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 Sylvia
ScottNatural Horsemanship
Training
JULY 2007 NEWSLETTER |
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Events This Month
(Where Natural Horsemanship Clinicians Will Be Appearing)
None Listed This Month
To see where other Natural Horsemanship trainers and clinicians will be appearing nearest you throughout the year: CLICK HERE
To Find a NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP TRAINER Near You: CLICK HERE
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Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVDs
Learn how to effectively train your horse in 12 easy to follow steps with this comprehensive 3 DVD set!
Round Pen Leadership DVD
In this video, you will learn how to effectively communicate with your horse in the round pen to establish respect for your leadership position.
Natural Horsemanship Halter & Lead Rope
Exclusively designed to our exacting specifications, the Whispering Way™ Natural Horsemanship Halter and Lead Combo is a custom-made, premium quality natural horsemanship halter that provides the best natural horsemanship training communication tool on the market today.
Natural Horsemanship Training Wand
The extendable/retractable Whispering Way™ Training Wand provides a light-weight "arm extension" that is invaluable in a variety of training situations with your horse.
Natural Horsemanship Training Packages
Money saving packages combine essential training tools!
Complete Training PackageIncludes:
- Natural Horsemanship Halter
- 12' Lead Rope
- Training Wand
- Training String
- Round Pen Leadership DVD
- Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System 3-DVD Set
- Handy Quick Reference Pocket Card
EquiPedic Saddle Pads
 We have tried many saddle pads over the years, and have found nothing that comes close to providing the benefits of the unique EquiPedic pads. There is no other saddle pad like it!
Be Sure to See the Complete Line of Whispering Way™ Natural Horsemanship Products and Training Tools
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Horse Problems Solutions in General - If you haven't discovered already on my web site, check out my Question And Answer/Horse Problems/Training Tips section for solutions to common horse issues. The problems are listed in alphabetical order by problem, and I add to the list regularly. You can check them out here: Horse Training Tips and Solving Common Horse Problems - Q&A - If you have a horse problem that you do not see listed up there, feel free to email me and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Training Success Letters of the Month - Read latest success stories with our Natural Horsemanship Training Program - Click here: Letters of the Month
Client/Customer Testimonials - Read a few of the many testimonials we have received from around the world from those following our DVD training program: Customer Testimonials
Past Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center Newsletters Are Archived Here:
News & Press
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Greetings From
Sylvia Scott Whispering Way™
Natural Horsemanship Training
Blacksburg, Virginia
Dear Friends:
I hope this finds you enjoying your summer as much as we are! Stepping away from horses and the business for a short bit, we just got back from a wonderful getaway family vacation in Florida with our three grown children, Justin, Trevor and Alisha. With Justin working in Orlando, Florida, at Electronic Arts, and Trevor in the U.S. Army 101st Airborne, based out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and Alisha on summer break before she enters her junior year at Virginia Tech, it was a real feat to pull the scattered
family together for some family fun and bonding time, but we pulled it off and had a blast!
Justin, Alisha & Trevor at Universal Orlando
Back now to the business of horses and educating owners on natural horsemanship, we're enjoying the rest of our summer and keeping cool when we can. (Virginia summers sure seem cooler now after spending time in the hot Florida sun!)
Speaking of hot summers, this is the time of year to make sure we clean and refill our horses' water troughs regularly so that they have constant access to fresh, clean, cool water. And summer insect control to keep them comfortable at all times is paramount as well. I talk about here what I like to do for insect control on our own horses:
On the hottest days, pick the early morning or early evening time to ground work or ride your horse, avoiding the hotter mid day heat, or your horse can become dangerously over-heated. Lots of access to run-ins or shady trees in their pastures will keep them cooler and happier in between riding times.
I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter and have a great month of riding and summer relaxation!
We all can learn from each other!
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Check These Out! |
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iGallop - While we were in Florida, we ran across a great new product I wanted to share: the iGallop. Here's more about this remarkable exercise machine that gets the right horseback riding muscles in tip-top shape for riding:
Hippotherapy, a proven method
iGallop is inspired by hippotherapy, a long established therapy based on the belief that the rhythmic movements of riding a horse is beneficial in improving the cognitive skills, balance, posture and strength in the rider. It is especially effective for mobilizing joints, building muscles and improving balance as the gallop of a horse closely resembles the human stride.
Tri-Axial Horse Riding Action
The unique Tri-Axial Horse Riding Action of the iGallop mimics the multidirectional trot of a horse in its front, back and lateral movements. Seated on the iGallop as it simulates a horse's trot, your body activates your major muscle groups on your abdominal, back and thigh areas to maintain an upright posture and balance.
The fun way to get a great shape
OSIM iGallop uses your body's natural reflex actions to exercise your body. You never have to force or exert yourself. Lose weight and have fun doing it, how easy can it get?
This is one exercise you can do while you enjoy your favorite TV programs or when you are swinging to a toe-tapping tune.
