High winds and shipwrecks in the wild west of Ireland
Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 09:04 AM
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There are high winds and a strange, warm, misty rain like the end of the world. It is shipwreck weather, with two Danish sailors rescued off the coast of Cork in gale force winds and a haul of silver worth 127 million found lately off the coast of Galway. We have been cowering inside by the fire most of the week.
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| 3 yr old Connemara cros |
I have made some progress with the three year old pony and can now get him out to the arena and back into his stable. I had to divide the arena into two with white electric tape to keep him away from the gate and he is now lunging on both reins and turning when asked. He is also happily wearing the breaking tack and side reins. The first day he felt the girth around him he catapulted his two back heels high into the sky and I thanked the Almighty that I wasn’t on board. The quality and athleticism of the Connemara pony originates from Spanish bloodlines. When the Armada was wrecked off the rocky Irish shore in 1588, the white Spanish horses (something like today’s Lipizzaners) swam in and bred with the tough little native ponies. A Spanish person called Carlos also washed up on Island Eddie, the tiny little Island in Kinvara bay and the family became todays Corless'.
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Read more:
Irish man leads recovery of $230 million worth of silver
Photo of Connemara pony- Irish Central Competition winner
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Read more:
Irish man leads recovery of $230 million worth of silver
Photo of Connemara pony- Irish Central Competition winner
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As he is so wild when you take him out of the stable I decided to try the Monty Roberts technique on him. I you tubed Monty doing his famous ‘join up’.
The horse is meant to run around and the human chases him. You keep your body square to the horse and keep looking him in the eye. We did that very well. I kept looking, he kept running. Eventually the horse starts to flick his inside ear towards the human. Amazingly this did happen after a few minutes. Then he is meant to slightly turn his head towards you as he goes around. He did as predicted- how easy was this… He should then start licking and chewing, like a foal and drop his head in a sign of submission. I couldn’t believe it when he started doing exactly that. At this point you are meant to become passive and turn away at a 45 degree angle and drop your gaze to the ground. He should then walk over to you and start following you around like a dog. You can then put the saddle on and jump up with a bond that will never be broken as he is so desperate to be your friend, you can ride him bareback, backwards etc etc and he will willingly do whatever you desire.
The horse is meant to run around and the human chases him. You keep your body square to the horse and keep looking him in the eye. We did that very well. I kept looking, he kept running. Eventually the horse starts to flick his inside ear towards the human. Amazingly this did happen after a few minutes. Then he is meant to slightly turn his head towards you as he goes around. He did as predicted- how easy was this… He should then start licking and chewing, like a foal and drop his head in a sign of submission. I couldn’t believe it when he started doing exactly that. At this point you are meant to become passive and turn away at a 45 degree angle and drop your gaze to the ground. He should then walk over to you and start following you around like a dog. You can then put the saddle on and jump up with a bond that will never be broken as he is so desperate to be your friend, you can ride him bareback, backwards etc etc and he will willingly do whatever you desire.
Only he didn’t walk over to me. I kept repeating all the steps but when he is meant to ‘join up’ he makes it quite clear that I am an impostor and he does not want to be part of my herd. He stands cemented to the ground shaking and looking terrified. I tried standing and waiting, walking away, putting the rope on him and pulling him towards me. No way José. No join up! I feel flawed. He did the horse bit right, it was the human that couldn’t speak the right language. I had visions of him following me around, with ribbons in his long black mane, bowing and lying down like a circus pony. He obviously has different ideas, mostly about getting back into the field and eating grass with his REAL friends. Maybe trying to join up with the whole world collapsing around us in a hurricane was a bit ambitious; I am trying not to take it personally..
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marybermingham | Oct 14, 2011, 02:50 PM EDT
Thanks for that Im glad you like it, I will try and keep it real. I have followed advice in the comments and spent a lot of time using positive reinforcement and he is really relaxing and responding.
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susegro | Oct 14, 2011, 01:51 PM EDT
From someone who knows so little about training horses this is fascinating. I dont know why but it reminds me of a fabulous film about the life of Temple Grandin & understanding animals. Love your blog btw Mary
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marybermingham | Oct 11, 2011, 06:08 PM EDT
Yes I agree too, I am going to give him all the time he needs. I will keep you posted!
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jamieLM | Oct 11, 2011, 05:40 PM EDT
Mary, I tend to agree with ancientrunes's posts. I don't think it's necessary for a horse to lick its lips. As you well know, horses need a lot of positive reinforcement in the training process. Don't take it personally when your horse doesn't do what you expect it to. Remember, he didn't see Montv Roberts's video. LOL Horses' behavior is not always predictable, in spite of all our efforts. We had some "real corkers" on our farm in the behavior department. They really kept us on our toes with their quirky behavior. Keep us posted on your horse's progress and good luck. You have a beautiful horse.
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ancientrunes | Oct 11, 2011, 01:13 PM EDT
I should add that in my experience, expecting the horse to lick its lips is too much, as many horses will do that only in a state of excess stress. Most horses will "hook on" (I refuse to use Roberts' trademarked term for the behavior) without ever licking their lips.
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ancientrunes | Oct 11, 2011, 01:10 PM EDT
Mary, I wonder if you may have pushed your horse a bit too hard? The key with this procedure (which Roberts did not invent) is to reward the smallest, slightest response shown by the horse. The very slightest acknowledgement of the trainer, however nearly imperceptible, must be reinforced by the trainer releasing all pressure and backing promptly away and giving the horse a reprieve.
Watching the video of Roberts that you posted, one can see where Roberts missed a major opportunity to give the horse positive reinforcement soon after the session began. The horse clearly turned its head towards Roberts, but Roberts made it continue moving.
Personally, I have found round-penning to be most effective if done at a much slower pace, allowing the horse to trot or even walk.
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