Week 13: Trotting under saddle revisited and goodbye Ollie

Wow! This post has been a long time coming out. Sorry about that, but everything went on hold for a while due to a family illness.

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Ollie started his week in long lines, the wonder bit (because that’s what we ride in), and his Barbie-sized saddle just to practice his giving skills once more before I hopped on. Happily, there was never a doubt that he could give and keep moving at trot.

So,up I got, and off we went…at a walk, ‘cuz that’s how we roll.

Ollie practiced all the simple things he knows at walk like giving to the bit, moving his shoulder, changes of direction, etc. Once we’d worked in both directions to check his committment to process and stretch him out with some shoulder moving, I asked him to trot.

On this first day back under saddle, I didn’t ask him to give to the bit at all. I just asked him to trot forward like he did in long lines. When I asked him to walk, I touched the bit lightly, and he bobbled up and down. So, once again, we worked on the down transition from trot to walk, and this time, thanks to his time in long lines, Ollie got it. After working in both directions, we hung it up for the day.

The next day, after re-establishing the trot-walk transition, we worked on giving at trot. At first, Ollie tried to pretend he had no idea what I was asking. Then he decided he didn’t want to, and finally he put his down for a stride. After being praised like he won the Olympics, he was a little dazed. It hadn’t occurred to him that it was really that simple. Silly boy.

So, we practiced this simple move in both directions and worked a bit on walking off without hesitation or backing, which has also been a problem, and again bagged it for the day.

On the next ride, I started asking Ollie for more. Asking him to give more quickly and fixing more quickly when his head came up. Asking for more give. Asking for more than a stride of give. Giving and moving laterally. Moving laterally into a give. Walking off smoothly without hesitation or backing. All the while, I was careful to make sure Ollie didn’t feel bottled up. Better to go too slow than too fast.

Ollie still wasn’t up to coming through, but he was learning that movement was easier if he didn’t put his head in the rafters. He had moments of trying to put things together where he would lift his front end, but since he wasn’t all the way there, like any young horse just learning, something would get stuck and he would break gait or stop altogether. (The western saddle was nice for the times when he stopped!) This ride, however, was really good, and we were both proud of Ollie.

On our final ride the next day, Ollie was putting things together and started to remember some of his training before things went south. He wasn’t beautiful, yet, but he could trot an entire circle giving to the bit in each direction. He also started reaching for the bit, took contact, and had moments of pushing from behind!! Oooo, this boy is going to be fun to ride!

Brandie and I were both really thrilled with the progress Ollie made this week. At this rate, he’ll be cantering in no time. Unfortunately, Brandie and I will not be taking him to that next step. After this last, really amazing ride, Ollie was off to a new home for further no-hurry training.

Bye Ollie! I know bigger things await your future.

Next post: A final update at some point.

Week 12: Back in Long Lines

So Ollie is re-learning how to have contact with the bit and give to the bit at trot without trying to break to the canter or pop up on the front end, and he’s done amazingly well.

(Of course, that’s not counting the day in the middle of the week where he needed to review everything he’s learned up to this point because it all went out of his head! We all have those days once in a while.)

When she first started Ollie back in long lines, Brandie put Ollie in a regular loose ring snaffle and started at walk before moving to trot just to be sure he was OK with the line under his tail and because we don’t skip walk. At trot, she just asked him to trot forward without asking him to give to the bit. The purpose was to allow him to bump into the bit on his own to see 1) what he would do and 2) if he would figure out that the bit was just there and he wasn’t being asked anything.

The first time at trot, Ollie was moving to the right, and when he hit the bit, he bounced a little. He threw his head up, took short, choppy steps with his hind legs, and popped up through his shoulders. But, he did keep going and settled down when he realized there was no pressure on the bit. Subsequent trots to the right got better, and on the third attempt, Ollie just kept going without a hitch. To the left, he didn’t really have a big issue, just an initial bobble.

The next time out, Ollie repeated the process of trotting in a circle without being asked to give to the bit, and he was great. Never a doubt and not a bobble in either direction.

Asking for give to the right. This is Ollie’s harder direction, so he’s resisting a little.

On his final work day in long lines this week, Brandie asked Ollie to give to the bit at trot. Initially, he had the same reaction as he did when he first hit the bit while trotting, but he smoothed right out, kept going, and got it really quickly.

Getting some give going to the right. It took a few strides, but Ollie got there.

