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 Sylvia
ScottNatural Horsemanship
Training
AUGUST 2007 NEWSLETTER |
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Events This Month
(Where Natural Horsemanship Clinicians Will Be Appearing)
Fair Grounds
Raleigh, North Carolina
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To see where other Natural Horsemanship trainers and clinicians will be appearing nearest you throughout the year: CLICK HERE
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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:
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EquiPedic Saddle Pads
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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
Dear Friends:
We have been getting so many letters thanking us for our Whispering Way™ DVDs. With sales going all over the world daily, it's humbling to realize that so many horses and owners all across the globe are being helped by our program. Here is a typical letter we received recently:
First of all a big Thank You to Sylvia Scott for all the efforts she put into setting up her Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System and producing these DVD's, including the Round Pen Leadership DVD. The system is a thorough, complete foundation training program. I wish I would have had her DVD's two years ago when I had my first go at training an untouched horse. Watching the videos makes it so much easier to understand and then do it yourself. Sylvia was coaching me via email across the ocean for many months. She kept encouraging, teaching and accompanying me through all my ups and downs in training my horses in Papua, New Guinea. She's
a great teacher and has an astounding ability to pick up the hidden problems - and gives her advice in an easy-to-understand way, not hiding away any "secrets." It's an unusual approach in training people via email, but it works! (-- and it's the modern age :o) !) Most amazing is that she doesn't even ask for pay for her Remote
Coaching! What you'll learn from these videos and her coaching is worth much more than the money you'll spend on the DVD's. It will change your way of thinking, about horses and people, and can bring you on the road to being a teacher yourself - for the horse and the human. Thank you, Sylvia, again for all the efforts. Without your coaching I would not be where I am now.
Gunnar Schillig, Papua New Guinea/Austria
New Video!
We are also excited to be in the process of putting the finishing touches on the production of a new video in our line, this one starring natural horsemanship trainer and horse breeding expert, Bob Claymier of Desert Rose Arabians in Hume, Virginia: The Whispering Way™ Foundation Training Series: Complete Guide to Horse Breeding, Foaling and Foal Training
Bob has done a phenomenal job in this new DVD set, teaching clearly everything you need to know in the category of horse breeding/foaling/foal starting. It will be a 3-DVD set (totaling approximately 4 hours) covering in excellent detail:
Volume 1: Mare and Stallion Selection, Collection, Exams and Breeding
Volume 2: Late Stage Mare Pregnancy, Foal Birth and Imprinting
Volume 3: Foal Care and Early Training
Daryl Scott, CEO of Whispering Way™ Natural Horsemanship Training, has done a great job with the editing and production and we hope to have this project formally rolled out very soon! Watch for our launch announcement in the very near future!
We all can learn from each other!
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Check These Out! |
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Singing Horses - Want to smile? If you haven't already seen this, check it out; it's amusing. Click on the individual horses & make your own tune: CLICK HERE
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Live a Life That Matters - I wanted to share this lovely message someone sent me about how to live a life that matters: CLICK HERE
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Horse Vacations - Want to take a horse vacation and see new parts from horse back? Check out the links on this page for world-wide horse vacation opportunities: CLICK HERE |
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Horse Problem Questions From You & Their Solutions From Sylvia Scott
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Question - Horse Eats Manure: Dear Sylvia, I have a question that I've never ever seen in all the many horses I've ever had. My percheron horse eats my standardbred's manure. This is unbelievable. He gets all he would ever want to eat. He is pastured and also gets hay at night. I realize that work horses eat a lot. But he has all he wants. Why would he be doing this? He also has access to salt block and mineral block. Help!
J. A. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Eating manure (or what is called "coprophagia") is common in foals a couple of weeks old as it establishes bacteria in the digestive tract. Foals are born without the bacteria that is needed to digest fiber and cellulose in plant material. Via eating fresh manure, the foal acquires this bacteria and is able to begin digesting solid foods. It is important that foals are allowed free access to fresh manure for this reason (usually
their mother's).
