07.10.08
Compassionate green horse training in Bear Brook
Daughter Emmie visited us in Gilford in mid-June and we all enjoyed a carriage drive in Bear Brook State Park (Allenstown, NH) put on by the Granite State Carriage Association. Hubby and I and let her ride young Glendale (almost 3), which she was thrilled to do, while we drove Gilford put to the Eagle 4-wheel carriage.
Emmie had gotten to know Glen while the Herd visited her area a couple of months ago; she loves him as we do and has helped us tremendously with his under-saddle schooling. (I only wish she lived closer by so she could do MORE riding training of our young guys!)
Emmie getting Glendale’s tack while Hubby unloads the carriage, in Bear Brook State Park.
As we start out, Claudia takes our picture for us. See Peaches in front of me! Attendance at this drive was light (gas prices maybe???) and we had the trails mostly to ourselves.
On this excursion, I was riding comfortably in the rear seat of the carriage. My only job (besides picture-taking!) was to keep Peaches securely in the carriage floor in front of me, which proved challenging in the open-sided Eagle. I had her up in the seat beside me starting out, held close with her leash in hand, when suddenly as we slowed she jumped out for no apparent reason and rolled onto her back as she landed, right beside the carriage wheel!
Peaches was unhurt, but it totally surprised me because she is used to riding in carts and carriages since she was a puppy. After that I kept her in the floor in front of me, and had her really well secured by the leash, also between my legs so she couldn’t lean out on either side (we never tie her in by the leash, but hold it for quick release in an emergency.) She does enjoy going with us and hates being left out of anything.
Peaches saying hi to Glendale…
Emmie practiced having Glendale in front and behind, at walk, trot and canter. The following series of 4 videos shows where we encountered a visually frightening bridge, which really worried Glendale. Emmie kept Glen in the lead approaching the bridge (with difficulty) while Dad drove Gilford forward a few steps at a time to give Glen confidence.
Glendale first sees the bridge and wants to turn (and run?) away from it, but Emmie keeps him facing it and slowly advancing. Handling a horse in this type of situation takes a lot of skill and tons of patience. The trick is to keep him facing the scary thing, coax him forward gently but firmly, then reward him for every slightest move in the desired direction, patting him and letting him stand and think things over.
Working our way closer, Glendale seems to become a little more confident as he progresses. Patience is the key… if a rider started whipping on the horse trying to force him forward, it would make the horse even more frightened and create a negative experience. Then in future scary places the horse would associate being afraid with getting spanked– that is how horses are made neurotic. The squeaking noises at the end of this video are the carriage brakes; Dad has the brakes on, but Gilford is pulling against them, he is more than ready to go forward and cross the bridge.
Em I’m sure would have gotten the inexperienced youngster across leading the way, except that another carriage came up behind us and we couldn’t hold those folks up, so Dad drove Gilford over first and Glen then followed readily. This indicates that young Glen just lacked the confidence to be first in line. Dad trots out after crossing the bridge to reach a pullout just ahead, in order to let the following carriage pass us.
Doubling back on the return trip, we come to the same bridge again from the opposite direction. You can see Glendale accepts it now and Emmie rides him across in the lead this time with almost no hesitation on his part.
Glen then has a breakthrough moment (in the video) when Emmie decides for his practice and confidence to ride him BACK over the bridge in the original direction, ALL BY HIMSELF! The 3 yr.old trusts her guidance enough now to haltingly walk over the bridge once more (going in the original scary direction), and even to stop on it for a few seconds each way to deal with standing still on it! (Meanwhile, you hear Gilford protesting that he can’t see his brother anymore and he would like to turn around and follow him, but Dad keeps Gil standing and facing down the trail.)
These 4 bridge episodes demonstrate a compassionate approach to horse training, letting the horse have a say in matters by understanding his instinctive fears when they occur and being patient enough to help him overcome his fears! Emmie has always had a great empathy with horses and taken a kind attitude towards them in their training, developing a trusting (and thus trustworthy) partner instead of a mere beast of burden.
This Bear Brook Drive/Ride was quite pleasant and otherwise uneventful…
Passing another driver with passenger; this striking driving horse is an Appy-Arab cross (half appaloosa, half arabian).
Relaxing walk with Glen and Emmie taking the lead…
On the road again… driver’s eye view! We navigated a woods road that was REALLY bumpy; it was so bumpy I had to hold on with both hands and couldn’t even video!
We had a few nice canters too, here a short uphill run about 3/4 of the way through the drive (Gil is starting to feel a bit tired, but Glen is out in front urging his brother on…)
All happily relaxing once the horses are cared for, and friend Claudia kindly shares her fresh coconut.
Horse Gal said,
July 14, 2008 at 11:54 am
Connie - You and Dad have got to be SO proud of your Emmie!! What a wonderful example she is of how you can get a horse to do what you want with patience and by working as a team with your horse and not being harsh or smacking him. As you already know, Emmie just blows me away with what she can do in the saddle and from the ground. I’m so glad you were there to capture Emmie working her magic for the rest of us to see!!! (Kudos to Connie for great videos/pix!!!). Emmie truly belongs with horses and I really hope that she never sells herself short about her abilities. Horses need her, and others like her, in their world. She is a tremendous example for me, and others like me, who want to learn as much as possible about horses and the right way of working with them, around them and on them. What I really liked seeing was Emmie patting his neck resasurring him! That shows not only her patience with your youngster, but her love for her beloved Momma mares baby boy, Glendale!!! Thank you, Connie, for sharing with your fans, what I think is an exciting moment when Emmie gets Glen to cross that bridge. That deserves a HUGE Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!