Caspar The Friendly Horse

KP nut

I'd rather be riding.
Dec 22, 2008
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Here we go again. Time to train another youngster: A 3 yo KWPN gelding. He is very sweet and calm so hopefully things will be fairly straightforward as he is ENORMOUS!

As he is so huge, manners will be especially important as he would just flatten me (not to mention the twins!) if he did not respect our personal space!

I always end up veering off training plans, but I am starting out with the intention of following the basic format from The Fearless Horse

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fearless-Horse-Effective-Training-Strategies/dp/0715323709

Mixed in with some Buck Brannaman as I have this DVD series:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/DVD-Blu-...1479301767&sr=1-2&keywords=buck+brannaman+dvd

So far I have been focusing on leading, backing up and on personal space. No real problems so far.....

I will keep this diary updated for anyone who may be interested in this work :)
 
Well I spent the morning gentling him to ropes and my schooling whip. Brannaman & Rashid approach this slightly differently to The Fearless Horse. With the Fearless Horse and other trainers it is basically desensitisation work. They ask 'who's training who'? If you trigger a reaction eg a spook by shaking a rug near a horse, many people will stop shaking the rug. So the horse has trained you not to shake rugs instead of you training the horse not to react to shaken rugs. So in their approach you allow the horse to react but don't remove the trigger until the horse stops reacting then you remove it to reward the correct (ie non-reactive) response.

Brannaman and Rashid however try not to trigger a reaction in the first place. You can see it on the DVD with a horse with problems allowing her ears to be touched: Buck talks about 'getting out of there' before the horse has even realised there's a problem. So he started at the neck, stroking and scratching and every so often his fingers brushed the ear but he was 'outta there' so fast the horse did not react. Slowly he spent more time at the ears but never so long that the horse got worried. Within a few minutes the horse allowed him to handle her ears freely. Both approaches get you to the same place but there is an elegance to the Brannaman approach I like. It just looked like nothing at all was happening! It's like the catching approaches. I like it to look effortless.

Anyway, my timing and my awareness of where the line between far enough and too far is not as good as Bucks and so I did trigger reactions and had to go back to option 1.. But by the end he was fine with ropes and a schooling whip all over his body, belly and legs and with them being waved around. So that;s fine.

Also carried on working on basic manners, backing up and made a start on yielding his shoulders away from me, both at a stand still and while walking on a circle. All good so far.

Introducing him to the family! Daisy is very unsure about this! "He;s a bit big, mum!!"

He's a handsome chap isn't he?

20161117_085620.jpg 20161117_092713.jpg
 
He is stunningly gorgeous and looks so sweet too.

I am very interested to read about your ground training, whichever method you choose, as I think this is something often overlooked by 'professional' producers, and I get the impression especially so in Ireland. I believe that often youngsters are taken out of the field when ready for breaking and the emphasis is all on getting them ready for riding. Things like having rugs on, leading nicely etc are just expected and such is the confidence and personality of the trainer that the horse capitulates. However when moved on to a less confident owner it might not be so obliging because it doesn't have the basic foundations in place.

I know on my yard I did a lot of my 'leading training' in private because other folks were like "what are you doing??" lol. But, even though I do say so myself, my horse has the best manners on the yard when it comes to leading and standing perfectly to be mounted :D

I also imagine (and you would be able to confirm or deny this having done it before) that having good groundwork manners in place helps when it comes to backing, because a) the horse has learned that it's good to do as you say, b) the horse trusts you and c) all the work you've done together has enabled both of you to 'read' each other and hence know what each other is comfortable with.

Good luck with him, look forward to reading about your progress together.
 
