GoTadLightlyPlaid

Oh, I did say I'd walk us through Tad's introduction to being a riding horse, didn't I? I hadn't quite finished my thoughts on behaviour chains.
I mentioned I think of behaviours as linear. Our body is a linear being, like a chain. Collapsed, a chain does very little. Stretched and "tensioned" properly, it is a supple miracle. Behaviours are the same, but that's another thought process.

I've been scanning some old pictures, again, finding them as I slowly re-organize my life.
My eyes have been helped by the scanner, I've been able to glean some more of GoLightly's teachings by studying the "blow-ups" of pics done by the scanner, which is this new-fangled thingy-dingy that plugs into your computer:)
How I do run on..

My journals detail my thought processes through this TadTrainingTime. I'm finding them a little harder to translate;) Plus, I've lost them again. They were here a minute ago.. The few pictures I have are surprisingly detailed.

We spent a lot of time just hanging out. Going for walks. The place we boarded at had amazing trails and gorgeous paddocks, and was a reasonably bustling "big" show stable. Tad had lots to look at, while he learned that I made the decisions. Tad had had (snicker) little handling, to this point, and he was just coming three. I carried a small body brush and a rub rag, and I'd make him stand and wait, and then graze while grooming, if he was good for standing and waiting. Taddy was a bit ticklish to start, having felt a brush only a few times in his life before I got him. Time and hours we spent, just letting him know I was always there. Grooming was good. I was always asking him for something, and then letting him have something in return. Fair is fair.

Heck, just turning Tad out was an adventure in itself, as I've mentioned before. I sure got fit, not riding him through our early training together. Long days in the city, long drive to the barn, long hours with Tad.


I longed him, and backed him, and generally speaking, had no problems at all.
Why? Because of GoLightly.

Here we are, on our first hack outside the arena and rings, together. It's our fifth ride, or so. I eventually replaced that silly too small noseband. My bridle at that time was a conglomeration of parts from my first old bridle, shuffled amongst the schoolies, as I made sure the parts fit well enough. I think that was Rainy's noseband..
I actually sat on him first, on April 1st. We used to have really warm springs...sigh. Pardon the tank top.

I wasted no time getting him out on the trails. He's had lots of hacking by now, in this picture.


Just walking, some trotting. The hills were so helpful to his balance. I just left him alone, entirely, on hacks, well, other than go left go right. Whoah had been learned on the ground already, and all I needed was a slight straightening of my hip angle to let Tad know it was time to slow down. Voice commands are your friend.
I just sent him forward and straight. That's all I asked. It was hard enough for him, just doing that. Tad was a young green horse. Never throw too much at them at once.
See how his back end has filled out, and how square and confidently he's standing! My good bay boy.

So, Tad & I hacked and hacked through our first spring/summer, and by the time fall & winter hit, I had a lovely, interested, willing, balanced in himself with me on him, horse. We did minimal ring work. Why ride in a ring, with all those hilly trails around? Tad loved exploring. He had a natural inclination to get goin'. By not being in his face at all, through all of his hacks, and by staying light on his back, I had a wonderful green-broke horse, physically ready for the challenges we'd start facing through the winter months.

I cantered him twice outdoors, (didn't canter at all indoors), before winter set in, the first time going up a hill. It was sublime. The second time I asked, it was in the large sand ring. He cantered quietly, roundly, softly, without any help from me at all. Carrying me around happily, comfortably.
My face about broke that day, I was smiling so hard. Thanks, GoLightly, I breathed, as I floated around on my self-carrying horse. Stay in the centre of the horse, and yourself. Let the chains flex. My arms linked to my shoulders linked to my head/back/hips/legs. Noodles have an amorphous form, whereas chains actually link together better in some ways, than in others. Which is why it's important for the horse and rider to try to achieve those special links. You have to line up your links together..
Sorry, obviously suffering from chain-on-the-brain.

Turning lessons come AFTER forward/straight lessons. All this background work made turning work a breeze, when we finally had to start working in the arena again.

The indoor arena was pretty frickin' narrow, as many of them are. Dark, too, you might have noticed. I'm showing Tad "position right" here, as I ask for a turn, before the end of the arena. It's obvious to Tad, what I want to do, by my body position. I'm grinning. I can't help it. When you're "on", you're on. Oh, there's an issue here. I've asked him for the turn mostly with my outside (left) leg, and my looking right. Cool, huh? He looks so happy. Handsome Bay Horses. I am SucH a sucker for a bay.
Oh, The Issue, because I've collapsed my chain a little, by folding my shoulders forward, justalittle. It's made it a little more difficult for Tad. Matters of degrees. They can make all the difference...
I think some of the biggest mistakes people are making is all the too-early sideways and backwards CRAP. Let the poor creature go forward for the first 6 months! Ingrain the idea into them, first. They need to start somewhere. It'sjustlogical.

Here's a common problem. Too deep. Tad is tired now, he thinks. This was our harder direction, position left was a challenge to us both.


When this happened, I'd ask for a lengthening, as here. My inside shoulder is not helping matters, at all. But I'm staying soft on him, and he's stretching his poor tired back out, as we swing forward for a bit. Behind the vertical=behind the bit. Same thing. Always a bad place to be. Can you imagine if I had longed him in a curb? What on earth for? Ouch.


I ThinK, this was the first night I asked for a canter depart from trot, to the left. He's saying, "Really? I'm so TireD". Good time to ask, he's staying up in front. I was ending on an upward note, anyway. He's a bit miffed, a bit tired. Behind the vertical usually equals an over-done, over-tired horse, imo. So, sensing I was getting to a place I didn't want him to go, I asked for a surprise canter depart. That brought him back up.


Oh, and just so you don't think we spent all our time in the arena, through the winter. I'm riding no stirrups, didn't notice ThaT until I scanned it!


It's the idea that they've got it all down pat, quick, that people go wrong with. Slow and steady, captain. Walking before trotting, before cantering.
It's so BorinG. The basics are the same in any behaviour. Learn the first ones well, first. FIRST. Train the Chain.
Sorry. My rant has been quiet lately, but that one still bothers me. Why is it so important to put a stop and a back and a turn and a sideways on them, so soon??
I have no idea. Lie. I have plenty of ideas. Money starts it, because money = time, human impatience/ignorance finishes it. Wait for the horse to be ready.

To Taking the Time to Train.