In older horses who eat manure, however, it often is associated with a lack of roughage in their diet, or a lack of protein or minerals (always keep a salt/mineral block in their pasture for them to lick and gain those important missing minerals). A horse is a grazing, herd animal, and if regular roughage isn't available 24/7 it will often start eating anything it finds, even manure, so it's important to provide hay or ideally free range pasture grass for them to graze. Or some
horses pick up this habit out of boredom, especially if they are overconfined to small areas and/or kept isolated away from other horses. Also, parasites inside the horse can trigger eating manure, so it's real important to regularly deworm your horse on a year-round deworming program, more of which you can read about here:
Your horse might also be showing signs of needing probiotics in his digestive tract -- probiotics are used to replace the natural gut bacteria necessary for proper digestion in the horse. Here's more about what probiotics are:
I think it is important to have a veterinarian rule out any nutritional deficiency issues/all the above, so check with your veterinarian on that.
Unfortunately, once some horses have begun to eat manure, many of them will continue to do so even if their environment is improved and the conditions that originally made them begin the habit are removed, so that might be the case with your horse there if everything above rules out.
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Question - Dominant horse taking over when working with another horse in pasture: Hi Sylvia, I love your newsletters and have learned so much from your site, I can't thank you enough. I have a 4-year-old gelding that I bought at auction with a bad wound on his hind leg. He had been picked on by other horses. I thought he would be a good companion for my young gelding. He became the dominant horse and is aggressive at feeding time, etc., but that has
been resolved and they play nicely now and know their order.
Now a rescued mare has been added to the picture. She was kept separated at first as she could hardly walk. She had foundered very bad and was abandoned on 120 acres. She is doing fine now and is in with the boys. She has become very attached to the dominant gelding and now that they are together, I have found her hard to catch. The other day I chased her round and round as the others kept her out of the 2-horse herd as I have read about on your site. They did not offer her protection and kept
booting her out in the open to tend with me. Finally, my dominant gelding became bored and began eating and ignored the situation as I circled around and around him. The mare eventually stopped and faced me and I was able to walk up to her as I have also read on your site. My mission was a quick application of horse spray and hoof dressing in the field. I had a rope around her neck and had her hooves done no problem. I was almost done with the spray. I was on her right side with my right hand holding the rope
around her neck while I was spraying her rear end with my left hand and positioned about to her flank. Out of nowhere, the dominant gelding came up along our right side and reared up on the mare's right shoulder/neck area with his knees in her pushing her away from me. He let out some kind of whinny as he did this. I let her go and they both went away and turned to me. I was done with my mission so I let it go, got my supplies and walked back across the field.
My question is why the dominant
gelding would do such a thing? Was he saying that he wanted her back now? They are always side by side in the field. When I first got him I tried working him in the round pen and he came at me with his ears pinned back. He threw me off guard and scared me. I made him walk around again and then quit. The next time he did the exact same thing right off the bat, knowing that he had gotten to me. I did not do anything with him for months and finally just decided to get on his back. He was well broke. First,
he refused to move and when I insisted he tried to buck me off. I held my ground and let him know he wasn't getting away with that and ever since then he has been fine. I don't work him in the round pen though. I just get on him. He comes to me in the pasture and follows me.
How should I have handled this new occurrence with him? Should I have approached them again and tried again to catch the mare?
Sorry this was so long but I thought my prior history with the gelding
might help.
Thanks so much.
S. H. - Sparta, Tennessee
Sylvia's Answer: Hi S. Thanks for writing. Well...what I would have done differently there is...when you caught the runaway mare (good job there catching her, by the way!), I would have immediately haltered her in my natural horsemanship halter with 12-foot lead
rope. For a couple of reasons, it's important: 1) You really don't have very secure control if you just put a rope around the neck, and the last thing I want to happen is any acting up or succeeding (release of pressure) for any of the wrong things. A rope around the neck can ask for trouble, a shortcut that's not worth taking, especially when you are going to be handling feet, fly spraying, etc. Think of it like: every time you handle your horses that they are in a lesson.
