Ok so first of all, I finally found a new saddle! I am now the proud possessor of a CWD 2G jumping saddle!! It's gorgeous - soft and supple leather, interesting pattern. It fits Rose and I just perfectly! Thank you so much to my generous mother for this beautiful saddle!
I had a lesson on Rose with Pippa on Friday and tried out the saddle after having it since Monday. I can't believe what a difference it makes! Having a balanced, stable saddle makes me more secure and therefore I can sit more deeply and focus on the horse instead of worrying about the saddle moving around/slipping off. We had a great lesson. Rose was pretty sassy, but I think she's going through the young-horse stage of being too confident - meaning she is finally comfortable in her home and thinks she knows her job well enough that she doesn't need me anymore. My job now is to convince her that she still has a lot to learn and yes, she does still need me.
Speaking of new tack, I also got a new bit for Rose. This one is a "Happy Mouth" (meaning the mouthpiece is plastic instead of metal) Mullen-mouth (meaning a straight bar across instead of having a joint or multiple joints in the middle) loose-ring snaffle. She LOVES it. Because this bit has absolutely no chance of inflicting pain on her mouth, she's totally game to work with the bit instead of against it. I've had two rides with it - one on the trails, and one in the arena. Rose was willingly stretching into the contact and was much more consistent with her head position. I felt a lot more secure because she and I were mutually supporting each other through the bit and contact instead of what felt like having a conversation in two different languages.
I also tried this bit with Blondie today. She understands bits more in general so there is no bit that she doesn't accept. But I can tell when Blondie is enjoying herself and today she really was. This brought me to my theory that no horse really needs a traditional metal bit if they've been trained correctly - meaning positively and with no time frame or expectations.
On Saturday, my long time friend Jasmine (you've probably seen her comments on previous blog posts) came over for a rare visit and we took the girls (me on Rose, Jazz on Blondie) to the beach! It was high tide when we got there so we couldn't do much once there, but the day was beautiful, the sun was blazing, and we all had a fun time.
The last thing I wanted to talk about was the start of Rose's clicker training. I've decided to introduce this type of positive-reinforcement training to teach Rose how to stand still when tied. She's very anxious about wanting to always do the right thing and pay full attention to me at all times. Most of the time, I love this trait about Rose. But for things like standing still, I wish she would just calm down and ignore me.
So Sunday and Monday were Rose's first two sessions with the clicker (I'm not actually using a clicker, just clucking with my tongue to make the same noise. I don't like holding extra things in my hands when training if I don't have to). She caught on very quickly! Basically, I would click and give her a treat whenever she was standing calmly. If she moved around, I'd ignore it. Then once standing again, I'd move her back into place, wait for her to calm down and stand still, then click and give another treat. I'd click and treat if she didn't move while I put her boots on, I'd click and treat if she didn't move while I went away from her into the tack room, I'd click and treat while putting on the saddle, etc.
Basically, I clicked and treated A LOT and Rose figured out the game within the first session. She realized that if she just stood still then JACKPOT! Treats galore! It worked quite well.
Clicker training is a wonderful tool, although it has to be understood fully to work well. It's all about having firm boundaries so that the horse never thinks of the trainer as someone who they can bully treats out of (I speak from experience with my last pony). The trainer also needs to have very good timing so that the horse understands the exact behaviour that is being rewarded.
I also wouldn't use clicker training as a day-to-day thing for all the activities I attempt with my horse. I use it more as a way to teach new things on the ground or in the saddle.
Anyways, that's what has been happening the last few days. Hopefully I'll be back to writing every second day or so...