Ollie’s surely not where he’s going with a lot of contact, but the fact that he can actually give to the bit at trot without popping up, taking funny steps or bobbling in any way is a big deal compared to where he was before he came to us.

But what will Ollie do under saddle? Stay tuned!

Next Steps:  Trotting under saddle revisited

Healing: Clearing the field & repairing the body

Besides the fact that just keeping up with my own life has made blogging a little difficult lately, I’ve also found it difficult to blog about Ollie’s healing. How do I explain something that’s so bizarre to most people?

I’ve decided not to worry about it. You can feel free to think I’m a weird-o. As long as I can see it’s working for Ollie, I don’t mind, and if you do, you won’t be the first.

In the previous blog on healing, I talked about doing Cellular Memory Release (CMR) work to release the emotional blocks and old patterns that Ollie holds in his body. By far, that’s been the most valuable work for Ollie.

Speaking in generalities because the details would take pages and pages to describe, Ollie has let go of a lot of the need to manage Tara’s emotions for her, but it has not been an easy process for him. By letting go of her emotions, he’s had to learn to deal with his own “stuff” and stand on his own four legs as an individual. He still has quite a bit of insecurity and fear around being without her/not supporting her–or any rider for that matter.

In his latest session during week 11, he told me he was really worried about what his future would be without Tara. He’s not sure anyone is going to like him. He believes he’s a lot of trouble, and he’s afraid he’ll end up back in the same situation he was in in Florida or, worse yet, with the same trainer.

The fear, along with the lightning strike at the house on the farm, had him tied in knots. We had never seen Ollie so stiff and sore.

As he was telling me what he was feeling, I had the most beautiful image of what his true self looks like. I asked him if he could see it. He said he couldn’t, so I took a few minutes to describe to him what I saw and felt from this image.

He was this glowing, solid, strong, mature horse, rooted into the ground in the most supportive way. I explained to him that’s who he really is under the emotional baggage. He took that in and pondered it for a while.

I explained what a healthy relationship between a horse and rider looks and feels like. How each supports the other without carrying the other’s baggage. I showed him how to manifest this relationship in his life by setting his intention to achieve it. Then I showed him how to process the physical symptoms of the fear and insecurity he was feeling so they could leave his body.

This CMR was another iteration of the work we’ve been doing all along. He gets a deeper understanding of how things can be and moves closer to his true self with each session. That doesn’t mean he can’t be triggered as he was last week, though. It’s normal to take a step back now and again.

Ollie has also needed quite a bit of repair to his energy field and chakras (energy centers of the body). As he’s let go of emotional blocks, his field has gotten stronger. I’ve also been able to clear and open his chakras more and more.

On the physical side, Ollie has received a lot of myofascial and nervous system work to remove calcium deposits and repair damaged or malfunctioning cells, and skeletal repair to remove more calcium deposits, open his spinal canal, and open the places in the spine where the nerves come out. He’s also gotten several energetic spinal adjustments.

We work with Ollie on a daily basis doing mini-CMRs, too. When he’s apprehensive or fearful or upset because he feels like a bad horse, we always take the time to talk to him and find out what’s up. Better to deal with something on the spot than let it fester.

Part of his rapid progress is because we acknowledge how he feels on any given day. He never has to be strong or stoic, and we never make fun of him for what he feels. Nobody likes to be picked on when they feel bad. Our horses are the same.

At the same time, we don’t try to get him to believe everything is OK, either. There’s no “It’s OK Ollie! You’re a good boy!” If he’s upset, everything isn’t OK for him, even if we’d like it to be. Acknowledging how he feels keeps him from spiralling. It also doesn’t  get him out of what he’s being asked to do, but it might change how we ask.

Each time something comes up for him, we have a little conversation to help him through in whatever way is necessary.

Clearing his field and repairing his body is making Ollie stronger in many ways. He has more potential than he knows. I hope he comes to believe in it before he goes to his next home.

Week 11: An off-color week

Ollie did not have a good week this week. He came in from the pasture on Monday stiff and sore behind and stiff and locked up in front.

Over the weekend, there was a lightning strike at the house, which blew out part of the house, started a fire, and fried the wiring. A number of horses were affected by it all week. Whether that was Ollie’s issue or not isn’t completely clear. He was also experiencing stress with ownership issues.

