Posts Tagged ‘mgaa
Can’t use the Accelerator if the Brakes are Cut
Blitz and my mom warm up
On Sunday Boomerang and Blitz traveled 2 1/2 hours to the site of the United States Equestrian Team training facility, Hamilton Farm, in Gladstone, NJ. It was a long journey (with us up at 4am) but it was well worth the trip for the hour of riding we did due to what we accomplished alone. We were to compete against two other teams in the pairs division – teams with top riders and ponies much more advanced than our boys. My mom and I saw this as another step in their training – to play against better/faster horses…and for the boys to keep their cool.
See in mounted games many of the horses feed off eachother. They stand at the start in a line waiting for the flag to drop, one horse jigs and gets excited, the next starts to rear, and before you know it the whole line is dancing around with adrenaline. Adrenaline – its the curse for all of us, how do you control a 1,000lb animal that can’t control its own emotions? Trick question – because you can’t! But you can teach your horse how to control these emotions – inturn making your horse controllable to you.
As the other horses reared and danced Boomer and Blitz stood like statues waiting for their cue from us to take off. And take off they did…well Boomer did atleast, Blitz’s idea of taking off is a few speeds slower – but thats fine, because thats the way my mom likes it. I decided to use this fairly low key competition to ask Boomer for a little bit of speed. Despite the overnight rainfall I felt the footing would be ok so I used the opportunity to test out his wheels. And wheels he has. We aren’t too far off the speed I want out of him, but I definitely don’t want to ask for it all yet.
I strongly believe that the “meltdowns” of many a games ponies are due to the fact that the riders push them too much too fast. As a rider in an extreme speed discipline its hard to not want to go fast all the time. Once you feel that rush its in your blood and its hard not to want to feel that all the time. But for a young/green horse going fast is the last thing you want to do. In training, ponies should be working on spins, stops and most of all control. You can’t step on the accelerator if your brake lines are cut!
So when I asked Boomer for a little more speed I only did so because I was comfortable in knowing that I for one had a really good stop on him. I say whoa and he slams on those breaks (and of course looks for his reward haha). I also knew that he had his adrenaline under control. Our months of racing up hills than asking him to stop and stand after a flat out gallop have really helped to teach him to control his emotions.
So speeding away we went. I was so proud when several times we came neck and neck with another rider and thanks to Boomer’s speed we actually crossed the finish line first! And what I didn’t expect out of Boomer’s speed was that he actually transferred it over to my vaulting. If you have been following along in my posts, you remember that we’ve been working on leading (and not biting) while under saddle. All in the hopes that Boomer will match my speed when I’m ready to vault on. So in the past several weeks we’ve completely stopped working on vaulting and focused only on the leading part. I expected Boomer to be somewhat respectful while leading, but I still thought he’d revert back and stand still while I vaulted. I definitely was surprised when I placed my hands on his neck (in my typical vaulting position) and he proceeded to take off in a controlled canter. Wow this is exactly what I wanted (I really made sure to make a fuss and click and reward him)…however since I didn’t anticipate this my vaulting was a tad delayed. Sadly I’m a little rusty on my speed skills since we’ve spent the past year doing things slowly. So when I vaulted I kept ending up behind the saddle – or missing alltogether. Thankfully Boomer didn’t buck me off and I was able to claw my way into the saddle as he galloped towards home.
All this made me realize in what bad shape I’m in. I’ve been focusing so much on Boomer’s progress I forgot to keep myself up to par. Looks like I’ll be spending the winter doing pushups again!
Anyway to wrap up the day. We placed 3rd – but respectfully points wise. And although we didn’t take home the blue ribbon, we were both extremely pleased with the boy’s progress and thats all that really matters. Riding to us is about personal goals. Winning is nice, but if you can’t be happy with what you have done/accomplished than none of it really matters. Each day the Trick Ponies learn something new, and for that we are proud. We are thankful that we have been able to create a partnership and a language with our horses – and it makes riding and competing that much more enjoyable for everyone involved!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Boomerang’s First Haircut
Boomer has a lot of hair. And when I say a lot…I mean a lot! If Mane n’ Tail got a hold of him – he’d be their new spokes-pony for sure. Because not only is it thick, but its got gorgeous natural highlights that shimmer in the sunlight. I’ve always loved horses with a full head of hair. Manes that flow in the wind – reminiscent of their wild ancestor’s locks (without the mats and burrs of course). So you may be wondering why I CHOPPED IT ALL OFF yesterday!!?? I’m sort of wondering the same thing myself.
