Thanks Warwick! I appreciate your response!

We can be doing any exercise really and he will start chewing on the rope. But in particular, I’m keen to know how you deal with extremely confident and smart horses? how do you keep them engaged without creating frustration and making the most of how quickly they learn?

Cheers

Will

Hi Laura

I’d suggest going through the 4 basic groundwork exercises, they provide the emotional foundation for anything you may want to do. Then you can go onto all the saddling process (you dont have to ride yet, but you can him ready for that).

Yes, I am aware of that. We had previously discussed that having a groom would affect the progress and slow it down. But I will not be able to do without a groom since both horses are boarded in nearby stables. The groom handles Dilarius on a daily basis. If there are specific tasks that you think I should be strictly handling, please let me know.

Great! Thank you very much, appreciate it❤

“v”

Just let him bite the lead rope for as long as he wants to. That’s his coping mechanism at the time, and interrupting that will only leave the tension thats causing it to stay in there.

Thank you very much for responding, i must not have put together my thoughts correctly. The “problem” that i had was, that Bruno has a monkey mind just like me, he couldn’t find relaxation, he always had to do something (that’s why he was playing and biting the leadrope). And that’s why i wanted to get his attention, of course i agree with…

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Hello! I am a longer term member who just renewed. I did rehome my previous horse, Rhett, a 16hh+ Oldenburg, who I posted about fairly often. Rhett was very very difficult and had my number to the point he was dangerous. He is now in a loving home that understands him and works with his ground manners and socialization but it’s likely he…

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“The groom”?

My process is pretty much based on every human interaction they have is the same. How often does “the groom” handle this horse?

Hi Eloisa

“She will sometimes (if she feels a bit too overwhelmed), even walk in front of me to block me from going on that side.”

I usually wait for saddling until this is not there any morer, otherwise you risk craeting a saddle issue, when there doesn’t need to be one. How is she at coming up beside you on the mounting block on that side?

Hi Will.

“At the moment, I’ve just been letting him investigate and chew on things. The only issue is that sometimes he’ll keep chewing on something for quite a while, and it starts to interrupt what we’re doing. In those situations, would you just wait for him to finish investigating, or would you ask him to move on and continue with the…

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Hi meghan

the “look at what they are looking at” part of the Standing Still and Present Flowchart is really only if they are looking at something that puts them on high alert. If they are looking at something out of curiosity, I don’t usually look at what they are looking at. If they are looking at something as a perceived danger, then I will…

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Yes he does block me out also. In the past I have been quite loud with my asks whether with a flag or otherwise and so I think he tunes me out a lot of the time. He is quite grass addicted also and I think he uses that to deal with his worry and block me out.

Standing still and present – Looking at the Sky…

Hi Warwick, my mare Solstice is a 15 year old WB mare that I created a lot of distrust in over the years because of my anxieties when she would spook. It became a cyclical thing, she would be worried about me, i would be worried about her spooking… you get the picture. I am loving the…

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Sorry the last comment came out skewed and I couldnt edit it. What is reassuring for me is that he responds to me differently. But on the other hand, I am very concerned about how shut down he is with the groom.

Ok.. I guess I do have to go back to the F&B and work on energy up and down with him.

Side note re responsiveness. Today I had a conditioning specialist come to evaluate his muscles. She asked the groom to walk, trot and lunge him and to pass over poles. I was taking videos. Dilarious was dragging behind the groom and she said he appeared to…

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I’ve been practicing side-stepping along the circle with my horse for a few days now. Sometimes he responds to me lifting the lead rope, sometimes I still need the flag, and sometimes I need the flag along with a little more speed and energy. The process isn’t consistent. We start over every day. Is it correct that the horse’s response…

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Hi Warwick,

I have a 20-month-old Australian Stock Horse yearling who is extremely confident, curious, very friendly and very smart. He wants to investigate everything, chews on pretty much anything he can get his mouth on, and seems to enjoy interacting with the world. He also doesn’t seem to be bothered by things that would often make…

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Hi Nora

“In the focus and bend, he will mostly yield when I raise my hand in the required direction before taking any further steps. Sometimes he will start moving when I take a step towards him. I didnt get to ask for the trot in this exercise.”

Way before I would consider riding them, I want the walk trot and canter good in both directions.…

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Hi Warwick, I was wondering if I could get some feedback regarding my mare looking slightly to her left every time she walks with a saddle on.