Tara has decided to let Ollie go to a new home. She feels, and we don’t disagree, that it’s better to cut the apron strings and develop a healthy relationship with a new horse. There’s no doubt that things will be easier for her this way. I believe it will be better for Ollie, too, in the long run. Working through those enmeshed emotional issues is very hard to do. Starting fresh can be much easier and healthier for all parties.

We did free lunge Ollie a few times, gave him some Bach Flower essences, and I did a healing with him. By the end of the week, he was looking much better, but we decided to wait until the following week to pick up where we left off.

Weeks 9 & 10: Rider up!

Weeks 9 and 10 are combined because we did a lot of the same thing in both weeks. Why read a redundant post when you can get it all in one?

One of the fun (?) things about Ollie is that we never really know what’s going to come up next. We were all set for me to get up on him, thinking that leading him to the mounting block and asking him to stand would be a no-brainer for him.

Nope. Not the case.

This was day 1 of standing at the mounting block and is why we didn't get on.

Ollie pitched a fit. He was angry that he had to stand at the mounting block, and he made sure we knew it. I’m not sure where this came from seeing as he’s always been mounted from a block. Possibly, he was expecting the riding to be difficult or uncomfortable. Whatever he was expecting was not likely to be what we would have been asking for or doing.

Ta Da! Mounting block mastered.

It took three days to get him to just stand at the mounting block. We made sure it was good and boring for him. He learned to give to the bit (still in the wonder bit) at the mounting block just like he did from the ground. Then Brandie put her leg over his back and asked him to give to the bit. (Brandie can do that because she’s a lot taller than I am, but Ollie’s height was a definite challenge!)

When he thought the whole process was just stupid and boring, I took my turn at the mounting block. I asked him to give and be still, stepped up in one stirrup without throwing a leg over, and after a few tries, swung all the way up.

Ollie doesn’t do stock-still mounting. He walks off. We could train him to stay still, but there are more important things to work on right now, and he’s not trying to kill anyone when he walks off. He is a lot of horse to walk off, though. One step goes a long way!

First impression: Ollie may be tall, but he’s not that big. He felt like he fit my short little leg pretty well. I wasn’t strained in any way to sit on him.

Second impression: Ollie is very immature, by which I mean he’s still a mentally young feller. He didn’t do anything to make me think that. It was just one of those feelings you get about a horse when you first get on.

Just goin' along on day 1 of riding. This was a nice way to begin.

The first night, we just walked a few circles in each direction with Brandie walking along side us or standing in the middle. Ollie definitely wanted to stay with her and glued himself to her at first. As we went along, Ollie got more confident and relaxed.

After just a few minutes, I asked Ollie to stop, which was no problem. When I leaned forward to hop off, though, he got tense and took three steps backward. I said “Whoa” again, left the reins loose and sat up, and Brandie stepped forward to grab the bridle if she needed to. He stopped, and all of a sudden looked like he clicked in to what was actually being asked.

I leaned forward and back on him several times to see if we could re-create the moment, but he was fine. I walked him forward a few steps, and leaned forward and back again, but nothing happened, so I hopped down.

Over the next week, we did a lot of the same process, but Brandie didn’t walk with him anymore, and we did changes of direction at the walk, halted, and walked off, moved shoulders (pre-shoulder in, shoulder out things),and had a couple of little leg yields.

Day 2. Asking Ollie to move out on the circle. He shoulders in this direction. Notice he's licking and chewing.

Ollie has a tendency to dive in going to the right. Not a surprise given the bouncy right stirrup. He tends to bulge his rib cage to the right. Most of the shoulder moving and lateral work was to correct that and straighten him out. He even let me bump him in the shoulder with my foot when he wouldn’t move off my leg like any good reiner!

Early in week 10 he showed that he would back up before walking off after a halt. Even with zero contact on the bit. We explored that to see what we could figure out. It didn’t happen every time, and sometimes he would step sideways like a baby when they’re learning to move forward under saddle. It’s something we definitely need to work with.

At the end of week 10, we asked Ollie to trot for the first time. Holy cow was that fun! Right up until I asked him to give to the bit. When I did, he popped up like he was going to take a diving transition into the canter. I thought, “Hmmm, that was weird.”

I asked him to give again and got the same response. So I said, “Ummm, we have a problem. He thinks canter when I touch the bit.”

