Changes of Direction on a 22ft line.......

laceyfreckle

laceyfreckle

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2007
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Essex/Suffolk
YAY I am SO :dance::dance::wavespin::skip:

After ages of trying to be able to do them....I now CAN! and it's nice and smooth too!

Just to explain changes of direction on a 22ft line means horse trotting around you, you then walk backwards and change the horses direction by flexing the middle of the horse getting it to follow the feel of direction from the halter then going around you again in the other direction.

I completed my goal of doing 4 in a row :happy::smug:

I have got a video but can't upload it until tomorrow.
 
shockblue said:
Way to go! Its a good feeling when you finally get something :) I found getting my draw strong helped me.
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Yes, found my biggest problem was getting Harvey to follow a feel without bracing or dropping back to walk so had to go back to basics a bit and get him used to following a feel from the rope just in front of me while I ran backwards a lot. It was something that I found really fustrating but now I love it! (It has also helped our 'follow my directions but please don't accidentally run over me' problem lol)
 
Yeah its about trying to get that balance of stay with me but not on top of me!

I use treats with Maya (as a reward) when I'm at liberty with her just to give her that extra incentive to want to come to me but I have to be careful as she does tend to get a bit over keen :)
 
shockblue said:
Way to go! Its a good feeling when you finally get something :) I found getting my draw strong helped me.
Click to expand...

shockblue said:
Yeah its about trying to get that balance of stay with me but not on top of me!

I use treats with Maya (as a reward) when I'm at liberty with her just to give her that extra incentive to want to come to me but I have to be careful as she does tend to get a bit over keen :)
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Lol, It's nice to chat to someone who can understand the fustrations lol. Harvey is very good at liberty but when it's on-line I'm not the most co-ordinated lol.

not sure I could use treats with Harvey as he gets a bit aggressive with feed (ok read that as I would get charged at with pinned ears). He does LOVE to be rewarded though and seems to understand that as he puts his ears down to be rubbed if he thinks he's done well. He also loves to work which is nice but hard work as it means he prefers to do things most days.
 
Im with you on the rope LF!!!!

Neither me nor madam can get the hang of ropes. I think mostly my fault tbf! But she offers much more when she is at liberty than on a rope. She likes to think about things and be challenged, but doesnt like to feel like I have total control - she gets aggressive when I use a lunge line! but will happily canter circles around me at liberty with use of a lunge whip as grass can be too tempting!

In a way it has also helped littles - as there are no ropes I can "lunge" them together, and he has copied her and no longer runs at me with a "why are doing this to me mum" Ive not be bad im sorry im sorry" panic face on. So am now also able to do it seperatly.

Now I have to work out how to progress his things like backing up. Leading we are much better at, but still have to walk everywhere like a damn windmill with him :rolleyes:. However can now walk with a feed bowl in hand and he wont run me down, so just need to downsize the space control aids.
 
Maya used to be quite aggressive at times (I couldn't circle her without holding the stick out at her head to protect me!!). She's fine now though.

I prefer liberty with her, I think it must be because I'm more respectful to her when I don't have a rope on her and she can just bugger off if she wants too (which is rare). She changes into a completely different horse at liberty I think I must have electric fingers.

Have you tried the elastic band/tie wrap on the halter trick? It makes you think twice about the pressure on the rope. I think I need to do it more.

He sounds like a lovely boy who tries hard for you :)
 
No not heard about the elastic band thing????

He does try hard, but has attention span difficulties - he doesnt get cause and effect and isnt very sensitive.

Like with leading I have to really look like a windmill to be effective - pushing him back he doesnt shift - I have to almost make him jump. Wheras madam I can verbally ask her to go back or beep beep and she will move (beep beep is out the way noise, she can choose where too, handy when laden with barrow!). Its interesting having two totally different horses.

He challenges me in a new way - even trimmer who wrote a book on horse behaviour was baffled by him! Clicker training just doesnt work, he gets occupied by hunting for treats, then panics when a foot gets picked up and then stressed about why thats happened out the blue then smells and treat and goes back to treat hunting or fly spotting, or eating...

But then leads the question, can you train a horse with no rewards as such? He just doesnt understand the link between a set task and a reward - I managed the touch train video with him because he wants to be where I am and playing with what I am - would ace walking under tarps or over them etc at liberty, but understanding a back up or move over or foot pick up is another matter! The only thing he understands is if he doesn what I do he can be with me, which is what he wants - which sometimes includes pulling electric fencing down :mad: LOL

Sorry LF this has gone way off topic... but find it all interesting :D
 
yes, he's not aggressive much anymore towards me unless there's food involved really. He is very 'expressive' but I like that lol.

