Training Off-the-Track-Thoroughbreds

Phil is back in training. To regain some lost conditioning from the past 2 weeks I have gone back to the round pen. Remember the round pen is not used to chase your horse around in circles to exercise him. I think up creative ways to move Phil’s feet right, left, back, forward, sideways. Phil was really tuned in to me and moved with just a suggestion from my finger. Now, that is communication. He did get a bit silly and wanted to canter when I was only asking for a trot, but he wasn’t doing anything disrespectful, so I stood submissive in the center of the pen and let him play. He only cantered 3 laps and circled right in to me; Phil was telling me he was ready to focus.

I walked around the pen and he happily hooked on/joined up. I set up a raised cavalletti for him to trot over. I also introduced Phil to a beach ball using approach and retreat method. The ball was left in our yard by the kids and I thought it would be neat to introduce the ball to Phil. When Phil nosed the ball and it rolled I thought that I may try clicker training to teach more tricks (read introducing new objects). Phil wasn’t really concerned with the ball, so I was able to toss it over his back and head, roll it under his belly, and roll it off his hindend. He was ground tied, so he did have the option to say “No thank you”. I am always looking at my surroundings and thinking “How can I incorporate this into a lesson?” Be creative!

Introducing a new object. When introducing a new object to your horse whether it is a ball, a garbage can, trash bag, a jump, or tarp you must ditch the human thinking and think like he does. Horses are prey animals, their predators ambush and attack from behind, so any new object should be displayed in front of him at a comfortable distance. If he is concerned about the object let him look at it and think the situation over. He may be surveying for the quickest escape route, so keep his attention with rhythmic tugs on the rope halter when he tips his nose away from you and be sure to immediately release for any effort to acknowledge you. If he feels like he needs to move his feet, give him a task such as backing. If he is snorting then he is really concerned or excited and he may need to burn off some freshness before you ask him to focus. If the object poses no threat to him, his curiosity will take over and he’ll inch closer to investigate. Remember, he will serpentine to the object, you should do the same.

Many times I have seen handlers either lead their horse directly to the object or bring the object to their horse; this is human thinking. Let your horse make his own decisions. You are there as his cheerleader. If your horse will not make any attempt to investigate you can pull the object away from him and let him follow (for example if you are riding and your friend is pulling the object away from your horse) or you can go up to the object as if you were a horse and bend down to smell the object. I always say “Monkey see, monkey do”. I sometimes have to teach the newly weaned foals how to eat pellets out of a dish. I bend down and pretend I’m investigating and eating the pellets. It doesn’t take long before the foal’s nose is in the dish checking out what I am doing. This technique works well if you aren’t worried about what you look like to the public.

Tail swatting and flatulence. 
Yes, you read correctly. I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand to be swatted in the face by a horse’s tail when I am bent over picking out back feet or grooming a hindquarter. In my opinion, this is a very disrespectful behavior. Over the years I have witnessed handlers take the abuse from their horses in the form of pseudo fly kicking, violet tail whipping, leaning on the handler when picking feet or grooming. I’m sure everybody can relate to the feeling of a violet tail lashing across their sweaty face at one time or another.

When Phil first arrived he showed me all of his rude tricks. One of the best tricks was Phil’s accuracy to swat me in the face at the precise moment I was bending down to pick up a hoof. I also endured Phil’s flatulence when I was bent over in a vulnerable position. I could easily see a pile of poop dropped on my head like a B12 bomber releasing a bomb on the intended target as Phil’s encore. In a herd, it is not uncommon for a higher ranking member to poop on or in close proximity to a lower ranking member to show dominance. This is especially true with stallions when they mark their territory with stud piles. Each time Phil attempted to swat me I grabbed his tail and said “NO!” Sometimes I would hold his tail and lift a hind leg and say “NO!” (you have a 3 second window). By lifting his leg I was mentally taking away his ability to flee. Obviously, I couldn’t physically hold him. I released when he gave a submissive posture like flopping his ears to the side, softening his eye, lowering his head, blinking, or licking his lips. Here is my secret to this exercise. First, I did ground work for respect, second, I sprayed Phil with plenty of fly spray, and third, I never altered the game plan. My goal was to set him up for success, so no excuses to swat at flies. I reinforce this exercise every time I am working near or around his hindquarters. Today, Phil politely keeps his tail still until I move out of swatting range. I no longer am threatened by flatulence or B12 bombings. You may be laughing and that is OK. This was a behavior I chose to rehabilitate.

Week of June 8th-June 14th - Is your horse loving on you or is he dominating you?

At the show last weekend I witnessed a horse rubbing his head on his handler. I over heard the handler comment that her horse was “loving” on her. This is an all too common scenario. When I first met Phil I saw him rub his head on his owner; this was a very calculated move on Phil’s behalf to dominate his owner. I would like to discuss this rude, dominating, obnoxious behavior. A horse rubbing his head on you is telling you he’s in control. He is not only in your space, but he views you as he would a fence post or tree, not a leader. Think about it. You will absolutely never see the subordinate herd members rub their heads on the Alpha mare.You may occasionally see a subordinate rubbing his head on a lower ranking member. Clearly, this behavior is not to be tolerated. Phil has never attempted to rub his head on me, but I work every day to remain the Alpha.

