Please post your questions here about the article (you’ll receive a link to download the PDF after you’ve registered for the class.)
We’ll have a live question and answer session after an initial presentation on the topic from Dr. Deb but if you have specific questions or thoughts on the subject ahead of time please post them here so that we make sure they get answered!
See you on January 11th!
I have no idea how to use this forum. I can’t see anything anyone else has posted. Nonetheless, here are my questions for Dr. Deb:
I longed my horse outdoors a couple of weeks ago before it got too icy. He loved the movement and got into a gallop with little encouragement. I let him go and let him pull me around the arena a little, justifying it because he’s generally not particularly energetic despite his age (5.5. years). Wrong? Right? What do you do when they’re headed for Texas (we live in Montana), and you don’t want to discourage the energy, but you don’t want to go to Texas with them?
Thank you! You are the first to post questions!! Looking forward to tomorrow!
I don’t know how to post on the forum. I saw how to “reply”, so that’s how I’m posting.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate. I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Janet. I live in Kentucky. I’m 74 years old and I have 2 Molly mules. I ride one and I’m doing ground work with the other, a young mule named Zuri.
My large goal is to develop a partnership with Zuri so that she will carry me through these golden years rather than throwing me into my grave. Before I got her, she lived at a Quarter Horse Farm. When they became overstocked, they put some quick training into Zuri for a quick sale., So, she came to me, apprehensive and confused about human intentions… She is coming along SLOWLY with relationship building.
1). When a human is near her, she tends to look away, then she spooks at what she sees in the distance. One game I do with her is that we BOTH look at the scary object, then look at each other. We do that repeatedly, then work on other stuff, but come back to the “look away/look at each other” exercise as needed. Are there any other attention exercises (games) I might play with her? Again, her long term job is to become “old lady” safe. For that, we need to keep each other’s attention when I’m on her back.
2)I’ve introduced the bridle and snaffle bit. The Quarter Horse people before me, rode her in a bit with a port to keep her from putting her tongue over the bit. My diagnosis (after having the dentist and vet checked out her mouth)was that the bit was/is another trigger for her apprehension about people. What are your thoughts on this? I do ground work with the bridle and bit (and halter)on her, and with the longe rope attached to her halter, so all she has to do is carry the bit. We’ve had very slow and minimal improvements. She keeps her jaw relaxed more often than not, but still (probably about 30 % of the time)stiffens and protects herself by putting her tongue over the bit. My question is–what next?
When I first got Zuri, I think she took life too seriously. I have found that posing challenges as fun games is helpful. When she makes progress, SHE WINS the game.
Thank you for reading this and thanks for any guidance you might provide.
Thanks Janet for posting! Looking forward to visiting about this tonight in class!
Really enjoyed Dr. Deb’s elaboration on the article. Very helpful. I would love to see a video of someone longeing with excellent technique, to help me visualize my goals.
Thanks.