Now, I was riding him in a light contact before I asked him to give. I didnt’ just surprise him by suddenly bumping his mouth, so it wasn’t like he didn’t know the bit was there. We had seen this behavior in a video of him before Tara brought him over, so while I wasn’t exactly expecting it, it wasn’t out-of-the-blue.

I asked him to whoa by dropping the contact, taking my legs off and saying “whoa,” so we could talk about it a second. Unfortunately, just as I turned to trot the other direction, horses started coming in for the night. Rather than create a situation where Ollie was showing a problem and being unable to think at the same time, we decided to bag it for the night. Besides, we weren’t going to solve this problem under saddle, anyway.

So, in Bit Basics 102, Ollie has earned an incomplete. He’s going to take a remedial long-lining course to learn how to give to the bit at trot and probably canter without a rider on his back and without making it into a bigger project than it really is.

One thing I’ll say for Ollie, he is rhythmic. Tara did a great job of allowing him to develop a nice walk and trot under saddle. I know some of that is natural, but it’s easy to mess up a nice natural gait when you ride a young horse, and Tara didn’t do that. Thanks, Tara!

Next Steps:  Back to long-lining.

Week 8: The saddle goes on & Ollie gets a test

Ollie and his Barbie sized western saddle.

Sooo, Ollie’s figured out ground driving and passed Bit Basics 101. That means it’s time to put a saddle on. Lucky Ollie gets to wear my 14 inch Circle Y western saddle. It’s hilarious. It looks like a lead line saddle on him. Yet, on the last horse to wear it, a 14 hand foundation quarter horse, it looked full size. Go figure. Still, it fits him well with plenty of room for his withers.

Brandie broke her own rule and saddled Ollie in the aisle in cross ties. Normally when introducing a saddle, she would do that in the arena for safety. It’s unusual to have her break a rule like a that, so I guess Ollie is the exception. We just have to make sure we don’t get lulled into complacency only to make a mistake later.

For his first trip in the saddle, Brandie took him out on a lunge line just in case he got silly. After a few laps on the line in each direction, she turned him loose. He bronced a little bit, which was both surprising and kind of funny. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see him buck and hop like that. Fortunately, he only had one go-round at it. They don’t always settle down so fast.

He got a little racy as he cantered around, which made the stirrups flop a lot. The right one was particularly floppy, and when Ollie went around to the right, it banged his ribs rhythmically with his stride. Getting spurred by the stirrup made him mad, and he kicked at it once or twice. We laughed, and he got over it.

Ollie did all his usual stuff while under saddle–inside turns, coming to the middle, and following Brandie. He moved his shoulders and backed up. He was a little clingy and touchy-feely but not bad, and he got over it pretty quickly.

The next time he came out in the saddle it was feeding time. He had a moment at the start where he almost got mad at the saddle, but a horse kicked just as he passed her stall and redirected his thought. He never did get back to the saddle as a problem. His issue ended up being thinking while working during feeding time–a problem any horse can have. He even went politely back to his stall and put his head down to get his halter off before going to his food. (Progress!)

Ollie has really made amazing progress. Rehab cases can take months to get to where he is right now. Since he’s doing so well, he got a chance to show his skills off with a stranger. A true test of what he’s learned.

Brandie first lunged him on a line in the outdoor arena–and he didn’t put a foot wrong. Then the “stranger” who is well-known to Brandie and has had horses for years led him around, and he tried very hard to do the right thing. She asked him to move his shoulders to make sure he would with someone else. He was perfect in one direction, but put his head up high in the other and had a few moments of resisting. Then he took a huge crossover step, put his head down, and started yawning and yawning.  When she asked him to move again, he moved over like he’s done it on command his whole life.

It looks our little Ollie is growing up!

Next steps: Getting on and Bit Basics 102: Responding to the bit with a rider on board.

Week 7: More long lining and Bit Basics101

Before I forget, I want to mention that Ollie still free lunges to get him paying attention, and he still moves his shoulder and backs up as needed. None of that has changed. Some days it takes more than others for him to click in.

Funny how a little time off over the weekend can make such a difference. When Ollie came out to drive this week, he was doing a better job staying on the wall and turning when asked. But, I noticed something weird about the way he used his neck. I could see him suck his neck back into his shoulders to avoid the bit, and on turns, he would bend his neck between C2 and C3 rather than at the poll and through the neck. (My reaction was ?!?!Gah!)