And you can get in great riding shape indoors on rainy or too hot days for riding! You can check out the iGallop here: iGallop_____________________________________
Internet Sources for Finding Hay - I have been receiving a number of emails this summer, reporting on drought conditions, which have created hay shortages in various regions. I wanted to direct those of you who are dealing with hay shortages to a couple of Internet resource web sites that can help you to find hay availability sources in your area (click on the names to take you to their web sites):
And if you have extra hay for sale yourself, think about listing your hay on the above web sites, to help others find needed hay during this shortage in some regions. |
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Horse Problem Questions From You & Their Solutions From Sylvia Scott
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Question - What if I get the latch-on very early on when Round Penning Horse?: Hi Sylvia. I just received your DVDs the other day, and wow the things my horse already remembers!! I can't believe it. I did have a question though: I tried round penning her, and she went out, trotted maybe halfway around, then turned and came into me. We had already achieved a latch-on before I knew what it was, and now that I recognize
it, should I keep round penning her? She follows around like a puppy, and since we got the latch-on I didn't know if there was a need for the pen. I appreciate your time very much. Thank you!
K. R. - Pelham, New Hampshire
Sylvia's Answer: It depends, K. It's more about "attitude" than anything. A horse can quickly learn "when I run up to her and join up with her, she makes me stop working!" And that's okay as long as the horse's attitude is good and you can get the hind quarter disengagements real well there both sides/directions, when you point at the hind quarter. I actually like to do at that point: send the horse away
again and direct them in inside turns and outside turns, then invite them back in, do hind quarter disengagements, then send them away again. This really reinforces to them that you are always in charge of their feet at all times.
So...the real goal of round penning shouldn't just be to have them latch onto you (because many horses can learn that without having an attitude change), but more about: teaching them you are in charge of their feet as their leader. So...it shouldn't be a problem to send them away again, get inside and outside turns at your direction, then inviting them back in, doing both sides hind quarter disengagements when you point at the hind quarters, and they should be comfortable about being
sent away and brought back in again. It becomes..."a dance." Until that is accomplished, I don't consider the round penning foundation complete. So...you might want to work on that over time. It'll go a long, long way multi directions as you go along -- even later outside of the round pen, like out in pasture, etc. And more!
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Question - Herd and Lead Mare Behavior: Hello Sylvia, Just a quick question for you - more from interest than anything else re: horse behaviour in a herd. I currently have some extra horses staying over (long story). For the first day, I left them in a safe yard with those two, separated away from my two. After the first night, I let the gelding out, with my gelding in the big paddock. I watched them for a while and they hung out, no fighting, no ears back,
no dirty looks, no running around - they were both even eating leftover bits of hay out of the back of my ute side by side, very peaceful.
I had the other visiting mare still separated (as she was lame) and I had my 23-year-old mare locked up. This mare is actually my gelding's mother and she still acts like he's a foal, won't let him associate with other horses, that sort of thing.
The interesting part happened when I let the old mare out with the two geldings. She of course
snaked the ears and head, bared the teeth and ran at the new gelding. The SECOND this happened, my gelding switched and he too also chased the new horse - very unfriendly in a flash. He hunted him round for ages - and it wasn't the mare in the end who was doing the chasing, it was the gelding. She just ran along behind them, while my gelding did all the ears back and bum biting, galloping nonsense. (Nasty little turncoat....)
Anyway, no harm done, they sorted it all out BUT my question is: why
did my gelding do this after the mare chased? He'd shown no inclination to do it before. I know of how powerful the lead mare is in a herd - is this an example of that? I've got my gelding separated in the "Jenny Craig" yard at the moment and left the new gelding and the old mare out in the big paddock and there's no chasing going on, just dirty looks and the odd lunge from the mare. I'll let the two geldings out again later, minus the old mare and see what happens. I don't want to put all three
back together again, as the visiting horse needs to go to a school next week and I don't want him hurt when his owner comes to get him. The other mare went home yesterday. Just curious to know and learn a little more about horse behaviour. Any light you can shed will be great. Kind regards,
L. W. - Queensland, Australia
Sylvia's Answer: Hi L. Very good question! And the answer is: the lead mare let the "herd" know her wishes and the gelding followed up on her orders. He did the work she was directing there. What you might have missed (because it can be very subtle at times) is the attitude of the one being chased. The lead mare from the get-go sets out to show she's the leader. Even the most subtle distaste for her directive can be registered in the one being "ordered"
and not only does the lead mare pick up on it, but so do her "underlings." So...the chaser-gelding was saying... "She SAID MOVE!" He's reinforcing to the other gelding that "this lady here is the lead mare, got it?" AND he's also asserting..."By the way...I'm number two, in case you are wondering." ;-)
This is very, very normal herd dynamics and it comes out whenever a newby is thrown into the mix (I applaud, by the way, the step
by step careful way you proceeded there). See...not only do horses need to know who is #1, but they also need to know: who is number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...and so on. They are that specific in who is boss over whom and they set out to establish that right in the beginning. And actually...the purpose of this is part of what has made horses such great survivors for thousands of years. Because they are a flight, prey animal (food for predators in the wild!), they really don't have a lot of time to devote to who's in charge
and who is supposed to follow whom? (In case of a sudden predator attack). They must quickly...very quickly!...establish this clear order so that in the case of a sudden predator appearance, they must be able to stick together and know what they are doing (they are safer in numbers than when alone--predators tend to pick off the lone horse first), and they must know, "Who's the lead driver here? Where are we going? And when are we going?"
That's a high-pressure spot
being the leader, so most horses usually don't want that spot. They want somewhere in the middle. There's far too much pressure on them to be alert all the time when leader. But they DO want to know: who has what it takes to lead? So...a lot of pecking order tusseling isn't necessarily always about "I want to be the leader," but often even more about: "Do you have the ability to lead/direct me/us, so I can relax here and stop worrying about threats around us?" Leadership has to be proven/earned,
is never just a given.
