Ok so Tuesday I went riding and was given those DVD's to borrow. Wednesday I spent most of the day watching those first few dvds of the Parelli level one kit. Thursday I went riding again and M. gave me her carrot stick to borrow until I can get my new equipment. We also talked about different trainers and why she likes some over others. In general they're all so similar those that fall under the natural horsemanship category, but just like you like certain people better than others, or you feel more comfortable with them, choosing a training system is the same. You can ask 5 different horse people who they like the best; Parelli, John Lyons, Clinton Anderson, Ryan Gingerich, Julie Goodnight, Ken McNabb...; and everyone is going to give you a different answer because we're all different in our own personalities!
Ok so while Parelli wasn't necessarily my first choice (hadn't heard too much about them before M.) it was the FREE choice lol. As far as pricing (for anyone that doesn't have a friend to lend them the dvds :]), I haven't looked at them all, but Parelli seems to be the best bang for the buck, if you join the savvy club.
Parelli- $396 for levels 1 and 2 and includes rope halter, heavy duty 12' lead line, and carrot stick with savvy string- everything you need to begin training a horse (round pen doesn't come in till later with this program). Now if you join the savvy club for 19.99/mo plus like 3.50/ mo in shipping and handling (evidently no contracts you can stop anytime) that price goes down to $199 (mind you that with the savvy club the equipment is $59 by itself) plus you get the club benefits. http://shop.parellinaturalhorsetraining.com/product.jsf?catId=116
John Lyons- $130-280. Ok so this one's not so cut and dry as he doesn't have a "levels" program perse... So I guess my best guess is his "The Best Start for the Unbroke Horse" would be his best starting off system, plus he has some books and other older dvds you can buy. The problem I have is that it SEEMS ( I haven't actually seen the dvds so I can't be positive about this) you have to have a round pen to use his system.
Clinton Anderson- $399-599 A lot of people say he's cocky, but then a lot say he's so easy to understand and follow, it's just a matter of personal preference I guess, but a good way to kind of test him out is to watch his "Downunder Horsemanship" show on RFD-TV which you probably get if you have satellite or cable. I know on Directv it's channel 345 and then through PRTC I think it's like 80 or something around there. Now all his stuff I've seen is at liberty (off the lead or lunge line and in a round pen), but I've seen a guy on YouTube who said he did it all on his lead rope- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEnACbsHHDM Now he does have something akin to levels with his Fundamentals series and from what I've seen it looks like the Parelli system with it going through to riding. Now his system also comes with "Arena Mates" which are little color books you can bring with you when training to look at when you need a refresher, again kinda like the Parelli system, but in color. If you join his No Worries club for $199 a year, then you can get his dvds for $399. So in my opinion if you already plan on spending the $599 on buying these dvd's why not just do both for the same price? But while I thought it'd be a good system, if I had $600 I'd hire a local professional to come and teach me. http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/products2.cfm/ID/735
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
update
So I've kinda forgotten to update this, but I have been working a little more with Flash and been doing more research. I've also come to realize I need a carrot stick in order to enforce my boundaries a little easier and safer. It's bee VERY cold for SC here lately and pretty rainy, so working with him has been limited, but the last time I did was right after that time of the month and he was VERY pushy and I felt dangerous. I don't know if that was the reason or not, but all I was trying to do was go in and spend some time with him, instead he was pushy and pranced around me, WAY to close! I decided I won't go back in there unarmed...
Since then I've been trying to find as many free resources as possible to learn from. There were a couple youtube videos of Clinton Anderson's practices by a guy who used them on his horse and while it doesn't describe things in detail it give you a good idea of what steps to follow- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEnACbsHHDM
I also found this one site that give's it's own step by step breakdown of groundwork and it actually makes sense- http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/groundRespect.shtml.
Overall what I've been hearing and reading is that whatever program you use you will be starting off with desensitizing and teaching them to give to pressure (physical and mental). What order you do this in tends to vary, but it seems to me that whatever order (though each trainer tells a different "MUST DO" order) you do decide to use, you don't move on till your horse has mastered the item you are working on. Now of course there are exceptions like when you don't know exactly what you're doing, like me, and realize that there are a few steps you might have skipped and need to back track on. That brings me to the second key note today in that it's ok to "get back to basics".
