Tuesday 29 April 2008

Pole work = forward!

well today it did.
Took Ali in the school today,M helped with the pole's as she was keen to watch and see us in action.I started with some grids adding poles crossed over each other making it more and more complex he has fabulous balance and body awareness always seeming to know where to put his feet.
We then went onto the fan,first with them all on the ground then building them up so some were raise some higher than others etc.He started off distracted but clattering the poles sharp brought his attention back to the job in-hand:) He had a spook at a dog running round the yard then a couple of horse riders trotting up the lane excited him which resulted in him bouncing around in canter and doing some quite spectacular leaps over the poles.I just kept him going until he settled down and was trotting over them nicely again but even before the excitement he was pretty forward and keen he was warm after it all!


The new dentist came this morning he just wanted to have a look today as Polo's had teeth problems in the past requiring drill work.Dentist said Polo's teeth were in pretty good shape which is good and Ali's mouth is good certainly nothing to cause him to be difficult...so he's coming back in August to do them both.

Polo had a hack out and was a good lad walking well although still dropping occasionally cant wait for the physio to come out see what he thinks is going on.I did read on Richard Maxwell's site that someone had a horse with soundess problems,vets were convinced it the foreleg but turned out the horse had a cyst like legion in the shoulder joint which was the result of a trauma at some point in the horses life further complicated by arthritis kicking in. Apparently the horse has had a steroid injection into the joint and they are waiting to see if it will be rideable and if it will need to be on bute long term.I do wonder if something similar could be whats going on with Polo he did have an infected elbow joint?This horse is a lot younger than Polo so if this is the case he's not done too badly getting to his age without problems till now.

7 comments:

Claire said...

tha'ts an interesting thought about polo's shoulder .. haven't read that post on max's site yet haven't been there for a couple of days

always somehting interesting...

looking forward to seeing this pole work (we only have 3!)

Jean said...

Hard to tell what's going on with Polo. Wish my vets were there as I'd wager one of them could figure it out. (acupuncture/chiropractic as well as regular stuff.)

Good work for AliG. He can't pull too many of his naughty tricks when he has to think!!--kind of like the bad kid in school once he's really challenged and gets interested in the work.

cptrayes said...

I would have thought it very likely that a past infection in the joint will have resulted in arthritis in it now.

I'm so glad you had a better day with Ali!

C

Muriel said...

^-^ I just read the other post. I could not help smiling ...
There is a big different between a horse who does not think ...like Polo, so just need strong leadership, and AliG who is a thinker.

Do not put him down, he is not lazy, backward thinking. On the contrary, he is a horse who thinks LOT. And now bullying him doing something does not work won't work ... or maybe the first time, but certainly not the second ^-^
Welcome to my world.

You will need to use your brain, and make him think it is HIS idea. Being firm and assertive but fair. IMO Parelli has teh best strategy with this type of horses. You need to get respect but keep their dignity, and motivate them.

Here is my email muguiral @gmail.com, send me your address, I will post you some DVDs, you may apreciate ^-^

Nicola said...

I totally understand what you mean and where your coming from Muriel but I honestly dont think im bullying him expecting him to go out for a short hack(and I mean 30mins there and back) in company along a lane he's been along a lane he's familiar with.Im not pressuring him all the time but when I ask him to go forward I expect a response its that simple.
Truthfully Polo is a far more complex horse than AliG.Its not purely down to confident riding my old farmer who is a total thrill seeker who hunts regular rode him twice and swore never again.But Polo's nature is to go forward AliG's isnt and when it comes to the crunch thats what im finding maddening.
I do however think it may stem from coming from a large stud where the horse's are broken and schooled on a large scale.No criticism of where he came from at all they've done a fabulous job over all but I suppose there isnt time to cater to every horse's indiviual personalities and he may have needed more time and for things to be made enjoyable ,if that makes sense its almost like he's become resentful of 'work'.
He's now settled and comfortable so the true colours are coming out now.I suppose its good that its happening now as he's young and there's time on our side.
Maybe it sound worse than it is in 'print' as the biggest frustration for me is the lack of forwardness,the other stuff isnt particularly scary, prolonged or challenging.

I do have some Parelli stuff and being honest I wasnt impressed :) Much of its common sense and what I do naturally in every day handling.
I do the Richard Maxwell groundwork ie pressure release,rope circling and working on two lines.The rope circling isnt lunging its about sending them in the direction and its their responsibility to maintain using your body language a subtly as possible,also backing up,standing in their own space not invading yours and so on.
I'll email you my address have look at what you have if you dont mind sending me them....see if I can be 'converted':)))))

Muriel said...

Oh I do not say you are bullying him, but you will have to find what motivates him.

He is one "You won't make me do, because I do not wanna".
As he grows older, he will find thousand evasion.

You have a tough horse on your hand.

I do not try to make you a convert ^-^ But I have a DVD from the Savvy club, with Linda facing a "punk" horse, who thinks a lot and who has much attitude : rearing athe lunge and bucking undersaddle for not working.
So far, I have only found Parelli who tackles clearly this type of horse.

But yes Alig ( according what you say) won't be a forward horse in his nature.

Nicola said...

///punk" horse, who thinks a lot and who has much attitude : rearing athe lunge and bucking undersaddle for not working.////

Ha ha that 'used' to be Polo!

I'll def email you im interested to see how they go about it.Richard Maxwell does this type of work but doesnt have the mega bucks publicity wheel the Parelli's have..probably what turns me off them:))))