Chill girl at the Tik clinic

 I'm so proud of Lyric. And a little bit of me too. 

Lyric and I went to the Tik Maynard clinic today at Pascova Farm. Bless her because my dumb self didn't pay attention that the start time had moved up 30 minutes until after I woke up this morning. I had wanted to get there to listen to the first lecture and watch the first group of groundwork but more importantly, Allisa told me I could park in the barn area and put her in a stall for the day so I had to get there before everyone else so I could get the trailer in before people started parking and clogging up the area. And of course, on Thursday I didn't feel like getting gas on my way home because it was hot and figured I'd do it later, forgetting I was going to have to get up early to go to the clinic. So this morning after I woke up and was getting ready I realized I was going to be running late. My plan was to leave at 7, to get there around 8sh and get gas, but... that was when it started at 8:30. Now that they were starting at 8, I had to book it. So I managed to leave here at 6:50, but... eeeks. Poor girl. Luckily them came up for breakfast when I turned the barn lights on but she didn't even have time to leave her stall after they ate before I snagged her and took her to load up. She was a little stressed but managed to load up pretty quickly. We took a chance on not getting gas. I made it to Pascova with 40 miles worth of fuel left, which is plenty in theory, but not necessarily towing and in a diesel. But otherwise I was going to be even later. I did manage to beat enough people that I could get the truck in and pulled up. I pulled Lyric off and threw her in a stall and hung her hay bag. She had water and seemed happy enough so I ran down to listen to the lecture. 

I went back up to check on her and she nickered at me. Awww... I had noticed when I was unloading her that she had a nice puncture on her shoulder. Sorry girl! I have no idea if she did that in the trailer or last night or this morning, but... oh well. I groomed her and cleaned the blood running down her leg off. Ha ha. Nice clinic impression. She still had some hives too. And she didn't get her bath. oh well. She was still shiny. Plus it got hot and we were in the sun so she was sweaty anyways. We got a little ahead of ourselves so we still had a good 20 minutes before our group but we ended up just letting her graze while I chatted with Kimberly and Cindy while their ponies grazed. She was chill and relaxed. We walked down to the arena and walked around as the other group was finishing up and she was a happy camper. I was a bit surprised. I basically snatched her off her breakfast, tossed in the trailer, hauled an hour to a new place... stuck her in a stall with new neighbors, then pulled her out and took her to a new arena. And their arena is lovely but it's down in a hole and there were two other horses she didnt' know in there with her. There were chairs and auditors lined up watching. And on top of the hill was the pavillion with activity and people. It was a lot. Oh, and the loudspeaker. But she was chill and fine. We walked around a bit and did some pillars and then it was our groups turn. 

We introduced herself and I told Tik that she was emotional, liked her routine, and tended to get balled up and frantic. Except today. Of course. Ha! 

He started us out with having us rub their whole bodies with the whip. And she didn't care. I rubbed down her legs, up between her legs, on her belly. She didn't even flinch. Okay, good girl! So then he had us work on backing them. I "shushed" her and waved my whip at her and tried to send her back with my energy. It didn't really work and I had to smack her in the chest some but we sort of made progress. Tik mentioned that I was getting too close. She couldn't see my stick or read my body language when I was "up in her face". So I backed off and it did help. Then we played with pressure from our fingers to move body parts and get them to back. We could back them from the nose or from the chest. We could move shoulders and hips. And it was helpful. I figured it out. Soft pressure but escalate if needed but as soon as they even shifted back, take the pressure away. The goal is to be able to get them to pivot 180 degrees with the softest finger pressure. Then we worked on lowering the head. We had some good work and then some moments where she tuned me out. The goal was to look for understanding and comprehension vs just... avoidance. 

Then we worked individually. He had Kimberely go first and they backed between two barrels. Which is harder than it looked Tik said because it was similar to walking down stairs in the dark. Then it was our turn and he had us do it too. Lyric did pretty well though her hiney swung a good bit both ways. But we corrected and she figured it out. Yay! Then it was Cindy and Johnny's turn. Then Kimberly again and Tik had them do a figure 8 between two barrels. He was talking about "sending" the horses vs leading them. Kimberly did a great job and I watched how she did it. The goal was for her to stay in one place essentially and send him around the barrels. So then he asked if I wanted to try with Lyric. I said yes but told him we had never done it but I saw what Kimberly did. I walked her over and got started right as he turned to talk to the auditors. He had his back to us and Lyric did it perfectly about 4 times. Like.... seriously perfectly. Better than Kimberly who had jokingly said they had set the bar and to see if we could step up. Hee hee. I quit and rewarded her and he turned around and I was like "Dude.. you missed it. She was perfect!". So he told me to do it again and of course then we messed it all up. But we got it sorted again. Doh. I went to give her a cookie and she turned her head and he caught it and said something about it. How I had invaded her bubble and needed to notice that and pay attention. He then mentioned that horses who run from us in the pasture (and I was like..oh, she does that sometimes) and he said yep... so the plan was to walk up to them until the give us the yellow light. Then stop... and acknowledge that we see their discomfort and give them the choice. They can turn back to us and we can keep coming or they can come to us. Or they can move away. Which... is going to be hard for me. I try to do that... especially when I'm not actually aiming to catch her. But... there are times when we're in a hurry and I need to catch her now. Like this morning. She did try to move away but I had snagged her. So... I'm guessing that will be something that I can do most of the time.. and she'll forgive me for the other times. He did mention something along those lines too where if you respect their wishes most of the time, they'll forgive you when you can't/don't. 

