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Post by kafee on Apr 16, 2014 16:37:53 GMT 1
Looking lovely and chilled in the sunshine.
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Post by amandap on Apr 17, 2014 11:18:02 GMT 1
Great progress Caroline and fab photos.
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 18, 2014 12:26:41 GMT 1
That's amazing she looks great in the sun
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on Apr 18, 2014 20:04:47 GMT 1
We had a bit of a potentially hairy day today. It was a bit windy, which always raises the energy levels a bit, and being the Easter Weekend, the campsite had turned from almost empty to very full since yesterday. So there were loads of caravans and lots of strange things and flappy plastic. She seemed surprised and not exactly relaxed about it all, but coped very well. We just walked up to the edge of the campsite and stood and had a look. The thing that concerned her most was children flyign around on bikes, coats flapping and quite a lot of screaming. It seems that children have to scream a lot when they play and every scream sent TigerLily's head up. Can't say I blame her. But she stood still and the 3 click sequence got her attention back to me each time. When I gently suggested it was time to go back, she came quietly. So that was great really - I couldn't ask or expect more. On the way back, there was a forest pony kicking off. She was causing trouble with some of the other ponies and then went on a mad canter through the forest about 50 metres away from us. I thought TigerLily would react to that, but she didn't. I was a lot more worried about it than TigerLily was. So we walked back without incident. On the way back in to the farm, TigerLily eyed the neighbours cows suspiciously. Yesterday she was very unhappy about them and kept standing and staring at them and not wanting to walk on past them. I asked her to keep walking today as she didn't reach the full alert stage. She obliged me, with frequent sideways looks at the cows. So all fabulous really! This daily walk thing is really working wonders The farmer has recently installed chickens and a pen containing a pig and piglets. I haven't dared take TigerLily to see them yet. I think I will wait for Sarah's next visit and see what she thinks of the idea. So far, TigerLily seems quite worried about the chickens when we get anywhere near where they are. I'm not sure why. There used to be a small chicken house containing 4 free range chickens next to her gate. The chickens used to go in her field and compete to get at her feed bucket. Maybe she is worried because she can hear 100 of them making little chicken noises and she hasn't actually seen them in person yet so doesn't know what's there. Similarly, she has often had piglets in her field because they wander in off the forest in the pannage season. Having said that, she and Zee do sometimes chase them, so it's not an entirely peaceful relationship. We have also been doing a bit of de-sensitisation with the fluffy noseband I bought to go over her Dually because the Dually was rubbing her. TigerLily hated it on site and was very worried about it. Fortunately Zee has no issues with it, so he has been helping persuade TigerLily that it isn't as evil as it apparently smells. We do this mainly at the gate, so they are both free to engage or wander off. They tend to compete to do clicker training, so if TigerLily sees Zee nosing the fluffy noseband and getting clicked and rewarded, then she wants to have a go. She still has reservations about it, but is much better than she was about it. I won't put it on the Dually until she is happy with it though. I don't want to flood her or give her something extra to worry about when walking out.
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 19, 2014 10:06:55 GMT 1
That's wonderful is it everyday you go out for walks?
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on Apr 19, 2014 13:00:39 GMT 1
ALmost every day, yes, portiabuzz. I give her a day off a week or if I am in a hurry or when I was ill I might do something else with her, but I aim for pretty much every day. She expects her walks every day now
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nomdeac
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Post by nomdeac on Apr 19, 2014 13:31:45 GMT 1
Thank you Caroline for your story. A real inspiration to me I too need to loose weight to be the rider I want to be. I've lost 3st over 2 years and am trying to get on track for the next 3. I will use the 3 second breathing technique when my little fell has a crisis of confidence. I wonder have you read any of Mark Rashid's work? I think it compliments IH very well and gives excellent information on how to be around horses in general, it has helped me. Well done with Tiger Lilly, I think she looks a super horse, Thank you once again for your openness and sharing, it will really help me. Catherine
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 19, 2014 18:37:18 GMT 1
What more can I say go Caroline
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 19, 2014 18:37:49 GMT 1
Best of luck to you Catherine
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on Apr 30, 2014 1:46:07 GMT 1
Had a bit of a setback with TigerLily on Sunday. I couldn't turn right up to the campsite as usual as there were forest ponies in that direction, so we turned left and I took her down a forest track. We dutifully went 20 metres further than we had previously on that track before turning back. But we hadn't gone very far compared to our usual walks, so I decided to take her round the little forest loop in the other direction to usual. We had gone about 20 metres when she started getting edgy, but I thought it was because she has been a bit worried about an area off to the left recently. So I detoured her a little in to the trees, and that's when her poor little horsey mind lost the plot. We were only a couple of hundred metres from home and could have been home in minutes if she had let me take her without a TigerLily style perfomance, but I don't think she knew quite where she was. She started running ahead of me, cutting across me, head up and a little hysterical. Not so very long ago, I would have lost the plot and had a panic attack at that point, but I have been really very calm with her when she shows anxiety recently. Now that Sarah has given me some strategies and helped me understand that she is anxious, not plain difficult, I find it a lot easier to cope with. So I stuck with my strategies and kept trying to re-engage her with a 2 click then triple click-treat. After about the 10th sequence, moving forward only a few feet between episodes, I began to wonder whether I ought to be getting more dominant and firm with her. But I could feel that that would have escalated her behaviour and she would very probably have started rearing (I learned that one years ago in a similar situation!). So I stuck with the strategy, kept her as quiet as I could and eventually got her back to a place she felt safe. So...a few things learned there! 