Just like kids; horses, and all animals, learn to behave based on how we train them, however they also have those moments were they can all of a sudden revert back to misbehavior or skittishness. In these cases it seems to be very important to get back to those all important basics.
Today I actually got to talk and watch another horse woman who's training her own horses as well and doesn't have any formal training either. I met her through a job training we did a couple of months ago and we've been trying to find a time that would work for both of us so that I could go riding with her. Well we were hoping for this past Saturday, but then the weather kinda made that impossible. So today I get this phone call asking me if I'd like to go riding, like I'd say no lol. So I met her at her place, followed her to her inlaws and after she readied 6 horses (2 adults and 4 kids lol) we took an hour and a half trail ride around the property going through fields, around a lake, down a gully or 2, and zig zagging through close trees. It was probably the best riding I've ever done, a lot more fun that riding in an arena! lol While we rode M. and I talked about how her and her boys got started in riding, why she makes the choices she makes in regards to tack and shoes vs no shoes and what trainers she prefers.
After we got back she even showed me the tack she prefers and some of the initial ground work exercises she uses. Best of all she doesn't use a round pen for these exercises, instead she uses a carrot stick and a 12 ft long lead rope attached to a rope halter. Evidently the knots in the rope halter allow the horse to more easily feel the pressure you're giving, and actually, after putting one on for the first time it's a lot easier to handle than a standard halter.
And finally she has given me some training magazine and has lent me her Parelli training dvds so I'm looking forward to really seeing one of these step by step videos and while this trainer wasn't my first choice she still falls under the natural horsemanship training I'm trying to use and well it's FREE lol. Hopefull I'll have more for you soon, but need to save up a little money to get this little set, I need about $60, maybe I'll get it as a late Christmas gift lol. Oh and hopefully I'll be able to go riding again on Thursday!
Since then I've been trying to find as many free resources as possible to learn from. There were a couple youtube videos of Clinton Anderson's practices by a guy who used them on his horse and while it doesn't describe things in detail it give you a good idea of what steps to follow- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEnACbsHHDM
I also found this one site that give's it's own step by step breakdown of groundwork and it actually makes sense- http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/groundRespect.shtml.
Overall what I've been hearing and reading is that whatever program you use you will be starting off with desensitizing and teaching them to give to pressure (physical and mental). What order you do this in tends to vary, but it seems to me that whatever order (though each trainer tells a different "MUST DO" order) you do decide to use, you don't move on till your horse has mastered the item you are working on. Now of course there are exceptions like when you don't know exactly what you're doing, like me, and realize that there are a few steps you might have skipped and need to back track on. That brings me to the second key note today in that it's ok to "get back to basics".
Just like kids; horses, and all animals, learn to behave based on how we train them, however they also have those moments were they can all of a sudden revert back to misbehavior or skittishness. In these cases it seems to be very important to get back to those all important basics.
Today I actually got to talk and watch another horse woman who's training her own horses as well and doesn't have any formal training either. I met her through a job training we did a couple of months ago and we've been trying to find a time that would work for both of us so that I could go riding with her. Well we were hoping for this past Saturday, but then the weather kinda made that impossible. So today I get this phone call asking me if I'd like to go riding, like I'd say no lol. So I met her at her place, followed her to her inlaws and after she readied 6 horses (2 adults and 4 kids lol) we took an hour and a half trail ride around the property going through fields, around a lake, down a gully or 2, and zig zagging through close trees. It was probably the best riding I've ever done, a lot more fun that riding in an arena! lol While we rode M. and I talked about how her and her boys got started in riding, why she makes the choices she makes in regards to tack and shoes vs no shoes and what trainers she prefers.
After we got back she even showed me the tack she prefers and some of the initial ground work exercises she uses. Best of all she doesn't use a round pen for these exercises, instead she uses a carrot stick and a 12 ft long lead rope attached to a rope halter. Evidently the knots in the rope halter allow the horse to more easily feel the pressure you're giving, and actually, after putting one on for the first time it's a lot easier to handle than a standard halter.
