Well, we took our time, two weeks to the day since Cherokee's arrival... but this past Sunday we finally felt that it was okay to turn them out together, it went BEAUTIFULLY!
Enjoy!
More updates to come...
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Breaking Things Down
It's amazing when you really examine any step or goal that we humans would generally consider to be singular, how many actual steps or components are really present within that single task. This morning was a reminder of that for us.
Today is Cherokee's fourth morning here and our fourth morning introducing him to our routine. We have been unsuccessful thus far engaging him (willingly) into the routine and that is what made us realize this morning that what we view as a singular task in the mornings is in fact no less than several mini-tasks that we need to give Cherokee the chance to adapt to.
First, a primary difference in his morning schedule is not being turned out immediately. This we realize is a big change for him. Our routine is to come in to the stable, turn on the lights, feed morning hay, brush off the morning chips, do a leg massage, fill the water bucket, open the outside doors and then leave them to finish breakfast. Then within an hour we return to halter and then walk outside with a warm up walk and standing grooming session, then turn out.
So we have been coming at Cherokee in the morning, treating the first couple of tasks (feed in stall/brush off/massage) as one task. When all he wants to do is get turned out. So we're backing off the pressure to engage with our normal routine and simply feed him and be quietly present for a bit so that he gets a chance to adapt to the first part of the routine meaning that lights on and humans present does not mean 'turn out'. When he's well into that groove we'll then 'add' the brush off and see if the massage is accepted then also otherwise we'll split those steps down also.
As for breaking down the turn out steps it's not critical that he's groomed for turn out of course, that's never been the point of doing it, it has more to do with following our lead whether that's to walk or to stand, not to bee line it right to turn out. So while we may not completely modify this set of tasks we can pass on the grooming and exchange it for a period of standing after the walk, increasing the period of time, and adding in the grooming as his acceptance grows.
My intention yesterday had been to start with some introduction of Parelli work with Cherokee in what we call our Parelli Paddock (otherwise known as the, "You're Okay Corral") but again, breaking up what we look at as singular goals down into their actual components, meant that introducing him comfortably to this paddock (his first visit) there took precedence over working with him. His view of the property was different here, his feed options/locations were different here and his nervousness level was high. So I opted to let him just explore the area and I spent non-demanding time with him instead. So now that area should have a neutral and hopefully safe feel to him.
Our main reason for de-chunking these tasks for him is that we are still very unclear about some of his behaviors and are seeing that he very quickly becomes combative, a bit over the top... even more than the situation calls for, and so anything we are asking him to engage in now we want to reduce his dominate/combative response to it. So by baby-stepping these things for him we're hopeful will be the solution.
Oh, on a side note that I'm putting into his training log... 'the carrot stick'... oh dear! He has a huge response to it's mere presence. Though he's never been exposed to one (what our use and purpose with it is in Parelli...) He is very familiar with a riding crop, that has been primarily used as a handling tool for behavioral ground issues and of course the lunge whip for driving so the carrot stick is going to have to become a non-tool for awhile. Instead it will simply be apart of my attire, as much as my hat or jacket are a part of me, but not a part of our work in anyway until he is first curious about it, then comfortable.
Today is Cherokee's fourth morning here and our fourth morning introducing him to our routine. We have been unsuccessful thus far engaging him (willingly) into the routine and that is what made us realize this morning that what we view as a singular task in the mornings is in fact no less than several mini-tasks that we need to give Cherokee the chance to adapt to.
First, a primary difference in his morning schedule is not being turned out immediately. This we realize is a big change for him. Our routine is to come in to the stable, turn on the lights, feed morning hay, brush off the morning chips, do a leg massage, fill the water bucket, open the outside doors and then leave them to finish breakfast. Then within an hour we return to halter and then walk outside with a warm up walk and standing grooming session, then turn out.
So we have been coming at Cherokee in the morning, treating the first couple of tasks (feed in stall/brush off/massage) as one task. When all he wants to do is get turned out. So we're backing off the pressure to engage with our normal routine and simply feed him and be quietly present for a bit so that he gets a chance to adapt to the first part of the routine meaning that lights on and humans present does not mean 'turn out'. When he's well into that groove we'll then 'add' the brush off and see if the massage is accepted then also otherwise we'll split those steps down also.
As for breaking down the turn out steps it's not critical that he's groomed for turn out of course, that's never been the point of doing it, it has more to do with following our lead whether that's to walk or to stand, not to bee line it right to turn out. So while we may not completely modify this set of tasks we can pass on the grooming and exchange it for a period of standing after the walk, increasing the period of time, and adding in the grooming as his acceptance grows.
My intention yesterday had been to start with some introduction of Parelli work with Cherokee in what we call our Parelli Paddock (otherwise known as the, "You're Okay Corral") but again, breaking up what we look at as singular goals down into their actual components, meant that introducing him comfortably to this paddock (his first visit) there took precedence over working with him. His view of the property was different here, his feed options/locations were different here and his nervousness level was high. So I opted to let him just explore the area and I spent non-demanding time with him instead. So now that area should have a neutral and hopefully safe feel to him.
Our main reason for de-chunking these tasks for him is that we are still very unclear about some of his behaviors and are seeing that he very quickly becomes combative, a bit over the top... even more than the situation calls for, and so anything we are asking him to engage in now we want to reduce his dominate/combative response to it. So by baby-stepping these things for him we're hopeful will be the solution.
Oh, on a side note that I'm putting into his training log... 'the carrot stick'... oh dear! He has a huge response to it's mere presence. Though he's never been exposed to one (what our use and purpose with it is in Parelli...) He is very familiar with a riding crop, that has been primarily used as a handling tool for behavioral ground issues and of course the lunge whip for driving so the carrot stick is going to have to become a non-tool for awhile. Instead it will simply be apart of my attire, as much as my hat or jacket are a part of me, but not a part of our work in anyway until he is first curious about it, then comfortable.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Cherokee is Home!