And it is all this prey animal psychology that we take into account in natural horsemanship. We position ourselves as a "lead mare" from the get-go, but a fair leader as well (never abusive). Which models to them: your wisdom. We know what is best for them in our "human herd." That's all most horses ever want: someone wise to lead them. So they can relax. And stay safe.
What's interesting about what you saw there (and now you know the
why's)...it really is showing you how much they want a clear balance in their herd. It is an innate drive in them to find that balance. And to "discipline" the disruptive one (and even a newby can be initially perceived as "the unbalanced one" at first, because he doesn't know this particular herd's rules yet & where everyone is in the pecking order) they move the feet of the disruptive one. He or she who moves the others' feet is higher up on the pecking order, and therefore the leader
over the moved-away horse. It's all about feet! Rarely does it escalate into outright physical fighting UNLESS they are in too small a space and the being-driven-away horse doesn't have sufficient room to escape with his feet. Most all horses prefer flight mode to fight mode and most will only turn to fighting if/when they can't flee. (The stallion is the exception, but that's a whole 'nother topic). But what's always interesting is how the entire herd can and will get involved in letting the newby know
where they stand from the getgo, so it's not just the lead mare, but she starts it and the others follow her orders there.
I've even seen this played out in my own balanced herd here, of my own well-trained horses (my own) when a newby is thrown into the mix. And I want to show you this, because, in essence, it's the same thing you saw there. When I enter my horses' pasture, they instantly perceive me as the "lead mare" (because of their natural horsemanship training) and they all turn
and acknowledge that fact, never running away, but going quiet often, looking and waiting to see what the lead mare (me) wants this time, often coming up to me to see if it's them in particular that I want to take out this time. That's the "norm" for a balanced, NH trained herd. But what's interesting is if I have a new horse in for training, something similar to what you saw there happens often--but with me involved as lead mare. Let me explain. I take my time introducing the newby to the
herd and I go over here how I do that, and my goal is to get them living within my balanced herd as soon as feasible, because that indeed is part of their training--my horses model good behavior, they let a horse know when they are out of line:
I usually don't turn that newby out into the bigger pasture with my horses, even after all the introductions are done like I show in the above link, until I know I can catch them -- or, more accurately: they have learned to catch me, come to me when summoned. So, I always start with round penning to teach them how to latch on, follow, disengage hind quarters at liberty when I've directed, etc., etc. Several times, until I know they know it well. Only then will I let them out into the bigger pasture with
the herd.
But once in a while there will be one newby that once in pasture, and all settled into the new herd, will suddenly decide to run from me when I've come to fetch him for a lesson. I smile. I already know this is no problem; it gives me the opportunity to remind him: I'm the lead mare and he just put himself to harder work without realizing it -- and...wait until he sees what my balanced herd does! I toss my rope after him as he's leaving anyway, and I reinforce the send-away
(remember: the lead mare drives a horse away to establish her higher pecking order). And I drive him around that pasture for a while, even if I have to hike a while to get to the other side of the pasture. By this point my balanced herd is stirred up and getting upset with what this new horse is doing. THEY know what I want there and it begins to bug them that the newby is not following the "lead mare's rules."
This horse is not going to get a rest, but kept on the driven-mode there
by me. What happens next always is: in his running-around frenzy, suddenly, he'll try to run to one of my own other horses (balanced, well-trained herd, remember!) to hide behind one of them, but my horses will have no part of that suddenly! They instantly go after him and chase him my direction (they know what I want there, and this, in their mind, unbalanced newby is suddenly disrupting the quiet herd's rules). One after another the newby will run to each horse, hoping for hiding reinforcements, but each horse
chases him back in my direction.
He begins to rule out that nothing is working there, he realizes he's working awfully hard there & getting nowhere, and he suddenly stops, turns, faces me like he sees the rest of the herd doing, and that's when I remove all pressure, my back or shoulder to the horse, all eye contact removed to show him: pressure off for right answer. Face me, acknowledge me as herd lead mare there, and pressure is off of you. Silent version of "good boy!" But spoken in Equus. And usually by that point, after
a quiet pause for him to digest the release of pressure for his right answer (remember: all horses learn from the release of pressure, not the pressure itself, that they did the right thing), I can then "kiss" to him, ask for his hind quarters to pivot away as I walk a wide circle around him (from any distance) and he suddenly remembers what he already learned earlier in the round penning session. And he'll sheepishly walk up to me with submissive body language (mouth working,
lowered head) and I keep my eye contact off him, my hand out with a "come here" gesture cue, etc...all he already learned in the round penning sessions (which I teach in my Round Pen Leadership DVD). And I get him following me and we walk away from the herd together (often
unhaltered yet, because I want the horse to rule out bolting behavior once & for all). He's choosing to be with me by that point, and that's all you want! They rarely go there again. But I wanted to show you that because...the herd gets involved in pushing the newby (or even a disruptive horse) to do what the lead mare said to do, because they strive to have order and quiet in the herd instinctively. So what might look like chaos at first, is actually very predictable, precise
behavior that is designed to get the herd in quiet working order again, and fast. Faster than a predator could take advantage of. Every horse's greatest fear in life, believe it or not, is: being alone. It's instinct down to their DNA to never be alone because they know predators pick off the lone horse. It's pure instinct.