It’s important to note that the long lining was done with very little contact. It was really about walking forward and turning when asked. There wasn’t much bit pressure to make him use his neck that way.

What was really interesting is that while he was doing funny things with his neck, he got around his corners without slowing down. It was fascinating to watch even though it was all wrong. Brandie had no idea he was doing it. It was a testament to the fact that athletic horses can get away things they shouldn’t because they can push through it–at least for a while.

As his driving got better, we started to see a lot of the neck things go away, but what really seemed to help was a healing that I did toward the end of the week. (I’ll write more about his healings in another post.) By week’s end, though, Ollie was really clicking in to the work.

Ollie did have some trouble with his whoa-ing skills, which had shown up a little last week, too. He could stand for about a second, maybe two, and then he’d start shifting around. Brandie and I both believe that whoa requires full stand still, otherwise it’s not a whoa. Being asked to stop moving started to get him upset, but he made good decisions about how to react, and his stopping skills improved. He was whoa-ing to a full stop by the end of the week.

Earlier in the week, Brandie began Ollie’s Bit Basics 101: What every horse needs to know about the bit training. It turned out, Ollie was much more skilled at avoiding the bit than working with it. We suspected as much, and it contributes to his riding issues.

Bit basics are simple. The horse should flex at the poll and give to the pressure of the bit when asked and without resistance–either to one side or the other or downward. Everything else the bit is ever constructively used for builds off these simple movements. The movements are small. We don’t want the horse slamming his head to the ground or bringing his nose to his side. We just want him to give to the pressure. As soon as he does, the pressure is released. That way, the horse makes the connection that the bit means something. It’s not just an inconvenient piece of metal used to pull on his mouth.

I know dressage riders like a lot of contact, but that doesn’t mean the horse should be pulling or leaning on you. If your horse can’t give to the bit with a small ask, you’re going to be holding him up. Self carriage for the horse begins by understanding the bit and giving to pressure. If your horse can give to the bit and understands the purpose of bit pressure, all the flexing, bending, and lateral work you do to strengthen your horse for self carriage will be much easier and far more effective for both of you . Driving a horse up to the bit when he doesn’t know what it does is like driving him into a gate. You’re telling to him go and forcing him to stop. A horse that can’t figure it out or was never taught can get scared or angry really quickly.

Oops. That darn soap box came out again. I’ll lock it in the closet this time.

Bits are a little like shoes. You need to find one that’s comfortable AND does the job you need it to do. You’re not going to jog in heels, and you’re not going to wear running shoes with a ball gown. (And although you could do both things, the result wouldn’t be what you were after.)

Brandie first started asking Ollie to flex to the left and to the right using the driving snaffle. His first instinct was to put his chin on his chest and back up to avoid the bit, so she bumped his side with her hip to stop him backing. Then he tried to walk through it, and it took some pulling to stop him. Then he tried various combinations of forward, back, and sideways. Finally, he began to move his head, but he would bring his head way around rather than flex at the poll.

The next time we worked on this, Brandie started with a loose O-ring with rollers to go for a completely different feel. Ollie felt he could lean on that bit all day long and go to sleep, but he wasn’t resisting in other way, which was definite progress. To get some result, though, she switched to a wonder bit in the same session.

A wonder bit is a mild gag bit that we use not for the gag purpose but because a horse can’t lean on it. It will not act as that fifth leg no matter how hard the horse tries. And, it’s great for lateral movements. Right away Ollie started to respond to the wonder bit. On the first flex left then flex right attempt, Ollie did it, but we could see it didn’t mean anything. The second time he flexed, he lowered his head and the third eyelid flicked over his eyes four times in quick succession. Ollie got it. He yawned and yawned and yawned and was done flexing for the day.

Afterward, we walked him off and saw shoulder movement like we’d never seen before. His range of motion and ease of motion were much better. That’s another reason to do this exercise on the ground and under saddle. Releasing the poll releases the whole neck and frees up the shoulders.

After another couple of days working with flexing, Ollie was able to flex to the right, left and downward. He’s not perfect at it, but he gets it, and that’s where he needs to be.

In all, Ollie had a really good week. He did have two little problems going back to his stall, though. He’d been worked at feeding time every night. The first night, Brandie took him back to his stall with his bridle on, and he tried to throw her out of the way to get to his food. That was a bad decision. She couldn’t get hold of him to get the bridle back on as he kept trying to throw her out of the way, so she put his halter on and took him back out to lunge. He was really mad. Maybe the most angry I’ve seen him. He free lunged until he could make his turns and come to the middle and follow Brandie without getting lost. It took less than 10 minutes, and he went quietly back to his stall and let her take his halter off without incident.

