Arwen went to stay with Becky Strassner (a Frank Bell certified trainer) this week to be evaluated. We went knowing that Arwen had been raced as a 2 and 3 yo, (she is now 9), she let me tack her up and sit on her, but did not want to move her feet at all - she did not understand any cues I was giving her. Becky started out with ground work (as all good trainers do!) and I made time to go over and watch to learn as much as I could. I took Arwen over on Monday evening, and Becky spent some time with her out in the field just letting Arwen be a horse and spend time with her to get to know her. On Tuesday, she did groundwork in the field using a rope halter - and a rope lead - that does not have any metal hardware on it! I have taken the time to study the Parelli methods a bit, and although I can see the effectiveness of their methods, that big piece of metal that connects the lead to the halter slamming in to a horse's jaw just seems a little excessive to me.
On Weds. I got to see Becky work with Arwen in the roundpen on the ground. Arwen was very responsive and seems to be a very fast learner. But she worries sometimes - as is the nature for Thoroughbreds to be sensitive. The good part about Arwen is that if she does get worried - she comes back to her handler quickly and is able to return to the task almost immediately. She tried very hard to learn & understand what Becky was asking her to do. Becky felt that she would have no trouble tacking her up on Thursday.
Thursday came and Becky had Arwen in the roundpen with her personal horse, Bugs. The goal was for Arwen to see Bugs go through the steps, and to see what she wanted her to do. (and for me to practice wit Bugs so I could learn proper signals). Becky started off by working both horses on the rail to teach Arwen to join up. As soon as Becky took the pressure off, Bugs immediately turned and came in to Becky and would stay at her side whatever direction she went in. Arwen, on the other hand, was not as easy to join up. Arwen would stop and give Becky her attention, but did not understand to come in to her and follow her at her side. So Becky gently guided Arwen with her arm under her head and hand on her cheek, to show Arwen that she wanted her to stay with her. Another thing they had practiced a lot was being in step with each other - when Becky stopped, Arwen learned to also. Both of their feet moved and stopped at the same time. Then Becky worked with giving to pressure - lowering Arwen's head by gently milking the lead pulling downwards. And then doing the same to each side. She would get Arwen's head to one side, and then rub her face, eyes, ears, and nostrils to teach her that it was okay to be close with a human. She rubbed down her back to her tail and helped he relax and gently rub the underside of her tail - all of these things are rather intimate for a horse and help them know they are safe and can relax.
While standing on the near side, we put the rope on the far side and ran it along their far side all the way behind their rump, and then gently let them turn around to the right to follow the rope, and using "pressure", asking them to move off in a circle. When you are done, you "wind them up", asking their hindquarters to engage and step deeply across one another 3 times in a tight circle. What was interesting was that Arwen had no idea how to do that at first - she would shuffle sideways with her back feet, stepping on herself occasionally, but it took some practice before she would really cross over with her back legs.
Arwen also learned to back both by giving at the poll and also by using your body energy to push them backwards. Everything that she learned on the ground translated directly to the saddle.
Becky first got on her bareback - she said that you can feel their muscle tenseness much better when it's directly under you. Arwen stood well for mounting, but preferred to follow me riding Bugs bareback in order to move off. Becky encountered the same thing I had seen before - she had no idea what any leg cues were, and did not understand to move forward gently. But she was quick to follow Bugs, as any racehorse would know to do as they are often ponied around when they are not galloping down the stretch.
Becky put the saddle & pad on her back - letting her smell them first - and Arwen stood fine for both. At this point, I was back on the ground leading Bugs just in case Arwen was silly. Becky worked her on the ground first, asking her to move, circle, step under herself in a tight circle, until she was confident that Arwen would be okay for her to mount up. Mounting was uneventful, but she still preferred to follow Bugs for a while until she got the hang of things, and eventually, Becky was walking her around away from us. She even trotted her around once or twice, but Arwen seemed concerned, so she stopped.
Overall, it was a great first ride, and I learned a lot. My favorite part about what I learned from Becky was the gentleness of it all. Of course, I tend to be very calm, so I did have to use more energy, but I felt good about all the things she was asking me to do. I never put Bugs or Arwen in a place where they seemed concerned or uncomfortable.
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