Katz has been home for a little over 7 weeks. Week 4 I started some ground work which he caught on to very quickly. Love the smart mind of a TB! We did ground work for 3 days, was going to ride but then it snowed. A few days later, snow gone and ground was not too frozen and not muddy yet so decided to get on. At first Katz came right next to mounting block and stood there. So I put my foot in the stirrup, put some weight on him then stepped off. I think he did not know what was going on at first since I went to do that again, he would not stand still and quickly moved off. I think he figured out I was going to get on and he went into Jockey mode. I am calling jockey mode when they sort of throw the jockey on the horse as horse is moving. Thus me asking for Katz to stand by mounting block to get on, was a new stressful event. Seems that some of the stress was when he pulled me off so I had him watch me get up and down on the block until he no longer worried about that. Then after about 15 min of walking around the mounting block, standing, repeat., he stood still. So I got on and we were off. Katz lunged forward, I lost my stirrups but held on with my legs since I know that you are not to pull on the OTTB since that just makes them go faster. So after a few laps around the round pen with katz cantering, hoping, me thinking 'yep, should of had another human around, and me talking to him the whole time, I turned his head to the left and we started to slow and then stopped. Got my stirrups back and we then just walked around. Got off, remounted, slight burst of movement but nothing like the first time. Walked some more and ended the first ride. Then it snowed and was bitter cold for a week. 2nd ride: The second ride was going to be at my trainers barn, nice indoor arena. That ended up being a hand walking lesson and standing next to mounting block. There was no getting on Katz. There were other horses in the arena and it was too much going on. He also did not seem to like multiple humans on the ground asking him to stand. Seemed to stress him out. So we just walked, I got my exercise for the day. Real 2nd ride - with the winter ground thawing but not muddy, perfect for riding. I did some ground work first, some lunging and then time to ride. 40 minutes later, had Katz able to stand next to mounting block and willing to give about 2 seconds to get my foot in the stirrup and get on. And we were off, this time fast trott with crow hops. Lost my stirrups again. The bolt right as I would get on did not help me with my stirrups. So legs hold on, me talking to him and then with a little pressure on the reins, Katz stopped and stood. Only 1 lap around round pen this time! Some walk and trot then I got off and led him back to mounting block, got back on. He only took one step when I got on. Making progess! 3rd ride - To see if there were any good hints on mounting your new OTTB, I checked the internet. There is a great video about retraining your ottb. This part of the Retired Racehorse Training Project ( http://www.retiredracehorsetraining.org) and here is the video (around minute 9:00, he is mounting and providing hints!) Ok, watched video, I am ready! I put up 2 barrels on one side with the mounting block on the other. Nice walk way between. We walked through several times, then I started asking Katz to stand for a second, then walk. He would stand until I got on the mounting block then he would go forward or backwards. Tried this for 20 min, he started to get the 'look' ( he is very expressive. You can see when he has had enough of something and is no longer going to try, rather panic starts to seep in) so I then decided to change the process. I took the mounting block over near the fence. That was the direction he kept wanting to go so lets try this over there. And I am not below bribes, treats for standing still. After just a few tries and a treat each time he stood, Sucess! Katz stood still, I got on. A quick burst but I kept me stirrups this time. He then stopped and turned his head towards my left leg. Someone wanted a treat. So I reached down and he gently took it. Now some may poo-poo my use of treats but if the treat got Katz to focus on something else rather than whatever he was focusing on, I see no problem with treats for positive reinforcement.
Ride 4 - today was ride 4. I let him spend the morning in the pasture playing. Brought him in, tacked up, out to round pen. I put the mounting block accross from the fence, we walked around it several times. I stood on block, he stood still, treat, I stepped off. Today took 5 minutes to get him to stand still for mounting, and I got at least 5 seconds to get my foot in stirrup, I got on, he took 2 steps forward and stood still. I had him bend to the right this time for his treat and then we walked off. Today we did more trot work and I had him trot over a pole. He is learning!
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We have not had a jumper lesson for 1 1/2 weeks. Last week, I had a migraine then sunday lesson was cancelled. I do ride my OTTB at home and we do a lot of flat work since I really only like jumping him twice a week ( and lessons are 2x per week). We did jump at home on sunday and all went super. So tonight, I figured no drama since it is not like he had 'time off'. During warm up, he was rather lazy. We worked on regular trot, then I would speed up my posting and ask him to speed up his trot. Then I would slow and he would slow. We did our usual leg yeilds, 20 m circles at trot and canter. Since he was being a bit lazy, I did ask him to gallop. Took some effort on my part to convince him that he needed to GO but we did it. Jumping started with lower fences and as usual, first pass he was great. The next few pass, got a bit sloppy.
Then we did a course and I got the TB attitude! All of a sudden, he decided to rush, then buck then really rush, then go over fence and kick hind legs out and then buck, buck. What I have learned when he has these 'moments' is to give him something else to do. Obviously, I am boring him so he has to ad-lib thus after the last buck, we galloped and galloped, and galloped. I love his canter so this works for me! As we were canter around, he saw many lions and bears waiting to get him so I had to be ready for the spooking and correct him when he tried to dive towards the middle of the arena. After several laps, the lions left. The other riders in the lesson did their courses and then we joined the group again. We did our course without drama. After every one else rode the course, we raised the fences and he was lovely. These little TB tantrums just need a creative solution. I found that the best thing to do is carry on after the tantrum but do something stimulating such as galloping around. TBs are made to run so lets run. Bored with what we are doing? mix it up a bit. Do not get mad at the TB tantrum, rather re-focus all that energy. I have always had horses in my life so I feel that have 'horse sense' but thoroughbreds have taught me even more. The OTTB is a horse with a huge heart but it must be earned. Once a TB knows that you are on their side and that you 'get it', they will give you everything. They will, of course, have a moments where they think they know it all and then get irritated when you do not completely agree but the key to resolving this conflict with an OTTB, as I have found, is to let them have their 'moment' without reacting negatively. Just ride it out and in a few seconds, when they get no reaction from the rider, they forget all about what they were trying to prove. And continue as you were. The problem that I have witnessed with riders is that they cannot just 'let it go' and continue on. They react which causes the OTTB to become more upset and then really explode! Thus the OTTB is not for an inexperienced rider nor a rider that cannot set boundries. Even though it is good to let the OTTB have their tantrum or 'event', it is best to get them back on track ASAP but do it in a way that does not use force, rather an explanation of what is being asked. Then there will also be days where it is best just to try another day! I have scratched my OTTB from a show in that his brain was just not there that day and I was not going to get it back anytime soon! Better to just stop and try again later than have a real bad day! OTTBs, if treated fairly, do not hold a grudge. In fact, they are very forgiving, which is good since I have know I have had less that stellar days of riding!
Anyhow, with all that said, here is the start of my OTTB blog. |