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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