higher than his, though. He literally puts his chin at his toes and keeps it there. Too funny! I have a crow-hopping peanut-roller horse !!! I will keep trying for video ...

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 8:44 am 
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Sounds so amazing, Glen! :) And what a wonderful timing: yesterday I saw Evita doing it when she was playing with Bianca and I thought that maybe this could become a new AND exercise - and then the first thing I read after coming home is this. :clap:

I'll see if Pia or Summy can be encouraged to do it and if anyone else has an idea how to train it, please post it here and then we can turn this into a sticky.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:21 am 
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Location: Natal, South Africa
:rofl:
Seriously, Romy, I'm convinced all the AND horses are connected in their own telepathic network, because this kind of simultaneous activity is rather commonplace here.

I feel very :green: :alien: envious about you European people being able to get together so regularly, and us Africans being too far away to join in. *sigh* Oh well, play the hand you're dealt, right? After all, things can always get worse. :funny: Like if this forum didn't exist ...

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 11:40 am 
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I can add Lily to the telepathic network! Yesterday she jumped with all fours in the air like a rubber ball. But then again I always suspected her to be most proficient in the art of telepathy. :alien:

Glen Grobler wrote:
I feel very :green: :alien: envious about you European people being able to get together so regularly, and us Africans being too far away to join in. *sigh*

As a compensation, you have summer now, while we have to shovel our snow :whew: :D

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:00 pm 
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:twisted: I have never, ever had to shovel snow. Actually, I've only ever SEEN snow 3 times in approx. 50 years, and one of those I drove up into the mountains to see it!

Ah, I wish it was summer. We're still stuck in the wet season just before summer really starts. :whew: Temps in the 35 to 45 C range and humidity over 90%. :funny: Either we sweat or the sky does, but sweating is definitely the order of the day. :ieks:

I guess it's as much of a problem keeping horses cool as it is to keep them warm, right?

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Glen Grobler



Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:16 pm 
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Well regarding weather there´s only one thing that´s common to all places & people in the world: there´s always some reason to complain about it :green:
But all the more interesting that no matter how hot or how cold, our horses all seem to have a common exercise to let off steam: the mad hopping crow! :cheers:

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 3:46 pm 
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'The Mad Hopping Crow" :funny: :funny: :funny: lol Volker... great name!

Glen - that just sounds too funny. I have only ever seen crow hopping out of an upset or angry horse - but as discussed I think it's a pretty natural movement for them anyways (thus why they use it on riders ;) ). I can only IMAGINE the body precision and "WHEEEEE" factor Freckles gives it! :D If you can ever sneak a video camera over and let it roll.... we're dying to see it. Don't you love the glances at you like "See...SEE...." ? Diego is starting to do that some now... I find it really cute.

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:55 pm 

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Crow hopping, but I tend to call it Tigger Pouncing, like Winnie-The- Pooh's friend.
The wonderful thing about tiggers is tiggers are wonderful things etc.
Singalong here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJFyz73M ... re=related

NO, not another AND exercise, I DO NOT WANT ARTHUR TO DO THIS, and he can when out with the boys, but not when I am on his back PLEASE. xx

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:13 pm 
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Seriously, Romy, I'm convinced all the AND horses are connected in their own telepathic network, because this kind of simultaneous activity is rather commonplace here.


You all realize of course that they've got their own forum, right?


"Today my human finally learned that pulling on my halter was completely rude. I've struggled with needing to tell her this forcefully, and I know that you all have reminded me that positive reinforcement works best, but until today I wasn't quite sure I believed you. But she started to tug and instead of pulling back I just softly leaned into her and nuzzled her -- she was so surprised she dropped the halter all together and then I got my chest scratched in that place that's so hard to reach... Success!"
;)

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:27 pm 
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. Anon


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:46 pm 
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:applause: :applause: :applause:

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