KBR Training Case Study:"Patience"
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On Tuesday April 20th the weather was beautiful. The predicted
windstorm died down to a mild breeze. Sharon was out mowing the
track and horse course and I was playing with Shiloh and Patience.
We saddled up and went into the round corral. We did some real basic ground maneuvers so I could see that she was with me, then I turned a 15 gallon plastic tree pot upside down for a mounting block and pulled her up alongside it. I climbed up onto the pot, slapped the stirrup a couple of times and put my toe in. I pommeled myself over the top, staying in a half mounted position with my top half over the off side to counter balance my lower half and she stood quietly. I gently pivoted and sat in the saddle, quietly placing my right leg into the stirrup. No big deal. Patience's ears were definitely aimed my direction and she shifted her weight a few times getting used to balancing me, but she was very quiet. I gently eased her backwards to get clear of the tree pot, then we did some simple bending. I wanted her to get used to seeing me from both eyes and she needed to develop balance with me on top and with her head bent. She shifted her weight around some but never got excited. After a few minutes of this, I let her just stand. She immediately went into "energy conservation mode," lowering her head and cocking a hind foot. After about two minutes of standing relaxed, she started to doze off! I scratched her withers so she wouldn't forget I was up on her back and panic when she "came to." She continued just to hang out with her eyes closed. I got her attention and dismounted. Then I remounted from the ground. No problem. She shifted her weight a little to accomodate my getting up, then immediately settled back down into energy conservation mode. So long as I wasn't asking anything of her, she was content just to hang out. And when you think about it, why would you want a horse to get worked up over being saddled and ridden? It should come as natural as anything else the horse does and if the handler doesn't provoke the horse into a frightened state, the process can be to the horse just as interesting as any other new thing in its environment. |
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