And finally she has given me some training magazine and has lent me her Parelli training dvds so I'm looking forward to really seeing one of these step by step videos and while this trainer wasn't my first choice she still falls under the natural horsemanship training I'm trying to use and well it's FREE lol. Hopefull I'll have more for you soon, but need to save up a little money to get this little set, I need about $60, maybe I'll get it as a late Christmas gift lol. Oh and hopefully I'll be able to go riding again on Thursday!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
How literal and figurative is that statement today. After our progress yesterday I was really looking forward to progressing with that and working on him respecting my personal space. Right before going out to working with him I talked with a friend of mine who has also trained horses and she told me that I should use a crop and when I stop to tap him (hard enough to make him move and lighter and lighter as he gets trained) on his front legs till he takes two steps back so he starts to learn proper spacing and that he can't be right up on me. Well I don't have a crop yet (on my list of things to get after all the Christmas presents for everyone, but now maybe sooner...) so I tried figuring out other ways to do it. One site said to walk in front a ways with the lead rope loose and if they get too close to give the rope "energy", so I did and honestly we walked across one pasture into the next and then he started getting closer and rushing a bit.
I worked on making myself look big and making him back out of MY space, but he just got worse. Once I turned my head to see where I was stepping and he tried charging past me. Luckily I've had that happen before with another horse so I just stayed calm and planted myself in my spot and brought him back to me, he wasn't happy lol. Needless to say the end of the day didn't go very well.
After that I brought him to the gate to tie him up for a bit so that he doesn't think that he can act up and then get what he wants, but while Allen understands this, getting people who haven't done the research to understand this is a little more difficult. When I went back to try and groom him, he started trying to nip at me again. I tried moving him backwards, pulling the hairs under his chin, and more, but while he did start to think about it, it didn't stop him. I may end up having to bite him hard on the ear like has been suggested, he's just too stubborn for his own good.
I'm thinking that I need to start again and do only small 5-10 minute lessons a couple times a day instead of longer sessions once a day to start with and then build it back up. I'm thinking this because every thing I read says end your session on a good note, but ours end up turning sour after about 15-20 minutes, or at least it did today. What do everyone else think?
http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/leading.shtml
I worked on making myself look big and making him back out of MY space, but he just got worse. Once I turned my head to see where I was stepping and he tried charging past me. Luckily I've had that happen before with another horse so I just stayed calm and planted myself in my spot and brought him back to me, he wasn't happy lol. Needless to say the end of the day didn't go very well.
After that I brought him to the gate to tie him up for a bit so that he doesn't think that he can act up and then get what he wants, but while Allen understands this, getting people who haven't done the research to understand this is a little more difficult. When I went back to try and groom him, he started trying to nip at me again. I tried moving him backwards, pulling the hairs under his chin, and more, but while he did start to think about it, it didn't stop him. I may end up having to bite him hard on the ear like has been suggested, he's just too stubborn for his own good.
I'm thinking that I need to start again and do only small 5-10 minute lessons a couple times a day instead of longer sessions once a day to start with and then build it back up. I'm thinking this because every thing I read says end your session on a good note, but ours end up turning sour after about 15-20 minutes, or at least it did today. What do everyone else think?
http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/leading.shtml
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Second day working with Flash...
So last week I worked with Flash one day, just trying to get him used to me, I think I spent most the time trying to get him to not bite at me. I barely remembered what I did, another reason for this blog :), but I did remember that I heard that to be the "boss" you needed to make the horse move it's feet in the direction you choose, so I tried that, but quickly realized he didn't know how to be led. I also got the halter on and off him.
So the last week I've been trying to finish my Photography editing and doing some research into how to actually go about all this training. I've talked to a couple other people who've trained horses and two names that keep popping up are Clinton Anderson and John Lyons. The funny thing is I had seen a partial show on RFD-TV with Clinton Anderson the day before and read an article by John Lyons the day before asking people who to look at lol.
