EVIDENCE OF OUR SUCCESS!!

I used my helmet cam to video my ride on Whisper yesterday. It was a great ride, and when I went to edit it, I saw something very amazing. Whisper's ears were almost always on me! This may not seem exciting to a lot of people, but that is evidence that Whisper is looking to me as her leader, and waiting for me to direct her, and is LISTENING to me and for me! I attribute this turnaround in her to clicker training and TTouch methods by Linda Tellington Jones. I will have to be honest and tell you I used to poo-poo the TTouch methods when I first heard about them. It honestly was out of sheer desperation that I bought her book, "The Ultimate Horse Behavior and Training Book" read it cover to cover, and started applying her methods. It is amazing how certain touches can bond a horse to you and strengthen your relationship. Instead of butting heads and fighting with a 1000 lb. animal, we are on the same page and working as partners, both of us enjoying the other. Here is our video:



You probably noticed Whisper slinging her head near the end of the video. This is her expressing her frustration at having to be behind Fireman. Keep in mind, this was a mare who would not go forward unless she was on another horse's butt! And previous to this ride, when she got frustrated at being behind another horse, she would buck! So, since this ride was to be for Fireman's problem, I knew I was going to be behind at times, so I put the Promise Wrap around Whisper before we headed out on the trail. You can see the Promise Wrap on her at the end of the ride at the end of the video. It did stretch out a bit on the ride, and I will not ride with it that loose again, but the Promise Wrap kept her from bucking out of frustration. A little head slinging was her only expression of her frustration.

As to Fireman's problem, he has been having ants in his pants lately. I attribute a lot of his antsyness (as well as that of my horses) to being on an all alfalfa diet. And as much as I would love to cut down on the alfalfa hay and feed more grass hay such as Timothy, we live in alfalfa country and that is all I can get. Since alfalfa is not nutritionally balanced, Mom's horse, Fireman, as well as my own, have been receiving a mineral supplement that includes magnesium. It is a fact that a lack of magnesium in the diet can make a horse antsy, spooky, and "hot and racey". Fireman had been on his daily supplement for 2 weeks, and we wanted a positive experience, so we let him stay in the front. That is where he is happiest. He did fantastic and did not have as much ants in his pants as he did prior to his supplement, so I can only expect him to get better.

Moral of the story:
Don't blame the horse! If you are having problems with your horse's behavior, first look at tack, saddle fit, teeth, type of training, and nutrition. A horse just wants to get along, so if he is being bad, there is usually a reason other than it being the horse. You are supposed to be the intelligent one, so it is up to you to figure out the problem and fix it.