Well this blog posting is a day later than I had anticipated writing it, however, that seems to fit right in with how the whole 'wrapping' up process for the stall and paddock areas work went. We were working Thursday, Friday, Saturday, days and nights right up until around 11pm each night, every task taking just that much longer than anticipated. Sundance was a trooper through it all, some nights having to stay turned out with the goats (with outside field lights on) until right at dark, and the final two nights being turned out into the paddock attached to his and Cherokee's stall (we put in a lower dutch door in front of Cherokee stall that we were working on and he'd just pop his head over to watch, saws and nail guns blazing he didn't seem to mind.
Sunday arrived and it was raining, (as it has been here in the Northwest fourth-corner of the US for the past straight five months, we've never seen so much mud, and there's no more hay. Fields haven't been able to be cut, and yesterday on the promise of forecasters that we'd get three days clear, all fields for miles around were cut... and this morning... it rained! We're in for an expensive summer! We're personally down to two bales of local hay, one bale of alfalfa. We'll have to resort to picking up the $13 40lb bales at the local feed store until some hay shows up, we exhausted our year stock just a couple of weeks ago.) but I digress...
Sunday finally arrived, we had been nervously and excitedly waiting down at the barn since 9am, tidying up, making the list of the 'still yet to do' items and getting Sundance taken care of and as prepared as he could be (meaning making sure the area he was in was safe for any 'antics' he'd pull once Cherokee arrived). At 10:20am the trailer rolled in. It wasn't even in parked before Sundance started calling out and pacing. I wish I had gotten it on video as anticipated but in my own excitement and nervousness through the day I had managed to 'think' I was taking video but had never actually once pressed the final 'record' button only the preparatory one. (my first clue should have been the ever constant 'record' symbol on the screen that goes away when you are actually recording).
Cherokee was nervous and had a hard time coming off the trailer, pooped and light stress sweat spots. He came into the paddock and field areas high headed and pushing on left shoulder as we anticipated him to do. He can't yield to the right yet so you just run into a brick wall if you even try. Don walked him around the perimeter of the turn out area that we would be in for the day, close to us and out of reach of Sundance (who was pacing, rearing, pawing, nuzzling my pony-tail and wide eyed, excited and in full disbelief there was another horse on the property). After Cherokee settled down a bit, Don released him at the feeder and came out of the turn out. We watch for a bit, he would eat, walk, call out to Sundance (who always responded), then go back to eating. We had ended up not moving the goats and that actually turned out to be a good thing, he would go to them and nuzzle the girls through the fence and by the end of they day he was copying their antics, they'd run up their ramp and little jungle gym area and jump off, then he'd run around and kick then stop and face them and wait until they did it again and then he'd be off again.
Sunday was another long day and night, we didn't get the last bolt into the stall until right at dark, so he was more than ready to come in and then skeptical as he had to cross several of the 'extra' mats laying out in the stall paddock, as well as walk by the big-green-monster-hose that had been overlooked after filling up the water buckets... so all in all we took our time but were indeed the bad humans on a mission so while it wasn't about crossing the mats or getting in the stall, it was about ending the very long day.... he obliged and went across them with a bolting-manic-reluctance and we apologized.
So... Monday, (yesterday) and this morning we're just starting to get back to some kind of schedule normalcy, I don't expect to be in a real 'groove' until next week so I'm keeping expectations low and hoping my work can be somewhat flexible (I run my own graphic design business but that only means I have no less than 10 bosses to be accountable - clients -, ... so it's a juggle).
We have a lot of work to do with Cherokee. We're just now starting to see his base behaviors that were not apparent at the trainers. For me this just really confirms that harsh handling is not a training method, it shuts the behavior down in the moment, but it does not effectively institute 'change'. Change is what we're going to be after, and that may very likely mean that we are not on this horse any time soon, which would confirm the foster home/trainers worst fears (why that would be a fear for her I still do not understand) about us doing 'Parelli' and choosing to not ride him. I'm not going to be letting that be an influence in my psyche anymore, I have to let that go. If we have to get a Parelli professional up here from Seattle (our closest ones that we're aware of) when we're ready then that is what we'll do. From this moment on Cherokee is at Level One - everything. Which for my intent with this blog... is actually great! My plan had been to start there and work up, I had hoped of course we might be able to move through the lower levels fairly easily, but I would have to say that I don't have that expectation right now.
Here's a short list of what behaviors we have to work on right away: (these are not issues we were not aware of they were just 'less' in their intensity in the environment he was in where each of these behaviors where handled by a 'pop' and a 'growl' by the human).
It's supposed to thankfully be mostly clear tomorrow. Either way we'll be starting his online work (training) sessions tomorrow. I'll be doing everything with Sundance first as a warm up and as a reminder of what I'm looking for (and so that Sundance gets his interaction and work in too of course). I'm thinking of doing two sessions a day starting at just half an hour each. I'll be posting here how each day goes, what our successes are and how they start translating to the behaviors we're hoping to change.
It can be so easy to focus on the negative so I want to make certain that I am always reaffirming any 'positives' that we're seeing. It's clear to us that even with the challenges noted above that Cherokee does not have full disdain for or dislike of humans, in fact, it's clear to both my husband and I that he wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us. But he wants to feel safe. Leadership is the only solution for him, but right now it's a rewiring of what leadership 'is' coming from Don and I, and, what it is not. That's going to be an education for all of us.
