Backing

[lor]

I'd like advice re backing my pony. She is brill at backing by me standing in front and with a little pressure on her head collar and saying the word 'back' she does happily. I would like to ask her to walk backwards from behind so that i can ask her to walk back out of a trailer saftley, me being able to guide her. I tried lifting her tail in her stable today and gently pulling and saying 'back', she just turned her head round and looked at me, a little confused, I decided to stop. I dont know whether to ask someone else to stand in front and ask her to back the normal way and with me behind lifting and gently pulling tail?? What do all you knowledgable people think??:)There may be something obvious that i am missing.

[katefarmer]

Hi Lor!

You could try the set up I suggested with the jump stands to discourage her from turning round, or just have someone push her back. The main thing is, don't give up until she has taken a step back, or she'll think not reacting to you pulling the tail was the right thing to do.

She's just used to following in a forwards direction - you just need to keep asking until she work's out you want a step back. It does help to have her in a situation where the options are limited, which is why it's good to have something blocking the idea of turning round!

Cheers

kate

[lor]

Thanks for reply Kate. Today, before reading the post i just asked her to back with my voice. once whilst on her and once standing in the stable. She did it both times so hopefully with the word and the pressure from the tail and as you suggest limiting the chance of there being an alternative she will understand. She is so happy standing on the trailer now, today i was chatting to my friend whilst she was standing on there and she rested a back leg and started to dose!:D It really pays to take time doesnt it!. Will let you know how it goes:)

[LodgeRopes]

Hi Lor & Kate :0)
i missed this post,,,hope i'm not too late to add a thought.

We like to break things down to the point where everything is ok, then slowly build up from there.
If a horse is in a float/trailer with dividers/walls blocking fwd and side movement, we rely on the horse having a good response to a movement cue.
By that we mean a cue that says 'move your feet', the horse then runs into blocks until it gets the movement happening in the right direction. An example of this is teaching a horse to back on cue from the saddle. The rider clicks, kisses, puts on some leg or whatever cue says 'move' but at the same time fwd movement is blocked by the bit or hackamore pressure. The horse finds no release of pressure fwd or to the sides but is rewarded instantly it even thinks about moving backwards. This is easy in a float as it can only move backwards, once the horse is moving, the tail can be used as an aid to direct the horse but the movement is generated by the movement cue, not the pulling on the tail.

Not sure where this tail unloading started, but we are not big fans as it does put you in a dangerous position and nothing can spoil you fun like getting killed.

cheers all

[doris]

You could try long reining her and using voice and aids, then perhaps you could dispense with the long reins and she may just back with your voice.

[Imp]

I was also going to suggest long reining and gradually reduce pressure and try to get pony to listen to voice aids.

My pony will, if she feels inclined, now back up on voice command; having said that it is easier to do it standing in front of her and giving a 'go away' signal with one arm.

[lor]

Have now been out for a stress free short journey in trailer (back to home) upon arrival at home i opened the back ramp and she just stood eating her hay, in no hurry to get off. I left it for 5 mins and then asked her to back out, which she did calmly. Hooray, back to getting out and enjoying ourselves:D Just need to work on backing her with partitians in now, not worrying when she touches the sides. Do people find that generally because they are standing straight due to partitians, they back out straight?,:confused: my fear is that she will go wonky and step off the ramp and worry herself, hence the original thread of asking her back from behind using her tail.