Cathrine here from Ride Like a Viking.
I have gotten a horse here now that runs people
down and kicks and breaks through fences.
If I can get her to... There you go, turn
her hind end over and look at me. Those poles
can be really neat. So, what I want, is that
she takes her hind end away from me and faces
me, because I don't want her hind end towards
me since she's known for kicking people.
And I think she especially kicks when you
ask her to do something she doesn't want to
do. So, I think I will ask her to go this
way, and I'll use the flag again. The flag
is really awesome with horses who doesn't
respond to ropes or whips and stuff like that.
Because it was very, very hard to move her
feet with anything else. Then she would just
barge through it. But she hasn't seen the
flag before, so that's new to her. I can try
again, see if I can get her to stop and face
me. I put some pressure on the rope. I lean
towards her hind end.
Yes, good girl. There you go. Yeah, so I both
have to stop her front end and turn her hind
end over, because now she was almost running
me down. I allow her to rest when she's facing
me, and if she comes closer, I'm going to
put her to work. Because I don't want this
animal anywhere near me until she knows that
I'm moving her feet and that I own the space
that I claim. Well, she's quite good at ducking
away and turning the hind end towards somebody,
and that's when you don't give up your ask,
but you move that horse away. I don't think
she's going to try that again. Yeah, I want
to try to move her hind end over, and cross
over behind. Yes, good girl. She crossed over
behind. But without this flag, I would have
been doomed because she doesn't respond to
ropes or whips, because that's kind of used
up because she's been barging through it so
many times.
So bringing in something new can be of really
help, something the horse hasn't seen before.
Okay, I will try to lead her a bit, because
that's one of the main problems, and then
I have the flag to make sure she doesn't run
me down. It's easy to lead a horse like this
when they're not close to you. Our tendency
is to try to the hold closer to the halter
and get more control of the horse, but you
have actually better control with a distance
and with a longer rope. I also blame the equipment
a little bit here, because she of course arrived
with a regular halter and a short lead rope,
which makes it very easy for the horse to
bolt off and very hard to get a good what
I call working distance. All she really wants
is a leader, and by moving her feet, claiming
my space, I become the leader and she will
then calm down and actually feel much better
than when she doesn't have a leader.
I think what's been going on with her is that
there's been a lot of, "No, don't do this"
training. And when people have said to her,
"No, don't do this," she has probably stopped
doing it (the wrong thing), but she didn`t
do anything. So, I think it's been a lot of
wiggling the rope and pushing her around and
telling her not to do stuff. And she has then
probably responded with putting her shoulder
towards the person and turning her neck away,
but she hasn't really done anything. She has
actually just done the wrong thing, and been
rewarded for doing the wrong thing. Her putting
the shoulder towards someone and turning away
is a small version of pulling the rope, bolting
off and kicking the person in the face, and
that's what she has been rewarded for doing.
Because people haven't asked her to do something,
they have just asked her to NOT do something.
I think this habit of hers of being turned
to the outside, that's something I can solve
without rope, and by stepping backwards and
asking her to come to the middle. She has
actually periods now where the circle is quite
nice. Like there. And I can reward her by
giving her a break. So, she had 3 or 4 steps
where she didn't turn to the outside, and
she followed the circle. So, all I'm going
to do now is to put pressure on her when she
wants to go into the corner, or when she doesn't
turn inward when I go backwards. But you have
to make something happen, make difference
and I'm watching her to see if I catch an
ear or an eye. There I get her eye a bit.
She slows down, and yes, good girl. If I'm
able to catch her now, I am going to end here.
Good girl, very nice. And if I'm not able
to catch her, she`s free to run more circles.
Yeah, this is no problem. But I think by doing
this and having her turn to the inside and
pay attention to me, she is going to quit
being bent to the outside, and also probably
quit her tendency to bolt off in the wrong
direction. Yeah, this was a very good way
to end.
Yeah, yeah. I want her to look at me, there
you go, and then I take the halter off. And
if she wants to leave, she can leave, of course.
