5

Yards. Liberty. two sessions 5 and 5 minutes? Didn't look at the time. Remembered to cue the word Down when he put his head down. He's definitely got the head down. Unfortunately he was backing not just rocking back when he put his head down. Have to slow myself down to try and refine it, especially now that he's doing it so well. The cue he doesn't have although I think he's starting to understand.

I worked him then put the halter on and groomed him. When I finished I rugged him. He always makes a face and threatens to nip when I'm doing up the chest strap. I slowed down and scratched around his ears while I did it, well, not actually while I did it but around the time. When I say slow down it's not like I'm rushing putting on his rug but I really did it slowly, watching his face and stopping when he wasn't happy, scratching his ears until he looked soft and then carrying on.

Went and cut some more carrots and then tried the wwylm exercise, again at liberty. This was when he started offering head down when i was trying to get him to walk with me. Head down and reverse so that I couldn't even see him unless i turned around. I was remiss and not careful so that before I knew it he was very sexually excited. Got a little sticky for I wanted to reward him for head down, which seemed to quell the excitement yesterday but I was too late and he was practially on top of me.

The wwylm exercise was more successful when he was on my right, not so much on the left. Toward the end he was getting it and staying with me while I walked. He even took a step back when I did which was nice. Dakota used to do that very well. I don't want to confuse him with too many exercises but think it's nice to work on at least two different things to break things up. When I say he was walking with me, we were only doing a step at a time. And again, sometimes he was overwhelmed and switching off.

The training of me is more important than training Balthazar. So much to watch for, so much to remember, so much to retain so that I can attempt to bring the strands together successfully.

Watched two short videos Peter lent me of Parelli stuff. Confirmed to me that I'm on the right track. It may take a very long time but there will be no coercion, no swatting of a horse's rump with a rope as I saw in one of them. I can see the benefits of body position and communication through the body, the use of the rope to communicate but I am definitely over trying to be alpha horse in the herd which I think is the whole premise. The first video had the horse taking a break from work at a witch's hat. Work the horse and he learns that he can stop if he's at the witches hat. Wouldn't it be nicer that the horse works and gets a nice reward at the end?

4

Yards. Liberty. Rugged. Thunder in the distance. 5 minutes. The coming storm is why it was short. But good! Worked on head down. Did forget to add the verbal cue most of the time. Luckily I was able to c/t several times as he put his head down AND shifted his weight back. That was a bonus. He incorporated it into backing but I think, because of catching those few times when he was only shifting back as he put his head down, it will be easier to refine it so that he always shifts his weight back when his head goes down. What a lucky break! Really chuffed.

He did mug but he's giving it up much more quickly and when he does mug it's not as prolonged. When I think back to when he was licking and mouthing and slobbering...we've come a very long way.

Also worked on trying to catch him when his head was straight rather than flexed away.

As for evading he was much better. I think it only happened once. Today I remembered to walk or turn away before he became overwhelmed. He kicked at his pizzle but there was none of the stallion behaviour towards me.

Gave him a big handful of carrots at the end then threw, as I always do, the carrot filled bum bag outside the yards.

Another plus was his standing with me quietly, me *sans* carrots, while I gently scratched around his poll and ears. It was a nice moment.

3

Still afternoon. 10 minutes. Yards. Haltered. Tried to slow down my own thinking and 'doing' so that I could help Balthazar. My timing was a bit off, not catching him before he was overwhelmed (either head down eating or moving in with stallion behaviour) but being aware of timing is a start to getting it right. Wanted to work only on head down and standing still away from me. Can definitely say he got head down. When he was side on to me it was great but if he was facing me he'd step forward until he was in my face. No mugging...well one tiny one so that's an improvement.

It was difficult to reward the head down, especially after he 'got' it as frequent rewards bring on the evasion or stallion stuff. Which brings me to the conclusion that the main thing Balthazar has to learn is emotional control. It's not only evident in his behaviour but in his sweating, that's a definite symptom of nervousness. Once he's mastered that (stallion stuff) he may feel safe enough not to be overwhelmed (evading). At least it gives me an idea of what's needed although I'm not sure what to do more than what I'm doing; small mini-sessions within the session and having the sessions in the first place. When I'd give him a break I'd turn my body away and not look at him. When he was ready to continue he'd raise his head and look at me. I'd c/t and we'd carry on until the next time.