I am a firm believer in the value of groundwork and I agree it is often overlooked. When I was viewing Caspar, I asked him to yield away and then follow a feel onto a small circle around me. I wasn't bothered about whether he did it or not - I was interested in how he responded to a request he did not yet understand. The man doing the viewing for me interrupted almost immediately to get him to comply. He assumed I was trying to achieve an outcome so he wanted to 'help' whereas for me it was all about the process: Ie me asking a question, horse understanding I am asking a question and offering answers, me showing him which was the right answer, horse feeling more confident and positive that he is getting it right. And eventually the 'correct' outcome is achieved but that is just the end point not the whole point!

And yes I do think groundwork helps backing. It teaches horses how to learn, builds relationships and improves trust. I also think it establishes the handler as the leader in control of the horse's movements. If you can't control a horse on the ground, why would you be confident you can control him under saddle? I don't want him to pull away from me on the ground. Nor do I want him to run away with me when I am riding. They seem similar processes to me. Oscar can be a bugger on the ground and when we make a concerted effort to reinforce the rules and insist on manners, his behaviour under saddle improves too. When we let it drift, he takes the piss under saddle too. (Or to be less anthropomorphic: he takes control of the decision making about direction, speed and destination whenever we fail to show clear leadership). They are really closely connected imo.
 
I love threads like this and find it so valuable to hear the how people approach groundwork. The theme of some people I know appears to be to shout obscene words at a horse if it doesn't do what you want it to!
 
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Just to absolutely agree with you KPNut - tho you knew I would.
Remember the BHS leading into the stable rule - circling clockwise?
Was encouraged to start doing that again, and always. Just to remind the horses that we are in charge and they must have manners on the ground as well.

He is such an attractive animal - Harder to be particular and strict when they steal your heart away.
 
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Oscar can be a bugger on the ground and when we make a concerted effort to reinforce the rules and insist on manners, his behaviour under saddle improves too. When we let it drift, he takes the piss under saddle too. (Or to be less anthropomorphic: he takes control of the decision making about direction, speed and destination whenever we fail to show clear leadership). They are really closely connected imo.

I could not agree with this more. I spent six weeks on groundwork with Ziggy recently and it has made a huge difference to our work under saddle - to me as much as to him! I am so interested to have the opportunity to watch your work with Caspar.

ETA PS - how big was Thyme?
 
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@Jane&Ziggy, she was about 16hh or a shade under.

Caspar is big but so far has done nothing to alarm me. He seems very gentle and willing.
 
He looks big in the stable! He's got a kind eye, to me this is one of the most important things in a horse.
Enjoying reading about the training too!
 
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Thanks. Glad people are finding this interesting. Today;s focus is..... FEET.

They are a bit of a mess. Not sure if that's because he is a problem to do, or simple neglect. But I have booked the farrier and will spend some time each day handling his feet. I do feel a bit vulnerable down there! He will lift them but only for a second before trying to take them back. He is not good at balancing himself over the other 3. So my aim is to extend how long he will hold them up very gradually so I never trigger him trying to snatch them back. Failing that I'll have to use ropes to teach him how to hold them up while staying balanced...... but we'll see how we get on without them first.
 
I pick Cullen's up in the field. When he is free to walk off (he doesnt but he could) he feels less threatened than if he is tied up and it has helped immensely because he is all "Oh I know this....."
 
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I had to take the same approach to piggywig - tied up he thinks he can't stand on three legs, but can trim his feet up free in the field! Strange pony!
 
Day 8 with Caspar. Took some video of leading and backing:


He is good about staying out of personal space. He slows when I slow and stops when I stop but is not yet responsive enough when I go forward. He backs quite softly but leans on me a little. So now I am working on him backing in self carriage and straight. Have also done a bit more shoulder-move-over and he has understood that. Just beginning to work on circles which is more challenging as he has to yield his shoulders away then circle round me. Ideally he should keep his shoulder upright, not leaning in towards me, and his ribs yielding away round the circle. He is better at that after 2 attempts at it than Dylan ever got!!

Will do some video of that next time I am up there in daylight with one of the kids. I find video really useful as it is hard to pick enough up when I am actually doing the work with him.

Really am very fond of him already!
 
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