Sunday arrived and it was raining, (as it has been here in the Northwest fourth-corner of the US for the past straight five months, we've never seen so much mud, and there's no more hay. Fields haven't been able to be cut, and yesterday on the promise of forecasters that we'd get three days clear, all fields for miles around were cut... and this morning... it rained! We're in for an expensive summer! We're personally down to two bales of local hay, one bale of alfalfa. We'll have to resort to picking up the $13 40lb bales at the local feed store until some hay shows up, we exhausted our year stock just a couple of weeks ago.) but I digress...
Sunday finally arrived, we had been nervously and excitedly waiting down at the barn since 9am, tidying up, making the list of the 'still yet to do' items and getting Sundance taken care of and as prepared as he could be (meaning making sure the area he was in was safe for any 'antics' he'd pull once Cherokee arrived). At 10:20am the trailer rolled in. It wasn't even in parked before Sundance started calling out and pacing. I wish I had gotten it on video as anticipated but in my own excitement and nervousness through the day I had managed to 'think' I was taking video but had never actually once pressed the final 'record' button only the preparatory one. (my first clue should have been the ever constant 'record' symbol on the screen that goes away when you are actually recording).
Cherokee was nervous and had a hard time coming off the trailer, pooped and light stress sweat spots. He came into the paddock and field areas high headed and pushing on left shoulder as we anticipated him to do. He can't yield to the right yet so you just run into a brick wall if you even try. Don walked him around the perimeter of the turn out area that we would be in for the day, close to us and out of reach of Sundance (who was pacing, rearing, pawing, nuzzling my pony-tail and wide eyed, excited and in full disbelief there was another horse on the property). After Cherokee settled down a bit, Don released him at the feeder and came out of the turn out. We watch for a bit, he would eat, walk, call out to Sundance (who always responded), then go back to eating. We had ended up not moving the goats and that actually turned out to be a good thing, he would go to them and nuzzle the girls through the fence and by the end of they day he was copying their antics, they'd run up their ramp and little jungle gym area and jump off, then he'd run around and kick then stop and face them and wait until they did it again and then he'd be off again.
Sunday was another long day and night, we didn't get the last bolt into the stall until right at dark, so he was more than ready to come in and then skeptical as he had to cross several of the 'extra' mats laying out in the stall paddock, as well as walk by the big-green-monster-hose that had been overlooked after filling up the water buckets... so all in all we took our time but were indeed the bad humans on a mission so while it wasn't about crossing the mats or getting in the stall, it was about ending the very long day.... he obliged and went across them with a bolting-manic-reluctance and we apologized.
So... Monday, (yesterday) and this morning we're just starting to get back to some kind of schedule normalcy, I don't expect to be in a real 'groove' until next week so I'm keeping expectations low and hoping my work can be somewhat flexible (I run my own graphic design business but that only means I have no less than 10 bosses to be accountable - clients -, ... so it's a juggle).
We have a lot of work to do with Cherokee. We're just now starting to see his base behaviors that were not apparent at the trainers. For me this just really confirms that harsh handling is not a training method, it shuts the behavior down in the moment, but it does not effectively institute 'change'. Change is what we're going to be after, and that may very likely mean that we are not on this horse any time soon, which would confirm the foster home/trainers worst fears (why that would be a fear for her I still do not understand) about us doing 'Parelli' and choosing to not ride him. I'm not going to be letting that be an influence in my psyche anymore, I have to let that go. If we have to get a Parelli professional up here from Seattle (our closest ones that we're aware of) when we're ready then that is what we'll do. From this moment on Cherokee is at Level One - everything. Which for my intent with this blog... is actually great! My plan had been to start there and work up, I had hoped of course we might be able to move through the lower levels fairly easily, but I would have to say that I don't have that expectation right now.
Here's a short list of what behaviors we have to work on right away: (these are not issues we were not aware of they were just 'less' in their intensity in the environment he was in where each of these behaviors where handled by a 'pop' and a 'growl' by the human).
- He cannot/will not back up without a high level of demand
- He cannot/will not yield his hindquarters -- in fact he goes instantly 'opposite' and brings them 'at you' with any request to yield them
- He will run his left shoulder straight into and over the top of you without any hesitation
- He pulls when led in a strange combo of pulling away and then pushing over you
- He does not seem to be 'present' in his attention or interaction with people
- He cannot/does not use his 'lips' he only uses his front teeth, both in 'lukewarm friendly' food acceptance or touching and then in more aggressive 'snapping' quickly at you or your clothes.
It's supposed to thankfully be mostly clear tomorrow. Either way we'll be starting his online work (training) sessions tomorrow. I'll be doing everything with Sundance first as a warm up and as a reminder of what I'm looking for (and so that Sundance gets his interaction and work in too of course). I'm thinking of doing two sessions a day starting at just half an hour each. I'll be posting here how each day goes, what our successes are and how they start translating to the behaviors we're hoping to change.
It can be so easy to focus on the negative so I want to make certain that I am always reaffirming any 'positives' that we're seeing. It's clear to us that even with the challenges noted above that Cherokee does not have full disdain for or dislike of humans, in fact, it's clear to both my husband and I that he wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us. But he wants to feel safe. Leadership is the only solution for him, but right now it's a rewiring of what leadership 'is' coming from Don and I, and, what it is not. That's going to be an education for all of us.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Prepare to Position, to Make the Transition!
Cherokee will be arriving home in just six days. Because the relationship with his foster home has been so stressful and we've managed to leave each other on a fairly peaceful note last week, we've decided to not return and risk any other confrontations. So we won't be seeing him again until Saturday late afternoon, and that will be to just have a connection visit with him, see how he's doing and pick up our tack and supplies from the boarder's. The humane society is going to pick him up and bring him here at 10:00am Sunday morning.
