As the miserable, cold and wet weather is continuing, I decided to take Diva (Melland Queen of Scots) to another clinic with Lisa Dixon (Freelance Equine) back at Truesdale Equestrian Centre. Last time it was a gym training session and this time it was tricks!
I didn’t know what to expect, as I haven’t done any trick training, but I had read Lisa’s book, Harmony In-Hand, as it is a guide to starting to do tricks with your horse or pony.
On the day, with Diva brushed and tidy, we headed off to the equestrian centre. The forecast was for strong winds, but I felt it was still safe to travel. We arrived in good time and I watched the end of the ridden obstacle clinic that was before our class. All the horses and riders came out looking happy and relaxed despite the gusty weather.
This time our classmates were two grey Andalusian horses. Lisa asked us to walk our horses around to let them get oriented and settle. I took the opportunity to have a little go round some of the obstacles. Diva marched through the pool noodle barrier, did not hesitate about going through the ribbon curtain and walked calmly past the flag, despite it fluttering strongly in the wind.
Then we were gathered together for Lisa to ask if there was anything in particular that we wanted to work towards. One of my classmates asked to be taught “pick up”, and I was happy to go along with this choice.
Pick up, as you would expect, consists of your horse picking up and giving to you any object that you point to. In a ridden horse this could be really useful if you drop your glove, for example.
But how do you teach it?
Lisa gave each of us a cloth tied into several knots with treats inside. We then threw the cloth on the ground in front of our equines to let their natural curiosity come into play. We were told to allow the horses to sniff and mouth at the cloths, but to lift their heads as soon as they bit onto it and give the command: “Pick up”. You then swapped the cloth for a treat, which Diva thought was a fair exchange. We all repeated this several times. Diva soon realised that picking it up meant a treat, and I was very proud of her. The long-term aim is that eventually the command alone would get them to pick things up, but the stages to get there involve tying cloth to the items initially so the horses understand what to do.
We did two more tricks during the lesson, and these are stepping stones to having your horse at liberty. I’ll tell you about it next time.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.