The Time has Come...

The Time has Come...

Trifecta's training has been moving right along.  He learned to drive, became accustomed to wearing a saddle and a bridle, switched from driving in a Sidepull hackamore to a bridle with a bit and has been doing wonderfully on his walks in the park.  We were ready to move on to the next step.

After our driving lessons, we started heading over to the mounting block.  I would just ask him to stand as I walked up and down it--clicking him for good manners.  On the first day that I planned to introduce some body weight, Kevin volunteered to do it.  I held Trifecta while Kevin stood on the mounting block and leaned into him.  Of course, he got clicks for that.

The next day, I was the one doing the leaning, and I did it from both sides.  Sometimes he would take a step, but I just got off the mounting block, didn't give him a click and treat and did it again.  Tri soon figured out what I wanted.

Over time, I just kept adding more and more.  I flopped my body over the saddle and touched his opposite side as far as my hands could reach.  That turned into putting my full weight in the stirrup.  The next thing I knew, I was lifting my leg up to his back and rubbing his side with my foot.  I figured I might as well get him used to a sloppy mount--as it will happen whether I want it or not.

This all happened over a period of a couple of weeks.  I am in absolutely no hurry with Trifecta.  We got to the point where the next step would be to mount.  I was waiting for the right day.  I wanted it to be quiet at the barn, and I wanted Trifecta to be in a good place, mentally.

I had one day picked out.  It looked like rain, so I thought the barn would be quiet.  I rode Cole first, and we got soaked.  After that, I just wasn't feeling it.

The next day, Ellen, Kevin and I went for our ride.  When we got back, the barn was deserted.  I knew it couldn't get better.  I tacked him up, and we did some driving.  I could see that his brain was in the right place for it.  Truthfully, he is such a level-headed horse that his brain usually is in a good place.

We took him to the mounting block.  Ellen got this neat attachment to put on his bridle that connects his throatlatch to his noseband and it has a ring on it just like a halter.  She attached the lead rope to the halter piece, and I had reins attached to the bit.  I reviewed everything we had been working on, and he was perfect.  I then took a deep breath and told Ellen I was going to do it.  I carefully lifted my leg over to the other side and leaned forward on his neck.  I then slowly sat up.  It all felt so wonderful--but at the same time, it didn't feel real at all.  It is hard to explain.  I felt him shift his weight a little, but otherwise he stood still--just as I taught him.

I was clicking and Ellen was giving him good treats.  Instead of trying to ride him, I had decided to just work on mounting and dismounting,  After about a minute in the saddle, I dismounted.  It had gone so well!  I mounted him 2 more times.  Finally, I asked him to walk.  He didn't understand what I wanted, but Ellen gave him a clue by stepping forward.  He then took a really big walk step.  I clicked him, so he stopped for his treat and we called it a day.  And it was a good day, too.

Day 2

On our next training session, we started with a drive.  Once again, his mood was good.  I mounted twice while Ellen held the lead rope.  He was great.  I asked him to walk, and once again, I had to wait until he followed Ellen.  I did click him for it.  He stopped for his treat and after that he was more attentive to the walk command.  I love clicker training!  Ellen kept him on the lead rope, though we weren't worried at this point.  We started adding some "whoas," too.  For the most part, it seemed like he was following whatever Ellen was doing, so she told me that I should try without her doing anything.  He started listening to me.  At one point, I felt his walk get really steady, and he dropped his head down into a relaxed position.  All of us, including Kevin, knew what a terrific sign that was.  I got off, and we all gave him lots of praise and pets.  He was so happy that when I tried to lead him out of the arena to go back to his stall, he refused.  He wanted to stay for more cuddles.  The whole ride was probably just 5 minutes.

Day 3

After our drive, we went to the mounting block.  This time, I only mounted once since he has been doing so well with it. When I asked him to walk, he readily went forward.  I don't think he was listening to my legs, since he knows the verbal command so well.  We practiced walking and stopping, and I added a little bit of turning.  Ellen was still holding the lead rope, but she was interfering as little as she could.  He was figuring out what I wanted--and that is when I realized how much he learned from all the ground driving.  It was definitely time well spent.  As Ellen was walking next to us, I saw her unsnap the lead rope and we were free!  He walked a little and we called it quits.  I think we rode about 10 minutes.

Day 4

By now, I was feeling quite confident on Trifecta.  We stayed on the lead rope, but we practiced much more turning and stopping.  He was getting clicks for it, but as he learned new things, I cut back the clicks for the old things.  Since I was feeling so good, we let Bridget watch.  She was very interested in seeing us--but I told her she must remain quiet--a huge challenge for Bridget.  I didn't want Trifecta to be distracted--as he just loves people.  I was chuckling quietly to myself as Bridget was exclaiming her praise in a very loud whisper.  Trifecta stayed focused on me, and he earned all that praise.

Day 5

This day didn't go as well.  It was in the afternoon, so my assistant was Kevin instead of Ellen.  Tri just loves Kevin more than anyone in the world.  Most of my training problems that I have had over the last year have been caused by Trifecta trying to visit Kevin.  I didn't know how he would do if Kevin was right next to him.  Another thing that made this ride tougher was that it was close to feeding time--never a good time for Trifecta.  We started out all right, but after a couple of minutes, Trifecta was twitching wildly and acting fidgety.  I asked Kevin if he saw a bug, but he didn't see anything.  I decided to call it quits--thinking it might be equipment related.  I hopped off and checked the saddle. That is when I saw a couple of flies.  I decided to end it there.  I think that ride was a whole 3 minutes.

Day 6

I decided to ride despite there being a number of boarders at the barn.  Of course, I drove him first.  We opted to stay on the lead rope with Ellen, but she didn't do anything but follow along wherever I wanted to go.  We turned to the left, turned to the right, stopped, started, went straight and it all went well. This was the first time I felt like I was really riding him instead of being a passenger.  He was willing and truly trying to understand what I wanted.  Once again, I felt very satisfied with all that he learned while we were driving.  It was a wonderful ride.  I think we went 15 minutes.  Next time, I am going solo...