Now while I know who to look at, it's a bit more complicated and expensive than I imagined. Part of my problem is that most of what these and all the other trainers talk about involve the use of a Round Pen. While that sounds great and I would LOVE to have one, it's a LOT out of budget right now. I've found various links about building a permanent one for cheaper than buying one, but still several hundred dollars is a little much right now. (I'll put a list of links related to this blog at the end). So I guess I can use a lunge rope, but I'll get to that in a minute. The other problem is that while I can see these guys really know what they're talking about and I can see that it works, their a little more pricey than I planned on being able to spend, the cheapest being $150.00 for John Lyons. Now The Clinton Anderson Downunder Horsmanship sounds even better and you get big discounts off his stuff if you're in his No Worries club, but again at 599, not going to happen!
In the meantime, the internet has been my friend lol. I've just watched RDF-TV and watched some You Yube videos, not to mention the dozen of online articles and forum posts. My main focus has been how to curb the nipping and where to start exactly in the training of Flash.
My findings are that making sure that I can "catch him", making sure I can easily get the halter on 100% of the time and that I can then lead him by the lead rope, and finally that he'll stand still while being groomed or when I'm not asking him to do something are the First STEPS in this process lol. Oh yeah and did I mention that him not biting me is a good one lol.
I actually have the first one down I think because he so far has come to me from across the pasture (he actually races to me lol) I guess it's because he's so used to getting food anytime someone comes out, so tomorrow when I go out I'll try not giving him a treat and see what he does the next time I come out lol. As far as the halter well that's coming I can get it on, but I had to relearn where to put my own hands and arms so I could reach both sides lol.
Today we worked on the whole process above, the whole time I kept in mind what the trainers have been saying about continuous pressure and then releasing AS SOON AS they do what YOU want them to do. That and not releasing until they do even if they start acting up, that's the hardest part because you want to make sure you're safe during this process, but as my one horse friend says you just got to keep shooting calm out of your butt lol.
I'm actually really impressed with our progress today he mostly stood still and let me brush him with two different brushes all over his body and actually appeared to enjoy it. After some repetition he was being led in circles forward and backward. I tried getting him to move around me on a "lunge rope" (or rather something fashioned to be one lol), but it just wasn't happening so I guess we'll work on that later. I tried ending on a good note like they say to do, but he got really pushy and started nipping again once my boyfriend came out to see what was going on.
Overall it was a good day and I look forward to our continued progress, though more research is to come, which you can benefit from lol.
some links I found helpful, though be mindful you have to use your own research, preferences and common sense here and please be careful when working with horses.
- http://horses.about.com/od/horsetraining/a/buildroundpen.htm
- http://www.ehow.com/list_5946405_ideas-building-60_-round-pen.html
- http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/groundHalterBreaking.shtml
- http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1745456/understanding_horses_10_horse_training_pg2.html?cat=53
- http://www.infohorse.com/hilton.asp - I'm going to look for a bristol brush for this, right now my knee and lots of hugging is what I'm using, pray for me lol. Though for the brush I'd have to have one on my shoulder, my leg, and my stomach lol.
- http://www.equinetips.com/2009/04/how-to-tie-lead-rope.html - Not quite sure about how it's started, but the rest is good
- http://www.helium.com/items/322963-how-to-teach-your-horse-to-stand-still?page=2
- http://www.horsemanship101.com/Catalog/From-Ground-Saddle.html
- http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/horse-training-young.shtml
Oh and here's a couple pics of Flash from last Christmas lol.
So the last week I've been trying to finish my Photography editing and doing some research into how to actually go about all this training. I've talked to a couple other people who've trained horses and two names that keep popping up are Clinton Anderson and John Lyons. The funny thing is I had seen a partial show on RFD-TV with Clinton Anderson the day before and read an article by John Lyons the day before asking people who to look at lol.
