Morning Star and the reed
Jun 18th, 2009 by Carolyn Resnick Method
Hi. When Sharing Space, the first quality of connection you would hope to have with your horse would be gentle and kind with a feeling of friendship. Where safety would never be a concern for the human or horse, without the worry about being pushed around, and mauled. Most yearning colts go though a period that is a little intimidating for their owners and this is what was occurring with Morning Star.
Shaping a relationship and connection with a foal can be a tricky business because things can go wrong, like getting the foal angry which can lead to more aggressiveness. Also he could decide that he does not like people or he could get defensive and flighty making him harder to deal with. You cannot just reprimand a foal for doing something that you feel is dangerous and aggressive because the foal does not understand that he has done anything wrong since he does not yet have the ability to distinguish between right or wrong. From the foals’ perspective, he thinks that you, his friend, has turned on him.
So how did I approach my problem with Morning Star? When he was occupied at the far end of his pen, which is 80×40, I was able to get into his pen with out being mauled. My plan was to use the reed. To shish the reed in front of me when he approached, which would cause him to stay away because horses will usually shy away from something in your hand, when you act like you mean business. Initially, Morning Star came up to me and pushed right into me ignoring the reed so I took off my jacket and waved it at him in protest. He took off running. He respected the jacket but not the reed. I teach my foals at a young age to respect my personal space as foals at a younger age are more easily directed.
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After I had taught him not to bite the jacket and not to bite me, which was explained in my Tuesday blog, I began teaching Morning Star the way I wanted him to respect the reed. I showed him the reed by waving it around his body only when I wanted him to move away from me if he got too aggressive. When he did not respond I used the jacket. He learned that the best way to behave was to move away from the reed because it was a precursor to the jacket that frightened him.
In one session he had learned to be very sensitive to the reed without the need for the jacket. It is important to teach this as quickly as possible because if your take you time you could desensitize him to the whole process and you could have a more aggressive colt. When he did not try to push and bite and threatened to kick me whilst we were Sharing Space he got a treat. If he was not kind, I made him leave. It was an easy choice for him to make.
Morning Star is still a little bit pushy and a little bit timid but every day he gets a lot better and he is happy to see me. He comes racing up to me when I come to work with him.
If you have any questions on this please comment below.
Enjoy your weekend
Carolyn
P.S. Mark asked me to remind you that you can easily tell your friends about the blog by using the ShareThis link just below. He says you can email from there, send a message to a cell phone and also bookmark it (?) or something like that. Anyway, give it a go and see what happens.
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This is similar to the reed and jacket. Only the association part though. I had a situation where I had to deal with an annoying habit from afar. I found a really nice draft X for my husband. A wonderful safe big boy with manners plus. We brought him home and found out the next morning about this annoying habit. He would clang his front hooves on the gate and start EARLY. Very food oriented horse. If I approached him with assertive body language he would stop when I got about 30 feet away. If I tried to tell him to stop from a distance he would ignore me so…………….hopefully you won’t frown on this, out came a bucket of tennis balls.
Every time he would connect with the gate I would say NO! and get him with a ball. I would try my best to get him in the front legs, but sometimes it would get him in the chest or shoulder. It didn’t matter though because it didn’t take long for him to connect the NO with the tennis ball.
I don’t even need to show him a tennis ball now and if I am throwing one for the dogs near him he isn’t bothered at all, but if he is doing something he shouldn’t be and I’m nowhere near, I can yell NO and he will immediately stop.
Hi Carolyn,
the different stages the foals go through are really interesting.
My colt is older, 3.5 yrs. and just stopped doing “baby mouth”. The next day he was rearing and bucking around my older horse who looked annoyed.
Have you witnessed any “celebration” or wild horse “coming of age” dialog where there are very specific steps (besides noticing brattiness suddenly).
For example, horses go into heat and breed but there are defiant courtships and touching zones and courtesies. I have a day job so I can’t be home to view the time frame when he “went independent” and would love your feed back on the horse behaviors involved in this transition. Thank You so much again for sharing all you thoughts and wonderful techniques with us.
