Tuesday 1st of July 2008
Oops, I didn’t write anything for yesterday! Eep…Ah it wasn’t that exciting anyway, in the morning just worked on her approaching and following me, and then in the evening I did some leading work.
My main dilemma is…
AM I BRIBING HER? WILL SHE EVER RESPOND TO ME WITHOUT THE FOOD?
Ahhh…
I know, I’m being completely irrational. I’ve had the poor horse for little over a week and I’m already expecting her to welcome me with open arms, with no feed.
Beeeep, wrong. This horse only follows if I have feed.
However, if we’re working on yielding the hindquarters/head patting, she does that fine without food.
Which that reminds me, I have to do that…I’ll do it tonight. It’s been a few days since I did it.
Anywho, yesterday I started to use the method of letting the horse THINK. After you complete an activity just let the horse think about it for awhile. I don’t know how well this worked, but it was nice just standing there with her.
This morning I just worked on her approaching me. She was quite flighty, so I didn’t want to push her, it was a wet and windy night.
I’ve decided tonight I will do some hindquarter work.
I’m also going to cut down on the amount of chaff I give her.
She doesn’t eat hay! *sigh*
She’s an interesting girl too…SHE PULLS FACES! How many horses actually smile at you? She does…Actress seems so submissive, like she has no personality. But then you get these times and she’s standing their SMILING! Or pulling funny faces! You probably all think I’m insane but she does! She also licks her bucket clean; gosh…she’s going to be obese by the end of spring!
And this morning, I went out a little later than usual and she was all “ha, nope….you had your chance to feed me at 7:15, not 7:45, I’m just going to stand right here and munch at this grass”
Ahhh, so cheeky!
Later on (5:15pm):
FANTASTIC LESSON! Wonderful! A really good step forward in our relationship and her education! Okay, I’ll go through tonight’s events:
Went out there with her food, only gave her half a scoop of chaff in hope that she’ll eat some of the hay I bought her. Actress at this point is ignoring me, “this lovely green grass tastes so much better than whatever you have in the bucket.” Eventually, Actress remembered how she is supposed to approach me, and did so accordingly. With one thing on my mind, and that was yielding, I wanted to grab the rope quickly into the lesson so she wouldn’t be eating all the food at this moment. Luckily, Actress kindly yielded her hindquarters without me asking, and let me pick up the rope. Yay! I put the bucket down out of her reach and set to work. I began by trying to pat her, of course, no dice, so of we go yielding the hindquarters. I’ve remembered to just walk slowly, and she will go slowly too J Then, tried again with patting her, of course, she steps back and I yield her. Then, when she finally lets me touch her without stepping backwards, I give her time to think. So there’s me trying to do some diaphragmatic breathing while she thinks. She was chewing, which is a sure sign of some relaxed brain activity or something, so I was happy. I patted her again and because she didn’t move back, I kept the patting short, and then let her think about what happened.
Hopefully what was going through her head was “Ohh, so if I move back I have to do circles, but if I stand still then I just get to keep standing, I get it!” Of course, Actress should already know this, but it doesn’t hurt to remind her.
So I was very happy, and Actress was very happy. By now it’s been about 20-30 minutes and the session should be finishing up so I go to grab the bucket, of course…its too far away and Actress just needs to step forward a couple of times for me to reach. So I’m clicking away at her and SHE LEADS! Yay, no food motivation or nothing! I’m always very happy when that happens, so immediately I grabbed the bucket and gave her a REWARD – THERE WAS NO BRIBERY! (there was no bribery this whole lesson!!!) Then, tried to get her to move forward again (without food) she doesn’t really want to, but as soon as she puts two feet forward, there’s the bucket REWARDING, NOT BRIBING! I did this once more and then let her have a good long feed. After she licked the bucket clean I let down the rope and walked off, and hey, there’s Actress following along, but then she realising I’m not holding her anymore, and decides to eat grass, ha, but she slowly follows after me in typical Actress fashion.
:D
Welcome!
Hello and welcome to Brumby Diaries!
My name is Melissa and I own a beautiful little Brumby named Actress. Actress was caught from the Victorian Alps as the state and federal governments have declared brumbies a "feral pest". They have declared intent to eradicate or remove ALL Brumbies from National Parks and Public Lands. Effectively, this means that the majority of these beautiful animals are slaughtered for pet food. Other methods of 'removing' the Brumbies include aerial or ground shooting. Many amazing people now however are fighting to save the Brumbies, and you can find them in the links on the right of the page.
Actress is a special little horse. Why? Because, unlike most brumbies, Actress is very traumatised from the experience of being chased & roped, and then having to adjust to domestic life. Actress was purchased by The Victorian Brumby Association, luckily for her. Colleen, the president of VBA, usually sells brumbies so they can be lead around by anyone, pick their feet up & groomed all over. However, Actress, being more traumatised than usual, was sold to me not being able to do those things. Actress when she first came home with me was able to approach me for food & yield her hindquarters.
Actress will not let me touch her anywhere else other than her forehead, but is now beginning to lead confidently and is interested in me as I go about doing things in her paddock.
Definatly, in time, Actress will become one of the most amazing horses you will ever encounter, and I am confident me and Actress will have an amazing bond that will last forever.
What I aim to achieve through this blog, is to give an insight view on Actress' progress over the coming months and years. Not only is it a personal archieve for myself, but a way for the public to experience Actress' journey.
I also hope to prove the Brumby as a strong, smart, beautiful and versatile breed, in hope that other people will also want to join in the fight to save Australia's Brumbies!
My name is Melissa and I own a beautiful little Brumby named Actress. Actress was caught from the Victorian Alps as the state and federal governments have declared brumbies a "feral pest". They have declared intent to eradicate or remove ALL Brumbies from National Parks and Public Lands. Effectively, this means that the majority of these beautiful animals are slaughtered for pet food. Other methods of 'removing' the Brumbies include aerial or ground shooting. Many amazing people now however are fighting to save the Brumbies, and you can find them in the links on the right of the page.
Actress is a special little horse. Why? Because, unlike most brumbies, Actress is very traumatised from the experience of being chased & roped, and then having to adjust to domestic life. Actress was purchased by The Victorian Brumby Association, luckily for her. Colleen, the president of VBA, usually sells brumbies so they can be lead around by anyone, pick their feet up & groomed all over. However, Actress, being more traumatised than usual, was sold to me not being able to do those things. Actress when she first came home with me was able to approach me for food & yield her hindquarters.
Actress will not let me touch her anywhere else other than her forehead, but is now beginning to lead confidently and is interested in me as I go about doing things in her paddock.
Definatly, in time, Actress will become one of the most amazing horses you will ever encounter, and I am confident me and Actress will have an amazing bond that will last forever.
What I aim to achieve through this blog, is to give an insight view on Actress' progress over the coming months and years. Not only is it a personal archieve for myself, but a way for the public to experience Actress' journey.
I also hope to prove the Brumby as a strong, smart, beautiful and versatile breed, in hope that other people will also want to join in the fight to save Australia's Brumbies!
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1 comment:
Yay! That is so happy! Its great that now you can reward her instead of bribing her - and that it was all her choice. Congrats on this big step forward!
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