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May. 27th, 2013 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chick(Ponies) I took Punch on her first real ride yesterday. It went great.
I've been over the four super-basic skills you need for throwing a leg over -- start, stop, turn left, turn right. When a horse has those and only those, he is not ready for "real" rides over across the road and up into the open fields. Seriously, in two minutes, any horse can be doing those when you're on him. Bare competence at the basic four are not enough for "real" rides.
Fiddler, for example, has the basic four. You can get on him and sit on him and he's pretty OK with that as long as you work up to it sensibly -- he still likes a little foreplay first. He'll walk forward (uncertainly and wobbling) if you wiggle and click enough. But, he'll drift to a halt after five or six steps because he isn't entirely confident that "go" means go-and-keep-going-until-I-tell-you-to-stop. He turns sorta-OK but he's stickier to the right and won't let go of his poll most of the time on the first try. So, that's not real good yet, either. Fiddler is a horse that needs more practice and repetition of the basics in the relatively confined and non-threatening space of the dooryard/driveway where there are people around and immediately to hand to see/save me in the event of difficulty. (Posh folks would still be working him in the round pen.)
Punch has the basic four. You can saddle her up and pretty much swing a leg over. She knows the drill. She turns left and right quite well, has a fine and non-pissy one rein stop, and walks out steadily and confidently. She knows that go means "go and keep on going" and she does that in an unworried and capable manner. She knows that "go more" when we're already going means "pick up a trot". Punch is ready for across the road "real" rides.
So, last week I tried the pilot ride. This is a short excursion to the land of the pear tree, across the road and up the hill. Mostly, the horses have been there in-hand so they know about it. It is not out of sight of the home fields, so the horses do not get super weird about being alone. (Not all horses give a shit about their buddies. Some horses automatically know that "work time" means doing what I say and not caring so much about the buddies. Other horses need specific practice at this skill.) Generally, I make a human being (on foot) walk along with me so that I have company. The human being is not really there to lead the horse or save me or anything like that. The human being is there to provide reassuring and distracting dialogue for me. That was a total snooze for Punch.
There were a lot of circles on the way to the pear tree, but circles happen when beginner stepping-out horses go into the big world. Punch doesn't know the "don't trot unless I ask you to do so" rule. So, she offers me trot. I do not want trot, so we circle-halt and then we try to walk again. If she trots, we circle-halt and try again. It is very important for the human to not get nasty about this -- different species, grapefruit-sized brain, yadda yadda yadda. If Punch is trotting instead of walking (and my posture and legs and stuff all say "walk") then it is clear that she does not know the rule. Getting angry is not a helpful approach to solving the problem. However, TEACHING THE RULE is helpful.
With a successful pilot ride under our belts, I took Punch out for a real ride yesterday. We went up over the hill past the pear tree and down into the hollow and up to the buckwheat field and then back home again. It took just about thirty minutes, which was the time frame I'd given my at-home people ready to save me. "Hey, if you don't see me back in half an hour, come a-looking. Also, if horse comes home dragging the reins and wearing an empty saddle, come find me and call the ambulance/coroner, as appropriate." I honestly do not expect to die on the first real ride, but it is a possibility.
Right now, we have turning, walking forward fairly confidently, picking up a trot on request and holding it pretty well, halt, and back up. We don't have "stay on the road" or "thou shalt not attempt to eat whilst being ridden" but that sort of stuff comes online through exposure.
I've been over the four super-basic skills you need for throwing a leg over -- start, stop, turn left, turn right. When a horse has those and only those, he is not ready for "real" rides over across the road and up into the open fields. Seriously, in two minutes, any horse can be doing those when you're on him. Bare competence at the basic four are not enough for "real" rides.
Fiddler, for example, has the basic four. You can get on him and sit on him and he's pretty OK with that as long as you work up to it sensibly -- he still likes a little foreplay first. He'll walk forward (uncertainly and wobbling) if you wiggle and click enough. But, he'll drift to a halt after five or six steps because he isn't entirely confident that "go" means go-and-keep-going-until-I-tell-you-to-stop. He turns sorta-OK but he's stickier to the right and won't let go of his poll most of the time on the first try. So, that's not real good yet, either. Fiddler is a horse that needs more practice and repetition of the basics in the relatively confined and non-threatening space of the dooryard/driveway where there are people around and immediately to hand to see/save me in the event of difficulty. (Posh folks would still be working him in the round pen.)
Punch has the basic four. You can saddle her up and pretty much swing a leg over. She knows the drill. She turns left and right quite well, has a fine and non-pissy one rein stop, and walks out steadily and confidently. She knows that go means "go and keep on going" and she does that in an unworried and capable manner. She knows that "go more" when we're already going means "pick up a trot". Punch is ready for across the road "real" rides.
So, last week I tried the pilot ride. This is a short excursion to the land of the pear tree, across the road and up the hill. Mostly, the horses have been there in-hand so they know about it. It is not out of sight of the home fields, so the horses do not get super weird about being alone. (Not all horses give a shit about their buddies. Some horses automatically know that "work time" means doing what I say and not caring so much about the buddies. Other horses need specific practice at this skill.) Generally, I make a human being (on foot) walk along with me so that I have company. The human being is not really there to lead the horse or save me or anything like that. The human being is there to provide reassuring and distracting dialogue for me. That was a total snooze for Punch.
There were a lot of circles on the way to the pear tree, but circles happen when beginner stepping-out horses go into the big world. Punch doesn't know the "don't trot unless I ask you to do so" rule. So, she offers me trot. I do not want trot, so we circle-halt and then we try to walk again. If she trots, we circle-halt and try again. It is very important for the human to not get nasty about this -- different species, grapefruit-sized brain, yadda yadda yadda. If Punch is trotting instead of walking (and my posture and legs and stuff all say "walk") then it is clear that she does not know the rule. Getting angry is not a helpful approach to solving the problem. However, TEACHING THE RULE is helpful.
With a successful pilot ride under our belts, I took Punch out for a real ride yesterday. We went up over the hill past the pear tree and down into the hollow and up to the buckwheat field and then back home again. It took just about thirty minutes, which was the time frame I'd given my at-home people ready to save me. "Hey, if you don't see me back in half an hour, come a-looking. Also, if horse comes home dragging the reins and wearing an empty saddle, come find me and call the ambulance/coroner, as appropriate." I honestly do not expect to die on the first real ride, but it is a possibility.
Right now, we have turning, walking forward fairly confidently, picking up a trot on request and holding it pretty well, halt, and back up. We don't have "stay on the road" or "thou shalt not attempt to eat whilst being ridden" but that sort of stuff comes online through exposure.