Harvey likes the liberty better but I also thinks he see's it as a bit of a game. I have done the elastic thing between clip and halter and agree that is the way forward. Have also been told the better your liberty is the better your on-line will be and the better the on-line the better the liberty lol.

It did really fustrate me that I could get the change of direction at liberty a damn sight easier then on-line though.

PFB - Yes, I remember when Piccolo was little we had the space invader problem big time (ok ok so maybe I should have insisted a incy little bit earlier on that literally sitting on people wasn't right) but she was SO cute! Piccolo now has more of a 'pants to you then' attitude. She tries hard but if she can't understand it quickly then she's a bit 'well, knickers to it then' but she does love it when she gets it right :)
 
popularfurball said:
No not heard about the elastic band thing????

He does try hard, but has attention span difficulties - he doesnt get cause and effect and isnt very sensitive.

Like with leading I have to really look like a windmill to be effective - pushing him back he doesnt shift - I have to almost make him jump. Wheras madam I can verbally ask her to go back or beep beep and she will move (beep beep is out the way noise, she can choose where too, handy when laden with barrow!). Its interesting having two totally different horses.

He challenges me in a new way - even trimmer who wrote a book on horse behaviour was baffled by him! Clicker training just doesnt work, he gets occupied by hunting for treats, then panics when a foot gets picked up and then stressed about why thats happened out the blue then smells and treat and goes back to treat hunting or fly spotting, or eating...

But then leads the question, can you train a horse with no rewards as such? He just doesnt understand the link between a set task and a reward - I managed the touch train video with him because he wants to be where I am and playing with what I am - would ace walking under tarps or over them etc at liberty, but understanding a back up or move over or foot pick up is another matter! The only thing he understands is if he doesn what I do he can be with me, which is what he wants - which sometimes includes pulling electric fencing down :mad: LOL

Sorry LF this has gone way off topic... but find it all interesting :D
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PFB - Sounds to me like he needs you to be a bit firmer with him. It doesn't make sense but sometimes you have to cause discomfort in order to show them what is comfort. By that I mean up your phases a bit...ie backing up ..ask him to go back and if he doesn't offer anything then 'tell' him to back up and then go back to asking softer again. It can be hard with youngsters as you naturally want to be 'soft' and their friend at all times but sometimes it makes it hard for them to see what you want. The comfort should be a rest or you rubbing his head or being with you. That should be the reward. Although I can see why some people do use treats I have personally not used treats with either Harvey or Piccolo and still find it all works ok.

I used to think the same as you as I have two that are very different Harvey when i got him didn't like me at all so it was hard seeing he would eventually like being with me as a reward (although he does now) to start with his comfort or reward was being left alone lol. Piccolo is the opposite and loves people and kisses, we did have some moments where I REALLY upset her by sending her away from me but she has had to learn that I say what goes, not her...if I don't want her in my personal space she isn't in it simplez. But she still loves me lol. Her reward has always been a rub on the head or a kiss and lots of attention.

Skippy's mum I believe uses comfort spots....I remember a photo of Arnie standing with a 'comfort' cone under him at one point if I remember rightly
Skippys Mum said:
Tell me about the elastic please:D
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Basically find a bit of elastic (any elastic that is fairly thick) and tie it on to the loop of the halter so it forms a big loop under it and then clip your rope onto it. You'll find that you have to be a lot more 'respectful' in how you use your rope because you just won't be able to for example my worse habit, have too much contact on the head when asking for a hind quarter yield. It will make you softer with your rope contact. I normally use it when I think I can do a task ok and then I find out it's not as good as i thought lol.

Surprised no-one's branded the elastic yet lol.

Another idea is to tie a piece of thick cotton (something that will break fairly easily) in the same way and then if you use too much force the string breaks.
 
I was thinking about this last night (loser much?!), what issues might arise from not doing groundwork on a line?

Quarter yields etc I also do only at liberty. I can do it with a lead rope on, but I dont use the rope. We tend to do them at liberty, can do them with direct or indirect pressure - forehand yields are a bit less "well done". I havent tried them any further than about 1.5m away though.
 
Here's my vid btw :)

Afraid you'll have to watch the whole assignment as I did it all on one film but the changes of direction are at the end, the beginning bit is circling and spiraling in on the 22ft line and then again with a jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugv45l8UCYA

oh, and a bit messy (we're a lot better now) but PFB you might want to have a look at -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyr0ZzCZhss
That was our first level 2 assignment where had to show contact and no contact yields. Would have preferred Harvey to have a bit quicker off phases though which we have now 'fixed' I had to also use a plastic bag in that assignment but wouldn't normally do it with a plastic bag.
 
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i struggled with this or a while too. at the start he just went faster around the same way when i asked him to change - doh! he still does it occasionally but usually when i havent done it for ages. well done for sticking with it to get it right!
 
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