NH - New to it all and opinions on us so far and further ideas plese!

[Torie]

As I'm fairly new I don't suppose many (if any of you!) know about my mare Molly. She's a 16hh, 6yo piebald mare who is very green and can be quite difficult to handle on the ground, although I think a lot of these problems stem from unconsistent/bad handling at her past home. I've owned Molly for about two months now, so it's a fairly new relationhip. She can be very bargy when leading and thinks nothing of pushing or dragging you, she's always biting and the odd kick in the stable, doesn't tie up particurly well and can generally be quite foul! She's also quite spooky and will frequently leap in the air and spin around should something scare or worry her. Although again I feel that this is due to us both being new to each other, her past handling and being very green and not knowing how to act really. Although she has improved tenfold in the time I've owned her so I think with constant and sympathetic handling, she'll learn to work with me rather than against ... hopefully! :D

Anyway...When I first got her I decided that as well as lots of work and schooling when ridden we also needed to spend a lot of time working together inhand to improve our relationship and hopefully her manners! I've spent a lot of time with her, working inhand of getting her to walk by my shoulder and not pulling or barging or stopping dead still and refusing to move, practising halting and turning and generally trying to get her used to the idea of being handled on the ground. As she has improved a lot in this I've also began introducing the use of poles in our ground work and given her, or rather both of us somethign else to think about! At the momnt we're just using the poles laid out on the ground to walk over, but I usually ask her to do otherthings as well, maybe stopping before walking over it or making a turning or something to keep her thinking rather than just walking any old how over the poles! :D

I hadn't really considered this to be Natural Horsemanship - I don't mean that in a bad or negative way, just that apart from seeing a Parrelli lecture at a show and reading the odd article in magazines, I have very little knowledge of NH so had never really considered what we are doing to be NH, if you can follow me? - more of a way of forming a bond with Molly and improving her quite frankly appalling manners! But after having a chat with a lady on the yard she assured me that it was NH - she could also see a big change in Molly, which I was dead chuffed about!

I suppose the point of this thread was really to get over people's opionions on what I'm doing with Molly and also hopefully get some other ideas and ways to continue our progress as I'm very new to NH and to be honest have very little idea about other NH methods such as Parrelli, Monty Roberts and the likes ....

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Torie xx

[Moomin]

oh that made me chuckle - this time last year I was posting on different site saying "this is my 5 year old piebald mare called Molly who can't do this that and the other and keeps trying to kill me!" could they be twins!! ;)

I tried everything with Moo, and I found that Parelli worked best but carefully tailored to her needs. It has taken a long, long time (one year) to get where I now feel I can start in ernest with her training.

I don't think the leaping, spooking etc will be solved by anything except time and patience, there is no quick fix but you can give a helping hand along the way with the way you react and reinforce her good behaviour. With groundwork - I can count the number of times I have been on Molly's back since I got her - the first thing I did was decide not to ride her as if I couldn't control her from the ground then I certainly shouldn't be trying to from her back - that was if she let me stay on longer than 2 seconds anyway! (I am now riding her by the way!)

I personally think Natural Horsemanship is nothing more special than being kind and adaptable and patient, using your common sense and being safe about the way you deal with a horse. Programs like Parelli channel those qualities and help you learn them to an extent and structure it into something useful so you know where you're going.

Persevere with her won't you - I wouldn't swop my Molly for a hundred "bombproof" horses now as she's taught me so much.

[Yann]

For me, when it comes down to it, there isn't a vast amount of difference between good horsemanship and 'natural' horsemanship. It's all in the consistency, approach and handling. What the NH aspect brings perhaps is a greater awareness of the importance of things like body language and herd behaviour and how they can be used to increase the effectiveness of handing and training. Things like pressure and release when doing leading work, once you understand about the importance of timing it can become a lot more effective.

You could do a lot worse than get hold of Perfect Manners by Kelly Marks, you'll find a lot of the sort of stuff you were doing is in there, and the overall approach is practical and open minded. A lot of people dip in to various 'methods', myself included, and try different things to see what works for them and what doesn't.

At the end of the day though you're right, time spent on the ground is very important and worthwhile. So many people seem to have horses and do nothing other than ride them, and don't seem to realise the handling and behavioural niggles they have with their horses could often easily be sorted with a little patience and effort.

[Torie]

Hi!

Thanks for your replies guys! Do you have any other suggestions for things I could do with her on the ground to keep it intresting .. I had the idea of when she's a bit more confident and secure in me to have sort of 'desensitiving' sessions with scary things like taurpalin, plastic bags etc to helpfully help her understand that these things aren't horse eating monsters! I've also thought of playing with the poles, maube raising one end and eventually both to give her something a little more to think about!

Moomin - Wow! Our Molly's could almost be twins! It's so good to hear how much she's come on, it bodes well for mine! I was actually really chuffed today as I was finishing her off this evening and as I was skipping out she kinda followed me around the box with pricked ears and little nudges as if to say 'Hi Mum! I'm folowing you - aren't I a clever girl?!'. She no longer barges you out the way when leading her and she's definately getting a bit easier to handle with the right sort of handling, so it's looking good! I think the groundwork is definately helping with our re-schooling and bringing on under saddle, even if we are only in walk and trot at the moment ... it'll all come in time .... I hope! :D

Thanks for the suggestion Yann, I'll definately keep an eye out for the KM's book :D

More suggestions on what to do on the ground to keep her attention will be great!

Thanks guys!

Torie xx

[Drummers mum]

T team, touch equine (someone correct me if I'm wrong) has all sorts of exercises for groundwork and spookiness etc. If you can get hold of some older Your Horse mags they ran a series in there early this year I think.

What made me think of it was they laid out poles like pick up sticks to make the horse think about where its was putting its feet. A bit like you're doing.

[Moomin]

Perfect Manners is very good indeed. I always have mine handy and constantly wave in under peoples' noses!!

Another god one is Bombproof your horse which is fairly new but assumes your horse is fairly advanced already really and is a bit disparaging especially if you have a mare.

to get ideas for ground games and confidence givers I would strongly recommend Parelli. (I am not a cult style convert or on commission honestly!!) I am lucky in that I have an instructor who has trained in many NH methods including Parelli who can show me these things.

Whatever you do don't stop doing groundwork as soon as you think its worked. Moo used to do all groundwork and now does a mix where we always start with some groundwork and then go on to ridden work, to help her remember how to behave and equate new things with whatever she's doing next. I never get on without some groundwork first even if its only five minutes or so.

[Yann]

You could try a bit of clicker training too - it's very effective, especially with a food oriented horse. It can get their attention and them thinking far more effectively than anything else I've tried, and is another great tool for desensitising and modifying behaviour. It can also be used very successfully in tandem with any other training method.