Now while I know who to look at, it's a bit more complicated and expensive than I imagined. Part of my problem is that most of what these and all the other trainers talk about involve the use of a Round Pen. While that sounds great and I would LOVE to have one, it's a LOT out of budget right now. I've found various links about building a permanent one for cheaper than buying one, but still several hundred dollars is a little much right now. (I'll put a list of links related to this blog at the end). So I guess I can use a lunge rope, but I'll get to that in a minute. The other problem is that while I can see these guys really know what they're talking about and I can see that it works, their a little more pricey than I planned on being able to spend, the cheapest being $150.00 for John Lyons. Now The Clinton Anderson Downunder Horsmanship sounds even better and you get big discounts off his stuff if you're in his No Worries club, but again at 599, not going to happen!
In the meantime, the internet has been my friend lol. I've just watched RDF-TV and watched some You Yube videos, not to mention the dozen of online articles and forum posts. My main focus has been how to curb the nipping and where to start exactly in the training of Flash.
My findings are that making sure that I can "catch him", making sure I can easily get the halter on 100% of the time and that I can then lead him by the lead rope, and finally that he'll stand still while being groomed or when I'm not asking him to do something are the First STEPS in this process lol. Oh yeah and did I mention that him not biting me is a good one lol.
I actually have the first one down I think because he so far has come to me from across the pasture (he actually races to me lol) I guess it's because he's so used to getting food anytime someone comes out, so tomorrow when I go out I'll try not giving him a treat and see what he does the next time I come out lol. As far as the halter well that's coming I can get it on, but I had to relearn where to put my own hands and arms so I could reach both sides lol.
Today we worked on the whole process above, the whole time I kept in mind what the trainers have been saying about continuous pressure and then releasing AS SOON AS they do what YOU want them to do. That and not releasing until they do even if they start acting up, that's the hardest part because you want to make sure you're safe during this process, but as my one horse friend says you just got to keep shooting calm out of your butt lol.
I'm actually really impressed with our progress today he mostly stood still and let me brush him with two different brushes all over his body and actually appeared to enjoy it. After some repetition he was being led in circles forward and backward. I tried getting him to move around me on a "lunge rope" (or rather something fashioned to be one lol), but it just wasn't happening so I guess we'll work on that later. I tried ending on a good note like they say to do, but he got really pushy and started nipping again once my boyfriend came out to see what was going on.
Overall it was a good day and I look forward to our continued progress, though more research is to come, which you can benefit from lol.
some links I found helpful, though be mindful you have to use your own research, preferences and common sense here and please be careful when working with horses.
- http://horses.about.com/od/horsetraining/a/buildroundpen.htm
- http://www.ehow.com/list_5946405_ideas-building-60_-round-pen.html
- http://www.equusite.com/articles/ground/groundHalterBreaking.shtml
- http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1745456/understanding_horses_10_horse_training_pg2.html?cat=53
- http://www.infohorse.com/hilton.asp - I'm going to look for a bristol brush for this, right now my knee and lots of hugging is what I'm using, pray for me lol. Though for the brush I'd have to have one on my shoulder, my leg, and my stomach lol.
- http://www.equinetips.com/2009/04/how-to-tie-lead-rope.html - Not quite sure about how it's started, but the rest is good
- http://www.helium.com/items/322963-how-to-teach-your-horse-to-stand-still?page=2
- http://www.horsemanship101.com/Catalog/From-Ground-Saddle.html
- http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/horse-training-young.shtml
Oh and here's a couple pics of Flash from last Christmas lol.
Monday, December 6, 2010
First Post
So here I am, 25 with 2 degrees working as a bus driver. It would seem my goals in life grow further and further away from me as the money coming in twindles as well. But you know what, I'm actually happy with my life as it is right now. It's taken a long time to get to this point and life is still a struggle, but I trust in God to get me through and have had some amazing developments in my life lately.
First and foremost is my amazing boyfriend, without him and his family, this experience, this blog, heck even my life as I currently know it, wouldn't be possible.
Next is the fact that I am blessed to not only have a job, but in addition I own my own business. While I am having to start my business over from scratch practically due to my recent moves, I'm excited to finally be in a position where I know what I want and I plan on staying here so I'll really be able to take off with it as I work with it.