1) Note that a route is not the same to a horse when travelled in the reverse direction 2) Do not lean into horse's shoulder to try and prevent it cutting across you - horses are into-pressure animals and your pressure will make them more inclined to push into you, not less! 3) Stick with the strategy and you will avoid escalation and eventually get where you needed to. 4) I'm not scared anymore! So yesterday and today, I went back to shorter and lower stress walks to try and regain her confidence. She was a bit edgy yesterday, but was wonderful today - totally laid back and co-operative. We even met some people on bicycles today (which can really set her off) and she was great with them, even accepting treats from the man on the bike who was kind enough to stop and give her a chance to check out the whole bike-thing. I think that maybe it is children on bikes that upset her more than adults - so that will be something to work on at some point I think. I know I made mistakes on Sunday, but the good thing about it is that I realised I can cope with her when she gets in a tizzie. I know I will make mistakes or my judgement will be off again at some point in the future or we could be circumstancially unlucky, so there are bound to be future occasions where TigerLily feels outside her comfort zone. But this showed me that we can work through them, there is hope. We are both developing together - she is learning more about the world and I am learning more about her learning about the world. We both improve most days. It was so great to find that, despite the situation, my pulse didn't fly up as it used to when she got upset. That's a real leap forward for me! I knew there was a problem, I knew how much worse the problem could get but I kept calm and focussed and was confident that we would make it through the difficulties and back home safely. That's wonderful!
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Post by portiabuzz on Apr 30, 2014 9:48:54 GMT 1
you have summed it up there, both learning about eachother, i think its great that you are able to keep calm now and not panic, and are providing us with useful insights into behaviour
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Post by kafee on Apr 30, 2014 21:31:34 GMT 1
Sorry to hear you've had a brief set back, Caroline, but as you say, you stayed calm and managed the situation. I've found being to do that has helped in other situations in life too!
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on May 22, 2014 18:53:53 GMT 1
It's not often there is anyone around to take a photo of TigerLily and I on our rambles, but OH came to see the horses today and took some pics. Here we are at the famous "top gate", looking out on to the open forest. We normally go through the gate and on into the forest, but we can't at the moment because the stallions are out on the forest for 6 weeks now. So I am mainly doing stuff with her in the field, but with little excursions up to the gate just to keep her from reverting to membership of the Flat Earth Society! Field games have so far involved long reining and the box game - where I stand on a box with her at liberty, ask her to come alongside and stand whilst I lean over her back, clicking the stand and triplle click-rewarding as I get off her. She gets very excited about this and makes funny little excited noises which are very cute, but probably indicate a little *too* much excitement about the reward. Long reining is a work in progress. She is happy to stand and have the circingle, breast girth and long reins fitted and will now walk off quit nicely most of the time. But as soon as I put presure on either rein to ask for steering, she stops and sometimes walks backwards. I don't think she understands what I am asking for. I wonder if the Dually is the right choice for long reining her? Maybe a lunge headcollar would be easier to interpret in terms of the way it applies pressure to her face?
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Post by shan on May 22, 2014 20:45:44 GMT 1
Beautiful horse, gorgeous pics, fantastic you, wonderful Sarah! I've been dipping in & out the forum of late so only just read your story Caroline, what an inspiration you are, especially TigerLily's antics, she sounds just like my Ginge so you've given me hope that I can get her hacking out & having fun too. Well done, and thank you lovely lady xxx Edit; I'm going to dust my clicker off & try your 3-click thing too!
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on May 22, 2014 22:18:18 GMT 1
aw...thanks shan! The 3 click thing was taught to me by Sarah and I have found it really helpful. Click...Click....Click-Click-Click-Treat. The first click marks something good you want to continue, the second holds it and the triple click at the end marks the imminent reward. TigerLily certainly keeps me on my toes! She is such a character I think she is so beautiful. Every day I go to see her, I can't believe how lucky I am to have this amazing creature in my life. She takes my breath away at times - in a good way! lol! (and, if I am honest, occasionally in a less good way! But that is getting less frequent.) I'm glad you have found hope in my story and I hope that it all works out for you and Ginge. Just a little every day with persistance and small incremental steps adds up to a lot I have found. Hope...believe...keep working and trying...and get some excellent help
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