And I want them succeeding in each lesson, and the NH halter/12' lead gives you that teaching control at all times. I want full control at all times for things like that especially (foot handling, fly spraying, anything I'm doing where I want the horse to stand still for). So...I would halter there immediately upon catching.
Remember: all horses learn from the release of pressure what it is you want, or what it is they can get away with (as the case may be), not from the pressure itself. So I want to always set things up so that I'm given the opportunity to correct wrong behavior quickly (with pressure applied) and not be releasing for the wrong things. Letting a horse go accidentally for the wrong behavior is a release for the wrong behavior and that just taught them: they can escape, run away, listen
to the orders of another horse, etc. All stuff I don't want to have happen/don't want them learning.
2) Haltering the caught horse with my NH halter/12' lead also affords me an extra tool to deal with other horses around who might rudely enter my space there (or the captured horse's space). If a loose horse enters that/my space there unasked for, I can spin vertically about half of that 12' lead (the end of the rope) in the invading horse's direction to stop them in their tracks (even while the caught horse is haltered). If the invading-space horse chooses to continue invading my/our space, they WILL
run into that spinning rope end "wall" all by themselves, and quickly not like it, and will exit. When I'm fishing out a horse in pasture, other horses aren't usually allowed in my space there. The rope can do your talking for you there, silently. And they learn: you are the lead mare, telling them to exit your space. Why did the gelding do that? Because he could. He doesn't respect your space as leader. And he was trying to reestablish his highest pecking order there, with you, with
the other horse, via: moving feet. I really do think you would benefit from round penning this more dominant gelding. I would! High priority, too. He's learned to move your feet, and that's how they climb the pecking order. They follow an inborn rule that goes like this: He (or she) who moves the others' feet is higher up on the pecking order and therefore the leader worthy of respecting. He's learned to move your feet! And that's the quickest way to have a horse start disrespecting
you/not listening to you. It's not your job to move out of his space; it's his job to move out of your (the lead mare's) space. You gain control of their feet and you will gain control of their mind and better establish yourself as "leader" of the herd. You need to turn that around. I think you would greatly benefit from getting, for a start, my Round Pen Leadership DVD, because there you will see me teach round penning with 4 different horses of varying temperaments, and therefore you can see visually what I do with each, and I really think it's going to build confidence in you to then round pen this dominant gelding. He needs it! Bigtime. You wouldn't see me riding him myself until he'd successfully been round penned (and all that needs to be accomplished there, that I teach in my Round
Pen DVD) and they also graduate from my Whispering Way 12-Step Total Training System program. It's quite dangerous potentially to climb onto the back of a horse that you haven't completed the ground foundation on, including earning their complete respect for your leadership and
you in control of their feet, necks, entire body, safely on the ground first, before riding. That's how people get hurt, skipping all that. My program is 100% focused on safety, because without safety as our focus at all times with horses, we've got nothing. I really think my program would help you a lot there, multi-directions, with all your horses. And it will build immense confidence in you at the same time, for handling them. Think about that, because I can see from here what you
don't know and what you need to know, and you'll progress fast this route. And if you ever have questions as you go along applying what you learn in my DVD's, I'm always an email away for backup support. That's what my Remote Coaching program is all about.
