I had the third ride on Rainy the other day. This is not much different then the first or second. I basically made subtle changes that can amount to huge developments for the horse, and we as humans don't realize it.
During this third ride, I planned to make it short and sweet. I also was in a hurry, another mistake in most cases. I am a strange animal and if I am in a hurry, I somehow automatically "pause" and take whatever is necessary when it comes to horses to finish the job. I blame this if I am late for a date with my husband.
So whatever the case I had planned to make this session short. I haltered my willing pest, Rainy, Who always is in my back pocket when I head out to the pasture. I saddled and headed to the round pen. I always ride there, Why? So great you ask, I want the horse to always feel like they can move forward. This is so important for colts. I want to be able to go around in the circle instead of bolting off into the sunset!
During my session I intended to canter for the first time. I also wanted to test Rainy. I wanted to make the beginning steps seem less important and the later new steps the reward-able tasks. I turned her head loose, disengaged and turned her forehand on the ground, I also did a bit of short lunging. This didn't take more then 10 minutes.
I preceded to jump around like a maniac to test her ability to "find her feet". This is great cardio.
She was READY, I hopped on. We walked a bit and trot/gaited a bit. I am still riding in a halter mind you- never pulling back just switching directions. you never pull back on a young horse.... Why? you create BRACES!! Not the kind on your teeth. The kind that make a horse buck and rear, also many other horse problems that are really rider problems. Another blessing for the round pen.
Whats next? WE CANTER! Have you been told that you don't canter a gaited horse? Whoa Whoa Whoa, I think this is the most controversial topic and the most misunderstood.
Why do I canter the gaited horse? When they canter and/or gallop, there is a period of suspension that allows 3-4 feet to be off the ground. During this time they are able to redistribute their weight. This allows for better balance and allow for that hind end to reach up underneath their belly and pick up their backs.
Why pick up their backs? If they can round their backs they can begin to correctly collect, it starts from the rear and pushing it forward and reaching up underneath their bellies to lift their backs. FORWARD FORWARD FORWARD. This is step 1 for developing the muscles for collection.
This is an integral part and just a tiny piece of the large picture.
Why does the gaited horse need this? Collection? Whats that? Visualize above. Think of collection as holding a spring and compressing it. It has potential energy correct? If you let go it would "spring" out of your hands.
First we energize and develop forward movement in the horse, kind of coiling a spring. Muscles must be build and correctly placed in order to proceed to the next step.
Second the energy has to be controlled, the horse must be able to put the energy in the right places. ie, go left, right, forward, back. AND then do this with each one of their four feet. 4 X 4 that's 16 different possibilities I start off with with a young horse. I work all of their feet.
Did I mention the feet also can move up and down independently as well? In space they can move in different planes. This can be a game changer. This equates to collection.
Thirdly the coiled spring I mentioned earlier? How do we coil the horse? Well we use all of our aids to sustain that potential energy and only have it come out when we want. Kind of like a tube of toothpaste, if you squeeze the bottom (the horses hind quarter) and push it forward without the cap on, it just spurts out. This is what I want on the first ride but as the horse develops we slowly put the cap on and build potential energy while squeezing the tube of toothpaste. Use the seat the soft rein and our legs to coil the spring to develop a round horse when we want it to be round.
When a horse is round it can gait softly on a loose rein. Here is the goal for all my gaited horses. Gait Softly.
So here is Rainy. Just beginning her journey. She rides off at a canter, she spurts, because I haven't put any cap on her yet. She squirts off into a unbalanced canter. But she bucks once! Well that's just a completely natural reaction as her prey brain is telling her that I'm a cougar instead of her friend she sees daily on the ground. I don't want to yank her down with my hands on the rope- I could create a brace and she could buck more (plus create a habit when I punish or frighten her) She is frightened because I'm a cougar- if I punish her excessively she could be fearful of going forward.... I want her to free up and canter freely. If she is fearful of this then she is fearful of becoming collected! I definitely don't want that.
So for that buck, the energy went up instead of forward, what i do is reinforce FORWARD. I spank her in the rear end a bit. and as she is accustomed to moving forward in the pen when i push her from the ground in the center of the pen. she then catches on and pushes forward at a bit of a gallop. She becomes a bit more comfortable with me up there at the canter. I RUB her neck. She slows. I take a breath. So does she. She stops. She breathes, I breathe.
This concludes our first canter session! The up and down transitions really do begin right from the start. The horse feels forward movement as a good thing. They also feel how it is to get really mentally and physically energized then LEARN to come back down from it. Do you see how this relates to anything spooking, bolting, running scared?
Starting a horse is so much more involved with those first experiences. That is what I love!
