need help on "ground work"

[EventingRed]

have and sugestions on a more copertave horse?? he is eleven and acts three! after i ride i try and go in the arena and just "play" with him, having him respect my space and me respecting his space. we dont have a round pen or an arena where we are aloud to free lounge. and just when i think we have got it we go to a show and he acts like a stallion! i would love some help on this.

thx

Red :)

[Kate F.]

Hi Red!

You don't necessarily need a round pen or place to work free. These are great if they're available, but a lot can be achieved simply with the rope halter!

One think that may be causing aproblem is that you say you are respecting his space. I don't know exactly what you mean by this, but if you are backing out of his space, you're telling him he's higher in the herd order than you are, and therefore in a crisis or new situation (eg at a show) he is the one who should make the decisions and control the space around you.

The higher ranking horse controls the personal space at all times, and the lower ranking horse can only come into this space when it is invited. That doesn't mean you have to be driving him away all the time, but you do have to make it clear that you decide who stands where, and that he cannot drive you out of his space. By all means have him come up close and stroke him, scratch his neck and back etc - but when you're finished, he must take a step away from you, not you backing away from him. These are very subtle things and seem like very small details to us - but they are very important to the horse.

A great place to start is with an exercise we call "The Waltz" which moves all the feet in all directions. It's a very powerful exercise for the horse psychologically and will give you tools to be able to keep control no matter what happens.

Have a look at http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=2%2F7%2F2003+5%3A59%3A53+AM&direction=n&bflag=#december02http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=2%2F7%2F2003+5%3A59%3A53+AM&direction=n&bflag=#december02 to see why he's behaving like this - especially the "Watching the Feet" section - though it's all relevant. This explains how higher and lower ranking members of the herd move around eachother and show respect. Horses do not have a sense of give and take, or "your turn" - each is higher or lower in relation to another and they don't play at role reversals.

For the Waltz - see http://www.harmony-project.net/skin.asp?user=katefarmer&tab=weblogs&fid=0&nextdate=6%2F7%2F2003+3%3A51%3A53+AM&direction=n&bflag=#march03

Just about all horses would prefer to have a leader they can trust to look after them than to be the leader themselves. That's how the herd works. Cooperation is in their genes. The problems start when they think we don't understand their world or what represents danger to them, and they feel they have to take control to make sure of their own survival. You just have to persuade him that you're friends, but you are one higher in the herd order - and when decisions need to be made - you are the best horse to make them! :-)))

Good luck!