I spent the weekend reviewing all of the material in the Liberty and Horse Behavior, Course in a box DVD's. This set is invaluable to us and we learn something new each time we watch it. I would love to be able to feel confident in evaluating his horsenality for his arrival, but I just can't tell for certain which qualities are truly innate in him and which are environmental. Right now I would say we can clearly see Left Brained/Extrovert behaviors but just about as many fall in the Right Brained/Extrovert category as well, with a few down in the Right Brained/Introvert section. I think at least for his arrival it would be smart to work with him from a Right Brained perspective and then try to really evaluate him as he gets more comfortable and confident here.
This will be the first time we've ever personally experienced introducing two horses to each other, so we are going about it as safely as we can. They both will have their own turn out fields for day use, and their own stalls (next to each other they'll be able to see each other in the stalls but not have full contact) that they'll be in just before dusk till after morning feeding and grooming. During the first day or two, our plan is to have them one field apart so they can see each other but not have contact. Then we will open the middle field for one of them which will mean they will have one fence line in which they can come into contact over. If all seems to go well with fence line contact and stall behaviors we'll aim for turning them out together on the fourth or fifth day. We're a little concerned because we'd like to put Cherokee when he arrives in the turnout that is closest to us and furthest from the road. He is coming from a quieter location as far as road traffic is concerned and it took Sundance several months to not spook at the road traffic, but the 'goats' are turned out right next to this upper area and they are Sundance's 'herd' so we're a little worried about how that might go for Sundance, being separated from them and having the new guy cavorting near them and checking them out. We may need to consider putting the goats out somewhere else that first day so that does not add to any concerns. I think this plan is about as safe and sane as we can do, and hopefully that is not overdoing it. I've tried to find as much information online about this as possible and will keep looking this week.
So this week is one of busy work finishing the new stall and field fencing and also a week of thoughtful preparation. We want to have clear plans of action in place, goals and markers to reach and of course back up plans and the understanding that it's entirely possible that nothing will go as planned whatsoever.
I will probably not post again until either just before Cherokee's arrival or the night of. I'm planning on taking video of his arrival and first day here so I'll prepare that and post it here as well.
Wish us luck!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Rewarding the Smallest Try
My husband has brought it to my attention that I have recently started mimicking the deep outward breath, sigh-of-relief, that we look for our in horses to show that they are relaxing or at least attempting to self de-stress. And so I am, and this blog begins with a deep-chortling-one!
I have just returned home from a two hour visit with Cherokee, this being the first visit back to truly interact with him since the strained events with his trainer and boarder of last week, one week ago today... and my first interaction with the trainer alone, since my husband and I's visit and discussion with her about her disapproval of Parelli methods just two days ago.
I drove the long route out to her place adding a much needed additional five minutes to the twenty minute drive to her home and boarding facility. I had a plan, but it was a Parelli plan and I was feeling stressed and nervous knowing that I would be under her scrutiny, even if it was just out-of-the-corner-of-her-eye watchfulness.
I had emailed her letting her know that I wanted to just come out and spend some time with Cherokee in the big field he is always turned out in when I arrive. I wanted to spend some non-demanding time with him, and give him a chance to just be curious about me, or to totally ignore me and let me be curious about him... whichever way it would go, it would be right. Now, please note this paragraph's opening sentence, "... in the big field he is always turned out in when I arrive." As I came up the drive he was not in the field. A rescue Arabian mare was there instead. Drats! I hadn't really devise a plan B (well I had but it hadn't included him 'not' being in the field), but fine ... okay, I could still spend non-demanding time with him, right?
I parked and walked to the stall area where the trainer had her back to me (horse language is all around us), bent over spraying off some equipment with a hose. I came around, as carefully and wide as I'd come around a known-to-be-mean mare's ass, and said, "hello" as I reach her. She stood up and stopped spraying and told me that Cherokee was in the back paddock, that I could take him out, take off his blanket and turn him out into the field. Okay, no problem. When I got to him he was already anxious to go, pacing me as I gathered up his halter and lead rope and looking for the gate.
This is 10:30am by the way and based on my previous visits she feeds any of the horses still stalled or paddocked at this time or just before, I saw no evidence that he had just been fed and based on his behavior I could tell already I was going to have my hands full. He did not disapoint. I got the halter on, he was eager, but managing the gate which needed to open inwards towards he and I was a bit challenging ... she had told me that she does not 'over train' horses to back up as compared to Parelli (one of her many misconceptions)... all I could think of in the moment was how great it would be if I could just 'wiggle' the rope at him and get him to step back so I could manage him, myself and the gate assuring a safe distance and manuvering for all involved.
The trainer had arrived on the scene at this point and I was determined. There's ... no time like the present ... I lifted the rope with a finger and waggled, he came toward me, I said, "back!" and gave the rope a good snake wiggle. That was all it took no higher phase needed. He look surprised but complied and stepped back with three good sized steps. Perfect! No comment from the trainer-peanut gallery. We moved forward out of the gate and he was high headed. So we had to do a full circle doh-see-doh then I asked him to bring his head down, he calmed fairly well. But, all that effort was about to be all for not ... because as we walked around the corner he (and I) noticed that she had left both the turn out field gate and the arena gate open meaning he had a straight shot to the very place he wanted to be. I knew that we were just about to start to do the tango! As I was searching my guts for strength the trainer said, "Oh, I left the gates open for you so you didn't have to try and wrangle them with him," Did I actually say, "thanks?" I think I did.
Well I'll short story our trip to the filed for you... but I will tell you that it took about ten minutes to get there and not because he was dragging me around but because every time he'd try to pull towards the gate(s) I would turn him away and we'd walk in the opposite direction. Then turn back to the gate, stop, stare longingly at the gate then take a few steps toward it, when he'd loose composure again we'd do the same only I'd walk him back away from the gate even further so when we turned around the gate was even further away than before... eventually he got the message and we got there safely. So after all of that I really did mean, "thank you," to her for setting that situation up. It wasn't what I had in mind for just getting to see him first thing, but hey any opportunity right and he and I got to have a moment of understanding each other.