So...the one driven away is going to think long and hard, to figure out how to be accepted again into that herd order (so he feels safe again & not alone) and that involves: signs of submissive behavior. Which is a quietly spoken, "Please may I come join you? So I feel safe?" And the lead mare will remove pressure off him in very much the same way I described in the above scenario: she takes some of her eye contact off him, she might start grazing again, she shows the horse: yep,
that was the right answer; be submissive, respect the leadership and pressure goes off of you. It works. The horse herd dynamics work remarkably well. And has for thousands of years, keeping them surviving well.
I really applaud you for asking this question because so much of learning to fully understand horses, and natural horsemanship, is about observing horses in their natural state, to see how herd behavior really works. Most of us NH trainers/clinicians have probably spent hundreds
of hours watching horse herds. Because the more you watch, the more you see. Actually...it's one of my husband's and my favorite relaxing-time activities here at our farm, always has been. We often sit on our front porch, or somewhere else near our herd, at the end of a long day, and just watch them. They are always communicating to each other and it's fascinating to watch. We also have a lot of deer come onto our property, especially at dusk, and they enter our horses' pasture all the time. Our horses completely
ignore the deer herd, don't even interact with them, but we get a kick out of watching deer herds (who are also prey animals like horses), because they interact fairly similarly with each other (even the fawns leap around and play with each other just like young foals do!). We could watch our horses in their herd for hours! You get good at reading horses when you spend time doing that. And you get good at understanding their very elaborate language too, and that always speeds along any natural horsemanship learning
curve.
I know this was a long answer to your short question and I hope I haven't bored you too much, but horse herd behavior is utterly fascinating to study! Well...to me!
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Question - Shot/Needle fears: Hi Sylvia. Have you got any suggestions on how to make your horse take needles better? My grey gelding hates needles. I call him Mr. Sensitive because he gets really angry at me when I give him a static shock. I can understand the ones that you can hear snap. Late winter here when it is quite dry he started to get all head shy around me until I realized that I was shocking him; after that I started grounding myself elsewhere
before touching him. My other horse was fine, didn't bother him at all. So if he is sensitive to static, imagine the nonsense that goes on with a needle. My lads need their teeth floated, so I would like to do a bit of schooling with them so that [sedating him with a shot] just goes a bit smoother.
T. W. - Ontario, Canada
Sylvia's Answer: Hi T. To desensitize a horse to needles/shots, get a practice syringe with no needle (the needle removed). Start off rubbing the horse all over the body with it so that he thinks it's just a "grooming tool." Take your time until he's comfortable with just that. I find that most horses that fear needles/syringes are not really so much afraid of the shot itself, but they associate that instrument with forced manhandling in the past. Horses
should never be "pinned down" or trapped or forced for the sake of getting a shot in them. This only creates future problems in this category that will increasingly escalate over time.
The long way is the short way. The time we take to break it all down into baby steps, to desensitize them to the process, will fix the problem forever. And this means: no force or manhandling. Gentle advance/retreat is the name of the game here.
As you are rubbing the horse down with the dummy syringe, notice where he doesn't want you to go with it and for now respect that and stay this side of that threshold line. Find a "base" place he is comfortable being rubbed with it (usually the back area). Rub and scratch him pleasurably with it. Once he accepts that, dart quickly over his threshold line there and just as fast, go back to where he was comfortable being rubbed with the syringe. Repeat. Soon the threshold line is redrawn.
Say your shot location goal is the neck area, where most horses receive shots...advance/retreat your way there via rubbing him with the syringe, darting quickly over the threshold line and retreating fast back to base (an area he accepts). Keep in mind that it is the retreat phase that the horse grows inner confidence, so don't be goal-focused there, but be retreat focused.
I also want to point out here that you should be ongoingly manually relaxing the horse throughout this lesson, whenever you see the horse over-tensing up. You can use horse whisperer "tricks of the trade" to facilitate that relaxation instantly (which replaces their tense, fearful state instantly) -- namely: use a finger in the corner of their mouth to "feather" their tongue, to get them working their mouth and also drop their head (both of which instantly produces relaxation in the horse,
automatically) -- I go over those two key techniques you need to use here, on my web site here:
Horse Whispering "Tricks of the Trade" - To relax horse, build trust & bond them to us
So...if I'm desensitizing a horse to something like a syringe they fear, I'm going to be alternating between relaxing the horse throughout, and using advance/retreat with the instrument they fear. I'm teaching them (or reteaching them as the case may be) that: you have nothing to fear in this syringe. I'll take care of you, and I'll also take care of your emotions for you.
By the time I've worked up to the neck (shot area) in desensitizing the horse to the syringe, using advance/retreat, I can usually now linger a little longer in the neck area, rubbing the horse with the syringe for a bit, before retreating again. I do this many times. Soon I can remain in that neck area just rubbing the syringe all around there with no negative reaction on the horse's part. Now I can move to the next stage of this desensitizing.
In this phase, I will be rubbing the neck area with the syringe and now I'm ready to prepare him for the "shot stages." (But pretending at first, no needle involved!) I pinch a small hunk of skin in that neck area just like the vet is going to do when giving shots, then I quickly release the skin and go back to rubbing with the syringe to keep this process pleasurable. Using this advance/retreat, I'll slowly be able to pinch the skin for longer periods, pulling a hunk of skin out that will be the
shot site, then releasing, rubbing.