Karen,
Yes it is what I would have done and it is a same way to handl your situation
Hi Carolyn:
Would you use the same technique with a group of horses trying to crowd you when entering a paddock with your horse? I ask because I had this happen recently.. three horses that share a paddock with my horse where crowding around the gate trying to get out when we were trying to return my horse. I left my horse outside the paddock loose on a 20 foot lead line (this is our normal set up for hanging out while he grazes)… and I grabbed a lunging whip out of my car and entered by myself …the group backed away and when I told them all to “trot” they all took off at a trot – I was then able to take my horse in.. This sounds very much like what you were doing with Morning Star when he got pushy..
Dear Carolyn–Thank-you so much for these past two blogs sharing your experiences with Morning Star. Hearing of the challenges that foals can present to even a professional horseperson, I am even more amazed that my Welsh filly and I have survived each other. Thanks to the old Liberty Training video loaned to me by my friends, your phone call, blog, and now the book and DVDs which you recommended, more understanding is developing between us. The technique you gave of simply taking her back to her shelter and making her stand on a loose lead and then leading her again until she could see that she wasn’t going to get her way has been exceedingly useful. She is responding to the spirit of patient resolve. A suble shift has occurred in our relationship, and I can sense that she appreciates this shift as much as I do. She is listening better to me, now, too. Although she hasn’t tried to bite me for several months, one thing that I wished I had been able to pursue with you on our phone call was how you would deal with a horse if it were to bite or attempt to bite you. I had told you that I had dealt with previous biting incidents by smacking her, and you asked how she acted afterwards, and I said that she was contrite, but then we were on to other things, and later I wished I had asked you what you would do in such a situation. Well, you are a true Godsend, and I mean this most literally. Thank-you so much!! (Your book and DVD have arrived, and I am signed up for the September Circle, as you recommended.) Thank-you again. Sincerely, Christy Tharp
Hey Carolyn!
I have a filly with that kind of stuff to, I think of it as how I used to be a year or two ago a arrogant and pushy teenager. Sometimes she would come up to me and push me around. So I thought to myself “what does a leader do?” they constantly ask the horse to move wether its just taking space, protecting, herding, ect. I started doing just that I would sit around her and literally would come up ask her to move a step then when she did I would leave for a few momments them come back and do it over and over from all different directions. Soon she got the idea and she did a lot less bullying for that session. I quess it worked out allright! If it goes bad in a couple days though I could try your idea.
Hey and also something off topic. Can you explain how you get a horse to get comfortable with you and lay down? My gelding is having a little bit of trouble with this move, I think he is surprised whenever I go to touch him so he gets up.
O and thank you so much, I plan on releasing a video soon on how my gelding is doing. I now can ride him anywhere I want wether its out in the meadow to watch the deer or I can travel at any gait and can jump, rear, step on the pedastel, and currently figuring out how I am going to get him to lay down and do the spanish walk. (lol) keep in mind my gelding is a Quarter Horse and he is 25 years old! But ever since I started Liberty a year and a half ago he now has the spirit of an arabian and the heart of a stallion! Every morning I go out he will meet me and follow me along the fence line, always waiting for me to get at the gate.
Sorry, it did not publish the bit I was trying to quote. In the very first post, there was this sentence, to which my post was referring:
Most yearning colts go though a period that is a little intimidating for their owners and this is what was occurring with Morning Star.
In the wild, what would this phase be concurrent with? Meaning, would the colt just be being weaned and start interacting with other horses, and that is why he begins getting intimidating with people? If that is the case, what would be some ways of mimicking how it would be dealt with in the wild — introducing him to lots of other horses, giving him some challenging terrain or “problems” to work out, etc.?
Thanks!
Hannah
Hello Carolyn,
thanks for your advice. I came across your book 1 month ago, ordered your DVD last week (hope to have it soon!), and signed for the waiting list on your next Inner Circle program. So, we are on the way …
As for food treats, since my mare (now 5) got worse last year I had decided, NOT to give her any. I work with scratching body parts which she loves. Still I wonder about the treats so I go and check the YouTube.
Thank you again!
Rebbaka,
Go to you tube under Carolyn Resnick and watch the you tube titled Training a Stallion using Treats if might help you do decied whether or not you want to try the method or not. It might be too demanding for you and your horse. If i could guide you it would not be because I go about it in a step by step process.