I’ve always wanted to roach a horse’s mane. Because lets face it, in my equine sport of choice, mounted games, long hair just doesn’t cut it. Sure its pretty and stylish, but it gets tangled in your hands and your reins and it just basically makes multitasking near impossible. So I secretly always wanted to roach one of my ponies mane’s to see if it would make things easier for me while competing. So after my competition with Boomer on Sunday (which I really should of posted about first….but I just couldn’t wait to post about Boomer’s first haircut) and one jammed finger later, I decided what the heck if it looks stupid it will grow back!
So onto the haircut. The idea was simple. Roach Boomer’s mane so that I had about 2 inches left with the hopes that it would stand straight up – I opted to leave a little because #1 I was chicken and #2 I still need a little something to grab when I vault on or when Boomer decides to act like the baby he is and throw some bronco bucks. Then I realized…as far as I know Boomer’s never seen clippers before. Humm. Out comes the treat bag and my clicker.
Within a few minutes Boomer the wonder pony was letting me clip off his gorgeous locks with the heavy duty (super loud) clippers without so much as a flinch. All thanks to the clicker. I think if he had known I was stealing his hair he might not have been so tolerant.
I told him to keep his eyes closed until I was finished. 🙂
I was a bit scared after the first pass. Thank god we don’t have mirrors in the barn – Boomer would have never let me live this down.
But after some more touch ups and a shampoo and wash – I think it turned out ok. The real test will be next weekend when we head to the Prince George Equestrian Center for 2 days of competition. Hopefully I don’t dread Boomer’s first haircut.
So what do you think? Was this a horrible mistake on my part? Should I have cut it even shorter? Tell me what you think!
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Turn the Spin Cycle on!
Minnow and I during our very last competition as a pair.
So one of the most important skills that a mounted games pony can have is to be able to spin. Not just any spin. A sit on your hind end, light to the touch, high speed spin! Easier said than done, right?
I’ve had the goal of teaching Boomerang an amazing spin from the beginning. I dream of having a pony that my competitors watch and think – thats the pony I wish I had – he’s got it all, looks, personality, speed, agility….sounds like I’m talking about the ideal man! haha.
So here is my plan of attack to teach an amazing spin to my 6 year old Chincteague Pony, Boomerang.
Step one: Teach him to back up
Step two: Teach him to use a specific leg first when backing up
Step three: Teach him to move away from leg pressure
Step four: Teach him to put his weight on his hind end
Step five: Get him to spin with weight on hind end and continually cross his outside front leg over the inside leg when doing so
Step six: Add speed to the spin
Step seven: Polish the spin by using it in competition
Minnow spins around a bucket
Might seem like a tall order, but I can tell you right now that I’m on step 5/6. So now I’ll break it down and discuss how I taught Boomer during each step. Spinning can be a great skill for any horse to learn. Its not just for the speed horses or the western riders – any discipline can take advantage of a nice spin!
Step one: Teach him to back up. I taught Boomer to back up by walking him up to a fence, putting all my weight back and shifting my legs forward. I then applied light rein pressure until I felt his body shift or a leg move, anything that indicated he had the right idea. As soon as he gave me something I would then click and reward him. As he progressed I would ask for a little more each time – until he would back up with just a shift of my seat, some light rein pressure and the verbal cue back.
Step two: Teach him to use a specific leg first when backing up. I accomplished this by asking him to back up just like in step one, but this time using one rein at a time to signify which leg I wanted him to back up with first. Its easiest to do this drill by starting off by asking him to move his leading foot back first. So if Boomer was standing with his right front foot slightly forward I would pull on my right rein and ask him to back up – then the left – then the right – alternating rein pressure. Then clicking and rewarding when he responded to each rein cue. This step is important because I don’t just want a spin, I want a controllable spin. I want to be able to control each of my horse’s legs.
Step three: Teach him to move away from leg pressure. Next I ask Boomer to back up and during the back up I apply my left heel (toe pointing out) right at his girth (this is assuming I want him to turn right). I apply heel pressure and open up my right rein. My left rein is used to try to keep him straight (this exercise is best done along a fence). Any movement on Boomer’s part to go towards my open rein gets a click and a reward.
A western horse performs a spin
Step four: Teach him to put his weight on his hind end. At this point Boomer is successfully spinning away from leg pressure and towards an open hand. But now I want him to only spin with his weight on his hind end. So we go through our step 3 drill again but this time he only gets clicked and rewarded when all of his weight is on his hind end. At any point when my horse gets “stuck” or won’t move its usually because he’s too much on his front end, meaning he will need to be backed up and asked to move away from leg pressure again.
Step five: Get him to spin with weight on hind end and continually cross his outside front leg over the inside leg when doing so. Now I not only want him to spin on his hind end, but I want him to cross his outside front leg over his inside leg each time. In doing this I ensure a more fluid turn – without him getting stuck on his front end instead of using his hind. I accomplish this by asking him to back up and spin away from my leg – when he crosses the outside front over the inside front he is clicked and rewarded.