The next phase of this desensitizing will have me pinching the skin and placing the dummy syringe (no needle) in place like I'm giving a shot, but then quickly releasing the skin and rubbing the area again with the syringe. I do this many times, many repetitions, until that is no big deal to the horse. Again, I will stop and manually relax the horse whenever I see that is needed, via my finger in the horse's mouth to feather the tongue & get them working their mouth, then dropping their head. I want a
horse on rational, calm, accepting mode here, so I'll intervene with those techniques whenever I see the need to keep them on that more-relaxed mode.
Soon I'm gently pinching the neck skin, pretending to give a shot with the syringe, using the plunging action on the syringe, and it's no big deal to the horse. That's a good place to stop the lesson, put the horse up for some soaking time -- The ultimate release for doing things right.
I will go back to this lesson a number of times, over days, until I see that there is no issue. Not until then do I want to allow for a real shot given. By that point the horse treats the entire ordeal very "ho hum" like. Not an issue at all. When it's time for a real shot, I do nothing differently there. Rub the horse a bit with the syringe, pinch the skin, but this time there's a real needle there. Do it fast, rub the area right afterwards (to erase any sting, though most horses rarely
have an issue with that part if you've done your pre-work like I've described). It's no more than a fly bite you quickly rub away for them. And end on a high positive via relaxing them again if needed.
Another little tip you can try, when it's time for a real shot, and it's something I do often -- horses can usually only think of one thing at a time -- so, right when a vet is ready to give an actual shot, the needle ready to go in, I will be the one holding the lead rope of the horse, and I will suddenly start scratching vigorously their favorite spot, like: behind the ears or under the chin. Scratch the usually-itchy spot with your fingernails, heartily, and they don't usually feel the shot the vet is giving
at all, because their brain was focused on the being-scratched itchy spot. But this is after all the above desensitizing is done, of course.
People get themselves into trouble in this category via being too goal focused and too forceful, only focusing on "completing the task," and hence getting rough with the horse there, they create their own problems in this category. When the truth is, the long way is the short way. Take the time to desensitize the horse to this process and it will be no big deal to them at all.
Give that a try. Be patient. You're undoing past bad training/past bad experiences there (human caused usually), and that means you need to back up and start over. Using advance/retreat, manually relaxing the horse throughout, and taking your time to fix this once and for all. And this doesn't have to be fully accomplished in just one lesson. With a bad enough problem in this category, you can break it down into several lessons, just making sure you end on a positive always in each lesson. Squelch the human
tendency to be too goal focused and switch to being retreat focused. Remember: all horses learn from the release of pressure, not the pressure itself, that they did the right thing. The retreat is the release, so do hundreds of retreats in retraining such problems as this, and the horse will get there faster.
I hope this helps and good luck to you there!
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Question - Pull-away bolting mare on the ground: I have a Haflinger mare age 13 who bolts. She is okay when I ride her, but has bolted with the kids. However, the real problem is I can't reliably lead her or even pony her. I will be walking along and she just spins and runs, 0 to 60 in a second, and completely committed to leaving. I can't lead her with rope halter and lead, chain and lead, or bit and lead. She just leaves. I thought for sure I would be able
to pony her off her buddy, but she did the same thing. If I am riding her and get off to open a gate, she is outa there. So if I go on a trail ride, the rule is I can't get off!!! EVER. Not exactly convenient. She is supposedly broke to drive as a team, but I don't know if she will pull that stunt then, and am not willing to risk it until or if I can fix this. I have 40 years horse experience, but am at a loss here. She is headed for a new home only in a ring if I can't get this solved. Any ideas? She is sweet
on the ground, well mannered, friendly, and good in the ring (though she does pull away when being lunged and does run off in the ring when led, but weirdly, good under saddle).
L. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi L. Thanks for writing.
This horse has not been taught to yield to pressure properly. First, let me direct you to a link on my web site that talks about teaching yielding:
Head Yielding - Teaching a horse to yield the head
But since this pulling-away (not yielding to pressure properly) problem has escalated so much/so far, I would want to go the "belly rope" route to reschool this horse on this problem -- I go over how to do that here:
Give that a try and it should help you get on top of this problem.
Hope this helps and good luck to you there!
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Question - Hand-grazing a horse while maintaining leadership: Sylvia, here in Georgia we are struggling with not enough grass in our pastures, but I do have a nice grassy place near our pond, but it's not fenced. We have been putting on your Natural Horsemanship Halter and leading them to that spot and allowing them to eat. But I heard that this is not good to do, and that it could cause some problems when riding due to the loss of respect. Is this true
and are we undoing some of the training we have worked so hard to instill in our horses? Thanks.
S. S. - Luthersville, Georgia
Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Thanks for writing. That shouldn't be a problem at all. Nothing wrong with on-line hand grazing at all. Just remain the leader and don't let them jerk you around there too much. You pick the spot to graze and let slack in the rope and let them graze away. But there's also nothing wrong with wandering along with them as they graze down an area and want to mosey along to another a few feet away. They sort out the difference, don't worry!
Just once in a while jiggle the rope to back them up, you picking the spot, to remind them that you are the leader there. But overall, not to worry!
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Question - What to do about the pair-bonded buddy of a horse who has to be put down: Hi, I've been reading your questions and answers about pair-bonding, etc. I have a question. I have two old horses that have been together for 15 years. One of them (a 29 year old stallion) has gotten to the point that we are going to have to euthanize him soon, as he is deaf, blind, lame on both front feet, and his quality of life is suffering. I feel
that keeping him on this earth is doing him a disservice at this point. I'm worried about my other old horse (a 28 year old gelding) mourning, so I thought I'd get him integrated with my other horses before his buddy is gone.