I sent him away from me after getting into the field before he could leave me of his own accord just to make sure he knew that we both had the same idea. I went up to the car thinking I'd get my bucket that I was going to 'sit' on, based on my original plan for hanging out with him in the field but then realized that he was hungry and this was going to be a different game and I wasn't really going to be able to compete for curiosity over hunger. So I grabbed some carrots instead and headed back to the field. I found a sunny spot with the fence behind me to just observe from. I sat there for about twenty minutes, just as I suspected no curiosity just furious grazing. I got up and decided I was going to walk the perimeter, not going to pay any attention to him, I was more interested in the fence line than what he was doing. Once around the big field I found a closer spot to sit down at to where he was eating. I looked away at trees and birds, and then I heard it... he was grazing toward me... I didn't look at him, I actually turned my body away from him, and he 'walked up' ... That was it! I got '1', my goal was to get '3' approaches that were entirely his idea.... Over the course of another ten or fifteen minutes I got my other two and once he hooked on from a distance and started to follow me but lost it, that was okay too.
Happy with that total success I meandered up to the gate and left the field. I went and asked the trainer if I could bring him into the arena to tie him and groom him, (she always had me groom him before cross tied in the stable and I knew that's not how we'd be doing it at home so I wanted a chance to work with him this way) she agreed and yes, I knew this was going to be problematic, but ... it wasn't about getting him groomed it was about having some close up interaction to see just how much work there was to be done with standing and space issues... Well, I quickly figured out that he had absolutely no respect for turning his hindquarters away in fact, he would purposefully swing his hindquarters 'at me' and nothing I could do would catch his attention to 'not go there'... so I know exactly what game we're going to be playing at home! "hide-your-hiney" here we come!
When he wasn't busy trying to squish me between himself (zone 3,4 &5) and the fence he would start pawing. So I would rub his leg and then ask him to pick it up and I'll hold hit up for a bit, finally the pawing stopped. The last behavioral issue I want to log here is his extreme mouthiness. I mentioned I had brought carrots for him, and he was very eager for them, but he is very uncoordinated with his mouth control so it's really easy to get bitten by him (and he's a clothes puller). I had a particularly hard carrot and snapped the tip off and made him drop his head to get it, holding it a little tightly in my grasp so that he had to better coordinate his lips/teeth to get it. Then I had him do two slow flexion streches (near the shoulders for two more pieces both still with making him work his lips/teeth to grasp with focus versus just 'snapping it'). The trainer caught site of this and came over with a bag of treats saying, "I'm not going to tell you want to do, but he's mouthy because someone has given him too many hand treats and it's led to him biting, but do what you want to." I took the treats and thanked her. Perfect! I put a few in my pocket and showed him one and ask him to 'move off' me, and square up for some more grooming, the message did not compute! I waved at his hindquarters and pointed to the spot where I wanted his nose and since he thought I had a treat in that hand he complied. I gave him a good boy and then treated him between his front legs (lol, very non-coordiated) So the rest of grooming was a short session and mostly all about giving me something I ask for so I could give him something (treat and praise) and then when he was standing fairly still I called the session over.
After I stalled and fed him and was standing out side his stall watching him eat the trainer came over and asked, "So, what are you going to do about his mouthiness with Parelli?" I was sooooo glad she asked this question, it was the first question she'd ever bother to actually ask me. I explained to her that our other horse came to us with similar mouthiness issues though with more 'bite' to him than Cherokee has thus far displayed and we what we had learned through Parelli to at least 'try' which thankfully ended up being a near-miracle cure was to 'over mouth him' (what I call it anyway)... If he wanted to bite the brush then we would make sure he got some fun quality time with chewing on the brush bristles or handle, or the rubber curry, and most importantly we got him 'skilled' in lip/teeth control. We helped him learn to use his lips more than his teeth, we gave him the palm of our hands to suckle on... The mouth became a 'happy place' of contact instead of a reason to get smacked (had to even explain this to one of our vets who's a little smack-happy on the mouthing and showed him that Sundance was no longer a bite)r, but man-o-man he's got some talented lips! She had no comment, but she actually looked for a brief instant as if she might blink her eyes and lick her lips.
I have just returned home from a two hour visit with Cherokee, this being the first visit back to truly interact with him since the strained events with his trainer and boarder of last week, one week ago today... and my first interaction with the trainer alone, since my husband and I's visit and discussion with her about her disapproval of Parelli methods just two days ago.
I drove the long route out to her place adding a much needed additional five minutes to the twenty minute drive to her home and boarding facility. I had a plan, but it was a Parelli plan and I was feeling stressed and nervous knowing that I would be under her scrutiny, even if it was just out-of-the-corner-of-her-eye watchfulness.
I had emailed her letting her know that I wanted to just come out and spend some time with Cherokee in the big field he is always turned out in when I arrive. I wanted to spend some non-demanding time with him, and give him a chance to just be curious about me, or to totally ignore me and let me be curious about him... whichever way it would go, it would be right. Now, please note this paragraph's opening sentence, "... in the big field he is always turned out in when I arrive." As I came up the drive he was not in the field. A rescue Arabian mare was there instead. Drats! I hadn't really devise a plan B (well I had but it hadn't included him 'not' being in the field), but fine ... okay, I could still spend non-demanding time with him, right?
I parked and walked to the stall area where the trainer had her back to me (horse language is all around us), bent over spraying off some equipment with a hose. I came around, as carefully and wide as I'd come around a known-to-be-mean mare's ass, and said, "hello" as I reach her. She stood up and stopped spraying and told me that Cherokee was in the back paddock, that I could take him out, take off his blanket and turn him out into the field. Okay, no problem. When I got to him he was already anxious to go, pacing me as I gathered up his halter and lead rope and looking for the gate.