So that was it. I put her back in the stall and she drank and was munching her hay. She hung out the rest of the day quietly and happily, though she did nicker every time I said hi! Awwww. I watched the rest of the groups and the rides and it was awesome. I did get a migraine and thought I might puke for a bit so I wasn't as focuses as I should have been, but... still got some great takaways. 

1) Aim for understanding and comprehension vs just... directing the adrenaline to get it done. 

2) Reward the try

3) Horses learn by patterns. So start at 1, then go to 2, then 3, then 4, and eventually they'll figure out what you want and respond to it at 1 or 2. But if you don't always start with 1 or 2, you miss giving them the chance to be responsive

4) Lots of releases and breaks. Don't always go 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... go 1... 1,2.... 1, 2, 3....1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, ... then 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 4, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. for example. 

5) Horses respond to body language most but can learn any cues... 

6) You're trying to establish a language. Keep it consistent. Don't cluck for forward and backwards. Whoops. 

Then he taught some dressage/flat lessons. The first horse was very nervous and quick. The girl brought him down to a walk when his trot got quick and Tik was like "smart...don't let him get too big.. bring him down before he gets big". Okay yay! My plan with Funny is on the right track. He asked her what helped that horse relax.... was it transitions? letting him stand? letting him canter? Do what works to help him relax because horse's can't learn if they aren't relaxed. They can perform, but not learn. So he talked while she did transitions. Then, in an effort to help, he set up an exercise, which is something else I can try with Funny. He set up four ground poles and then on each end, a few strides out, an upright barrel. He put a treat on each barrel and had her walk through the poles, halt in front of the barrel, and get the treat. Then turn, walk through the poles, halt in front of the barrel, and get the treat. Then he moved the barrels farther out and had her walk through the poles, the trot to the barrel, stopping in front of it, get the treat. They repeated this a few times and then he had her circle and skip the barrels and trot the poles a few circles in a row. The caveat being that the horse had to stay slow and relaxed. If he got quick... back to walk or back to trotting to and halting in front of the barrels. (Though I can see this possibly backfiring with Danny who might learn that if he goes quick, he goes to the barrels and gets a cookie... I'll have to ask tomorrow for clarification). Then he mentioned that ideally you would get to a great point and then stop. If the horse relaxes and is happy and moving well, be done. Stop. Get off in the arena. Rub him. Let him drop his head and relax. Even pull the tack off and let him have a roll. This helps them associate the arena with happiness and also rewards the good work. 

Then we saw two other riders. He talked about making sure you always ask with the softest of aids and don't get sucked into escalating the aids from the get go. He also talked about changing the pattern. For example, if the horse always walks off at the mounting block instead of standing.... give it a cookie with a cookie stretch each direction as soon as you get on. Or ask him to back up one step each time you get on. And change it up. Obviously this is if the issue is a habit vs pain. For the horse that always trots or gets tense when you pick up the reins... pick them up and don't trot. Pick them up and keep walking. Pick them up and then drop them. Pick them up and then halt. Change the pattern so they don't anticipate. 

And there was probably more that I forgot and will remember later. I did take notes but they are in the car. And there was probably good stuff that my brain missed because of my migraine. Oh... I do remember this. He did say something about bend being helpful. He said straight lines encourage/similate the flight response. Whereas bend creates suppleness and relaxation. So... it makes sense that with Funny, and even Lyric, multiple changes of directions/bend/serprentines will help them relax, and even circles, vs just going in straight lines. 

I decided to take Funny tomorrow because Lyric was so good and I think I've got lots to work on with her already. So yay! Once we got home I turned her out and she meandered a minute then took off. Hee hee. She came back later for dinner, but enjoyed some outside time. Then the storm blew in and they all disappeared to the big tree in the corner. Stay safe ponies!