cazzy21 Registered Member
Posts: 1
(4/20/05 6:22 pm) Reply
hello everybody :)
I am Caz and have ridden since small, though didn't for many years following my amputation but have been back in the saddle for around 5 years now following considerable coercion by a good friend who owned a riding school.
I have owned numerous equines and currently have 4: I have a 16.2 bay Irish thoro'bred mare who is the apple of my eye and a real gem of a horse-proper 1 in a million job she is (well to me anyway), a Dales x Appaloosa filly who is now rising two that I've owned from 6 months old and 2 littlies that the kids ride and that we rescued a couple of years back, 1 being a stunning little Welsh Mountain pony and the other a verrry cheeky Shetland. I also take care of Sparky pony who is currently my one and only livery who is also a Welsh pony.
I rear, start and bring on youngsters these days which I find SOOOOOO rewarding not least because I love to do groundwork-an area of training which I feel is so often neglected to the detriment of the horse as there is such a lot that can be taught before they are even backed and I am REALLY anti the 'EE-ha jump on it's back and sit it out 'til it stops bucking' brigade!!! I also get asked to help with 'problem' equines a lot, but thankfully not so much these days as I rent my own grazing away from the traditional catty bitchy livery yard environment where I can hide away if I want to.
Myself and big girl have taken a well earned six month break because i really felt she was due a short turnaway, but have just brought her back into light work with a view to fittening her up to enter a couple of showjumping classes at local riding club level and beyond that who knows what else-I'll try and post further developments if they allow internet access from my hospital bed
I also taught my Autistic son to ride and do do some private lessons for friends occasionally.
Welcome to our group! I take it from your writing style that you are somewhere in the UK? It's great that you got back into riding after your amputation. That is a real inspiration to those of us out here that are trying!
You mentioned in another post that you are a left leg amputee but didn't mention if it was above or below knee. I'm so happy you're here and that you do alot of ground work with your horses. I feel that amputee horses must be extra careful with their ground manners for us to work around. I'd love to hear some of your lessons/training that are easy for us to do.
I am a big fan of the round pen lessons from trainers like Lyons & Clinton Anderson. But, many of them require the human to do alot of quick footwork, something that I won't be doing soon! So any good lessons that you could recommend would be greatly appreciated!
You mentioned being in the hospital - I hope all goes well and you are able to participate with us!
Best Wishes!
Ann
RAK amputee, Michigan
Western/Trail riding
Spotted Draft Horses
cazzy21 Registered Member
Posts: 4
(4/23/05 3:44 am) Reply
Re: hello everybody :)
Hi Ann,
Yes I am in the UK so all the riding and training I do is predominantly english. I am a left leg below knee amputee. I don't ordinarily use round pen methods in the traditional western way because most of it relates to 'sending away' the horse and if you have ever studied a herd you would know that this is an extreme punishment only meted out when a member has really overstepped the mark. I also happen to think that teaching a horse to treat a human as though it is another more dominant horse is a fools game because lets face it horses are not always very nice to each other and even the dominant ones eventually get bitten or kicked by one that will chance it's hoof. I use long reins which works very well although there are benefits to working in a more confined area such as a roundpen purely because there is less open ground for a green horse to drag you around if they want to play up lol
I could rattle on for days regarding training the horse but for us amputees I will try and condense some useful handling tips into a few short paragraphs which I hope people will find useful in their everyday contact with horses. So here it is, Lesson 1 of Cazzy's masterclass in groundwork and horsemanship for beginners and amputees
As far as groundwork is concerned I think one of the easiest and yet most important things to start with to teach a horse especially when we have to work round them and keep safe is to yield-simple as that.
People seldom credit horses with just how sensitive and bright they really are and how responsive to aids they can become with the correct training. If a horse can feel a fly on it's side to flick it away with its tail, why then do people feel the need to employ bullish methods of handling and riding? The last thing one should be aiming for is to end in a battle of wills and strength with a horse because it won't be very long before the horse realises it can win that game and you end up with an unruly bargy animal with a bit of an attitude problem-not good if you are wobbly on your feet anyway!!!