This is 10:30am by the way and based on my previous visits she feeds any of the horses still stalled or paddocked at this time or just before, I saw no evidence that he had just been fed and based on his behavior I could tell already I was going to have my hands full. He did not disapoint. I got the halter on, he was eager, but managing the gate which needed to open inwards towards he and I was a bit challenging ... she had told me that she does not 'over train' horses to back up as compared to Parelli (one of her many misconceptions)... all I could think of in the moment was how great it would be if I could just 'wiggle' the rope at him and get him to step back so I could manage him, myself and the gate assuring a safe distance and manuvering for all involved.
The trainer had arrived on the scene at this point and I was determined. There's ... no time like the present ... I lifted the rope with a finger and waggled, he came toward me, I said, "back!" and gave the rope a good snake wiggle. That was all it took no higher phase needed. He look surprised but complied and stepped back with three good sized steps. Perfect! No comment from the trainer-peanut gallery. We moved forward out of the gate and he was high headed. So we had to do a full circle doh-see-doh then I asked him to bring his head down, he calmed fairly well. But, all that effort was about to be all for not ... because as we walked around the corner he (and I) noticed that she had left both the turn out field gate and the arena gate open meaning he had a straight shot to the very place he wanted to be. I knew that we were just about to start to do the tango! As I was searching my guts for strength the trainer said, "Oh, I left the gates open for you so you didn't have to try and wrangle them with him," Did I actually say, "thanks?" I think I did.
Well I'll short story our trip to the filed for you... but I will tell you that it took about ten minutes to get there and not because he was dragging me around but because every time he'd try to pull towards the gate(s) I would turn him away and we'd walk in the opposite direction. Then turn back to the gate, stop, stare longingly at the gate then take a few steps toward it, when he'd loose composure again we'd do the same only I'd walk him back away from the gate even further so when we turned around the gate was even further away than before... eventually he got the message and we got there safely. So after all of that I really did mean, "thank you," to her for setting that situation up. It wasn't what I had in mind for just getting to see him first thing, but hey any opportunity right and he and I got to have a moment of understanding each other.
I sent him away from me after getting into the field before he could leave me of his own accord just to make sure he knew that we both had the same idea. I went up to the car thinking I'd get my bucket that I was going to 'sit' on, based on my original plan for hanging out with him in the field but then realized that he was hungry and this was going to be a different game and I wasn't really going to be able to compete for curiosity over hunger. So I grabbed some carrots instead and headed back to the field. I found a sunny spot with the fence behind me to just observe from. I sat there for about twenty minutes, just as I suspected no curiosity just furious grazing. I got up and decided I was going to walk the perimeter, not going to pay any attention to him, I was more interested in the fence line than what he was doing. Once around the big field I found a closer spot to sit down at to where he was eating. I looked away at trees and birds, and then I heard it... he was grazing toward me... I didn't look at him, I actually turned my body away from him, and he 'walked up' ... That was it! I got '1', my goal was to get '3' approaches that were entirely his idea.... Over the course of another ten or fifteen minutes I got my other two and once he hooked on from a distance and started to follow me but lost it, that was okay too.
Happy with that total success I meandered up to the gate and left the field. I went and asked the trainer if I could bring him into the arena to tie him and groom him, (she always had me groom him before cross tied in the stable and I knew that's not how we'd be doing it at home so I wanted a chance to work with him this way) she agreed and yes, I knew this was going to be problematic, but ... it wasn't about getting him groomed it was about having some close up interaction to see just how much work there was to be done with standing and space issues... Well, I quickly figured out that he had absolutely no respect for turning his hindquarters away in fact, he would purposefully swing his hindquarters 'at me' and nothing I could do would catch his attention to 'not go there'... so I know exactly what game we're going to be playing at home! "hide-your-hiney" here we come!
When he wasn't busy trying to squish me between himself (zone 3,4 &5) and the fence he would start pawing. So I would rub his leg and then ask him to pick it up and I'll hold hit up for a bit, finally the pawing stopped. The last behavioral issue I want to log here is his extreme mouthiness. I mentioned I had brought carrots for him, and he was very eager for them, but he is very uncoordinated with his mouth control so it's really easy to get bitten by him (and he's a clothes puller). I had a particularly hard carrot and snapped the tip off and made him drop his head to get it, holding it a little tightly in my grasp so that he had to better coordinate his lips/teeth to get it. Then I had him do two slow flexion streches (near the shoulders for two more pieces both still with making him work his lips/teeth to grasp with focus versus just 'snapping it'). The trainer caught site of this and came over with a bag of treats saying, "I'm not going to tell you want to do, but he's mouthy because someone has given him too many hand treats and it's led to him biting, but do what you want to." I took the treats and thanked her. Perfect! I put a few in my pocket and showed him one and ask him to 'move off' me, and square up for some more grooming, the message did not compute! I waved at his hindquarters and pointed to the spot where I wanted his nose and since he thought I had a treat in that hand he complied. I gave him a good boy and then treated him between his front legs (lol, very non-coordiated) So the rest of grooming was a short session and mostly all about giving me something I ask for so I could give him something (treat and praise) and then when he was standing fairly still I called the session over.