I have two younger geldings that I want to integrate this old guy into. He is fairly spry. The two younger geldings have been together for about a year, and are strongly bonded, one (Tennessee Walking Horse) is dominant, the other submissive. I've put the older gelding with the dominant horse for a few days, and they tolerate each other, but I wouldn't call them bonded. The dominant TWH seems to be dominant with the old gelding, although the older one still holds his own,
just doesn't get closer than about 20 feet from the dominant one. My old horse is still seeing his old buddy across the fence, and spends time on that side of the pasture.
I'm wondering if I should go ahead and put the old gelding out with the submissive horse now also? How would you handle this situation?
K. S. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi K. Know what worked for me in a similar situation? We had two horses/both gelding quarter horses, one mine (Gabe), one my husband's (Cody), and those two horses had been together as a pair bond for over 20 years!! They weren't just "pair bonded" but were downright "married!!" Well...last fall my horse Gabe suddenly died...he was 26 & had just reached the end of his life naturally. Died peacefully in his sleep, never
saw it coming because he was healthy and sound to the end (vet said it was probably a stroke or heart attack, but he'd long been warning me that Gabe was near the end of his days just age-wise). Anyhow, we handled it, was hard, but dealt with it. But Cody was suddenly plunged into SUCH a deep depression. He knew Gabe was dead, I let him see the body (because I didn't want him thinking we sold Gabe away or something and him keeping on hoping Gabe was going to come back). I underestimated how deeply a horse could
mourn the loss of a life-time pair bond. And I've never seen such a deep expression of mourning in a horse's face. It's quite a unique look. And heartbreaking to see. And though Gabe had been my longtime partner and I was mourning him myself, I didn't cry unless I looked into Cody's face and saw the deep sadness there -- then it would make me cry.
Anyhow...a week or two went by and though we had another horse (my husband's 6-year-old-then paint, Doc), and they'd all been pastured together, the three of them...Cody still was mourning the loss of his "life partner" Gabe. Since I knew I needed another horse for myself, I got to work shopping around for another. And I came across Sundance who reminded me so much of Gabe it was eery. Long story short, I bought Sundance (after vet check & my training exam). We brought him home and put him
in the round pen which overlooks our back pasture.
Well...Cody suddenly snapped out of his depression and ran to meet the "new guy." I introduced them over a fence for a while until I saw that there wasn't going to be a problem, then I let Sundance out with Cody and Doc. For some reason...this was the cure for snapping Cody out of his loss-mourning. He had a new horse to suddenly focus on (Cody is alpha) and "teach the herd rules ropes to" and that kept his mind so busy that
he let go of thinking about Gabe. From that point forward. And he moved on. And he pair-bonded with Sundance (though they're pretty much a threesome bond out there) and all was fine. And I realized that was exactly the cure to get Cody back on a healthier emotional track. It worked!
And that's my point -- as it pertains to your situation there. I don't think you're going to see that other horse WANT to pair bond with a new horse right now, as long as the older one is still alive. He's ONLY going
to be thinking about that horse, and missing him. From what I experienced here, I think you're better off putting the other horse down first, and...maybe if it works out not too messy/bad putting him down...let your other horse see him dead, because they know "finality" when they see it. And it does let them know: that horse is never coming back (again, that's really a judgement call & depends on circumstances). Here, Gabe died, just putting himself in his stall -- our barn serves as a run-in from
several pasture directions -- and he just laid down & died there. Cody saw him in there and I let him enter the stall and sniff all over Gabe's body so that he'd realize: Gabe was dead. Horses know "dead" when they see it, if allowed to sniff all over them. I made that judgement call because I didn't want him thinking we sold off/sent off Gabe somewhere and he'd keep looking for him. And that was the right call there. Didn't stop/lessen the mourning, but a week or two later adding a brand new horse
to the mix DID halt his mourning and gave his brain something new to focus on. And it worked.
I think something similar to that would work for you, too. But I have to say...had I tried to introduce a new horse in the mix while Gabe was around, like...if I was planning to put Gabe down, like you are called upon to do there (and it's the right decision, know that), I just don't think Cody would have given the new horse the time of day or that it would have helped lessen his mourning. Because
all he cared about at that point (when Gabe was alive) was keeping his pair bond with Gabe--and pushing any other new horse away so they didn't steal Gabe from him. But it did work AFTERWARDS. And it helped him to move on faster, getting over Gabe's death. He had to think about the new guy 24/7 and deal with him, and that's about all his brain could wrap around. By the time they settled in, the mourning period was over. Get it? So...that route worked really well for us here.
And that's why I
wanted to share that story with you, because I have a feeling it would work for you there too. Meaning: don't worry about trying to introduce the/a new guy just yet. Put the older horse down, let the pair-bonded one know that the horse is really gone (if that's at all possible), THEN introduce the new guy a few days later maybe. He'll accept it more easily then because he won't want to be without a "friend." You might try that and I think it'll work. I was just feeling my way through our experiences
here, but the route I sensed would work, did, in the end. So...just wanted to pass that along for whatever it's worth to you. Hope it helps!