Finally is the reason you're even reading this blog lol. It again goes back to number 1, because it's my boyfriend's family that owns the horse I'm attempting to train. Basically, his late step-grandpa used to own dozens of horses and kept them just to watch them... While that was his dream, my dream has always been a little more interactive lol. While he has passed on there is still one horse left, Flash. He's about 4yrs old and he's a Paint Gelding, I'll get photos up soon.
Flash is my next project and I am looking forward to it, but nervous I'll mess something up too. My whole life I've wanted to have and be around horses, it's evidently a genetic thing bc my mom did too. I used to literally do anything in order to ride even 30 minutes. At first when I was about 8 I convinced my parents to pay for some lessons so I could go to a horseback riding Girl-Scouts camp, then when I was a freshman in High School I would go home with a friend on friday nights, spend the night get up really early and go to the stables where we would groom the horses, tack them up for the riders' lessons, and yup even clean out stalls. Then my mom would pick me up and drop me off at my church where I'd take a quick shower and start work watching the children of the employees and then doing Saturday night children's service, not actually getting home till about 8:30 that night then waking up early again to volunteer for the Sunday services. That lasted a few months before my mom decided it was too much for a 14 yr old to handle while also in the most difficult academic program. Finally my last involvement was actually as a carriage driver in Philadelphia, PA. That was a fun and work intensive experience, but it too had to come to an end.
Now a few years later and I finally have the opportunity to work with horses again. I've been kinda begging for Flash to be trained and I finally got told that if I wanted to ride him to train him myself. I know I'll probably get a lot of people telling me I should hire a professional, and trust me if I had the funds I would, but for now I'll take it slow, do a bunch of research and post my findings here. I will also hopefully start riding someone else's horses soon if our schedules can work it out so I'm hoping to talk to her and refresh my memory on a lot of stuff lol.
Well this is enough for now, will post more soon!
First and foremost is my amazing boyfriend, without him and his family, this experience, this blog, heck even my life as I currently know it, wouldn't be possible.
Next is the fact that I am blessed to not only have a job, but in addition I own my own business. While I am having to start my business over from scratch practically due to my recent moves, I'm excited to finally be in a position where I know what I want and I plan on staying here so I'll really be able to take off with it as I work with it.
Finally is the reason you're even reading this blog lol. It again goes back to number 1, because it's my boyfriend's family that owns the horse I'm attempting to train. Basically, his late step-grandpa used to own dozens of horses and kept them just to watch them... While that was his dream, my dream has always been a little more interactive lol. While he has passed on there is still one horse left, Flash. He's about 4yrs old and he's a Paint Gelding, I'll get photos up soon.
Flash is my next project and I am looking forward to it, but nervous I'll mess something up too. My whole life I've wanted to have and be around horses, it's evidently a genetic thing bc my mom did too. I used to literally do anything in order to ride even 30 minutes. At first when I was about 8 I convinced my parents to pay for some lessons so I could go to a horseback riding Girl-Scouts camp, then when I was a freshman in High School I would go home with a friend on friday nights, spend the night get up really early and go to the stables where we would groom the horses, tack them up for the riders' lessons, and yup even clean out stalls. Then my mom would pick me up and drop me off at my church where I'd take a quick shower and start work watching the children of the employees and then doing Saturday night children's service, not actually getting home till about 8:30 that night then waking up early again to volunteer for the Sunday services. That lasted a few months before my mom decided it was too much for a 14 yr old to handle while also in the most difficult academic program. Finally my last involvement was actually as a carriage driver in Philadelphia, PA. That was a fun and work intensive experience, but it too had to come to an end.
Now a few years later and I finally have the opportunity to work with horses again. I've been kinda begging for Flash to be trained and I finally got told that if I wanted to ride him to train him myself. I know I'll probably get a lot of people telling me I should hire a professional, and trust me if I had the funds I would, but for now I'll take it slow, do a bunch of research and post my findings here. I will also hopefully start riding someone else's horses soon if our schedules can work it out so I'm hoping to talk to her and refresh my memory on a lot of stuff lol.
Well this is enough for now, will post more soon!
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