Also...I wanted to direct you to a link on my web site, in case you haven't seen it already, so you can understand a little more about natural horsemanship and applied prey animal psychology -- my "What is Natural Horsemanship" section that starts here: CLICK HERE I hope this helps! ______________________________________ |
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Featuring Sylvia Scott
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Question - Mare with newborn foal won't let anyone near them: Hi Sylvia. I bought a mare last year as a girlfriend for my stallion who is very sweet. I knew she wasn't nice, but could see the owner was afraid of her and figured the mare just needed new rules to follow. Three days ago at 2:30 a.m. she had a baby in the pasture, and I got there right after the filly was born while the mare still had the afterbirth hanging out. She will not let me touch the
baby, gets aggressive, ears back, swinging butt. I didn't spend enough time on her before she had the filly, as I was in the middle of a farm construction project. Big mistake. Now what do I do? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks,
A. K. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi A. I'm going to send your email to our resident foaling/pregnant mare care expert, Bob Claymier, to see if he can guide you here. Bob is a great expert in this category and we are presently producing his new video on breeding, pregnant mare care, foaling, foal starting.
Bob's Response: Hi A. There is not a lot to go on from your description so let me ask a few questions: How old is the mare?; what breed?; has she had previous foals?; is she a riding horse or just a field companion?; did you do pasture breeding and run the mare & stallion together? - anything else that might help?
Without knowing a lot about the mare, it is not unusual at all for mares to be aggressive about the protection of their babies, especially if you haven't really bonded with them before. This aggression is usually quite prominent in the very early stages after the baby is born, but then begins to diminish within a few days to perhaps a couple of weeks. If the mare was not "nice" before the baby was born, you can hardly expect motherhood to cause a personality change for the
better. I am around all of my mares virtually every day of their lives and do something with them to make them comfortable during the whole breeding process right up to foaling - but I am still careful when foaling actually occurs because it is their nature (probably all mothers whether four legged or two) to be highly protective of their babies. As a nursing mother, her food intake should be increased and you might be able to use her feeding times as a way to begin to get her comfortable around you. If
you have the time, you might have several feedings during the day rather than just a morning and night - anything that puts you in a less threatening role and where she will begin to look forward to your visits. If you have something like a feeding stall outside that she would come into to be fed, then perhaps you could be outside the area but still reach in safely to stroke her a bit while she is eating. I suspect the more time you spent around the two of them, the more comfortable she would become with
your presence. Perhaps just bringing a book to read while she is grazing around you in the pasture, or wherever you have her, will help as well.
The unfortunate part is that babies learn a lot from their mothers, and if you are not quickly able to bond with the baby because the mother is too aggressive to let that happen, then I would be concerned about the learned behavior that the baby is already picking up.
I have a lot of factors that I analyze before deciding when to wean a foal (is the mare to be bred back?; how confident is the baby on its own?; is it bonding with other members of the herd, etc.?) and I have no real set time to do that. It is likely that we often wean foals way too early and probably should end up in the 6-8 month time frame, but if your mare continues with her current behavior, I would probably consider taking the baby off earlier than I normally do (maybe even 3-4 months)
because it is the long term development of the foal that I would be concerned about.
My sense is that the mare will automatically become more tolerant as time goes on, even if you do little to try to change her behavior - and she may even be grateful that the little critter is not pulling and butting on her as they can be quite demanding in their own right.
Overly aggressive behavior against humans, however, is not to be tolerated in any case, and you must also re-establish (or perhaps establish for the first time) yourself as the herd leader. I would give her the benefit of the doubt for a few days given she has a brand new foal, but I would not let her potentially dangerous behavior go unchallenged for very long. You can use a spinning rope or the like along with verbal and physical presence (you get bigger and more threatening) when
she begins to show her aggressive side, to let her know immediately that her behavior is not to be tolerated. I would probably do this in some kind of a controlled area so she couldn't just run to the other end of the field to get away from you - but still keeping your own self safe! I would further use the food and stroking - if you can safely - to reassure her that you mean no harm.
I would be more than happy to follow along with you over the course of the next couple of weeks to see if any of the above works. There are a whole set of things that I do after the baby is born, from dousing the umbilical stump, having the mare and baby checked out by a vet, ensuring the placenta has been expelled and the like, but it sounds like you really haven't been able to do any of this. As Sylvia indicated, we are working on a DVD training set that might ultimately be of
interest and help to you so you might watch for its release in the next several weeks. Good luck and stay safe!
