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Let me tell you: it's hella better to just not fry them in the first place. Re-training is a nasty little bitch.
Anyways. While I'm aware it's totally possible to fry dressage horses (and let me tell you, when that shit happens it's BAD NEWS BEARS), I've never really thought about it as a thing that I would do. I mean, I barely even know how to dressage. How could I possibly "fry" a horse in a sport I do badly?
Answer: so, so easily.Here's the thing. Courage is 10. He spent a good 6 years racing. He's been off the track less than two years. He's arrogant because he's used to being good at what he does. You don't race for 6 years by sucking.
So when I introduce him to a whole new sport (putting-head-down-and-using-butt), it's hard. And yeah, maybe he has a lot of potential, but he doesn't see the potential. He just sees that every day he does hard things WRONG and it SUCKS BALLS.
Of course, compounding all this is me getting excited and trying to overachieve my way to an accelerated training plan. Dressage day every day! What could possibly go wrong?
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| Just a quick gadget-free lunge |
He's too much like me. He likes being right. He likes being good at stuff. If you tell him he's wrong constantly, he's going to shut down and quit trying, especially if he has any physical excuse (no matter how minor).
Soooo.
That's where we're at. I don't think we've done any lasting damage, but I'm trying to be very conscious about how much I'm asking Courage to do.
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| Ears! |
And yeah, when we make our big debut at intro in two weeks, hopefully we won't completely suck.
Nice! You got this :)
ReplyDeleteI'm trying the whole, "un-fry the pony and improve work in the ring by never riding in a ring, ever, except sometimes at shows" theory. I'll let you know how it goes. Plus jumping and trail rides are fun!
ReplyDeleteOwning a horse that was super fried by dressage at one point, I will attest to the fact that it's extremely hard to undo. But being aware of the tendencies of their brains is most important, then you can adjust your plans from there. Sounds like you're on the right track.
ReplyDeleteSo glad things are working themselves out! I went through this on a much more broad level with my mare, she gets frustrated constantly being told she's wrong and we struggled together for a good year and a half. Once I realized that she thrives on being told that she's a good girl, our bad rides are much fewer and farther between. I'm so happy to see that things are working better for you and Courage, can't wait for your Intro debut!
ReplyDeleteP.S.- What kind of bonnet is Courage wearing in the first photo? I love it!
It's fun bonnet! You can get it here:
Deletehttp://www.bitofbritain.com/OTTB-Crochet-Ear-Nets-p/7521.htm
I love it AND my budget loves it! Thank you!
DeleteDoing moments of dressage on the trail is a great way to reinforce or even train the things you are looking for. It doesn't involve riding in a monotonous circle for an hour. We practice leg yields and asking for bend and giving to the bit. And on occasion we have asked for a flying lead change (usually on accident, but I'll take it). Ashke is so much happier to try the movements that I am asking when we are out riding, and I focus on keeping my requests limited (there is no way I would try to ride my horse in a frame for 15 miles) to a few moments on the trail. He is so much happier when we work this way. Maybe Courage will be too.
ReplyDeleteAnd the bonus part of this is that when we are in the arena working on stuff he is much more willing to try, because dressage is just part of our riding, not all of it.
DeleteOne of the best programs I've ever done was used for fitting a horse up for Training level eventing. Basically there were two days of dressage, one jumping, one gymnastics, and two days of interval training/trail riding, plus a day off. It was always something different and the horses stayed fresh. I'm going to start doing this with Paddy, although I'll mix it up a little more - instead of a jump day we'll do a short longe, we'll do poles instead of actual gymnastics with jumps, etc. I mean, if it ever stops raining... ;) Mixing things up helps everyone stay sane!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough balance. We have to do a lot or else we both get crooked, so I do what I can to keep it interesting. I'm not sure how straight DQ's do it - it's nice to be able to be like "well we really need to work on jumping today so..."
ReplyDeleteYou've just described my dressage horse's training program! We dressage, we jump, we hack in fields, we take days off. It's all about what works for that horse. In fact there's a post showing up in about an hour on my blog about how I may have over-dressaged the past couple weeks.
ReplyDeleteyou are a true horseperson! Love this post.
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic insight: "And yeah, maybe he has a lot of potential, but he doesn't see the potential. He just sees that every day he does hard things WRONG and it SUCKS BALLS."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to remember that.
A friend of mine started a young horse a few years ago, and for a long time he was totally cool with flatting all the time. Little trot poles, canter poles, and dressage made their way in and it was great. Then she started jumping him after he was four. And suddenly little horse was like "FUCK THAT FLAT SHIT" and would literally throw a huge tantrum if he went more than two days without jumping. He is great at dressage, but man does he loves jumping, and he was happy to let her know it. So I totally get the pony opinions thing!
ReplyDelete(On the other hand, my mother in law has done dressage, dressage, and nothing but dressage with her six year old since the moment she got on her, and evidently that's working just great for them. I hypothesize that it's because the little mare has never experienced JUMPINGGGGGGG!)
Dressage-only people are a whole different breed. Not a bad thing, just not me.
DeleteNot true! I know a lot of dressage-loving AAs who are fun-loving and do stupid things with their horses. I hung out with them this weekend. They exist. And I think you might be one of them, based on how you got hooked on the "learning and perfecting and chasing the dream" aspect of the sport. We aren't all stuffy and boring and live for the 20x60! ;)
DeleteSome horses loooove dressage. They get it. It's easy for them. Usually their trainers have done a great job praising the ever living shit out of them for barely doing anything right.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with that much praise -- mainly I forget.
So, we go galloping once a week. Or walk the dogs down the road before and after every ride. Some rides are only 20 minutes of "give me collection and contact and then we'll f around for the rest of the ride."
Plus, I read somewhere that a good gallop helps stretch out your dressage horse's back. So, I use that as my excuse. Well that and "Carl Hester and Charlotte take their horses out for an hour long trail ride once a week, at minimum." So there. :)
I do love galloping. Wish we had a place to do it.
DeleteI feel your pain. I used to board at a barn in the middle of the city, i.e. no place to gallop. It was so sad. Trail rides work well for Pig. He thrives on change, and praise. I really thrives on praise. I big pat on the neck or a loud "good boy!" go a long way. I can feel him carry himself a little taller, and prouder, when I praise him. If only I could remember that when times get tough...
DeleteMixing things up always helps!
ReplyDeleteHence the beauty of cross training!
ReplyDeletelove this plan - i really worry about burning my horse out and making her sour. mixing it up and adding variety has been working so far. but yea, your point about the horse liking to be good a things is so spot on. my mare KNOWS when she's done good so i try to provide as many opportunities for her to experience that as possible
ReplyDeleteMixing it up is very important, no matter what discipline you choose. Jumping too much is bad as well. Nice trail rides, fun and games, lunging, all of those things tend to keep a horse fresh.
ReplyDeleteYeah, making dressage fun and interesting for the horse is hard. Lots of pats and praise only gets you so far. Squeezing in dressage during jump rides might help. A little stretchy trot circle between jump courses, etc.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Keeping in touch with what our horse's experience may be in this whole retraining process is just so important. Mixing things up and exposing our horses (and perhaps ourselves too!) is always a great idea for our horse's mental well-being. And from experience I have found it increases trust and that bond we all know is so important--so do all the things and have fun!
ReplyDeleteYou won't suck! It will be magical and FUN!!
ReplyDeleteIt's so so so important to mix it up -- it's something I need to keep working at myself.
ReplyDeleteHonest question, not a gotcha: why does doing dressage mean Courage being told (or hearing, which I get isn't necessarily the same thing) that he's Doing It Wrong?
ReplyDelete