After I stalled and fed him and was standing out side his stall watching him eat the trainer came over and asked, "So, what are you going to do about his mouthiness with Parelli?" I was sooooo glad she asked this question, it was the first question she'd ever bother to actually ask me. I explained to her that our other horse came to us with similar mouthiness issues though with more 'bite' to him than Cherokee has thus far displayed and we what we had learned through Parelli to at least 'try' which thankfully ended up being a near-miracle cure was to 'over mouth him' (what I call it anyway)... If he wanted to bite the brush then we would make sure he got some fun quality time with chewing on the brush bristles or handle, or the rubber curry, and most importantly we got him 'skilled' in lip/teeth control. We helped him learn to use his lips more than his teeth, we gave him the palm of our hands to suckle on... The mouth became a 'happy place' of contact instead of a reason to get smacked (had to even explain this to one of our vets who's a little smack-happy on the mouthing and showed him that Sundance was no longer a bite)r, but man-o-man he's got some talented lips! She had no comment, but she actually looked for a brief instant as if she might blink her eyes and lick her lips.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Putting The Relationship First
I had no way of knowing what kind of confrontation was headed our way when my husband and I fell madly in love with our newest horse Cherokee. We caught site of him while browsing our humane society's website on the off chance they would have a horse available that would interest us. We've been looking at getting a second horse for the past several months but none have been just right. But there he was, and he even had his very own blog, after all he'd been with the humane society for two years and still no home to call his own. The blog talked mostly about the training he'd been receiving over the past year and how willing he was to come along and how well he was doing.
We called the humane society immediately and even completed the online application same day, hoping that since it was soon to be the weekend we might be able to schedule a visit out to his foster home at the trainers. All went well and we were off to meet him and his trainer that Friday evening.
I spotted him from the road as we turned into the drive, he took my breath away. "Is that him?" I asked my husband as I rolled down my window for a less dusty view. I knew it was, the question was actually asking, 'Could he possibly be mine?' "That's him!" my husband confirmed, and I could hear the same emotion in his voice that I felt in my heart. He was magnificent. A dark bay, with thick mane, grazing among the tall grass alone in the large green field.
The visit was long and yet passed quickly. His trainer rode him and lunged him and then invited me to do to the same. I wasn't as keen on the lunging, and this should have been at least a tinkling of a bell, if not a full on red flag that there would philosophical differences to come. But when in Rome.... The problem I had was that she drove him constantly, waving the whip and hitting the ground, pushing his hindquarters forward without end. There was absolutely no 'allow'. I just could not drive him like that, I wanted to see where he'd go on the ask and more importantly where he would stop, but she did not know where my mind was or the why of it so she just belted out her instructions to, "keep after him." I hated it, but I already loved him. I dropped the point of the whip down and sent him a secret invitation to turn in to me, if he did then surely she wouldn't insist that I send him back out. He did, and she didn't. I was smitten!
I rode him briefly. I was already getting that too tired feeling you get when you have too much emotion running through you, and in this case it was a combination of joy and hope and all the level-headed reminders to not get too attached. Before I dismounted I looked down at his trainer and asked her if she felt this was a good match. She seemed genuinely convinced that it was and said as much.
[now i can only summarize here the sharing of information that took place during the visit prior to my asking essentially for her blessing and support for us to adopt him. the short story is that he had been essentially an abandoned stallion left to fend for himself within his stallion sibling herd, some emaciation-starvation and very little human bonding. So he has only been gelded for the past two years, perhaps just shy of that, and that there would be some stallion tendencies in his behavior that would need to get worked out, and that he had, in fact, had one adoption home where he threw the rider, resulting in an injury and he was returned to the humane society ... likewise we shared with her information about our current horse family which consisted solely of Sundance, a horse that came to us in much worse behavioral shape than this horse a year and a half ago. We explained that we were not currently riding Sundance that he had only recently reached a level that we were comfortable starting and had only recently started tacking him for groundwork. And, we made it very clear that we were following Parelli training methods. I did not think that we held anything back nor tried to represent ourselves any differently then where we were, and because her website said that she was a practitioner of Natural Horsemanship I assumed we had her full support and understanding of what working a horse through Parelli would mean.]
Congratulations are in order at this point because we were approved after our home visit. We went to the humane society office to discuss our current situation which included a barn with it's midsection recently demolished for a new stall, it would be no less than three weeks before we could bring him home. What could we do to ensure that he was ours? Well, they were so happy with Cherokee's adoption that they assured us that we did not need to pay them any of the normal $300 adoption fee/donation and there would be absolutely no problem with the time line. We still gave them $100, thanking them for their kindness, overall everything about adopting Cherokee was feeling so positive and supported by all.
I had been thinking about the trainer and wondered if she had gotten the news about Cherokee's adoption, I wanted to see what could be worked out for me to come and visit him there. When I reached her, she did not sound at all happy. She said she had just found out. To me she sounded terribly disappointed and this took much of the energetic wind out of my sails... (I'm an uncontrollable em-path and someone else's hurt never fails to translate directly into my bones). Much more subdued from my enthusiasm just moments ago, I asked her if Don and I could come and visit with him the following day and of course that was acceptable.
When we arrived she was riding him, fairly hard around the arena, when she made the first pass by us she said that he'd been misbehaving and needed to be worked out. We were a little bit taken a back, so many logistics that we just hadn't thought of yet! But we accepted it just fine, this was his current home after all, and I had only the night before realized there was perhaps more than just a trainer relationship between her and Cherokee. I felt bad for her and I wanted to do whatever I could to win her over and show her that he really was going to a great and caring home... perhaps the very home that he had to wait for two years to find him. So, I asked her if she 'gave lessons' (knowing of course she did), when she confirmed I said, well what would you think about me signing up to take lessons from you while he stays her with you? That way I can get to know him better and be respectful of your time and care for him while he here. She agreed, and I wish I could say she agreed with enthusiasm but it wasn't, and it wasn't an emotion I could read so I blindly committed.
We called the humane society immediately and even completed the online application same day, hoping that since it was soon to be the weekend we might be able to schedule a visit out to his foster home at the trainers. All went well and we were off to meet him and his trainer that Friday evening.