Another common occurrence I see is a horse bumping his handler with his shoulder when he is led or moving a hip towards his handler during grooming. I have yet to see any handler correct their horse for this threatening behavior. If a horse can feel a fly land on them, they sure know they have bumped into you. It is these little infractions that build up over time into big problems. Many times people say “I don’t know what happened, he just one day charged and reared at me when I brought him his food”. 

No, what happened is all the infractions went unnoticed and uncorrected until the horse felt he was now in control. This is how horses get labeled as “bad” or “dangerous” horses and end up passing from owner to owner or worse get sent to auction.

In reality, the behavior was never the horse’s fault; it was the uneducated owner or handler that is to blame. This is why I am so passionate about passing on the knowledge.

A good example is Phil. He had aggressive behavior that stemmed from his lack of confidence, like the bully at school. He was mislabeled because he was misunderstood.

A minor set back.

Phil appears to have a sole bruise on his left hoof. This probably is from some of the rough terrain we rode through on our group trail ride. He shows all the classic signs. I have started to pack his hoof twice a day. Through my many years of observations many owners stop working with their horse when he is recuperating or worse let their horse get away with more “pet behaviors” than ever because they feel sorry for their horse. I am emphatic and sympathetic to Phil’s soreness; I don’t believe our learning has to stop. In fact, I tacked up Phil today, led him to the round pen, and mounted, even with his wrapped hoof. I am not heavy enough to cause any discomfort to Phil. I asked for lateral flexion. This exercise we can work on standing in the shade. Phil ignored my requests and even closed his eyes in a lazy way. I asked him to disengage his hindquarters; this caused him some hoof discomfort and he woke up. I spent 30 minutes flexing. Phil only half heartedly flexed, but I was tenacious and kept up my requests. The bar has been raised, so I expect Phil to give me his face, neck and shoulder at this point. Phil finally worked through his lazy mental block and as soon as he was soft as melted butter in my hands, I jumped down and loosened the girth.

I walk Phil to and from the barn twice daily without a halter. Phil goes into a stall during the heat of the day. Phil and I feel comfortable enough with each other that I can climb up on his back while he is in his stall.

The farrier was out on Saturday. It was apparent that Phil has typical TB dropped soles. This is just a generic description of a soft sole that grows faster than the hoof wall. I opted to go ahead and put some light front shoes on Phil since I have been hauling him where the terrain isn’t always sand. Phil jogged out sound after shoeing.

We are back in business!

Week of June 1st-7th - Trail Riding in Hitchcock Woods

Phil was hauled to Hitchcock Woods (Aiken, SC, Home of the Aiken Hounds) for a group trail ride. Phil loaded and unloaded on to an unfamiliar trailer with unfamiliar horses without any fuss. We had a very relaxed (on the buckle) and enjoyable trail ride. Phil crossed water and wooden bridges. He was a little excited with the new surroundings and new horses, but I did a little bit of ground work before mounting and when he focused on me I mounted. I asked for lateral flexion until Phil was super soft and then headed out for the trails.

One Rein Stop. Last week Phil and I worked on the emergency dismount. This week I want to talk about the controversial one rein stop. There are two philosophies about the one rein stop. The first one is if you teach your horse to immediately stop and soften every time you pick up one rein, you have a better chance of gaining control if your horse suddenly spooks or takes off. This would be his “warm, soft, cozy place of comfort.” The other philosophy is that the one rein stop can be dangerous. By unbalancing your horse while he is moving could result in your horse running into an obstacle such as a tree or fence at a high speed or worse flipping over on you. Both of these situations have happened to me. I have built the one rein stop into Phil from day one by teaching flexing and softening every time I pick up the lead or reins. I have not necessarily used this technique to stop Phil, so this week I will put our work to the test. Phil was responsive to the one rein stop at a walk, but was unbalanced at the trot and had a hard time disengaging his hindend. Phil is not built like my QHs, so I have to work more on tight circles which would improve his balance. I am also going to start working on modified roll backs to improve his balance and build up muscle in his hindquarters. I do not expect him to dig in and roll over his hocks, but I do want him to lift his front feet over and across. He already does this when I ground drive him in the pen. I rode in the round pen for this exercise. Phil smacked his head a lot on the panels, but finally figured out how to clumsily roll over his hocks and get his nose out of the way. I used my weight as a pre cue to signal I was going to ask for a chance of direction. I also used a gracious direct rein that Phil could visualize to guide him. When doing this exercise you have to have your horse really moving his feet and be prepared for a feeling of a mini rear as your horse rolls over and back. Stay relaxed, stay out of your horse’s mouth, and only use your legs as a directional guide, or your horse will rear to release the pressure. Although, I am not crazy about this as an emergency brake, I do like the exercise because it incorporates a lot of little lessons into one and improves the rider’s balance and timing. It also works on lateral flexion. Remember lateral flexion is the key to vertical flexion, not martingales, tie downs, or harsh bits (in my opinion).

