Teaching a New Skill

Teaching a New Skill

Trifecta is lounging pretty well, but I don't want us to get bored of it.  We felt it was time to try something new to make it more interesting.  

Ellen laid a pole on the ground for him to trot over.  We have spent some time in the past leading over poles, so he was familiar with them before we started.  My first attempt to lounge him over the pole at a walk didn't go well at all.  He avoided it altogether.  That wasn't a surprise, since he didn't know what I wanted him to do.  I shortened the line so that I was only a few feet from him, and we tried it again.  He tried to avoid the pole again and ended up banging his foot on it. 

The next time I circled him around, he stepped over the pole.  I stopped him and gave him lots of pets and told him how good he was.  We went back and did it a few more times until he seemed confident with it.  It was time to add the trot.  At first he avoided it, but finally he took a trot step over the pole.  I stopped him to praise him, and he had a look on his face like he figured something out and he felt good about it.  I thought I was imagining it, but then Ellen said she thought that was how he looked before I even mentioned it to her.

He trotted over the pole a few more times, and then it was time to switch directions.  Clockwise is typically harder for him.  We practiced lounging in that direction for a few minutes and then we headed for the pole.  Since he seemed to understand the concept, once I was able to properly line him up with the pole (not as easy as it sounds,) he trotted right over it.  He got lots of praise and pets.  He did it a few more times, and each time he got a little better--and then he tried a new technique--he jumped over it, cantered a stride and went back to the trot.  Ellen and I laughed.  I circled him back--and he cantered over it again.  We took a little break, and I decided to try one more time--and he cantered again.  

I don't know if he just thought it was easier to canter--or if I have a horse with an aptitude for jumping.  Each time, he did it with more confidence.  It did seem like he enjoyed his little training session.  We will do more of it in the future.

Day 2

It was time to try trotting over two poles.  Ellen set them up for me.  First, we reviewed walking over 2 poles--which he had done before on previous days.  He did that well, even though I asked him in lounging position instead of leading position.  My next request was to trot over the poles--and he hit both of them.  I stopped him to let him think a little and then tried again.  He was perfect!  We made such a big deal about it with lots of praise and pets.  After that, he trotted perfect each and every time.  We continued to praise and pet him for it.  He seemed cooperative and comfortable with the task, too.

I didn't want to overdo it with him, so we then moved into some regular lounging.  At one point, he grabbed the line right by his mouth and didn't want to let it go.  I made him keep trotting with it in his mouth.  I think he was getting frustrated with it, and he gave it a big pull--and somehow he slipped and fell partially to the ground.  He regained his balance and kept on going, unscathed.

You would think that he would have learned his lesson, but he continued to try and grab the line.

I decided it was time to try something new, so I asked him to canter--and he did!  And he did it beautifully!  I asked Ellen and Kevin if they were training him when I wasn't around, since this was the first and then the second time I ever tried.  We laughed about it, but truthfully, I asked him to canter because it just seemed like he wanted to do it.  Sometimes that is just the way things go.  Needless to say, I was so happy with his response.  When I first tried cantering Cole on a lounge line, he turned into a bucking, bolting maniac.  Sometimes, he still does.  Cole has never been a very consistent lounger.  I am better off just riding him for exercise.

I think Trifecta has reached the point where he lounges better than Starry, Dante and Cole.  That is just with short lessons a few days a week.  He seems to enjoy learning which is a good thing to have in a horse.

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Update on Trifecta

 Update on Trifecta

I thought when I got Trifecta, it would inspire me to write all about his adventures.  The truth is, there haven't been many adventures.  He has been a pretty easy horse to train.  I'm in no hurry, so I do everything slow and for short durations--and before I know it, he is doing it well.

That is how it went with lounging.  It took a bit before he fully grasped the concept--maybe a week.  We would just walk around and I would move into the lounging position and encourage him to keep walking.  When he did, I stopped him, petted him and told him how wonderful he was.  Soon, I was lounging him at a walk with a long lead rope from both sides.  He volunteered trotting one day, so we did.  Each training session, I would work on it for a few minutes.  At first, he would only trot a few steps, then a half a circle, then a full circle--and now he does multiple circles.  

His leading had improved.  For a while, he didn't want to turn to the right because then he would be stepping away from me.  I worked on it a little during each lesson, and now he does it beautifully.  He is going through a "I want to chew the lead rope" phase, and that can get annoying, but they all seem to grow out of that.  

When I take him on the trail and go down to the river, he gets very excited and walks quite fast.  That is a problem on the steep parts of the hill because he gets so much momentum that I can't keep up with him.  That is something we will have to work on.  Cole and Cruiser both had that problem, and we fixed it by practicing it over and over until they learned how to control their feet--or maybe they didn't feel like there was any reason to rush down if we are just going to turn around and go back up.  That lesson is planned for next week.

The very hardest thing to teach him--and we are still working on it--is for him to stand as I move away from him.  He wants to be with people all the time, and he doesn't want us to leave him.  It isn't just me.  Whoever he sees, he wants to be with.  He is the worst with Kevin.  He simply loves Kevin.  If I am trying to lounge Tri and he sees Kevin--he tries to get to him.  It's not that Kevin is giving him treats--he hasn't been at all.  Tri just wants Kevin to pet him.