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Question - Horse's sides are over sensitive to legs due to past abuse of spurs: Dear Sylvia, I just purchased a 7-year-old Missouri Foxtrotter gelding. He is my fourth horse. I have always ridden in a way that if I am turning the horse, I apply leg pressure on the opposite side of the direction I wish the horse to go. I use a light pressure of my calf. It is instinctive for me to do this now. My three horses all react in turning.
My new horse, though, is different! If I put any leg on him, and I mean a feather light touch of my calf, he reacts with a jerk to move out FAST. I believe this must be because the previous owner used spurs on him. So, I literally cannot put any leg on him on either side. Do I just continue to ride him this way, or is there a way to desensitize him, and retrain him? He is a wonderful horse. Thank you for your help!
L. F. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi L. Thanks for writing. I see this foundation hole problem a lot in horses that come to me, and you're right...I find it's usually caused by someone cluelessly using spurs on them (and using them wrongly!). And the horse gets over-sensitized on the sides, creating what can be a dangerous situation when you put a leg on them. And I'm seeing this more & more in the gaited horse world in particular a LOT, gaited horses that come
to me with that particular problem. Go figure. But the good news is: you can fix this now! You have to back up and fix this on the ground. I want to recommend to you to think about getting my Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System DVD set, because
I actually talk about this very issue in that video, and I show the problem it creates and how step by step to fix it on the ground safely. The horse I show in that entire video was a new horse to me when we shot that video and he actually had the same problem initially. I would say: on the moderate scale. Though I've retrained quite a number on the high-ballistic scale with this problem. The reason I'm recommending this video set for you, with this problem: you're going to get to see visually step by step how
to fix this problem, but on the ground safely. It's a series of things you need to do to desensitize the horse to this, and watching it all visually in the video will allow you to grasp it all more quickly and enable you to get right out there and start fixing this problem in your own horse. If you have any questions as you get going applying what you learn there in the video set, I'm happy to back you up in email if needed. I think it's going to help you a lot there!
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Question - Young horse brings head around when hoof-picked: Dear Sylvia: I was wondering if you could help me. My yearling is very curious. It's not really a bad thing. She is really easy to work with and is so curious about people. But whenever I go to pick her feet up, she turns her head and looks at me with a "hey it's you again! what are you doing way down there?" look, and she turns her head towards me to see me.
And when I move to her back feet, she looks back, turns her head to me and sniffs me. Every time! She has no problem with me touching her feet or picking them up, she just doesn't seem to understand that she shouldn't turn to look at me every time, but I don't really want to teach her to think that being curious is bad. Can you help me fix this? Thank you.
D. P. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi D. You are right to be concerned about this behavior and the horse needs to learn not to turn to you (and risk touching you with her mouth or biting you there) while anyone is working on her feet. Just gently show her the rules there. If she brings her head around when you are working on the feet, she is going to run into your elbow, which you can bring up and use to bump her head back over, to face forward and away from
you. Let her keep running into that elbow every time, and she'll stop doing it. May take a few repetitions of showing her that "bumping-into-elbow wall" but keep at it consistently and she'll learn the rules there. And don't worry, it won't discourage curiosity in young horses showing them the "rules" there, and it really is important for them to learn this, especially when young and impressionable, to teach them what we expect of them for the rest of their lives: quietly stand, keep head
forward & away from you (and away from the farrier) when their feet are being worked on. If she tries to do this with the farrier and you are holding the horse there, just take your pointer index finger and let the side of the horse's head/muzzle run into your finger if/when she tries to bring the head around to the farrier. We don't allow the horse to sniff the back of the farrier when he's at work, as this can easily escalate into them biting the farrier! So you want to catch them early on when
trying to bring that head over. Bump her head over (on her cheekbone) with that finger and she'll stop doing that and will realize: the only acceptable non-pressure spot to keep her head there is: forward, not bothering anyone. Be consistent and she'll easily learn the rules!
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Question - Mare aggressive toward herd mate foal: Dear Sylvia: My family and I have purchased many Spotted Saddle Horses from a local breeder. They are very reliable and have always sold us excellent and well mannered horses. About 2 months ago I bought a mare and her colt. The two came to our home and everything has just worked out wonderfully. The transition has turned out perfect and they both seem to be very content. About a week ago, the same
breeder called and asked us if we would be willing to buy a very young (2 month old) filly. Something had happened to her mother and she was already weaned at a very early two months! Despite the factors working against her, she is doing very well and eats about 2 lbs of sweet feed and alfalfa mix as well as forage a day. She has a very sweet and calm disposition as well. The mare & colt I previously bought had been in the same pasture with her at their old home and she and the colt share the same sire. Now
that they are all at my pasture, the mare shows a deep discontent for the very small and fragile baby. Even protected by a fence, the mare lays her ears back and lashes out at the filly. One day she even bit her on the back, bringing blood. I can't understand why she sees so much of a threat in this newby as to practically attack her. The colt wants to play with her, but his dam will not allow it. So I guess my question is: What should I do to integrate the three without harming the filly? Do you think that the
mare's disposition towards her will change with time? I'm so frustrated, Please Help!
M. C. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi M. This actually isn't that unusual for a mare to reject another baby, especially if she has her own baby at her side. You're smart to keep a fence line between them for the time being. However, I would want to get proactive there to start stepping in as the real lead mare of her herd (that would be you) and start schooling her on getting along with this new youngster, as it's going to be part of her herd in the future. Here
I want to direct you to a link on my web site to show you how you can, in very structured (and safe) lessons, start teaching this mare to get along better with this baby, and showing her that her aggressive attitude there is NOT allowed in "your herd":
In that exercise you learn in the above link, it would be the mare that would be haltered in this lesson. Give that a try. I've done this many a time to get horses better getting along and it works! Hope this helps!