I do want to mention that I took a video of my daughter riding Phil in her lesson. Phil did not travel with his nose in the air and a hollow back like he did when he first started with me. The video shows Phil traveling in a more relaxed way and even working on the bit for a few strides. My daughter did not ask Phil to school on the bit, he did this on his own. I wish I had video of Phil when he first arrived and traveled with his nose to the sky. The difference is remarkable and he has only had 30 days under saddle with me. I really want to stress that I DID NOT use any restraining devices (martingales, side reins, tie downs, flex/neck stretch reins, harsh bits). Our horses can learn to relax, round, track up, and work on the bit without those band aids. Lateral flexion is the secret, plain and simple.

Phil is enjoying farm life. It is only the first week of June and here in South Carolina we have already hit 98 degrees. The kids and I wear our bathing suits for afternoon chores. My daughter’s job is to fill up all the water tanks. She particularly likes to spray the horses with the hose and horses really appreciate the cool shower. I was really surprised to see Paige spraying Phil as he presented his front, sides, and rear for a nice hose down. Phil promptly rolled and stood up caked with mud; at least he’ll have clean pores. It was so nice to see him really enjoy himself. He is slowly emerging from his shell and a fun-loving horse is coming forth.

Another horse show!
Southern Hospitality Mini-Circuit. Phil loaded on the trailer like a professional. He was well behaved at the show. Phil brought home more ribbons in Hunter In Hand, Equitation, and Open English Pleasure. Phil and I even tried a pattern class! In the Equitation class I had to drop my irons. The irons were tapping Phil on his sides and he did not let those irons bother him one bit.

Week of May 25th - I have a funny story to tell about Phil this week. I am back teaching this summer semester, so Dan is feeding again in the mornings I teach. Dan told me that he poured Phil’s feed and headed to the gate without giving Phil the ritual head rub. Dan said Phil kept dancing around in front of him as he headed to the gate. He thought Phil was acting really strange until it dawned on him Phil was looking for his head rub. Dan rubbed Phil’s head and Phil trotted off to his feed.

Like many OTTBs our horses thrive on a constant routine.
We must always hold up our end of the bargain.

Emergency dismount. This week I worked on the emergency dismount. If you ride, you are going to have a fall. It happens to everyone, eventually. A fall doesn’t have to be scary or dangerous if you have taught yourself and your horse what to do in such a situation. You may be jolted out of your seat by a few rough strides, your horse may trip, you may have a sudden sliding stop due to a terrifying, horse-eating monster (possibly a rabbit or a bird, or a flapping plastic bag). The last thing I want to do is scare Phil, have Phil trample me, or have to go catch him after a jolting fall. So, I am going to give myself a plan and desensitize Phil to me jumping off his back. Ultimately, I am going to teach him to stop if I ever fall off.

Safety First. There are several safety measures you can take, to minimize the effect of any fall. You always must wear a helmet; you don’t know when you are going to fall, and you don’t have enough time to zip over to the tack room and grab your helmet on the way down. You may feel dorky wearing a helmet, but think how much more dorky it would feel to wear a wheelchair. I will tell you I was once bucked off so hard by a youngster that my helmet cracked when I hit the soft grass. Food for thought.

This lesson was to benefit the both of us. I wanted to teach Phil that if I ever fell off he is to stop. It was also important to desensitize Phil to me coming out of the saddle. Starting with ground work I asked Phil if he was ready and his ear on me and quick responses to my requests told me he was ready to get to work. Using the haltermore (I didn’t want to risk pulling at his mouth) and riding bareback I practiced a dismount off the right and left sides at a stand still. Phil doesn’t seem bothered by this. I dismounted at a walk and then a trot. Phil was somewhat bothered by me swinging off at the trot on the right side. This may be because I was uncoordinated dismounting off the right side. I need more practice; Phil was fine. Each time I dismounted I said “Whoa.” I used the mecate that was tucked in my belt loop to back him once I was on the ground if he didn’t come to a complete halt. Once he halted he immediately got a release.

Leading without a halter or lead rope. Phil is now leading to and from his pasture and the barn without a halter or lead rope. I am looping the lead around his neck, but will eventually not even use the lead. Phil will eagerly follow me without me holding on to the lead. The lead is just a prop. Watch a herd follow the Alpha mare and you will see them follow her without asking any questions.

More ground work. I introduced Phil to a new ground work exercise. I put the lead rope around his hips. I pulled the rope until it disengaged his hindquarters and Phil moved around 180 degrees facing me. He was very worried about the rope behind him. I observed this “hole” and went back a few lessons to desensitize him to the rope behind his hocks and hips. This is a good example of how I started with a planned lesson on disengaging the hindquarters and ended up going back a few lessons to basic desensitizing based on Phil’s behavior. This is what I call student directed learning. Phil told me he was not ready to move on and needed a refresher on rope desensitizing. I reviewed our previous lessons of tossing the rope over his back, shoulder, and head. I ended the lesson when Phil stood relaxed with a cocked hind foot. It was a good confidence builder for him.

Riding lesson. My 10 year old daughter, Paige, rode Phil in a lesson this week (see pictures) She walked, trotted, cantered, and jumped some 18” crossrails during her lesson. Phil took both his leads correctly for Paige. I was impressed.