In the dvd Panadero’s journey I have how to go about takeing care of a push horse around food. You might look throw my blog as well. I am sure that there is refrance in how to feed treats. If your horse is worse with treats do not use them. Some hores I do not feed treats but very few.
I like my horses to get push because that way I can shape their behavior to be respctful, follow my lead and stay focused. I can see that you have not seen my DVDs and I would recommend them. Another suggestion is do not keep your treats on you but instead on the out side of the fence when she is rude drive her away and do not let her come back untill is more focused on you. If she hangs around the bucket on the other side of the fence drove it from that spot. but my first fealling is not knowing my method you would be better to not use treats.
My reed is like a whip but a sturdy grass like you guest. I have to hunt around and find them in craft stores. They will have them from time to time and then I buy them up.
You might like joining the Inner Circle club in Step. but first I would recommend you to get my DVDs and study them.
Dear Carolyn, could you please explain what “the reed” is? If I check the dictionary, it’s “Schilfrohr”, which would be some kind of strong grass, growing close to water. But I’m not sure, whether that’s it???
And still another question concerning the treat … Do you speak of food or gesture? With food I made the experience that my young mare became even more pushy … She forgot about work play everything, was just focussed on the food in my jacket.
Thanks a lot in advance and regards!
Rebekka
Dear Becky,
I do not belive that any one should be working with an unpreditable foal as a starter horse. From working the a foal I am showing the power of the method. I am not suggestion for people work with foals. Use a horse you can trust to learn the method first. Your suggest is really a good thing to consider because so may horses have become decentized. What I am offering is how I work with horses with my expertice, not for the average horse person. I do not suggest that a person should try what I am doing if they are not very experiance with foals .
This foal suites my ability only. I am sharing my adventure to cause people to be more flexabe and creative and not punitive on a horse the suites their level of ability and expertiece. None of my programs are for beginers with out working with a qualified trainer in person. I suggest the reed only untell you have the frist part of the prpgram under your belt because if you have a horse that would not respct the reed you have the wrong horse to learn the method on.
But if you have a horse that is none reactive I like your suggestion if he is kind and willing by nature. If you have to be protective seek help do not experment.
I guess since you were wearing your jacket, this is what you turned to in order to back up your reed when this did not assist you in gaining your personal space. Is it sensibal for any of us if we are in a situation of going to share space with a horse/youngster prone to aggression/invasion, to bring in some kind of back up – like a plastic bag in our pockets to be easily pulled out, or maybe a can with some stones inside to ‘marracca’ the horse away if need be?
Hi Carolyn
Enjoyed your post. Just got in from handling my 2 year old colt.
What a monkey everthing sucked into the mouth like a giant hoover vaccum. Good side he bridles great! Today we worked on saddling round tied in the middle of the round pen. The first attempt. he has had the saddle(lite english ) on a few times in the cross ties. Well with the ever present wind it was more of a challenge to keep the pad from blowing over his head. Which to him was just sucked up in to that mouth.
Any way did real good standing in the center rope on the ground while I walked to and fro with saddle and pad and him just standing and staying. Next just a little free lunging both ways and done.
Next a bath as all the fun sprays and creme rinses had arrived via the post.
Well it is the first time I really tackled a full blown bath.
I have worked with the water by turning it on very low, sometimes only a trickle, until he is calm and relaxed.
It started out wiggly but got better.Using my hand to massage while using the hose worked the best. Again sometimes the water was a trickle.
When I started on the tail he increased his wiggles left to right. So I showed him that if he wiggled too much the force of the water increased and when he stood the flow got less. That worked like a champ! Well I have to say after he was shiny from head to toe we needed pictures. He was absolutely lovely to walk around and fine the perfect place. So calm and steady and best of all the Hoover mouth had finally turned itself off.
I will give him a break for a couple of days now and then we will continue the ground work in the round pen.
Cheers and thanks for the wonderful way you relate to your horses and share that with others!!
Makes a whole lot of sense. I wish more folks would begin with systematic, appropriate steps when they are working foals to prevent the “issues” that develop in many cases when they don’t! Marisa