Thinking Outside the Box

It has been a busy last few weeks here. Lots of teaching and trimming, and also working with my own horses. I also just adopted a new puppy, and am quite busy with having a new baby ;-) Unfortunately, Savannah popped a splint in May, and since then has been in very light work.. she's only allowed to do walk right now so we're having fun with some easy trail rides. The bright side to her injury is how much more I've been able to focus on Max. He is such a talented horse, sadly with not the nicest past but he's full of things he's trying to teach me. Playing with Max is a whole different world from Savannah. He's confident, exuberant yet not always motivated, loves to show his opinion by bucking, head tossing and leaping through the air. Lately, when playing with him I've found a new "technique" that works so well with him. Considering he is typically a Left Brain Introvert on the ground, he doesn't like to move his feet and is often times unmotivated to do anything that requires energy.. oh and extremely food oriented! He is the kind of horse you'd feel like you were "beating" him to make him go.. phase 4, phase 4, slapping the ground, tagging his bum... all just for a buck and lack of enthusiasm to do anything! So I've found that using a looooonnnnggg phase 1, and then almost "startling" him has done the trick for him. It's amazing the difference and try he puts in. So when I do this, I will ask with a phase 1 then if there is no effort I'll shuffle my feet and bring my energy up, then go right back to phase 1. This kind of just wakes him up a bit rather than expecting a carrot stick in the air ;-) His canter departs are responsive from a phase 1 now as soon as I ask, where before it took him half a circle to go into the canter. The first time I tried this new phase 4 technique with him, we went from being a lazy, sluggish, unmotivated boy to doing some pretty awesome flying lead changes! The Left Brain Extrovert and play drive really comes out now... now since he's starting to respect me some more! Isn't it interesting what techniques work for different horses!? Just remember this isn't something for all horses. Savannah would lose confidence and trust in me if I did this with her. Max has also passed his Level 4 Online, so we're working on refining everything now. Not every technique works for all horses and sometimes thinking outside the box can change how you and your horse play together. The same old thing everyday can get boring for those Left Brain horses. Stay cool and Keep it Natural!!