-Bob Claymier
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Question - Moving horse to new location - is my horse too old for a move?: Hi Sylvia - this isn't really a training question, but perhaps you can help me. I have a 25-year-old 15.2h Appaloosa gelding that is in very good shape for his age. He has a bit of arthritis in his back end, but other than that, he has been healthy. He is ridden about 2-3 times a week. I board him at a very nice facility where he is on pasture during the day and in a box
stall at night. They manage his feed, vet care, worming and farrier programs for me as I work full time, and all is well. He has been at this facility 7 or 8 years.
My husband and I bought a new home a year ago that is much farther from my stable, and I would like to move my horse closer to me, but I am concerned about his age and how he would adjust to a move. I have found a top-notch boarding facility comparable to what I have now, but I am agonizing over moving my horse because he has thrived in the current facility. On the other hand, I know if he were closer to me I would be able to get out to see/ride him more. My horse is pastured with 3-4
other geldings presently, and despite his age, he still believes he is dominant. But I am concerned about larger hunter/jumper horses getting after him because of his age at the new facility. And I'm wondering if he would be "stressed" over an environment change, new feed, water, etc. I have looked thru several "senior horse care" books and haven't seen anything on this topic. Can you offer any advice on whether I could move him, or should I just keep him where he is?
L. D. - Internet
Sylvia's Answer: Hi L. Horses are more adaptable to herd changes than most people realize. That said, still expect a certain amount of stress in him, in very the beginning. But since you'll be able to see him more often at the new place, he'll quickly see that his world is consistent in that he hasn't been sold away and YOU are still there. But also, how you introduce him to his new environment/new pasture mates, etc., will have a lot to do with how
quickly he settles in, and peacefully. I want to direct you to a link on my web site that will show you the best way to introduce him to his new home/new pasture mates, in a way that will reduce the stress and ease him into the new environment better -- and reduce the risk of injuries as well:
I say, because it will be far more convenient to you at the new place (which has got to be a good thing all around), to read that link and work out a plan ahead of time, and go ahead and move him. He'll adjust eventually if the above (link) route is followed carefully. Keep his training consistent, too, during the transition. Meaning: don't baby him, but keep your "lead mare" rules consistent as before, so he sees the rules are still the same in the new place. Don't let your own anxiety about it
carry over to how you treat him; treat him the same as always. With kind, but strong leadership.
When he first gets there to the new place, lead him all around, making sure he maintains good leading manners -- more about that here:
...to show him all over the place there, but maintain your leadership at all times, so he focuses on your directions. In other words, let him see that his real lead mare (that would be you) is still there. And make his introduction to the other horses there slow, like I show in that above link. Going that route, they usually ease into life with their new pasture mates pretty smoothly! For a while you can go over every day (every chance you get) to keep showing him YOU are still there, and he'll
find that comforting as he settles in.
All that to say...I see no reason why you can't move him closer to you, which will allow you more time to spend with him, and that counts for a lot, in my opinion. :-) After all...your horse endeavors are in your life category of recreation, and what fun is it having your recreational activity too far from you to enjoy as often as you'd like? It will be good for him to have more frequent access to you, and vice versa.
That's my
two cents on the matter! Hope it helps!
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Question - Young horse acts up off and on: My gelding (who just turned 6, but is younger mentally since he wasn't handled for his first 4 years, but went through extensive natural horsemanship training at 4 and on) was supposed to be in a parade this morning, but when I went out to get him, he was jazzed up, even after NH ground work. He had seen the trailer hitched and didn't even want to join up with me! He is pretty moody about when he wants to "work."