Ollie forgot a few days later, and started to do the same thing. He remembered at the last second that he really didn’t want to throw Brandie out of the way, but it was too late. She didn’t accept his apology. He came out and lunged again for a few minutes until he could prove he was thinking clearly and then went quietly back to his stall without incident.

Next steps: Saddle up!

Week 6: Long lining gets serious

At the end of last week, Ollie got to lunge once in the old long lines with no bridle. This week Brandie started with a lunge line through the surcingle on the outside of the circle while lunging him off his halter with a second lunge line attached only to his halter. The outside line she held loosely in her hand. He was again fine. To prove it, she lunged him the same way the next day.

On day three this week, Ollie moved to full driving priveleges, which meant he was off the circle and Brandie was walking behind him doing straight lines and arcs on and off the wall. The lines were still attached to the halter, and he was without a bridle.

The next day, Ollie got to wear a bridle (the Poco Bueno!) under his halter. Brandie started him on the halter, and because he was still doing well, she switched the lines to bit and began to drive him off the bit.

Working off the bit brought up a whole new set of issues. He had trouble following the wall, and to use Brandie’s expression, going down the center line was a goat rodeo. He suddenly couldn’t make a straight line for anything and would have been happy doing nothing but circles. He really had no idea that the bit had a purpose.

The next trip out was better, but Ollie was definitely needing time being driven off the  bit before moving on.

Now, having said that his driving-off-the-bit skills needed work, I’d also like to say in Ollie’s defense that he really did move through the steps of ground driving really quickly. Brandie commented that back in her Arabian days, she had a horse that went 6 weeks before accepting the lines, and she had a third lunge on him in case she needed to catch him. She didn’t say how long the rest of the long line training went. I presume it was a while.

Next steps: Driving from the bridle until Ollie can turn when asked, go straight when asked, and stop when asked. Then, when he’s ready, Bit Basics 101: What every horse needs to know about the bit.

Week 5: Graduating to tack & beginning long lining

Ollie in the Poco Bueno bridle. Isn't he handsome?

Ollie graduated to surcingle and bridle with snaffle driving bit this week. As Brandie says, he’s probably the first warm blood in history to wear a Poco Bueno bridle. I think he could start a new trend!

Normally, when Brandie starts a horse, she puts the surcingle on first and works the horse without the bridle until he’s comfortable in the surcingle. Then she adds the bridle and does the same until the horse is comfortable carrying the bit. In this case, because Ollie’s worn tack before, she put them on him on the same day. As usual, she put the tack on in the arena for safety’s sake. Not that she was expecting Ollie to do anything, but you never know and better safe than sorry.There’s no value in anybody, horse or human, getting hurt.

Oh, and all that “head down” training was very helpful in the bridling process.

When Brandie first put his tack on, Ollie became very clingy and kept wanting to touch her. It was clear that he needed to learn confidence while wearing tack. What he had learned before wasn’t directly translating to this moment. Those neural pathways simply weren’t there.

So, Ollie did his exercises just like before. He free lunged with inside turns until he was listening and able to connect to Brandie and walk with her without wandering off or being distracted. He moved his shoulder and backed up as a reminder to stay out her space and stop touching her (and to get better at moving his shoulder). He repeated these steps until he became comfortable and confident in his tack and stopped being clingy and touchy-feely.

With Ollie comfortable in his tack at the end of the week, it was time to begin long lining. Brandie exchanged the Poco Bueno bridle for Ollie’s halter and attached the long lines to his halter.

You can see how these short, light lines start to lift even at the trot. They really do trail behind at canter, but my camera can't get a shot of it in the indoor.

Ollie has long-lined before, but it’s been a while, and we don’t really know what his long lining experience was like. So, to re-introduce it to him, Brandie first used a pair of old long lines from back in her Arabian days. On a two- or three-year old Arabian, I can assure you the lines appear much longer than they do on Ollie. On Ollie, they’re like ribbons that float along his sides and flap around his hocks when he canters.

Brandie then lunged Ollie on a line (because you can’t free lunge a horse who’s wearing long lines) in each direction just to see how he’d react to having them flopping along his sides and legs and to see if he could stay between the lines. Ollie was great. No troubles.

