I thought that after my anti-napping lesson on Monday I should take Sid out for a hack and give him a bit more exposure to things, any things really. So we did that today and WOW I am glad I had that lesson.
First up we set off down the lane where the lesson took place. The builders were working at the top of the bank on the left, with giant diggers beeping their reversing signals and things going crash and bang, and on the right there was a really, really scary pile of leaves at the top of the bank. These are normal obstacles at this point in the lane, and he's gone through many times before without a qualm. This time though Sid stopped. he would not go. He went backwards. He tried to turn. Then of course a bloody car came and I had to turn him for home just to get him out of the way and represent him! He stuck again, same place. It's interesting letting a horse have its head when it is running backwards, but I do see the point - any pressure on the rein only makes it worse. Turning is different, I have to block that with the rein. But he knew what I wanted - every time he took that forward step I praised him, and in between going backwards and even giving the tiniest mini-rear (he is too heavy for good rearing, I think) he showed that he knew what was expected. He just wouldn't go.
I had my schooling whip with me, and I am not proud to say that I did use it. When he went from forward motion to backward I smacked him just behind my right leg (he was trying to turn right). I did it on 3 occasions, not hard, but he felt it. And after the 3rd time he lowered his head and walked on through. I felt bad, but since he gets praise and reinforcement when he does right, I thought that a sanction when he did wrong was justifiable, though I hope I don't have to do it again.
I gave him loads of praise and his head free as we went up the hill, and things carried on as normal. But he was on high alert. We went down one lane which is closed, and Thames Water had blocked it all but a 3ft gap with those big blue barriers. Those were very scary. This time, with a new obstacle, I thought his anxiety was understandable and I took the alternative approach, which is to get off and lead him coaxingly past it. That went just fine.
Then I led him down the lane until I found a place to mount. He stood perfectly, good boy. We went over the level crossing - that was spooky - and I was going to ride him along the pavement for the 5 minutes we needed to go along the main road. But the pavement was next to spooky things! Ponds, blue tarpaulins, cement mixers - in his febrile state he ended up offering to back off the pavement onto the road a couple of times, which was flat out dangerous, so we went on to the road instead, where he behaved perfectly with cars, buses, lorries and bin lorries going by.
Back up the bridlepath to our Heath and we were heading for home. He relaxed, very obviously. And then - just when we thought it was safe! - on the last open stretch of heath a big group of people with enormous white rubble bags were burning giant heaps of clippings. Fortunately the wind took the smoke away from us. Sid stopped, but he went on when I asked, no intervention required. I halted him near the fire to have a look, and he gave 2 big snorts to say it was definitely a dragon.
Homeward bound through the first spooky bit of lane he was very good and got lots of praise. And then we were home in the field and he was in a rare muck sweat. I washed him off and gave him a massage on his neck and withers and girth, which he seemed to appreciate very much. In fact he was affectionate. I am still not sure that I understand how his mind works!
First up we set off down the lane where the lesson took place. The builders were working at the top of the bank on the left, with giant diggers beeping their reversing signals and things going crash and bang, and on the right there was a really, really scary pile of leaves at the top of the bank. These are normal obstacles at this point in the lane, and he's gone through many times before without a qualm. This time though Sid stopped. he would not go. He went backwards. He tried to turn. Then of course a bloody car came and I had to turn him for home just to get him out of the way and represent him! He stuck again, same place. It's interesting letting a horse have its head when it is running backwards, but I do see the point - any pressure on the rein only makes it worse. Turning is different, I have to block that with the rein. But he knew what I wanted - every time he took that forward step I praised him, and in between going backwards and even giving the tiniest mini-rear (he is too heavy for good rearing, I think) he showed that he knew what was expected. He just wouldn't go.
I had my schooling whip with me, and I am not proud to say that I did use it. When he went from forward motion to backward I smacked him just behind my right leg (he was trying to turn right). I did it on 3 occasions, not hard, but he felt it. And after the 3rd time he lowered his head and walked on through. I felt bad, but since he gets praise and reinforcement when he does right, I thought that a sanction when he did wrong was justifiable, though I hope I don't have to do it again.
I gave him loads of praise and his head free as we went up the hill, and things carried on as normal. But he was on high alert. We went down one lane which is closed, and Thames Water had blocked it all but a 3ft gap with those big blue barriers. Those were very scary. This time, with a new obstacle, I thought his anxiety was understandable and I took the alternative approach, which is to get off and lead him coaxingly past it. That went just fine.
Then I led him down the lane until I found a place to mount. He stood perfectly, good boy. We went over the level crossing - that was spooky - and I was going to ride him along the pavement for the 5 minutes we needed to go along the main road. But the pavement was next to spooky things! Ponds, blue tarpaulins, cement mixers - in his febrile state he ended up offering to back off the pavement onto the road a couple of times, which was flat out dangerous, so we went on to the road instead, where he behaved perfectly with cars, buses, lorries and bin lorries going by.
Back up the bridlepath to our Heath and we were heading for home. He relaxed, very obviously. And then - just when we thought it was safe! - on the last open stretch of heath a big group of people with enormous white rubble bags were burning giant heaps of clippings. Fortunately the wind took the smoke away from us. Sid stopped, but he went on when I asked, no intervention required. I halted him near the fire to have a look, and he gave 2 big snorts to say it was definitely a dragon.
Homeward bound through the first spooky bit of lane he was very good and got lots of praise. And then we were home in the field and he was in a rare muck sweat. I washed him off and gave him a massage on his neck and withers and girth, which he seemed to appreciate very much. In fact he was affectionate. I am still not sure that I understand how his mind works!
