kaboom

[relaxen2]

now i'm trying to figure out how to help him balance himself with rider aboard.is it something he will just learn to do or are there exercises that will help?i know caveletti is good.if susan q is reading this,i wonder if she remembers when boom was on the lunge at southern.should i start him off on the lunge with rider or just have someone walk with him with me on him?any opinions?

[charismatic]

Im not sure how trained your horse is.. But if you're able to go without the lunge line I would. Just incase he leans on the line to Balance. If he is well broke and you're trying to get him to balance just some riding time will help. I also find collection helps them, so they are working off the back end. Um what about spiraling circles, downward and then upward again. Is he that far along? If he does not do circles, start with squares, a solid square turns into a perfect circle.

[relaxen2]

i'm halfway up!!!!!!!!!worked about an hour on lungeing,giving to prssure,and side reins.at the end of the session,i took him over to the side and tried to get him to stand side on to me so i could lean on him,but he kept trying to follow me and swinging his bum away from me.once i got him positioned correctly,i started to lean on him,just for a second.each time i did it the seconds got longer.i also moved from one big rock along the edge of the arena to another.towards the end,he knew what i wanted and would position himself so the saddle was right in front of me,then he would turn and kind of nudge my foot as if to say"will you hurry up and get on"-so i did!!just lay across him a few times and he would turn his head back toward me for a rub.ended the session with a few of these and on an excellent note!!things are going so good i'm afraid i'm missing something,but he seems very relaxed with the whole thing,allison and splash came for another visit and they were all very well behaved in the arena together.everyday he seems to be getting soooooooo much closer to the real ride!!!!

[sharon]

This is FANTASTIC and groundbreaking! Huge hooray for you and Kaboom ;D

One of (the many) exercises I used to help balance my babe was placing pylons in each corner of a rectangular shape. At a walk, walk the shape. At each pylon, half halt with your outside rein, inside leg at the girth, outside leg behind and try to have to horse make a "square" corner. Essentially you are asking the horse to do "almost" a turn on the haunches around the corner. I say "almost" cause the hardest part for me was not stopping the forward motion. You have to maintain forward motion! It's hard! But teaching a horse to do a "square" corner really helps balance. I'd do a couple, three in one direction, walk him out large, change direction and do a couple, three in the other direction, walking large afterwards. It's harder than it sounds but with practice you can get up to doing it at the trot.

And I can't say enough about transitions to help balance your horse! Walk x number of strides, trot x number. Halt to walk, halt to trot etc. Heck, even halt to walk, walk to halt is a great start. The key is to get it completely calm and correct.

Sounds like you are well on your way, taking it slow and steady.

I'm so happy for you guys

[relaxen2]

well,tonite i've been carried away!!!we did the same exercises as last nite,ending the session with the laying across him again.the last 4-5 times,i lay there for 2 or 3 seconds and then clucked to him and he walked off across the arena with me aboard!!asked for whoa and when he stopped,he got a pat and a "good boy"and i slid off.my plan=another night with me laying across him and him carrying me.session after that,if everything is still going good,put my leg over.i am amazed how good he is.head down,completely relaxed.it gives me confidence,which is absolutely necessary to continue on with his training.my boy needs baby steps..starting out from the very beginning and with his past issues hasn't been easy to deal with,but hopefully we'll be able to continue on like this.

[relaxen2]

thanks guys for the advice on balance.i keep thinking about him freaking out at southern last year.he was on the lunge with rider,had been doing walk with rider on for a couple of sessions and was doing good with that.as soon as the rider asked for a trot i saw him tense up and then he just blew across the arena.i kinda feel that he became unbalanced with the trot and didn't know how to handle it.that's why i'm asking .maybe the first few times i trot him,i was thinking i'd just trot for a few strides straight down the rail,so that he doesn't have to try to balance himself on a circle or turn.like walk,trot few strides,walk,etc..then eventually we could work our way up to circles and turns.any advice???

[sharon]

nien I think you have a very good idea regarding starting the trot on the straight. You seem to have a very good grasp on her issues.

I like hearing about her (and your progress). ;D

Lunging in sidereins can be helpful in teaching a horse balance but I don't recommend it unless it is done with an experienced horse person assisting or actually doing it. Handled poorly it can lead to the kind of explosions/panic you are trying to avoid. Poor Kaboom sounds like she has enough issues with lungeing as it is?