The visit was long and yet passed quickly. His trainer rode him and lunged him and then invited me to do to the same. I wasn't as keen on the lunging, and this should have been at least a tinkling of a bell, if not a full on red flag that there would philosophical differences to come. But when in Rome.... The problem I had was that she drove him constantly, waving the whip and hitting the ground, pushing his hindquarters forward without end. There was absolutely no 'allow'. I just could not drive him like that, I wanted to see where he'd go on the ask and more importantly where he would stop, but she did not know where my mind was or the why of it so she just belted out her instructions to, "keep after him." I hated it, but I already loved him. I dropped the point of the whip down and sent him a secret invitation to turn in to me, if he did then surely she wouldn't insist that I send him back out. He did, and she didn't. I was smitten!
I rode him briefly. I was already getting that too tired feeling you get when you have too much emotion running through you, and in this case it was a combination of joy and hope and all the level-headed reminders to not get too attached. Before I dismounted I looked down at his trainer and asked her if she felt this was a good match. She seemed genuinely convinced that it was and said as much.
[now i can only summarize here the sharing of information that took place during the visit prior to my asking essentially for her blessing and support for us to adopt him. the short story is that he had been essentially an abandoned stallion left to fend for himself within his stallion sibling herd, some emaciation-starvation and very little human bonding. So he has only been gelded for the past two years, perhaps just shy of that, and that there would be some stallion tendencies in his behavior that would need to get worked out, and that he had, in fact, had one adoption home where he threw the rider, resulting in an injury and he was returned to the humane society ... likewise we shared with her information about our current horse family which consisted solely of Sundance, a horse that came to us in much worse behavioral shape than this horse a year and a half ago. We explained that we were not currently riding Sundance that he had only recently reached a level that we were comfortable starting and had only recently started tacking him for groundwork. And, we made it very clear that we were following Parelli training methods. I did not think that we held anything back nor tried to represent ourselves any differently then where we were, and because her website said that she was a practitioner of Natural Horsemanship I assumed we had her full support and understanding of what working a horse through Parelli would mean.]
Congratulations are in order at this point because we were approved after our home visit. We went to the humane society office to discuss our current situation which included a barn with it's midsection recently demolished for a new stall, it would be no less than three weeks before we could bring him home. What could we do to ensure that he was ours? Well, they were so happy with Cherokee's adoption that they assured us that we did not need to pay them any of the normal $300 adoption fee/donation and there would be absolutely no problem with the time line. We still gave them $100, thanking them for their kindness, overall everything about adopting Cherokee was feeling so positive and supported by all.
I had been thinking about the trainer and wondered if she had gotten the news about Cherokee's adoption, I wanted to see what could be worked out for me to come and visit him there. When I reached her, she did not sound at all happy. She said she had just found out. To me she sounded terribly disappointed and this took much of the energetic wind out of my sails... (I'm an uncontrollable em-path and someone else's hurt never fails to translate directly into my bones). Much more subdued from my enthusiasm just moments ago, I asked her if Don and I could come and visit with him the following day and of course that was acceptable.
When we arrived she was riding him, fairly hard around the arena, when she made the first pass by us she said that he'd been misbehaving and needed to be worked out. We were a little bit taken a back, so many logistics that we just hadn't thought of yet! But we accepted it just fine, this was his current home after all, and I had only the night before realized there was perhaps more than just a trainer relationship between her and Cherokee. I felt bad for her and I wanted to do whatever I could to win her over and show her that he really was going to a great and caring home... perhaps the very home that he had to wait for two years to find him. So, I asked her if she 'gave lessons' (knowing of course she did), when she confirmed I said, well what would you think about me signing up to take lessons from you while he stays her with you? That way I can get to know him better and be respectful of your time and care for him while he here. She agreed, and I wish I could say she agreed with enthusiasm but it wasn't, and it wasn't an emotion I could read so I blindly committed.
There are some moments in time that you can clearly rewind back to, and that play over and over again in your mind. I have done that more times in the past five days then I care to count anymore. If I could go back to that moment in time... I'd stop myself before asking her that question, and before committing to 'take lessons' from her and I'd even stop myself from feeling sorry for any regret or hurt feelings she was having. We should have simply said hello to Cherokee, asked her if there was anything she needed for him and said we'd see her in three weeks when we come out to pick him up to bring him home. As foriegn as that would be for me to do... that is what we should have done and spared all of us the stressful events of the past five days that are still not completely on the mend and now, still remaining before us are two very long weeks.
And that brings us to the here and now and present moment. I am purposefully omitting the disappointing details of the events that have occurred since last Thursday (five days ago). I'll summarize it by saying, I did come to her for lessons, and she could not let go of Cherokee, and insisted that my own methods where inadequate to handle him and that in fact Parelli training methods are disastrous. We have not had any problems with Cherokee, nothing significant in anyway so these verbal attacks were initially shocking. But I knew where she was going with it... if she could get me/us to believe that Cherokee was simply beyond us she would have her second chance of owning him. She has tried many tactics, and I believe that she may have even tried to convince the humane society though I can only make an assumption about that based on her comments to me. I have continued to go and to interact with her, graciously as I can be, trying to connect with some side of her that will help her stop this disastrous behavior. But even still, she is being somewhat successful, this is coming between me and my attempts to bond with Cherokee, it is making me want to stay away from there, but I won't give up and we certainly won't give up on him.
And so the journey begins here, we are waiting to bring our boy home. We are putting the relationship first, allowing him to stay in the home that he knows, we will continue to seek peace and support from the trainer, we will not get the chance to bond and work with him as much as we had hoped before he comes home, that is okay. This is the place and I can come to each day... knowing that each day we're getting closer. I wish there was some way to 'blast' this blog out into the world quickly, I want to be sharing this experience with others, I want to have readers who get to see the process and progress and happy ending who have been here from it's otherwise challenged beginning. But as with all things I do, we just have to mind the words of Pat Parelli and let it, "Take the time it takes."
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