The first exercise I employ is simply that of leading your horse in either headcollar or halter whichever you feel your horse will respond best to and of course which will be the safer for you. As you walk along, verbally ask the horse to halt and as you do so apply pressure to the rope and hence their nose and head and the NANOSECOND they give even slightly and think about halting, you release. They may not halt straight away initially and it may take a few gos to achieve the desired response but you are ultimately teaching the horse that responding appropriately to that pressure will result in its instant removal otherwise the horse will just end up wondering what was the point of responding if you are still going to be tugging at their head 5 minutes later. If once they do halt they won't stand for long, simply repeat every time they go to wander off with you as many times as it takes but be careful as initially some horses may hot up and get dancy, but just keep it calm and don't overdo things in any one session.
Another yield exercise which is hugely beneficial in helping a horse learn to respond to ridden aids amongst others is that of yielding from pressure on their sides. You can start this by simply standing in the stable and pressing your hand to neddies side and using a verbal command such as 'over' (but make sure you use the same one consistently). Initially you may find the horse leans into that pressure, but as with the leading technique and initially being fairly firm with increasing pressure the longer they don't respond, the second the horse shows even the slightest yield you take away the pressure-do the same both sides until your horse learns to sidestep (not turn it's arse on you) away from that pressure. If it helps also have them in headcollar or halter so that you can guide them into not turning their head away as you practice.
And a third and also VERY useful manouvre to teach from the ground is reverse!!! Why reverse I hear you cry-well it's because once you teach them to back up on command then you have OWNERSHIP of that manouvre to a much greater degree and it is less likely to become an evasive tactic of the horse later on. It's also very helpful when leading horses through gates and so on when you have to get them to turn and back up to shut the gate At 7 months old my foal had already learned this, THAT'S how important I believe it is as with the other yield exercises. To teach your horse to back up, ask for halt in hand and then turn so you are almost facing them (but not quite as a young or inexperienced horse may view this as a confrontational stance). Take the rope in your left hand (as you should ordinarily have been leading with your right) and with your right hand placed just above their breast also apply gentle but gradually increasing pressure on both rope and chest telling him 'back' as you do so. Some horses will get very muddled if they don't know how to do this so keep it calm and don't get uptight if they don't get it straight away-very hot headed horses may even rear at the mere suggestion initially so care should be taken not to end up with an explosion on your hands. Again the simple rule that the moment you sense even the slightest yield even if it's only a slight shift of weight away then you reward with release of the pressure and of course lots of praise-timing is so important as with all these exercises-keep practising and eventually your horse will be able to back up on command with a fly's weight worth of pressure on the rope and most of them seem to feel really pleased with themselves when the penny drops.
I should just add that none of the above applies to shetland ponies-they really are a law unto themselves
Re: hello everybody :)
Have you very tried clicker training caz? We used that with percy as he wasn't very good at picking up his feet and it worked really well. You can use it in conjunction with the yielding techniques you mentioned as a reinforcer. We now have a horse that picks his feet up nicely but can't be ridden
cazzy21 Registered Member
Posts: 6
(4/23/05 5:33 am) Reply
percy
Hi Mike,
I've never used clicker training as such mostly because I've never felt the need. That said I hear good things from those who have tried it to address certain problems.
Percy is still bucking a lot then I take it? Did you try the Nuumed numnahs? Failing this, maybe you could try a cheapy cheap thorogood saddle which are much more forgiving and lighter on the horses back than a leather one or alternatively a well broken in second hand saddle-it may be that he just hates that stiff 'new' feel of his saddle. His complaining that he's not comfy could also be attributable to that full clip he had-as I said, the slightest change in sensation on a youngsters back can be enough to seriously rock their boat. Personally, had I been your instructor I'd have expressed concerns at his age and experience or lack of because novice horses and novice riders are a combination that does not often work out well in my experience, never mind if you have additional issues with your leg to address. Is he still on his trial period? If so I'd be seriously considering whether or not this is the right horse for you in the long term sad a prospect as that may sound, because love him as I'm sure you do, you don't need to be dealing with problems like this at your stage and specially not being an amputee to boot. If having said all that you are really determined he IS the horse for you and you are prepared to work through all these things as they arise then I really hope it works out well in the end. I hope all this doesn't sound too harsh or anything and I know I can be a little TOO brutally honest, but I also know it is no joke being stuck with a horse that is too much and a very expensive game paying livery for something you aren't even able to ride.
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