Step six: Add speed to the spin. To add speed I start with some drills. Keyholes are great for this. I ask him to go inside a box spin and return at the canter. As he progresses we ask for more and more speed – each time rewarding when I am giving the effort I expect from him.
Step seven: Polish the spin by using it in competition. The more I practice the spin in race type settings (while clicking and rewarding) the more Boomer will begin to associate his spin with turning around objects.
Here is a short video of Boomer working on the keyhole drill with me. As you can see he doesn’t actually cross his left front leg infront of his right – he sort of shuffles them. Also near the end of the spin he put a little too much weight in his front end. He got some good boys from me, but he didn’t get clicked and rewarded this specific time because he didn’t cross/spin like I wanted him to. When getting to the crossing over legs part its helpful to have someone watch you and tell you exactly when your horse crosses its legs – that or use a mirror.
Some horses have a tendency to be more on their hind end than others. Minnow was easy to teach to spin because he naturally kept his weight on his hind end. Boomer has taken a lot longer to teach to spin because he naturally wants to put all of his weight on his front end. He has improved greatly though!
Below is an awesome video of a horse doing a reining spin at liberty. Obviously taught with clicker training and I love it! Maybe someday my boy will be this good! Watch how he crosses his outside front over the inside leg.
And here is one more video of someone who used clicker training to teach the spin as well. She started by teaching her horse to spin on the ground first then transferred it to the saddle. I chose a different approach because as you saw from my post yesterday Boomer likes to bite me when I lead him – and while we are working on this, he wasn’t ready to learn to spin from the ground first. I think I’d have a swollen arm if I did that. So since we’re currently actively competing in the training division for mounted games I really needed to keep moving with my spin goal – so I opted to teach him under saddle first.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
I am by no means an expert in horse training. I simply use techniques that I have discovered work best for me and my horses. Use my techniques at your own risk.
Follow Me
So I’ve mentioned before that one of the things that Boomerang really needs to work on is his leading skills. For some reason when I try to lead him (this mostly only happens when he is under saddle) he tries to bite me. Not only that but he will resist my rein pressure when I try to direct him from the ground. This can be a real problem in mounted games especially, because I need him to match my strides when I lead him so that I can easily vault on and off of him.
Ok, so how do I fix it? I had a lesson with the trainer I’ve had since I was 10 years old a few weeks ago. She’s very much into the Parelli method, but has been able to adapt what she knows into my clicker training. We devised a plan to work on Boomer’s bad habit.
The first part of the training is to teach Boomer to match my stride. My goal is to keep myself right at his shoulder – if I do this he is unable to bite me without getting me to move ahead of his shoulder because he can’t physically reach me. So in order to do this – if he doesn’t at first respond to my body cues (a cluck to move forward or a change in my body’s energy) then I use the end of my lead rope to give him a gentle tap on his hind end. And if he tries to dislodge me from his shoulder – I back up to keep in line with his shoulder.
Meanwhile I am also clicking and rewarding Boomer everytime he puts his ears forward during our “session”. Below you can watch a video of our first practice session.
As you can see near the end of the video we have a little battle as Boomer tries to back up in order to dislodge me from his shoulder so that he can bite me. He is unsuccessful and I keep him moving forward until I can reward him for ears forward.
Later the same day after more practice I took this video. As you can see he is no longer trying to dislodge me in order to bite me, but he still has a nasty look on his face. However, he is quicker to put his ears forward and he is matching my stride mostly with the change of my energy rather than me having to use the leadrope on his rump.
Since these videos were taken I have practiced with him several other times and he continues to progress. I haven’t been bitten since we started and he is now consistently matching my stride. My hope is that I can eventually keep his ears forward the entire time as well as teach him that when I place my hands on his neck in a certain position (the position I put them in in order to vault on) he will move quickly forward at a trot or canter. We still have a lot more work to do, but for now I am happy that I don’t have to ice my arms from horse bites. Aren’t ponies wonderful?
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
All About Mounted Games
Kyley and Chincoteague Minnow
At the suggestion of a reader (thanks!) I’ve decided to make a page on the blog all about Mounted Games! Mounted Games has been my equestrian sport of choice since I was 14 years old (11 years!!). Although I have a deep passion for Dressage among other disciplines, Mounted Games will always be my true love.
But it came to my attention that most people don’t know what Mounted Games is – I didn’t either 11 years ago. So in order to make all my posts about mounted games here on out easier to follow please check out the new Page on Mounted Games. Be sure to leave comments and suggestions….because it honestly is a hard to explain sport if you have never seen it!
