Q and A's:Collection and other stuff

As always....I'm sharing information I learned from the trainers I worked with, the good hands I've known, the books I read, and the horses I've had the opportunity to ride.

I'll answer a couple at a time, OK?. I'll try to figure out how to archive these things too....

CBrewster said...
When your first ask your horse to collect and carry themselves correctly how do you do it?

One of the first things I try to remember is that my young horse has to learn to pack me around before I ever think of asking for any level of collection. Little Silliyum has to be able to walk trot and lope comfortably with me on his back. I want him to be able to be there before I even say whoa, much less involve my hands and legs in any way. I cannot stress enough how important I think this is.

Imagine a four year old child toddling off to pre-school. He's given a backpack to wear that's carrying a couple of cinder blocks. Now he has to run around in circles with it slipping and sliding and banging around on him. Instead of giving him time to learn how to carry it, he's expected to learn to carry it while dancing the Hustle.

How long do you think it will be before the little kid shags loose of the backpack?

If I'm having confidence issues, (and believe me I do) I will address those first. Which means both my horse and I will walk trot and lope comfortably before I begin collection, even if I'm worried about the lope. If this is your personal horse and there's no time restrictions, what's the hurry?

So, on to collection.
Collection can only begin when Silliyum has plenty of consistent forward I can ask for with a squeeze, even balance between my legs, and a soft give through the poll when I asks for his face.


Step I. I'll start with serpentines, done at an energetic trot. I post through my straightaways (correct diagonal please), and sit deep through my turns, encouraging the outside hind leg to extend forward and towards the inside front leg using pressure from my outside leg. My inside leg stays quiet at the cinch, touching just enough to give support. I only turn with one rein at a time, and I don't pull back at all.

I use my turns to slow Silliyum down. If he gets fired up I'll guide him in a gentle circle until he relaxes and we start again.
I try to shape my horse into as perfect a "C" as I can through the turns while maintaining an even, balanced seat, his release comes during the straightaway.
This exercise encourages Silliyum to drive with his hind legs through the turns.

Collection begins with the hindquarters driving towards your hand. I'll know he's right when he smoothly goes through each turn at an even cadence and I see his head break at the poll without any pull from me.

StepII. I will walk Silliyum along the rail on a loose rein. I will bump him into a faster walk with my calves and an active forward seat. As he lengthens his stride and speeds up, but before he breaks into a trot, I'll gather my reins until I can just feel Silliyums face. I will essentially be driving him into my hands, not pulling him back to his hindquarters. His back should rise up underneath me, his head will drop into the pressure on the bit, he will slow, but his stride length will stay the same. That's an ideal.
If he goes too fast, I slow down my legs, if he's too slow, I'll increase the pressure. If he tosses his head or won't go, I soften my hands, if he tries to run through them, I take a firm hold until he stops, and then back him a step or two before starting over. Play with this, with the goal being soft contact.
I'm only going to ask for a few strides before I release the pressure and let him walk along on a loose rein again.
As Silliyum becomes comfortable at the walk I'll progress to the trot and then the lope. I'll collect him for a few strides, and release for at least twice as many steps before I ask again.
I mix this up with serpentines and lots of walk trot lope on a loose rein.
It takes a long time to develop a true collection. It takes strength and coordination on Silliyums part, and timing and feel on mine. I never ever hurry.
My horses have usually been competing for two years before they look completely in hand. By the time they are six they are rock solid. It's worth the wait.
Let me know how it works!

Enjay said... Ever run into a horse who had been trained to do something dangerous and you couldn't retrain them out of it? I had a mare who was taught by her breeder to shake hands for a treat. It was allowed to progress to vigorous pawing at the floor, stall door and people when the treats weren't flowing freely. She'd even paw when she was eating from her bucket. She didn't have a mean bone in her body, she'd just been trained to do something stupid and they had encouraged it to the point where it was dangerous. She'd caught her breeder just right and ripped up a bunch or ligaments and tendons in her knee doing that. When I bought her she was five years old and it was a deeply ingrained habit.

So now do you guys get why I don't feed treats? Pet, hug , kiss, whatever......but skip the damn cookies!
Yes, I have run into behaviors I couldn't change..... here's what I would have tried with this mare. What can happen is I change the behavior for me, but not for anybody else.This mare has had her pawing reinforced either positively, or negatively her entire life. My instinct would be to take the focus away from the behavior. I have discussed my personal space rules with stallions before. I would try a variation of these rules with a horse like this one. It would be about where she stood in relation to me, not the pawing.
She would not be able to approach me to get close enough to touch me ever. I would approach her to catch her, groom, tack, whatever at her shoulder. I would not engage in any kind of play behavior with her. While I was handling her I would wack her with a crop for pawing, (as you did) on the forearm muscle of the offending leg, but only until she backed away from me one or two steps, and only if it effected me personally. That includes annoying me by the way.
The biggest point I want to stress, is she would be taught to stand as I approached her, from the side.
I would leave her tied for very long periods of time. I'd ignore her pawing, or whatever else she was doing until she was standing quiet, in a relaxed manner. If she started pawing as I approached, I would leave and we'd try again later. Check out my story on Captain, you'll see what I mean. I'm serious when it comes to dangerous behaviors.
When I feed horses I expect them to stand quietly, facing me until I have dropped their hay in the feeder and walked away. Horses that paw or whinny or buck or pin their ears....ANYTHING other than stand there and look at me with a pleasant look on their face, don't get fed.
I don't make a big deal of this. I don't yell, or wave a stick, (unless I'm in a loose paddock situation) I just walk away. I'll let them watch everybody else eat for an hour or so, and then I'll offer them some dinner again. If they keep it up, we'll can try again the next time I feed. This may sound mean, but I've never killed one doing this. As a matter of fact I don't think I've ever had one misbehave to the point of skipping two meals. And when it's time to feed my horses stand quietly waiting for dinner.
This is a sad situation. This mare was extremely lucky to land with you. This is the kind of crap that happens when people treat their horses like Chihuahuas. As you can see, this stuff gets me cranked. If she had ended up with anybody else but you she could have killed somebody. Lucky, lucky, mare.