When he showed that he understood he got a c/t for putting his head down, I started to say 'Down'. Combining the cue with the behaviour may take awhile but it's a start.

At the end of this session, after I'd put the carrots away, I walked over and gave him a big handful of carrots for no reason at all.

2

I'm going to number these sessions in the title even though I've done work with him before and written about it in the other blog. Numbering them will give me an accurate account of how much work I've really put into it.

So, tonight. 15 minutes. Very windy. Storms to the south and east but none, alas, on us (we need the rain). I put a circle of bricks in the peach paddock to approximate a circle. Thought I'd work on the why would you leave me exercise (wwylm). So, for the first time in a while we worked with a halter. I needed him with me, not nicking off to be with the other horses (not that he has) or wandering off too far (which he has done). Started to the left, clicking, then halting and treating as we walked to there from the yards. It worked okay. He started to stay with me but he was too close. The lead was in my right hand and I was reaching across with my left to try and get his head in the right position. After awhile he was staying with me but there were two problems, one, he was too close, his shoulder right behind me when nearest the yards (and the horses) and as he got more sexually excited that didn't feel safe. I'd take a break. The other problem was the circle was elliptical. Too close to me when we were on the opposite side of the circle from the yards, too far away when we were nearest the yards.

The main thing is the sexual excitement. He was kicking at his pizzle and doing those little almost rears that I find so intimidating; arched neck, nickering, all the signs of a stallion meeting a mare. I need to slow things down before they get to that point. I did spend alot of time c/ting for staying away from me on the far end of the lead. C/t'd for staying there, c/t'd for head straight, c't'd for head lowering. The head lowering was only at the end of my supply of carrots. I think he was just starting to get it.

As Alexandra Kurland (AK) says, I need to prioritize. I clicked for head lowering (#2), staying away (#1), and head straight (#3). We spent a far amount of time doing this and it was the best part of the session. It was good to see him standing quietly at the end of the lead. A couple of times he did come in to me for a mug but his mugging attempts lack conviction. He soon gives them up.

The other thing I need to do is leave enough carrots in the bag to get us back to the yards in a mindful manner. I ran out and then had to use my hand holding the lead rope as a barrier between us. I'm looking forward to him working with me, looking for something he might do which will earn him a treat. I think the sexual excitement puts him off so it is very important in future sessions (even though I can't prevent him from 'droppping') to back off when it gets too much.

Training Journal Balthazar #1

Training. Liberty. 10 Minutes in yard. Due to Balthazar getting overwhelmed with c/t, a rather puzzling aspect to his nature as all he's getting is good things, I now ask for a few things, perhaps 3, and then walk away before he disengages. This was advice given me by Claire from ClickRyder. It works. He is more engaged, interested and happy. I suspect that with time he will lose his anxiousness about c/t and our sessions can be longer without me having to walk away. B is less inclined to mug. It's quite amusing to watch him start to mug, think 'Oh, I don't get a treat that way' and move his nose down the end of the carrot stick to the leather at the end. Voila! A carrot appears. So he's getting much better at that. What we started working on was his looking at me with both eyes before I ask him to back. I clicked a few times for that nano-second when he was straight on to me but he's learned well that swinging his head away (when he was really mugging and I just wanted him off me) so it will take awhile. Another thing we worked on was halting when he was coming straight toward me. I would say Whoa! in a firm voice and raise my arms. When he stopped I clicked. He is following the target better, to the ground and in a semi-semi circle around me. In our next session I want to work on that a bit more until he's stopping immediately and then when he is, to delay the treat so that he stays halted and calm for longer periods. Because he is following the target to the ground I think our next step will be to start learning the head down exercise. To put it on cue. Not sure how but we'll figure something out. That and learning to put his head down and shift his weight back onto his hind quarters. "When the horse takes a step forward to catch his balance as he drops his head, the handler counters with a request for backing. Only once the horse has reset his weight back, does she ask for or allow her horse to drop his head. As the process evolves, the horse figures out how to rock his weight back into his hindquarters so he can stretch his neck out and down to the ground - without taking that rebalancing step forward." Alexandra Kurland, 2006.