Progress.....sort of?

[bitsnpieces]

After the events of a few weeks ago and now that Bella's teeth aren't causing quite so much aggro, I took her in the school yesterday to start working at the napping for the gate that seems to be the primary set off for the "I don't wanna's" that have started to come to the surface lately.

I would love to say that we had a very productive session and that all is sorted, but we didn't and it isn't!

She has very quickly worked out that getting bolshy around the gate gets her out of any potential work, so we worked on just simply moving away from the gate on a headcollar and leadrope. She's using her head, neck and shoulders to really try and move me out of the way, so that is the first bit that needs to change. For the most part it went ok, but there were a few battle of wills and the long and short of it is that I need to suck it up and get on with it.

I've asked OH if he will come out and watch whilst I do groundwork with her, part of the reason I am being so ridiculously ineffective at the moment is that I am worried if anything happens and she manages to make contact whilst being a twit, I am on my own, so I get defensive and the whole thing takes a downward spiral.

There were a few small victories yesterday and I did get what I asked the majority of the time, but it's just very clear that this whole napping episode isn't over and we have quite a long way to go to correct it. A few occasions where she was very firmly told that she couldn't walk straight through me, she started pawing the ground and once or twice kicked out in frustration with her back legs.

I've dug out a few of the groundwork exercises that I used with Inca to work through a similar phase, so hoping that doing these little and often will engage her brain a bit so she's not constantly thinking about everything else she wants to do other than what I'm asking.

I think one of the reasons that this behaviour is starting to come through, is that she is very used to her routine of just going to and coming from the field, the latter meaning a nice tasty haynet. So when coming in from the field now means a bit of the nice tasty haynet and then having to go back out again albeit for only a short spell, it is disrupting her routine and she wants her grub.

The last few weeks I've been working on getting her to accept that she doesn't always just walk straight from the field to her net, there have been a few "opinionate moments" but they've settled down now with some groundwork in the yard and stable. Just got to transfer it to the school now!!!!!!!

Sorry for the rambling essay, just needed to "talk" about it and unfortunately you guys get the brunt of it!

 

[LindaAd]

It's very difficult to work with a hungry horse - yesterday Hebe trashed a week's good progress, napping and rushing and pushing me into the ditch, because she wanted to eat, not walk.

Could you change your routine so that she gets hay first, work after? Or maybe give her a tiny haynet before work so that she feels she's finished?

 

[Flipo's Mum]

Chin up BnP, we have total faith in you that you can work through all of this. I guess it's what you love about working with babies - the challenge!
I too would maybe suggest a handful of hay before her work out, so that she's satisfied she's been fed. I know we should expect them to do as we ask at all times but why set yourself up for more defiance than you need.
Friend always rides first thing, but her horse expects a bucket feed and if he doesn't get it prior to their ride, he can be very difficult. She compromises by giving him a handful of his breakfast in a bucket, and will give the rest later on.

 

[Trewsers]

I think it's a good idea to have your OH nearby, as you say you don't want to tense up and make things negative in front of her, so if you know you have a person nearby to help out if things get stick I think you'll do better.

 

[bitsnpieces]

I have been thinking about this LindaAd and very much agree, I'm going to start giving her a small amount before we do any work to help eliminate that as a motivation not to want to work.

I'm just so frustrated with myself as I can feel what I'm doing wrong!

 

[bitsnpieces]

Chin up BnP, we have total faith in you that you can work through all of this. I guess it's what you love about working with babies - the challenge!
I too would maybe suggest a handful of hay before her work out, so that she's satisfied she's been fed. I know we should expect them to do as we ask at all times but why set yourself up for more defiance than you need.
Friend always rides first thing, but her horse expects a bucket feed and if he doesn't get it prior to their ride, he can be very difficult. She compromises by giving him a handful of his breakfast in a bucket, and will give the rest later on.

Thanks hun, you're very kind just had one of those days yesterday where I felt very glum.

Am going to give it another go this evening, just a short session after a haynet, and set up a few pole L shapes to play with...with a hard hat, gloves and a long line!

 

[bitsnpieces]

I think it's a good idea to have your OH nearby, as you say you don't want to tense up and make things negative in front of her, so if you know you have a person nearby to help out if things get stick I think you'll do better.

Thanks Trews

Where she was very agressive with me a few weeks ago, it's really put me on the defensive (not like me at all!), I'm usually quite good at staying calm but assertive but just feels like I've lost my mojo! I think that having OH nearby will help make me feel more secure as I won't be worrying that if anything happens, I'll be stuck in a heap on the floor!

 

[Innocence]

Don't beat yourself up, you are doing really well and should be proud of what you achieve even if it's a small win.

I experience the same thing with Sul, he deliberately uses brute force to push me out the way if he doesn't want to do anything. This is something we will be working on over the Summer. Blaze is so bloody intelligent he get it first time but Sul will only play nicely if there is a food reward for him which is a habit i need to break.

 

[popularfurball]

Or perhaps work before going out, or bring her in, work her and turn her out while you do jobs for half an hour?

The other thing is perhaps to work her on two lines but be to the side of her - this way you have an "outside hand" to encourage her to stay out, but you aren't behind her, nor are you far enough away to be sending her away like lunging?

It sounds like a confidence issue tantrum... Just like piggy! "If I don't know what you want, ill throw a wobbler"

 

[bitsnpieces]

Thanks Innocence - it's comforting to know that Sul has gone through a similar phase.

PFB - You have a very good point there, working after her morning net and before going out would be worth trying and also turning out in the school after any evening work would help. Working on two lines is going to be the next stage after re-visiting basic groundwork, so also very much agree that this will be helpful.

I do think part of her behaviour is down to having a wobble when she isn't sure what I'm asking for, but at the same time the one bit that I'm struggling to get my head round is that up until now, she's loose schooled quite happily and this is where she was very aggressive a few weeks ago. She had parked herself by the gate and had turned to put her head over it, when asked to move on from the gate, she was rearing and plunging at me.

I think at least part of this was a panic to get to her food as this is still an issue for her. However, she has cottoned on very quickly to this trick and is now using it as an evasion to work, so the problem has changed a little although I do agree that a lack of confidence, particularly in me, is the root cause of these rather large wobbles.

After she was aggressive a few weeks ago, I did start asking things of her during her "normal" routine, stopping and standing on the way in from the field and making her stand for a few moments in the stable before taking her headcollar off, both of these requests were met with initial resistance and an attempt to throw her weight around, before realising that it was quicker to stand nicely first. Each of these only took a few days to stop and I'm now working them into her routine on a varied basis.