While my horse was hitched to the rail outside the tack room, someone came out a door shaking a mop out. My horse about took the post out of the ground! So seeing him react like that to the unexpected ghost coming out of a trailer, I figured fly-away balloons and waving flags would spook him today. My club had done a parade practice with all things imaginable on Sunday at a member's farm and he was real calm about balloons popping, had the flag on his back, over his eyes, we followed a car playing a tape of all
sorts of wild noise, crowds cheering, nascars revving, bands, etc., but today was another story. My boy is an ever-changing fellow. No two days find him in the same state of mind! So we just go with the flow.
Since I had already hitched up, I decided to load him and take him for a ride anyway, so we drove to the parade staging area and I let the folks know we were bowing out of parading today. I had just planned on walking him, but just didn't think he was ready for that.
He is so good on the ground and does everything I ask of him in round penning, always attentive to my body language, begging to let me make his circles smaller. It should carry over into the saddle, but he has been real uncooperative the past couple of weeks. He's yanking his head down and pulling his neck to evade. He is so strong he almost takes me out of the saddle over his head.
It is interesting how for a few weeks he will be the "perfect horse." Then out of the blue, without changing a thing re ground work/tack, he flips a switch and becomes bratty in the saddle. A six year old flexing his muscles. Through it I stay constant, keep my sense of humor and wait for the switch to flip again! It always does. Any reason he is up some days, down others?
J. L. - Blacksburg, Virginia
Sylvia's Answer: Young horses under the age of 7 go through developmental phases (much like young children), alternating between equilibrium & disequilibrium. During disequilibrium they come across as more difficult, but actually, it's a precursor to a growth spurt. On the other side of the growth spurt is equilibrium, where everything seems balanced in them again. To understand this developmental psychology concept, picture a "terrible two's" child,
throwing tantrums, etc. In humans, that "terrible two" disequilibrium period actually occurs around 2 1/2, then again at 3 1/2. Lasts about 4-6 months. Then they are balanced again, in equilibrium, after that growth spurt.
Back in college, majoring in developmental psychology, I had a great professor who described it like this -- how development occurs: blocks are stacked up and those blocks represent learning that has taken place so far. Well, when disequilibrium comes along (normal
part of development), the stack of blocks are actually knocked down and a completely new set of blocks start to stack up again from scratch. So...development doesn't occur just stacking one block on top of another when they're young. Blocks get knocked down during disequilibrium and a new stack of blocks quickly begin to stack up. When they've leveled off to the new level of development, equilibrium occurs (smooth period).
I find that young horses develop in a very similar manner. When you're
seeing the suddenly out-of-character difficult times in your horse, and there's no physical cause, that's probably disequilibrium occurring. Just prior to a mental growth spurt. I've seen this time and again with young horses. And so many people don't seem to know about it and blame the horse. When the truth is: it's definitely natural horse development. Just on a different, closer-together scale than humans. Multiply a horse's age by 3 and that's the approximate mental developmental stage in humans, give or
take.
So...a 5-year-old gelding is like a 15-year-old adolescent boy in development. Not until horses are past the age of 7 do I consider them truly adults, and that's when they naturally start to smooth out and equilibrium remains longer.
Just wanted to show you that, because your horse is still a kid and not until he's past 7 are you going to really see the adult side of him emerge, and it remaining. Do we still keep training, honing, disciplining when needed, even during disequilibrium? Absolutely!
Setting boundaries and guiding them consistently at all times is all part of ongoing parenting, of horse or human child. Just don't take personally what you're seeing during disequilibrium. It's normal. It's expected. So very many people with horses under 7 try to treat them (inside themselves) like they are adult horses, because they are so big. But the truth is: they're still kids, developing kids. Your horse is still developing.
And you're right to ride out the disequilibrium periods just
like you are, playing expectations by ear day to day, month to month. Know that once he's past 7, if you've kept your training expectations consistent (whether he's cooperating at all times as you go along or not), he IS going to settle down and be that obedient horse who acts more consistent from day to day. But until he turns 7, you're going to have those days/periods where he's acting like a kid, bumpy periods followed by smoother periods. And this is normal.
