Update on Trifecta--Arena Work
These last few months have been very difficult for me, but all through it, Trifecta has been the bright spot. Though he has been challenging at times, he has never been dangerous and has always been fun.
The weather definitely didn't help us at all. Since he had only gone on one "real" trail ride last year, I certainly wasn't going to try and cross the river on him when it was at all high. Ideally, I wanted to be able to ride him on the other side for 2-3 days in a row. The weather just didn't cooperate for us.
That didn't mean that we wasted this time. Since the weather was warmer, we moved the majority of our riding outside to our very large outdoor arena. It has all-weather footing, so we never have to deal with mud, sloppiness or deep puddles. We do have to deal with a closed gate that he wanted to go out of. That was the most frustrating aspect of our outdoor adventures. He would try to stop at the gate, get stuck at the gate and veer towards the gate as we went by it.
This problem hasn't completely gone away, but it is vastly better than it was in the beginning. There are 2 things that I did that really helped. The first one was to practice "perfect corners" at a trot. We started at the far corners where the gate wasn't even an issue. When I say perfect, I mean perfect. I did the first corner over and over until he got it right--and then he got clicked. After that, he was getting it perfect most of the time in just a few minutes. He would only get clicked for perfect. We then went to the next corner and did the same thing. It took less time for him to understand what I wanted, and when he was perfect, he got a click.
The next plan was to do both corners in a row. I wanted a definitive straightening between the corners, and that was the hardest part for him to understand, but he did after a while. After a few practices, I didn't click him but headed down to corner number 3. He did that one perfectly, and I clicked him. I walked him past corner number 4 where the gate was located and headed back to corner #1. We trotted through #1, #2 and #3. I kept going and he did #4 perfectly! Of course, he got a click. We practiced some more and called it quits for the day.
The next time I rode him in there, we practiced "perfect corners" the other direction. He became more consistent from then on when I wanted to simply trot past the gate.
The following week, I decided to teach him to go in and out of the gate. I didn't know if this would help or hurt. All along, I would dismount on the far end of the arena and lead him out of the gate. Now I was going to ride out. I decided I couldn't just ride out--I needed a way to give him permission to go. I rode to a spot about 10 feet from the gate--facing it--stopped him and then told him to walk out. I rode out, rode him around, went back in, rode back out--and did this a number of times. I wanted him to learn that going out didn't mean we were going back to the barn and going in didn't necessarily mean we were going to work hard. A few days later, I added trotting around when I was outside the arena and just walking leisurely inside the arena.
Since then, when he gets "gate-ish" it is only half hearted. I am still wrestling with his circles bulging towards the gate when we are near it, but that is way better than before.
I have gotten him to do some cantering. It hasn't been easy, and it is very sporadic. The good news is that it is a lovely, smooth and balanced canter--not racy at all. That is so much different than Cole was in his beginning days of cantering. Cole used to buck, too. Tri has no inclination to buck. The hard part is just getting him to do it. I haven't been clicking him for it, because horses stop what they are doing immediately when they hear a click, and I don't like that sudden stop. I think we will probably do best working on the canter when we are on the trail.
Ellen has ridden him a few times, and she really likes him. He is very responsive to leg and weight aids. My theory is to ride a horse like they know what you want them to do, and they will learn all the more subtle cues without you spending a lot of time actually teaching them the cues--and it really worked with Trifecta. Ellen's told me that he actually responds to cues like the books say a horse is supposed to. He picked up on indirect reining without me even knowing I was teaching it to him. I have started to teach him neck reining, and he is catching on.
After riding in the indoor arena most of the winter with him, it is so great to be outside. He is also learning to work when there are distractions like horses being turned out, ducks in the pond and people walking all about. I wish all these rides had been on the trail, but the time has been well spent.
