The Rider Is At Fault

JJ is like a clean slate. He has never been taught any bad habits so he shouldn't have any, and if any bad habits start to show up, then they are probably a result of my actions. This realization came as a big breakthrough for me yesterday. At the beginning of last week I was lunging JJ, and he started to fall in on one side of the lunge circle. Afraid he would catch his feet in the drooping lunge line where he fell in, I pulled my hand in and stepped back to reduce the slack. That was a HUGE mistake, because basically in doing that I was submitting to the "pressure" JJ was giving (the pressure being his coming towards me). That is, to my best understanding, how horses communicate. One horse will apply some sort of pressure and if the other horse yields to that pressure, the horse that applied pressure is in control. The same goes between a horse and a human. Every time I apply pressure to JJ, i.e. anytime I ask him to move his feet or tell him where to put his feet, he should submit to that pressure easily. When he does, his reward is a release of that pressure. I should always be the dominant individual in the relationship. Being a young, green horse, he will test this constantly. He will try applying pressure to me - make me move. When he falls in on the circle, he is applying pressure. If I move away, I have yielded to that pressure and told him that I am not the boss anymore, and so he will keep falling in on the circle. As long as he can get away with this on the lunge, he is the boss.

After consulting with Sue, some other knowledgeable friends, and youtube training videos, I finally worked through this issue on Thursday. I forced myself to NOT bring that hand in and take up the slack. Instead of backing up, I walked TOWARDS him with strong body language. He was putting the pressure on me and I put in straight back on him, stronger. And if he got his feet caught in that slack, well, it would be his own damn fault. But horses are generally smarter than we think, and he kept himself clear of it. After several circles there was no more slack - he stayed out at the end of the line. HAZAA! Learning breakthrough for me, training breakthrough for both of us. The more I establish myself as the alpha, the better.

Yesterday a whole new issue arose on the lunge, but this one was an easier fix (and, of course, my fault). I was lunging JJ to the right and he would go around most of the circle fine, but every now and then he would toss his head, spin to face me, and rear/back away from me with his eyes on me the whole time. I told him NO with a firm jerk on the lunge and then, doing the only thing I knew, I would drive him on again. He was very willing to get back to work but would soon repeat the process. Sue to the rescue!! She told me to let out more line, give him a bigger circle. As long as he behaved himself, the circle should be the entire length of the lunge. I had a sudden realization that because I had made the circle so small I was putting WAY MORE pressure on JJ than he was ready to handle. He is still completely unbalanced so trotting on a small circle is extremely difficult for him. Thus he was constantly trying to pull away, putting constant pressure on his face from the line. He needed to find the release of pressure, and the only way he knew how was to rear and back away. Once the circle was large enough for him to comfortably trot around, he stopped pulling and acted like a perfect gentleman. HAZAA! This is another thing I really have to remind myself of. There always ALWAYS needs to be release of pressure, or the horse will fight.