I had another professor explain
equilibrium/disequilibrium using another analogy: picture disequilibrium as if they have shed an old skin, like a snake. For a short period they are "raw" as the new skin grows. During that raw period, they are more sensitive, more "touchy" to things around them. Once the new skin grows, they are back into equilibrium. This is all metaphorical as it's about their brain development more than anything. With horses, around 5 1/2 to 6 there's a huge growth spurt that really does remind
me of adolescent children. They've just shed their younger "kid skin," but now they realize, "hey, I'm really big," so they test those "I'm big" waters with acting-out behavior, at the same time they can be difficult or over-sensitive even. Again...picture a 15-17-year- old adolescent kid in high school (or remember back to when you were that age) and you'll grasp what goes on then -- super sensitive, but trying on behaviors at the same time. Keep remembering: they're without a skin
for a bit, until the new "skin" grows in mentally. So outwardly they might seem more difficult suddenly, but this is normal disequilibrium before a growth spurt into equilibrium.
Be around enough young horses and you'll see this phenomenon consistently, across the board. I've seen it for years.
All that to say, I'm sure your horse is on a very normal horse development curve. I just wanted to show you the inside of it. And you're doing everything right as a
"mom," reading him well and changing your expectations at times when he's in disequilibrium, because you see what he can handle, and what he can't. And working around that, while remaining consistent with your rules.
Just wanted you to see all that so you'd keep the patient button switched on. It's not you; it's his age and his normal development. They hit rebellious periods, during disequilibrium, and this is normal too. In a natural herd (like a wild herd), the lead mare and her mare
charges would be disciplining him nonstop during disequilibrium if/when he got out of line, too big for his britches, etc. So...remain the lead mare, remain consistent and he is going to move out of disequilibrium into equilibrium. If you get observant enough, you'll actually see the line switch suddenly from disequilibrium and onto the other side to equilibrium, because you'll visually see/perceive the growth spurt.
It's great you ongoingly have him around other horses who are modeling the
job he is to do. Just be patient when you hit the rougher periods and know: it's just disequilibrium going on probably and that is perfectly normal young horse development. Once he's past 7, things will all smooth out naturally.
Hope this helps!
Reply one month later from above owner/writer: Today my horse was a perfect trail horse in full equilibrium. From the moment I mounted and rode from the stables, he never once yanked on the reins or resisted where I asked him to go. Never once tried to evade any of my requests. He rode the entire ride in a loose rein, head down, calm and confident. Opened and closed cattle gates as requested. Stood quietly and peacefully when we stopped to meditate on the beauty of a creek in
beautiful rolling pastures with forested mountain in the background. Gaited with only light contact at a steady pace and never once tried to get away from me. It was one of those days where I felt at one with a peaceful, tranquil, serene horse. Complete and total harmony. It was as though our souls were joined. Heaven couldn't get any better than what we had on earth this morning! And to think I have this to look forward to on a consistent basis as he matures! Can't help but love my horse! _________________________________________
Question - Choppy trot problem: Dear Sylvia, I have a Norwegian Fjord and their favorite gait is trotting. But my horse's trot is way too choppy. How do I fix that myself without getting him trained by someone else? Also, when I apply pressure with my legs and ask him to canter, his trot usually just gets faster and choppier. I would try to post at my own rate, but I rarely use a saddle. Hope you can help! Thanks!