It may not seem like a lot happened in this week, but having Ollie comfy in his tack is a hugely important for re-introducing a rider later. If he were to carry that insecurity when a rider gets on him, any insecurities he has about a rider would only be compounded, potentially leading to a dangerous situation. And of course, making sure he doesn’t get upset with things flopping by his legs is pretty important for driving him off the bit, which is also a hugely important for re-introducing a rider later.

Next steps: More long lining.

Week 4: Good steps and good decisions

This week, Ollie has continued to work on his free lunging with inside turns, spent some more time backing up, and is learning to move his shoulders without moving all of himself. Busy, busy, busy!

If I haven’t already said this fifty times, the point of lunging is not to tire Ollie out before we work with him. It’s to get him thinking and paying attention. A tired horse may still be reactive and not paying attention, and he might just get better at ignoring you or checking out.

The inside turns show if he’s really listening or only kind of listening or flat-out not interested–which he might show by not turning at all or turning to the outside. Lunging him faster or harder won’t necessarily get him listening more (although it is sometimes necessary, but not with Ollie), and lunging him until he’s gasping may get him to pay attention out of desperation, but it’s not likely to teach him much. (When was the last time you could really learn anything when you were gasping for breath? Don’t you want the person asking you questions to wait for you to catch your breath?) This is about respect, not dominance.

The true test, though, is if he will come to the person doing lunging when invited in, and follow as the person walks, turns, stops, and starts. A horse who’s not paying attention or is still reactive will wander off, be distracted by anything, or never come to the person in the middle when invited in the first place.

OK. Let me just get off my soap box and pack it away….

By the end of the week, Ollie was able to change directions to the inside while maintaining a trot in one direction and without stopping in the other direction. Go Ollie!

Ollie also discovered that this backing up thing is no big deal. Pretty easy, actually. What? Can’t everybody do this? Heh. Funny boy.

Moving the shoulders on the other hand, could be cause for alarm. What? Oh my God! Move what? Where? Does that exist? If I rear will you stop?!

Ummm… yeah. Silly boy.

Ollie learning to step his front end over while leaving a hind foot planted.

To move the shoulders, you move the front end of the horse away from you while a hind foot stays planted. It’s a turn on the haunches from the ground. The point of moving the shoulder is to 1) get Ollie out of your space when he steps too close, particularly when he’s next to you, and 2) to teach him to move to his shoulders while keeping his haunches relatively still. That way, you can move him over without him leaving and dragging you with him or leaving you behind. It requires thinking and coordination on Ollie’s part.

Ollie is used to coming around on top of you in a huggy yet insecure way as well as shouldering in to you if he doesn’t want to do something or he gets mad, so you can imagine this was hard for him. It takes away his security blanket and puts him under you in the hierarchy. Plus, he just wasn’t used to his shoulders being independently moveable–at least not from the ground.

When Brandie first started working with him, he went backwards, forward, sideways, swung his haunches toward her, and got a cross over step only on accident. By the end of the week, after some work, Ollie was able to take 2-3 crossover steps in front while keeping a hind foot planted.

And yes, he did rear a couple of times during this exercise. In this case, he really was trying to get Brandie to stop. But, he was unsuccessful and did in the end discover that he could do this exercise, too, even if it wasn’t perfect, yet.

This was also the week that Ollie has really started to connect the dots and make some really good decisions. He found out he could be told NO, and that was OK. His world really didn’t end.

Brandie also found that if you assure him he’s doing the right thing, he’s all over it, but if you don’t give input or leave it up to him, he starts over-thinking and throws in all sorts of extra movements. Is it insecurity or looking for confirmation of what he’s doing? Probably both. I’m betting we’ll see at least some of that go away as he gains confidence.

Lowering his head on command! Ollie had trouble with this one.

Finally, the last major thing Ollie accomplished this week was learning to put his head down to put his halter on take it off. Brandie’s been working on that, and he finally does it easily. He’s now trained for smaller people, including me because I’m pretty short.

The best new thing this week? Ollie gave us another way to describe the word reactive. Reactive = Thinking faster than the brain can process.

So, it was a busy week. Ollie accomplished a lot. I hope he’s proud of himself, because we sure are.

Next steps: Introducing the surcingle and bridle. What happens when Ollie wears tack? We’ll find out.