I have been in the process backing my mare for the last few months, and we are finally at a point where she can have the saddle on fairly confidently; however, I have come across a small issue. Now my…

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I think he is responsive but I cannot say that I have easy access to his energy. It is very tricky to answer this question. When leading with energy, he will mostly start moving when i hold the lead rope in position or when i lean forward. He will move slower and faster with me at the walk (match my energy). To get the trot, initially I have to…

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I’m a new member. 9 weeks ago i purchased a 9 yr old Mogan gelding from a rescue in Alberta. I didn’t get a lot of info on his past. We have developed a connection, he comes to meet me when I open the gate. I did manage to get a halter on him after about 4 weeks. My Farrier thought he might have an infected sheath, so I called the vet. He…

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Hi Holly

“I will revisit the videos and keep practicing.”

We don’t want to keep practicing what doesn’t work, so before you do anything else, we need to figure out what our next step should be.

She blocks out the flag, we know. Does she block you out too?

Hi Warwick. Yes fair point. I overused the flag in the past so he blocks it out now. I will revisit the videos and keep practicing. Clicker training might be helpful for him. Thank you!

Hi Holly

The CCTCIF is where we get them to be able to draw their thoughts toward the flag, which will be the biggest tool you have in the rest of the exercises.

The question you need to ask yourself is why is he blocking out the flag. It’s not normal for a very observant prey animal to not be curious or show awareness of something like that.

Thank you Warwick. I definitely agree with what you’re saying and I know I need to fix the haltering first. He is Cushings and prone to laminitis so exercise is a high priority also. We definitely need work on the 4 exercises, but I have been trying to get CCTCIF sorted first but he blocks the flag out. I have given this a crack for quite some…

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Admin here

If you’d like Warwick to answer questions, there is a “Questions for Warwick” thread. Please ask your question there.

Admin here

If you’d like Warwick to answer questions, there is a “Questions for Warwick” thread. Please ask your question there.

Admin here

If you’d like Warwick to answer questions, there is a “Questions for Warwick” thread. Please ask your question there.

Admin here

If you’d like Warwick to answer questions, there is a “Questions for Warwick” thread. Please ask your question there.

If you’d like me to answer questions please put them in the “Questions for Warwick” thread.

Hi Aerie

Yes go back and check on that, then check on it with just a ground rail between the standards, then go up to the lowest setting on your jump

Hi Nora, its not really about what gait they attain, its whether they are doing more than you.So their energetic output needs to be more than your energetic input.

How responsive is your horse in the groundwork?

Hi Holly

“He also bites during haltering however this is not as bad as it used to be but still presents on occasion.”

You are trying to solve a problem while moving through different environments, that exists on your first interaction.

My question is, what part of him biting you during haltering signals to you that he is ready to go on walks…

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I’ve been having this problem for a very long time too, and I’m racking my brains trying to work out how to solve it. I’ve sported many a bruise in this time!!

It happens when we are going for a simple walk down the road. I focus on my breathing and trying to stay present and relaxed. My gelding will snake over to my side and bite at my arm or…

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I have, back then my horse used to not want anything to do with the poles and now when I ride him with a loose rein he goes there himself and wants to rest or walk over them. I can try this again because it was a while back I did that exercise. Thank you for answering!

Hello again, I updated my profile. My horse Huckleberry died. We had to let him go due to a severe colic that surgery could not help. I have a new QH gelding now, 3yo, Whinnie. I am starting him just now

Hi Warwick, thanks for your reply.<div>He disengages on both sides, but not very energetically. There is one video that you have in the library titled “Don’t Try to Fix Destination Addiction If You Don’t Have the Tools”. I watched this video and tried to get him to be as energetic as the horse is that video (for example at 34:34). I used the… Read more

Hi Aerie

have you worked through all of the destination addiction work I did with that mare before that? Remember, the first day I rode her in the arena when there were poles of the ground, she avoided them completely. So what I did when it came to the jumps worked because of all the work Id done previously

Hi Nora

” He was a showjumper but he was taken out of this sport because he rushed towards fences and his previous owner could not fix this problem.

At the beginning when i turned him loose, he paced and neighed a lot asking to be returned to his box. He didn’t leave the first quarter of the arena and he excessively rolled there as a cue that he…

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