H. K. - Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Sylvia's Answer: Hi H. Thanks for writing. I think your problem there might be that you are attempting to teach your horse to trot while bareback, and your body is not moving correctly there as well, which I think may be producing a "hollow horse," meaning, the back is sunken down, instead of raised up as it should be for the trot. If a horse's back is hollowed, that will produce a choppy and hard-to-sit trot. It is preferable for the horse to raise
his back and round it, to trot correctly. If you are sitting tensely or too rigidly on the horse, this will make you bounce more, which, in turn, bounces on the horse's back more, which then causes the horse to hollow the back more and therefore makes the trot even harder to sit, resulting in the rider bouncing even more, cyclical-wise. I want to direct you to a link on the internet that I think might help you there. Go to this link and read, but especially scroll down to the section called "The Seat"
for you to see what your body needs to be doing there correctly during the trot -- they said it better there than I ever could: CLICK HERE
I think you might be better off schooling this horse in saddle, so you have a little more body control yourself, so as not to be confusing the horse. Work on all that before working on the canter and he should get less confused and progressing positively.
Hope this helps and good luck to you there!
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Question - Horse afraid after barrel racing fall: Hi Sylvia. I've been working on barrel racing with my 9-year-old gelding. He seemed to be catching on great. He took some wide turns and sometimes he wasn't sure about the barrels at all, but we were working on that. The problem came last week. He was going around the far barrel too fast and his feet went out from under him. I had the vet check him out, and he came out with not even a scratch to my broken
wrist and really bruised side. Since then though, he seems scared of me. He won't come when I whistle, and when I approach him every way I know how he shies away. Eventually he'll let me come, and once I'm touching him, he calms down a little. I'll brush him out for a while and he'll warm up to me like he always did. I haven't ridden much this week, as my arm is in a cast, but when I did saddle him up, he seemed really nervous, which is really odd for him because he normally falls asleep. I walked him for a while
and he was still a little jumpy, so I got on to see if that would help. It did for a while; when he felt me relaxed in the saddle he was ok. When we went down by the field where I have the barrels set up, the instant he saw them, he froze. I calmly walked him around for a couple of hours and we got closer to the barrels, but he was still jumpy and eyeing them the whole time. I put him back in the pasture when I was done riding and ten minutes later he seemed scared of me again. I feel like I'm getting nowhere;
now every time I do anything with him I have to start from the beginning and as soon as it's over, we're back at square one. I haven't tried anything new since we fell, so I am really not sure what he's worked up about. This really bothers me since we were like best friends, riding for hours every day and enjoying every minute of it. Now I have to work just to get him to accept me. If you could help me figure this out, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
H. G. - Coudersport, Pennsylvania
Sylvia's Answer: Hi H. Ouch! Sorry to hear you broke your wrist. What's happening there is your horse is somewhat traumatized by the fall (and probably by seeing you get hurt, too). He's afraid it'll happen again. You're right to just keep slowly walking him through things patiently, so he can see that nothing bad is going to happen. That'll take some time, I'm sure. But there are also a couple of things I wanted to suggest to help you there, to
get on top of his emotions.
First...for on the ground when you first get him out of pasture, use some "horse whispering" bonding techniques, which will instantly relax him and will break into his stress response, short circuiting them. I'm going to direct you to a link on my web site that will show you these techniques -- especially focus in on these two: 1) the finger in the mouth to feather the tongue, which gets them working their mouth and 2) dropping the head -- both those two
done in succession will instantly manually relax him:
Every time he's tense on the ground there, do those techniques immediately. It'll stop his stressful response immediately.
Now for in saddle when he's showing that stress reaction, plant into his foundation the one-rein stop/safety bonding zone. I go over here how to build that into a horse's foundation:
Do it often if/when you see him tense in saddle and he's going to start settling down there and letting go of his fears.
Give all that a try and I think you'll get back on track soon!
By the way...I smiled when you said you got on him, arm cast and all. Ah, what a horsewoman! :-) I once rode my horse with a leg cast on from a broken leg. Just couldn't stand waiting the 6 weeks for the cast to come off (non-horse related accident break). And my
horse took good care of me, even with me in a leg cast. Are we horse addicted or what?! LOL
Hope all this helps and good luck to you there! | |
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Sylvia Scott
Whispering Way™ Natural Horsemanship Training
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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