Groundwork tips for a mare lacking in confidence?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

I think most people are sick of me atm :rolleyes: but i have yet another question.

On the general advice of NR im moving curly to a closer yard (if i stop panicing for five minutes..) and stopping riding for now.
Ive been told to stick to groundwork for a week or so and then introduce lungeing (curlys very well behaved to lunge).
this is where i come unstuck. i dont know how to groundwork!
I have an arena to work in (provided i can book it).

Curly isnt bolshy at all on the ground and really takes confidence from a person infront of her - she will hack past anything if theres a person walking infront - another horse doesnt have the same effect :confused: but if that person is on her back its a different kettle of fish.
so im looking for some groundwork ideas for a 8yr old mare who is not spooky and very well behaved on the ground. mainly bonding work so she starts to accept me.

any ideas guys?

[Tangle]

I'd put her in a bridle or cavesson to start with, have a light lunge whip (a driving whip works really well as lunge whips can be too long for in hand work - you can get cheap driving whips at Scats ;)). To start with, I'd just walk her in hand around the school and yard so that she can have a look at everything with no pressure. Once she's relaxed in the environment take her into the school (clear any obstacles away for a while) and start asking for a little more effort (and as a safety precaution, it's always worth wearing hat, gloves, boots ;)). Most of what I've written here is assuming you want to look at it from a fairly classical perspective assuming you're going to introduce lateral work. If that's not your cup of tea, you can still do most of it apart from the lateral stuff while moving forwards - up to you :)

It's easiest to do in hand work with you standing by the horse's head/neck and looking at her quarters. So if you want to start on the left rein, hold the line near her nose (or both reins under her chin) with your left hand and the whip in your right. Whip aids are very similar as for lunging - pointing at the ground = "keep doing what I last told you", horizontal = "I'm asking you for something here" and vertical = "halt".

To start with, just ask her to walk in a straight line or on a large circle - try and walk around the same speed as you would normaly lead her for now. What you want is for her to focus on you, walk at the speed you dictate and move straight. Change sides frequently. This stage is as much getting you confident moving backwards as it is teaching Curly very much new! But you can do some basic corrections - if she leans on her inside shoulder or swings her quarters in, use the whip to tell her that's not what you want (this is where a shorter whip is usefull ;)). The single most important thing is that she doesn't barge or lean on your hand.

Once you're happy you're not going to fall over, start asking Curly to walk a little slower and get more ambitious on circle size (you'll find there's a balance between the speed she can walk and the smallness of circle you can acheive - if she starts to move sideways she's telling you it's too hard right now so make the circle a little bigger and speed up a smidgeon). Try hard to keep the circles regular ;)

You can also do some lateral work. Start with turn on the forehand - ask her to bend towards you, and then use the whip to ask her to move her quarters over (experiment - some horse's respond well to an upwards stroke on their canon, others behind the stifle, others a tap on the haunches - you'll need to find out where Curly's button is). Once she's moving over consistently, start asking her to mover her quarters out on a circle.

Start asking for rein back. Then start steering her while she's going backwards. As you both get more confident, start introducing obstacles to either go over (poles, plastic bags, tarpaulins) or work around (jump wings, cones, chairs). These'll both add variety and do some desensitizing. Once you've got the basics sorted you should be able to do most things in hand that you could do under saddle.

As you do more lateral work you'll probably need to do more work in a bridle and train yourself to use the two reins independently so you can ask for bend more accurately - again, for the left rein, hold the left rein in your left hand and the right rein and whip in your right hand, taking the right rein over her neck. It can be tricky to co-ordinate the whip and rein, so don't worry too much if this goes pear shaped for a while - get things re-established with one hand and try again...

If all of that made no sense at all, or to have some backup, you might want to get a copy of Kelly Marks "Perfect Manners" or look at getting some info on Parelli (even if you don't want to go down the Parelli road completely, some of the games might be usefull to you). There's also a book I've seen with good reviews (although not read) called "Schooling Horses In-hand: For Suppling and Collection" by Richard Hinrichs which looks like it could be a very good reference on in-hand ground work.

Hope some of that's useful and not too confusing :o

[CurlyWurlyRach]

thankies :D
Ive put Perfect manners on my christmas list already :rolleyes:
ive made a few notes on your post and will add to it any other suggestions i get and will then print it off (as im a ledgend for being a total wooly headed clot apparently :rolleyes: ) and take it with me
''hang on curly. stop there. i need to consult the list!''

lateral work will help buold up her muscle right?
shes fat and has no muscle to speak of now. heres a pic to illustrate my no muscle and overweight point :( she has lost a smidgeon since then.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a44/lord_w_rox/whatsinthesepockets.jpg

[Tangle]

She looks like a sweetie :) (and I've seen a LOT fatter as well ;))

Yes, lateral work should help build up her muscle :). However, if you can get her to balance herself (rather than balance on you) and take control of her own body then the whole deal should help build up muscle. Because of that, though, it can be quite hard work for the horse so also keep an eye on how she's doing - you might find 10 or 15 minutes has her comletely exhausted at first...