Trifecta loves pets.  I haven't been using clicker training with him except for applying bug spray.  I seem to be doing just as well with praise and pets as I would with clicks and treats.  

He is growing.  According to the weight tape, he has put on at least 50 pounds and he is looking more like a small horse than a baby.  He does look like he might be a bit taller, but that is really hard to confirm with the weight tape.  The biggest surprise is how dark his winter coat is coming in.  When I got him, he was a very light chestnut--in just the last few weeks, he is so much darker--which looks really cool with his flaxen mane.  

So overall, things are going well--but just like all my wonderful trail rides with Cole--they are great to experience, but they don't leave me with much to write about.

 

We Went Down to the River

 We Went Down to the River

It seems that we have been rather cursed with rainy weather ever since we got Trifecta.  I did take him down to the river a couple of times to visit the water, but it stayed high and muddy and it didn't seem sensible to walk down the slippery bank.  Instead, we have been just walking down the hill without visiting the river.  

Finally, we had a dry spell and the river became low and clear for the first time.  Ellen and I decided that we would take him back down to the water.  The mud on the bank wasn't even very slippery.

When we reached the edge of the river, he immediately put both of his front feet into the water.  I decided to walk him along the shale island.  We headed upstream to a spot where the water just barely covered the island--with a lot of the island above the water.  He had no problem walking through that.

We turned around and walked on the shale island downstream.  This time, he was between me and the water.  I tried to guide him into the water, but Ellen said he only got one hoof in.  As I walked down the island, I saw that at the end of it, it went into the water and continued along for about 20 feet.  The water was about 3 inches deep.  We just followed along the island and kept going.  He didn't hesitate, and he didn't seem the least bit afraid.  My biggest worry was that he would try to roll.  We did that twice and decided to call it quits.

I didn't want to go directly into the river quite yet.  It has a very slippery slate bottom--I worry more about me falling than him.  I want to make sure he is going to be comfortable with the river before I lead him onto the slate.  The last thing I need is for him to misbehave and for me to fall.  Somehow, I don't think that I will have too much trouble when the time comes--but there certainly isn't any reason to rush him.

He seems to have such a good brain--he has been a delight to work with.

Trifecta Meets the Farrier

Trifecta Meets the Farrier

Trifecta had his feet trimmed a few days before we met him.  My farrier, John Warner, was scheduled to come out about a month later, so he didn't need his feet trimmed.  John does so many horses at our barn, if he wanted he could do him on a different day.  Since I didn't warn him ahead of time, I didn't know what he wanted to do.

Trifecta isn't the greatest horse when it comes to cleaning his feet.  When I first got him, he was reluctant to pick them up and often tried to pull them away.  This wasn't a serious problem--nothing that regular foot handling couldn't fix, but we didn't really have much time to get him ready for the farrier.  Ellen and I did practice with him.  I would hold him, and she lifted his feet up, held them for a while and stretched his legs out.  I was in charge of praising him and petting him when he got it right.  He improved each day, but he wasn't reliable.

When I saw John, I told him I did a dumb thing--I bought another horse.  I then explained how he wasn't that good about foot handling and he wasn't actually due for a trim.  If he was too busy to get to him, he could come out another day.  He asked me how old he was, and I told him that he wasn't quite 2.  He said he had a rule for baby horses.  I held my breath--what could the rule be?  He said that if he came out, he would take the time to at least touch him.  He wouldn't charge me for it because in the end, it saves him a lot of trouble in the future.  I was elated, and told him we were on the same page.  I really wanted to use this as a training opportunity.

As John was doing the older horses, he told us about the experiences he has had with young horses.  So many don't get much handling.  Just the day before, he did three 2-year-olds--and only one cooperated.  The other two were rearing and fighting.  I knew that Trifecta wouldn't do anything like that, but I think that John has been in too many situations where the horse's owners say everything will be fine--and it isn't.

When it was Trifecta's turn, John shut off his fan.  I then led Trifecta to the work area.  There was the fan, John's equipment and truck--and there was John.  He walked up to Trifecta, let him sniff his hand and then started to pet him.  Trifecta loves to be petted.  All was going well.  John lifted up the first foot, took the file to it and put it down.  He went to each foot and Trifecta stood for him.  He did walk off a bit once between feet--but that is the only thing he did wrong--I certainly can't complain about that.

When he was done, John started petting and admiring him.  He said he was better than some of the older horses in our barn.  He then asked if Trifecta ever tasted a peppermint.  He has gotten plenty of treats, but no peppermints.  John went into his truck and found one.  When he gave it to Trifecta, he started chewing, made a face, thought about it and then decided he'd like another one.

I was so happy that John took the time to do all this with Trifecta--and so happy that Trifecta handled it like a champ!  Maybe someday, he will be just as good as his Uncle Cole--who John says is the best behaved horse in our barn.  He certainly made my day.

When Dante Meets Trifecta

When Dante Meets Trifecta