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dancinghorseFriday's session got canceled because of galeforce winds; we opted to wait a day. That was not a bad idea, since horses are world-champion latent learners, and processing time on the average is three days. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tcastleb joined us with camera, so this time we have a record of what we did.
J had brought her fiance, who is just as lovely and quiet in himself as she is. Pooka actually walked up to him and said hello. Pooka never does that with male visitors. Huge four-hooves-up there. So while there was technically a stranger in the audience, from the horses' viewpoint he was part of J, which made him perfectly comfortable to have in the mix.
We started with a talk about how baroques differ from the TB/WB/QH continuum in terms of what their body language means, what they can do with those bodies, and how the range of sensitivity is a lot wider and goes a lot further in the hypersensitive direction that one might believe. Not having been bred for "ridability" and accommodation to human needs, but being bred by and for world-class riders who accommodate themselves to the horses' needs, makes for some differences in how the horses think and move. It also means that Lipps tend to not to have the human-noise filters that will keep a horse sane when it has to deal with the general run of humans.
J is making a list of signals that have different or opposite meanings--these can be really disconcerting. Such as when a Lipp's back comes up and the engine engages, it can feel as if the horse is going to buck, bolt, or both. It's not. It's just turning on the warp drive.
And there was a request she made, which was that she didn't feel comfortable being in the middle when Ephiny turned her head to the outside. "In my experience, that means the horse is going to spin and kick at me." So, could she be more insistent on Ephiny's turning her head to the inside? I said we could try it (pictures below) and see how she reacted. But I also noted that a baroque can do a lot more with its body than one might believe, and head to the outside doesn't mean that butt has to swing to the inside. She's perfectly capable of going in two directions at once. Or three. Or even four. O_o
Ephiny was ready for her session. She came willingly and pushed her nose into the halter, and settled in to be groomed and saddled.
I don't use crossties (though I train my horses to deal with them). The hay trick I learned from an old Russian cavalry officer. "If he's chewing, he's keeping himself calm. And he won't have an upset stomach when he works." With Ephiny, who internalizes so strongly and is such a prime candidate for ulcers, this makes a lot of sense.
She's totally unfazed by tack. We introduced that to her years ago. That's Pandora's saddle btw. Vienna II, 19-inch seat, XW.
The serreta is working well for her.
It fits her Andalusianoid nose perfectly, and it's clear and quiet without aggravating her.
I started off with a small amount of groundwork: mirroring my steps, back as well as forward. Familiar exercises, and she liked the way they got her into her body and won her praise.
A leeeetle bit flexible here. Note Big Round Butt(tm). That's a Lipizzan, oh yeah.
Leads (also Loads and Ties). Nice reach behind--and she's by no means tracking up as much as she can.
Getting started. Slightly dubious ears, but willing to entertain the notion. No tension, shoulder-throwing, or spooking--major improvement over previous sessions. I had added a leadrope attached to outside rein of cavesson. She liked it. (Longeing on two lines is in her future.)
Review session: Circle left.
No problem being asked to look inward. We're mirroring each other's strides. :)
New element: Circle right. A tiny bit fussier, but cooperative. Cheerful ears. She's starting to get into this.
Finished: Good Girl! And a little neck work, softly asking for bend right. Her previous reaction had been to snap at my hand and swing her body around--she hated being worked on that side, though I've consistently worked both sides since she was born. She's still fussy on that side but Much less so. She actually gave her neck and softened. And no snapping teeth. Progress!
Finishing up: Happy ears, trainers agreeing that this was a Good Session.
We moved on to riding boys--J adores ze keed, tried out all his many controls (he has a console like a fighter jet) and discovered that the fuzzy little Arab has a Lipizzaner drive train. They're going to have so much fun together.
And Pook allowed as how he could, if sufficiently motivated, maaayyyybe give his neck in trot, and it didn't feel too bad, and he could do more things, and maaaayyyyybe it was a good idea. And that was a happy ending to a good horse day.
tcastleb joined us with camera, so this time we have a record of what we did.J had brought her fiance, who is just as lovely and quiet in himself as she is. Pooka actually walked up to him and said hello. Pooka never does that with male visitors. Huge four-hooves-up there. So while there was technically a stranger in the audience, from the horses' viewpoint he was part of J, which made him perfectly comfortable to have in the mix.
We started with a talk about how baroques differ from the TB/WB/QH continuum in terms of what their body language means, what they can do with those bodies, and how the range of sensitivity is a lot wider and goes a lot further in the hypersensitive direction that one might believe. Not having been bred for "ridability" and accommodation to human needs, but being bred by and for world-class riders who accommodate themselves to the horses' needs, makes for some differences in how the horses think and move. It also means that Lipps tend to not to have the human-noise filters that will keep a horse sane when it has to deal with the general run of humans.
J is making a list of signals that have different or opposite meanings--these can be really disconcerting. Such as when a Lipp's back comes up and the engine engages, it can feel as if the horse is going to buck, bolt, or both. It's not. It's just turning on the warp drive.
And there was a request she made, which was that she didn't feel comfortable being in the middle when Ephiny turned her head to the outside. "In my experience, that means the horse is going to spin and kick at me." So, could she be more insistent on Ephiny's turning her head to the inside? I said we could try it (pictures below) and see how she reacted. But I also noted that a baroque can do a lot more with its body than one might believe, and head to the outside doesn't mean that butt has to swing to the inside. She's perfectly capable of going in two directions at once. Or three. Or even four. O_o
Ephiny was ready for her session. She came willingly and pushed her nose into the halter, and settled in to be groomed and saddled.
I don't use crossties (though I train my horses to deal with them). The hay trick I learned from an old Russian cavalry officer. "If he's chewing, he's keeping himself calm. And he won't have an upset stomach when he works." With Ephiny, who internalizes so strongly and is such a prime candidate for ulcers, this makes a lot of sense.
She's totally unfazed by tack. We introduced that to her years ago. That's Pandora's saddle btw. Vienna II, 19-inch seat, XW.
The serreta is working well for her.
It fits her Andalusianoid nose perfectly, and it's clear and quiet without aggravating her.
I started off with a small amount of groundwork: mirroring my steps, back as well as forward. Familiar exercises, and she liked the way they got her into her body and won her praise.
A leeeetle bit flexible here. Note Big Round Butt(tm). That's a Lipizzan, oh yeah.
Leads (also Loads and Ties). Nice reach behind--and she's by no means tracking up as much as she can.
Getting started. Slightly dubious ears, but willing to entertain the notion. No tension, shoulder-throwing, or spooking--major improvement over previous sessions. I had added a leadrope attached to outside rein of cavesson. She liked it. (Longeing on two lines is in her future.)
Review session: Circle left.
No problem being asked to look inward. We're mirroring each other's strides. :)
New element: Circle right. A tiny bit fussier, but cooperative. Cheerful ears. She's starting to get into this.
Finished: Good Girl! And a little neck work, softly asking for bend right. Her previous reaction had been to snap at my hand and swing her body around--she hated being worked on that side, though I've consistently worked both sides since she was born. She's still fussy on that side but Much less so. She actually gave her neck and softened. And no snapping teeth. Progress!
Finishing up: Happy ears, trainers agreeing that this was a Good Session.
We moved on to riding boys--J adores ze keed, tried out all his many controls (he has a console like a fighter jet) and discovered that the fuzzy little Arab has a Lipizzaner drive train. They're going to have so much fun together.
And Pook allowed as how he could, if sufficiently motivated, maaayyyybe give his neck in trot, and it didn't feel too bad, and he could do more things, and maaaayyyyybe it was a good idea. And that was a happy ending to a good horse day.
