Getting a young horse used to plastic and poles

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Made by:Horse Hero

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Dr Diamond Maker (Beau) is a slightly spooky three year old Quarter Horse. He's come to behaviourist Sarah Fisher for some early education with poles and plastic. Sarah uses a body wrap to help Beau be more aware of his body. She explains how to lead and allow the horse to halt to improve his balance which is a little awkward as he is croup high at this point in his development. Polework consolidates his learning. Beau is introduced to plastic and bravely walks on it too! Sarah demonstrates hows how to teach a young horse to pick up its legs. She also points out subtle behaviour often missed in training which shows us how the horse is really reacting.

Comments

Sarah Fisher 30 Nov 2009 Hi DressageSpain - there are many ways to work with horses and I would wholeheartedly agree that some people are ineffective with horses, dogs, children etc etc as they do not set a boundary. I set a very clear boundary and have worked with all manner of horses over the past fifteen years and have ridden since I was four so have plenty of experience with horses of all ages, a wide variety of breeds and sex. Linda and Robyn (her sister) developed these techniques over many years and both have a long history of breeding horses and competing in a wide range of disciplines and it was whilst working with competition horses in Germany in the 1970's that Linda saw a link between posture and behaviour. I too have used a light rope around a horses hind leg to teach it to lif the leg if the horse is prone to kicking but would say that the need to use this is rare as most horses including feisty youngters learn very quickly how to balance and pick up each foot with ease. My aim whether filming, lecturing or writing is to show what I do, and hopefully explain the reasoning behind it; to demonstrate what has worked for me (and many others) and in doing this give people choices in the way they work with their own horse. Best wishes Sarah

DressageSpain 20 Nov 2009 Hi Sarah, Thanks for taking the time to respond. I also have a 2 year old, but he is a 17hh Stallion and whilst is croup high, is also a young man and just learning to say no. Your technique just simply would not work with a fiesty stallion who is beginning to bite and paw as he is doing. Whilst we have never been unkind to him in any way, we have also had to much more firm. If he bites us, he gets a smack with a small jumping stick. With regards to picking legs up, you simply cannot use your technique on a feisty horse who doesn't understand and kicks out. You would be too close to the horse and get yourself kicked.This is why I use a stirrup leather around the pasturn. I can get them to pick the foot up but stand far enough away so that they can kick but when they stop,I can slowly move in. I can also allow the horse to put his foot down with this aswell if he cannot balance whilst still holding onto the strap. And yes there are horses that are simply naughty - but in a cheeky way. You just must be able to identify the line and be able to establish yourself as the leader of the herd. And again with these kind of horses, your gentle approach just would not work. There are occasions where people are too soft with the horses. I believe in being firm but fair so my horses are my friends and can have their personalitites but they also know where the line is.

Sarah Fisher 19 Nov 2009 Hi - interesting comments and all pertinent. I have worked with many, many difficult horses and so called confirmed kickers too. I was in fact alerted to help a horse/owner after hearing screaming and shouting in a neighbouring field. The horse was a two year old and was tied to a gate and the owner was trying to get the horse to lift a foot up. The farrier had had to leave the day before as the horse was panicking and kicking like crazy. The owner was thrilled when I walked out with a long dressage schooling stick and said to her horse 'you are really going to get it now'. I stroked the horse's legs with the wand and went through some quiet simple steps as shown in the video. I picked up the first leg with ease and when I looked up the owner was standing with her mouth open. In all it had taken twenty minutes - she had been battling for well over an hour and the horse had been understandably getting more and more concerned. When the farrier was called back the horse effortlessly picked up each leg and was able to stand in perfect balance whilst each foot was trimmed. Whilst it may seem that a horse is being naughty, in my experience it is usually a question of fear, poor balance, confusion or misunderstanding and all our horses settle quickly with these techniques. Time spent in the beginning will save more time in the long run. Horses that are nervous about having their feet picked up will also usually be concerned about being led over poles on the ground, walking through water, stepping over drains etc so for some youngsters this is the starting point. The poles improve proprioception and balance and to date we have never been kicked by a youngster or flighty horse. Beau is laid back but he is growing and at the moment is slightly croup high which will affect his ability to stand on three legs. If we have a baby in that isn't as laid back, I will alert Fiona straight away for more filming! Hope this helps explain things. Best wishes Sarah

DressageSpain 18 Nov 2009 Deirdre - Whilst I would never use any of the techniques as I find them far too drawn out and not firm enough, I can understand where Sarah is coming from with the approach she is taking and I found it interesting to watch. I just absolutely did not see any one single spooky thing about this young horse, he was extremely laid back. But perhaps I am used to more fiesty horses. I would be interested to see a video made where the horse really was properly spooky or naughty to see how it was dealt with.

Deirdre 18 Nov 2009 Sorry but I dont get this at all... the horse must think for himself and learn where to put his feet without being shown all of this. Just my opinion...