Semi-Annual update

Beautiful Ontario twilight

Summer has flown by and now it is almost winter (already feels like it outside with clear blue skies and a high of -7 C /19 F today! ).  We spent most of the good weather this year doing regimented rehab distances, increasing the amount of trot by 5 min each week.   Last week this slow and steady progress built into our first 10 mile ride since spring- it felt wonderful!  Other than the initial anti-inflammatories, then rest and rehab, the only other treatment I added in was Cartrophen injections 1x/week for 4 weeks last month.  Cartrophen (pentosan polysulfate) is very similar to Adequan and is readily available in Canada (unlike Adequan).  I do think it helped, as prior to the injections Sonny would be very intermittently very slightly off on small circles in deep sand to the right (I could feel it and it was noticeable on slow motion video, but not to the naked eye).  After 4 more weeks of time and the Cartrophen he is completely sound. Was it the additional time or the Cartrophen... I don't know, but I do know he will be receiving it semi-regularly from now on (at least while asking him to do 50 mile+ rides!)

We have used our rehab time well and have steadily improved Sonny's foundation and our communication.  I am so lucky to be boarding with a great group of horse-people that re-introduced me to clicker training.  I have played with it a little in the past, but this summer I was'converted' - ultimately due to Sonny's great responses!  Sonny has struggled a lot with his own emotional fitness at a boarding stable. Previously, I always trailered out for training and we 'broke' our emotional tie to home during the trailer ride, often we were by ourselves.  Now, I can ride into the forest from home and other riders are frequently entering and exiting the area, or riding in the fields nearby, etc.  While Sonny is the best horse in the world, his Achilles heal is social anxiety.  Should he see a new horse & rider 2 hilltops away, his head comes up and I can count his heartbeats through the girth.  Should he have to go alone into the indoor arena you would think he was a foal being weaned from his dam.  We have made huge progress in this department but still have a long way to go. I have great obedience, I can ride him in a rope halter or s-hack and have control, accomplish transitions and lateral movements, even stand still on a loose rein,  but when his anxiety increases our 'connection' vanishes.   When he is relaxed I can whoa from a walk/trot/canter without reins, but when anxious it drops down to only sometimes being able to whoa (off the seat) at the walk.

Braving the cold and tacking up outside, where he is relaxed and happy

So back to clicker training. For clicker newbies, essentially the 'click' is a noise single that says 'Yes' to the horse followed by a reinforcer for getting the correct answer [click/reinforcer = C/R].  It clarifies what the correct answer (or movement, task, etc) is at that moment and adds precision to the communication.  The reinforcer is typically a treat for horses but can be anything highly valued by the 'learner'.  For Sonny I use a tongue cluck as the 'click' as then I am hands-free for riding, or holding ropes and other things. I use treats for the reinforcer, often hay cubes or cut-up carrots.  Clicker training is lots of fun for cool tricks - one that Sonny is learning is picking up a dropped glove (and then eventually handing it to me while riding).  For you endurance riders... I am teaching him to lower his head and put his left foreleg forward in response to a pressure or a stethoscope at his left armpit...and maybe when we are really awesome he will do his trot outs by himself 😉  He has also learned to drink from different water buckets for a C/R, hopefully that will come in handy at rides too.

But besides 'tricks' I am using it to teach him emotional fitness.  The more common way of getting connection from a right-brained (anxious, distracted, emotional) horse is to move their feet enough that they focus on you rather than the other worry.  This hasn't been overly successful for me and Sonny - maybe I am not persistent or consistent enough or am not doing just the right technique, but I tend to get good obedience but fail to get emotional connection and relaxation.  I also don't want this to take years, as I want to compete next season --- Yes, I know horse's have their own timeline and my goals are irrelevant to their needs.... Let me re-phrase, I want to compete next season on a happy horse that is connected with me most of the time.

So I have recently graduated from Alexander Kurlands book "Clicker Training for your Horse" to the 2nd book which is MUCH more detailed  "Riding with the Clicker".  She incorporates good classical and natural horsemanship techniques (John Lyons, Parelli, classical dressage, etc) and then adds in the C/R.  Having already built a foundation of C/R understanding and standing on mats with Sonny, I am now using mat training to teach Sonny to control his own emotions.  A mat is a what it sounds like -- we are using the foam squares often used on the floor of kids playrooms.   In the indoor arena, where Sonny is anxious, I put the mat near the non-scary end of the arena.  From previous sessions outside he already knows to stand on it with both front feet.  When he stands on it for 1 count (in my head one-one thousand, so forth) he gets a C/R. Then I count for 2, then C/R.  He could initially stand on it for about 3 counts before having to move his feet. I then used the Parelli figure-8 online pattern to direct his feet softly at a walk, re-presenting the mat as an option with each turn. After a few figure-8's he would decide he could stand on the mat again. Each time he had to stand for 1 count longer than the previous time, prior to C/R. If he moved off the mat then the counting re-started when he elected to stand on the mat again.  He made it up to 18 counts today, and to 10 counts wasn't to hard for him, but it took quite a few tries to make it to 18.  I like counting like this because it will give me a very objective measurement of progress, my goal is 300 counts or about 5 minutes (from the book).  I also like that the quality of the stand improved significantly during the session. Initially we had 2 front hooves on the mat with a head in the air and tight eyes and lips, at the end he was lowering his head, blowing out, and had soft eyes/lips.  Each time he chose to stand on the mat he was having to think through his anxiety and resist his natural impulse to move his feet, all for the C/R. I am hopeful that if he can overcome this anxiety and choose to focus on 'us' that it will build a foundation for relaxation and focus in many different situations (I will keep a bright foam mat in my crew bag, LOL!)  At the very least it will certainly help our ground-tying!

Hanging out in the indoor post-ride

And for all you endurance peeps, my goal is to start next season with a 25 mile ride and make sure our tack and soundness is spot-on (and as conditioning for our first spring 50!), then spend the rest of the season with 50's and multi-days.  I would like to re-build his physical strength and improve our connection before starting our first 100 (maybe in 2020!).  Happy Holidays!!!