But she doesn't, which is great. Okay, I will
do the same as I did yesterday. I'm going
to send her out. Yes, now I only have to wave
the rope in the air, and she's off. I might
get her going in the corner there. Yeah, she's
definitely... She's attracted by the gate
and she's cutting corners up here. Yeah, now
it is better. There, she's off. I make it
very clear to her that ducking the other way
around is not a good idea, and I don't give
up my ask.
And now she did a circle, I think without
thinking too much about going in the other
direction and turning her hind end towards
me, so I offered her to stop and face me.
She didn't pick me up on that offer. Yeah,
now I'm on the right hand. I think yesterday,
she did it once on the left hand. I'm going
to get her to stop being turned to the outside,
but rather turn inwards and get a nice bend
in her body by stepping backwards and allowing
her to rest towards the middle. There she
was actually thinking about something. Yes,
good girl.
I will do some liberty work with her and see
how that goes, if she can turn inwards, and
if she turns inwards, I will probably quit.
She's totally different now than what she
was to begin with. She seems much happier
and much more relaxed. Yes, you do, and there
I get yawns. Good girl. Yeah, since she has
started yawning and is releasing tension now.
I am going to quit actually, because this
is a big part of my program and usually takes
quite a while before they do it.
I think when horses start yawning and such
(licking and chewing, lowering the neck),
they are relaxing themselves. Yes, you are.
So instead of me putting her body in a relaxed
posture, crossing over behind, catching her
eyes, all that stuff, she is now relaxing
herself. If they learn how to do this, it's
very beneficial, because at least several
of my horses, when they become a bit tense,
they start yawning and then they relax again.
Without me having to do a bend to stop, cross
the hind end over, get the neck soft, la,
la, la, la, la, they just... yeah, know how
to do it and do it themselves. But it's nice
that the horses are able to self-regulate
a bit, and I think that's what she did now
by yawning, and that's when I end the session.
Because this is something that's actually
quite hard to get horses to do in our presence.
At least if they are anxious, they will usually
not yawn. They will hold their jaws together
and have a tight muzzle when they're around
us, if they are tense. So, yawning is the
opposite of tightening the jaw and holding
tension. It's releasing tension and opening
the jaw. Let's see if she wants to follow
me, I think I haven't done that. But if I
can draw her just a little bit... Yes, good
girl. And I end here. I think it`s awesome
that she moves her hind end over like this.
Makes her much safer to handle and much easier
to lead.
Well, this is something I do instead of having
an assistant come in with a whip and making
the horse follow, I make it a choice to follow.
And if she stops, that's when I send her forward.
I think today, if I just manage to get her
past that pole, I'd be kind of happy. I think
she's starting to notice the difference. When
she follows it`s much easier than when she
loses me and doesn't pay attention. Yes, good
girl. We are past the pole.
Now I just see what she does, she's kind of
stuck, so I ask for forward. This works because
if she stops, I don't stop. Many horse owners
are able to lead their horse without lead
rope, but they don't know what to do if the
horse stops, and this is what you do if the
horse stops. Ask for forward, without stopping
your feet first. Yes, good girl. Oh, I'm more
interesting than the pole, this is progress.
So, what I want and what makes this possible
is that I can catch her eyes and I can move
her hind end over. And I can ask for forward,
so that's what you need to be able to lead
a horse without lead rope.
But when I start walking, I don't walk just
straight. I walk in a small circle towards
her hind end, so if she doesn't follow, I
can put some pressure on her hind end and
make her move. So, there she's following me.
When the hind feet are off, that's when she
follows. To begin with, I don't mind if she's
on the inside or the outside, or whatever,
as long as she follows. And now, I think I'm
going to stop the training. Maybe I will ask
for some personal space, just as a recap here.
One more please, thank you. Good girl.
I think she's starting to know her place in
relationship to humans, that she needs to
respect personal space but she also needs
to pay attention. So, I get her ear now, I
get her ear, I get her ear. There, I got her
eyes. Yes. Good girl. Okay, thank you for
watching, and see you next time. Bye-bye.