[relaxen2]

thanks sharon for your input(s)!he is great on the lunge-responds well to verbal command,very relaxed,actually seems to enjoy the little games we play-falling leaf pattern and figure 8's.when i use the sidereins,it's just for a few minutes at a time as i don't expect him to be comfortable with the contact,but i do want to expose him to it,even for a few minutes.you're right-i want this to be a positive experience for him,but i want to add a little bit of work into the picture too.i'm happy to be getting a little advice on this site,i know there is alot of years of experience here and i am hoping to draw a little out and use what i think is appropriate for my situation.i know kaboom,i spend everyday with him,so i feel i know a little of what he may react to and what will work best for him.we have a clinic coming up at our barn next weekend,but i don't think he is ready for that,so i'm not going to push it.i've come this far with him,and i don't want to ruin it.thanks again for your input,sharon.

[sharon]

So monitor the clinic (as opposed to riding in it) you may find out things that can help. You can learn so much from simply getting a different point of view. Stuff that may be useful down the road.

It's a big deal he/she can be lunged in sidereins. Used properly they can help establish balance and acceptance of contact. Misused they can teach a horse to avoid contact but I have the sense you know what you are doing? You are driving him/her forwards into patterns that's important, it helps them focus on performance and accept contact.

I do really like how you are taking/doing this one step at a time. You are letting Kaboom accept things step by step. I am a big believer in letting the horse dictate progress.

Trust yourself, I think you are doing great! ;D

[Emily C]

Sounds great Karen, sounds like he is making major progress!!!

[relaxen2]

thanks guys.jusst got back from the barn,and had him over to the arena again tonite.no,sharon,i really don't know what i'm doing!!!but i do watch him and try to work through any issues he has.i don't know if everything i'm doing is correct,but it seems to be working.and yes em,he is making major progress.i am so impressed with him.i know i'll make mistakes along the way-who doesn't?!?!?!?but i think after almost 3 years of knowing him,i can sort out what's wrong-in a nutshell he is one scared boy that has been abused in the past,and his way of letting you know that things are not okay is by exploding.i have been teaching him that when he is scared,to stop moving and the scary thing will go away.tonite i could take the lunge whip and swing it around him,wrap it around his head,around his body and he would stop moving,instantly i would remove it.also did some walking around the arena with me laying across him.he thinks it's a game.he stops at a blue bucket and i get off.so i keep moving the blue bucket around and he goes to it and i get off.he seems VERY enthusiastic about it all as he drops every time i get on him!by the way-what's up with that????anyway,just glad he's enjoying it all!!HAHAHA.tomorrow evening,i'm going again depending on the mood,i may try to swing my leg over and take it up a notch.wish me luck!!let you know how it turns out!

[relaxen2]

oh and about the clinic-i am not riding boom.i don't think he is ready and i'm sure sue q and dennnis can't teach me sideways on him!i will,however,be attending-just on a different horse.and although i have never done this before(start training from the beginning and looking for holes in their training,)we all have to start somewhere.unfortunately when i bought him,i didn't realize his issues were this intense and although i have had others help him a little along the way-no one can put in the time like i can-everyone has their own stuff to do.so it's up to me-make him or break him.every time i go to the arena i have every step planned out in my mind .the planning starts the day before ,before i even leave the arena.this site has also helped alot,as has the internet and my "library"of books.any pointers on sidereins would help.i have only been using them for short periods to build him up to them,sort of a slow advance and retreat.when he settles in them,i stop him and take them off.we have been working on a semi-loose rein,he can still drop his head a fair bit while working ,but he knows they're there.he is not behind the bit nor is he quite on it yet-i think he is probably a bit green to expect him to take on collected work yet.it's way too advanced at this point in his training.opinions welcome.

[relaxen2]

back to work tonight in the arena-didn't have time to tack him up as our new/old house had some major work going on today.but we did do some lungeing and at the end we did our usual hopping on his back.as it was a bareback night he was really iffy about that,i guess cause it was really hard for me to balance myself sideways and it really threw him for a loop,but he handled himself well,just that i could feel a difference in his attitude.at one point in the lungeing session,he challenged me.he stopped and faced me as if to say"okay i'm done"but with just a flick of the whip,not on him but towards him,he knew i meant business and carry on mister,you stop when i say stop.he was a perfect gentleman after that!!

[relaxen2]

I'M UP!I'M UP!I'M UP!!!!!!!!!!took him to the arena tonight.started with a little despooking(sort of-throwing the bigger rocks off into the woods!ha!)than i played with hm a little,lunged a little.then hooked on his reins and did a bit of work on giving to the bit,lateral flexion both sides.did the laying across his back routine a few times,then started to bounce up on one stirrup and down.mounted him and got right back down-did this a few times.he was fine with all this.then i got up,clucked to him,and we went about 25 feet.stopped him with whoa and got down.went back and mounted him again same way(bouncing up the down on the stirrup),this time we walked more than halfway across the arena.stopped,got off,and called it a good night!!!i am more than pleased tonight!!!yay!!!

[applesandoats]

gawd love you, you are doing it!!!!! I' so very pleased for you!!