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Question - Gelding bullying young filly: Hi Sylvia, I have a question in relation to my horse's paddock behavior. I am pretty sure you can help me with this issue.
I bought a paint filly late last year, she will be 2 on the 27 August 07. I had another natural horsemanship trainer start her so she was away for about 4 weeks. All the time I have had her, she has been separated by a fence from the other horses. However,
my grey horse, who is the boss, was always at her fence wither-scratching her while the other two horses were off eating way out of sight.
My grey horse is about 12 years old and is an ex racehorse; I use him for dressage and jumping mainly.
About 2 weeks I ago I teamed both my filly and grey gelding together in a 5 acre paddock. Both had rugs off and were quite happily wither-scratching each other with the grey horse giving her a little chase every now and then. To
me it looked like he would lay his ears back and she would just stare at him like that's a lovely face and of course he would give chase.
As I have been away and unable to supervise, they have not been in together again. I put them in together today which for me resulted in a day of yea with strong nerves. It really took persistence from me to allow this to continue as I thought the grey gelding was teaching her a few lessons on horse manners. The grey gelding chased and chased her
until either I intervened or he put her through the fence. As soon as I entered the paddock, he backed down as he has respect for me as lead mare. He was shaking all over and quite stirred up. The filly was also shaking and peeing herself as well from the drama which was unfolding. I would give a little time out while I fixed the fence and let everyone have a little breathing space. Then I persisted 3 times to put them back in together. I am afraid she will get put through barb fence
as lucky enough she was being pushed through electric tape which is on the old side so it would just snap; however, the fence was on and she would prefer to be hit by it then stop and let him kick and bite her. She did not retaliate one bit and sometimes would mouth submission to him, however he just kept on chasing her. I thought they would sort it out. However, things just got really out of hand and I had to put a stop to it. He kept her off water for most of the day also. She slid over
at one stage and the gelding proceeded to put his knees into her. In hindsight I am not sure I should have persisted like I did as I put him in his stable and she would not come up anywhere near him to be put into her stable for the night. Not like her at all!
The grey gelding generally lives with another ex racehorse who is 19 years old and a mare who is 11 years old and in foal. He is always driving them around the paddock and is really bossy. The mare will be
quick to double kick out and that seems to get the grey gelding to back off for a little while. When you ride the grey gelding out he will try and position himself in behind the leader and will be quite happy to drive the front horse.
I sat and watched the behavior for which she was portraying to have herself chased and this is what I saw. She would stay a good distance from him and if he laid his ears back, she would turn and trot away, then start eating again. The grey
horse would turn or just stand and appear to go to sleep. He would all of a sudden turn and chase her. I would step in after about an hour of this as there was no letting up from the gelding. The filly would just run away and he would chase; if she found herself in the corner, he would bite and kick her until she either went over the fence or got away, in which case he would chase her again. He is a blood horse and she is a quarter horse, so obviously she has no hope of getting away from him
as he would just run her down. Last straw this afternoon, he was chasing her and she stopped in the corner, which he then proceeded to fully drive her through the fence. He did not even slow; when he hit her with his chest, she tried to turn and get away; however, he still just drove her through the fence.
Sorry for the length of this e-mail. However I wanted to give you the full details of what had transpired for the day. I am wondering whether I should try my filly with the other
old gelding and the mare and take the grey gelding out of the herd for a little while. Solitary confinement for him?
Would really like to hear from you on this and what direction I should take from here on. I do not like horses on their own as they love to be in the herd.
Kind Regards,
T. C. - Gracemere, Australia
Sylvia's Answer: Hi T. Thanks for writing. I want to direct you to a link on my web site to show you a structured exercise you can try, to get this gelding learning to get along better with this horse/any horse. Clearly, he's overly, aggressively dominant, and needs to be worked on in this regard. You can read my link on this topic here:
I would work on that exercise for a while. You're right to not tolerate his over-aggression there one bit. There's herd pecking order behavior that is natural, but he's not playing fair there, nor playing by normal herd rules (he's not backing off when he receives the submission signs) and he crosses the line into overly aggressive bullying behavior, and that's where he needs to be schooled. If several sessions of that (what I show in the link above) doesn't turn him around, don't put him in with this filly.
It's going to do psychological damage to her, not to mention potential physical damage. And yes, I'd recommend trying other pairings there that are safer to this filly, while also working in structured sessions with this gelding so he can learn "the rules" better.
Incidentally...you mentioned something there that I wanted to bring up regarding barbed wire fencing: no horse areas should contain barb wire fencing. Ever. If I were you, I would lobby for more horse-safe fencing being there.
I would NEVER place my horse in an area with barb wire fencing. That's a big "no-no" with horses, and extremely dangerous for them.
Hope this helps and good luck to you there! | |
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Sylvia Scott
Natural Horsemanship Trainer & Clinician
Virginia Natural Horsemanship Training Center, LLC
Whispering Way Farm
3850 Horse Farm Road, Blacksburg, VA 24060
Email: sylvia@naturalhorsetraining.com
Web Site: www.naturalhorsetraining.com
Phone: (540) 953-3360, Fax: (540) 953-3370 | |
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