You'll probably also want to give her a chance to warmup - you could just walk her around in hand, but it'd probably be easier on the lunge (we're literaly just talking a few minutes walk to stretch out her muscles a bit). As she's good to lunge I can't see it would be a problem to do that once you start asking her to work a little bit more - focus on getting her relaxed in preference to very forward. Don't feel tied to a single point in the school - let her walk in straight lines to keep her interested. Relaxation is important though - youll get a LOT more out of the groundwork if she's calm and happy rather than a bit wired ;)

Don't worry too much about remembering the whole lot at once. Start out just getting confidence for a few days, and aim to just introduce one new thing at a time as you feel you can remember it. You'll be fine :)

[KateWooten]

ok, Rach, I'm running out of time here .... Personally, I think you will do well to invest in a good groundwork book or course. I'm getting a strong picture of a good rider, having worked through teh english BHS type of culture - a good rider, who's had to deal with almost no young horse training. If you compare that with the US culture - here if you want ahorse, you go get him as a weanling and figure it out ! :eek: Well, not suprisingly then, the bulk of the NH big-names are western trainers (even Kelly Marks, since she's the protege of the dreadful mr Roberts)

I've read the Kelly Marks stuff, and it's fine, you can kind of get started with it. It's a bit waffly though, and doesn't go very far - like so many of the intro books, it's more a taster to get you hooked into calling out n RA, going to the clinics etc etc. The only one of the intro books (I mean under #15 type books) I read (and I read loads and loads of them) was Clinton Anderson's. Don't worry about it not being too well known over there, you can buy it on amazon, and just get working with it - it's even based half on an english rider whose horse shows quite a few of the same problems as Curly. In fact , for you, I'd recommend it, if only for the story of 'Cecilia' and her progress through the book - because the pics were taken over one week of this groundwork, and then ridden training, and the difference will be really encouraging for you - just because you'll be able to see yourself there at the start.

Anyways - they're all much the same theory - kelly Marks, Parelli, Anderson - you're moving the horse's feet in order to gain respect. It's easier in a rope halter, because the horse can't lean on it, like they can in a webbing halter. The only other equipment is a piece of rope, and any old stick. You need an area that is reasonably flat, and good footing is nice too, but if you don't have it, you just adapt and spend longer on the slower exercises.

So, for example - here's the hula-hoop exercise. Stand facing horse, she stays 3ft back, and keeps two eyes on you. Watch closely and every time her attention wanders, bump her back to you - just a little tug on the rope.

That's it ! It's an exercise in you reading the horse more than anything - and reacting to her 'sooner rather than harsher'

The next exercises are to isolate movements of the different body parts, and to move them with the softest cue... so, can you ask her hindquarters to stpe away from you, just by staring at them ? If not step towards them, then tap the air by them with your stick, then tap her hip with rhythm ...etc etc. You immediately stop and drop all pressure when you get a correct response. Then, after a little break, you start again woth the softest cue - just staring with focus and energy at her hip. You will be amazed the first time Curly responds to your energy, your focus (and possibly your slightly crouched predator looking body position) without you having to actually 'do' anything.

Obviously, the explanations in the book, the pictures, the theory, what to do when it goes wrong, how long to keep at it, why we're doing this, what signs to look for that she's getting it, when to release, the importance of your release timing etc etc etc are all in the book with far more relevant explanation than I or Tangle could go into on a thread here. The classical exercise that Tangle outlines, although they sound very different - they are actually pretty much the same - we're all just gaining respect by moving their feet.

You can carry on with this, working on moving just the shoulders away... just the ribcage, just one foot etc etc ... BUT - it's much, much easier to follow, if you have a 'roadmap' - it just makes progress so much more reliable because you're not reinventing the wheel, and your're not making unneccesary mistakes along the way ... so buy the book :)

[KateWooten]

slightly Off topic for you Rach, but here's a link to a neat discussion about the one-rein-stop ...
http://pub47.bravenet.com/forum/4006324470/show/685069
It's not all that O/T because o-r-s is a tool for getting the horse's focus right back to you when you need it - and you could do with a tool like that for when you're back riding with her again ...

Oh, and btw, it might seem like you're in the middle of a really long uphill struggle with Curly right now, but I think you'll find if you play it right, and invest in the right learning for you now, you're actually at the start of quite a quick turn-around, so go for it, with enthusiasm and have fun with it.

Kate

[Tangle]

The classical exercise that Tangle outlines, although they sound very different - they are actually pretty much the same
Too true - at the end of the day it doesn't matter whether you call it "Classical Horsemanship" or "Natural Horsemanship" or even "Martian Horsemanship", it's the Horsemanship that's important :D

[CurlyWurlyRach]

:D nice on tangle. 'My names Rach and i practise martian horsemanship'

thanks Kate :) i think id die of shock if i made curly move by looking at her, but i'll try my darn best! :D