entered our first cart class at the fair, with pic

[studiowvw]

Our first cart class on Saturday - we came in third in a class of 6 or 7. I had driven her for about half an hour on the track in the hope of taking the edge off - she was pretty good but had a hard time walking in the class.

It was a fun morning - there was a turnout of about 14 minis for the classes.

I talked to a friend who has been driving for a while, and she said she was told by a coach that if walking is hard, then we should be walking 90 % of the time. (Interesting

as we were walking about 2% of the time, trotting about 90 % and cantering the rest, fortunately not in the class.)

Also about the fighting (which is a new thing since we had our harness problems last week) she said don't give in. Sit up, be firm and eventually they will stop fighting.

I don't know whether to try this next, or to try the opposite, which is avoid fighting, stay soft and cheerful and hope her agitation fades out.

I did have better results by staying soft, but in the class, walk should have been walk and I didn't get a very good response until I put her nose behind another cart and she had to walk.

They were watering the ring next to us with a big truck and a tractor with a drag. She's fearful of vehicles, did pretty well around the fairgrounds but the tractor with the drag was a bit much for her.

Here's a pic of us dashing away from the water truck. Poor thing! She did relax again after we left the ring (at a canter, once she realized we were escaping from the torture pit

and we finished up with some nice trotting on the track by ourselves.

 

[Lori W]

Congratulations on your first driving class! It will get better as your horse gets use to it. We also show at fairs (we have a large group of 4-H kids in our Mini Whinnies Club) and there's always a lot of commotion there! But it's good for them and helps them get used to noise and other activity. Glad to see you wearing your helmet, especially if your mare is a bit green.

You seem to have a good plan to get your mare to calm down and listen to you. Drive as much as you can and she will keep improving! Best of luck to you!

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I definitely agree with a strong emphasis on walking. I'd been going to comment on that in the video you posted in another thread but got distracted and never posted the critique you asked for. So sorry!

They do not get to dictate the terms of the drive and take off trotting after a token warmup- I learned that the hard way after letting Kody get away with it for years. After he injured his back it became a big deal that he walk for at least twenty minutes and truly get his back warmed up and swinging before moving into a higher gear and I had a huge fight on my hands trying to reprogram him to do that. I began to realize how much I'd been letting him get away with because it was easier for me than fighting him and when I thought about those behaviors in terms of hitching him as a pair with my green baby, it turned my blood cold. We would have been in SUCH a world of hurt if he'd tried to take off like that while hitched to the baby!

After that I made a big effort to go back and train him properly and he's now a much better horse for those efforts. Now I can trust him to listen and stay at whatever speed I put him at even when he's excited or impatient and I trust him to do the right thing when working with the green horse.

I sympathize also with your debate over fighting with her versus staying soft and waiting it out. With a horse who is being taught new expectations I tend to err on the side of firm but calm and simply insist on at least a small response or short try each time I ask but understand I'm not going to get much more than that at first and don't make a big deal of it. All I ask is that they make an effort in the right direction. When I sense the horse has truly tried but has had about as much as they can take, I ask them to do the thing they want to do (walk on if it's a whoa issue, trot if it's a walking issue) and they get to work off the tension and relax without me being the bad guy. The important part though is to ask for it right before they were going to break and do it themselves so it's always your idea. Set them up to succeed! As the horse begins to understand that they'll get what they want by doing what you want, you can start being a little firmer and more insistant about your requests. With a finished horse I'll be quite firm indeed as they bloody well know what I'm asking and are capable of giving it to me and they usually steady up and fall into line when I growl. Then of course I praise them! They find the world is a very pleasant place when they cooperate and much less fun when they're being silly. Since both of us prefer the fun place, they usually start toeing the line quite nicely and enjoying their work because it brings reward.

Congratulations on doing well in your first class! It only gets better from here.

Leia

 

[Cricket8]

Congrats

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Congrats on your placing!!

She is looking like she's trying to evade the bit in your pic. Have you checked her teeth recently?

You may also want to try longing her before you drive to take the edge off. Jane's driving horse has to be longed in his bitting rig before his classes or he's a handful. My horse, pfft... he can be standing for weeks and I can harness up and GO and he's awesome....

 

[studiowvw]

Thanks for the ideas! Yes, I was the only one in the class wearing a helmet, but then everyone else's horse seemed to have a low gear.

Re: lunging before driving - usually I play with some circling and other games on line before hitching, but maybe I will have to be more demanding about more obedience before hitching

I'm taking her to another fair next weekend and not sure how much track there is to warm up on. I think the bit evasion is to do with the discomfort of her harness last week and our wild ride. It has been getting better since then. Hopefully things continue to get better, especially when the new Comfy-fit gets here. Checking teeth is a good idea too.

Thanks for the detail, Leia. I am a detail learner. Your suggestions fit in with how I work.

I've taken her out on line twice this week (had a very busy week!). First I asked myself - "CAN she walk?" Well, she can walk when she's on her own in the barn pen, but when she is at pasture, her preference is to trot, canter or gallop wherever she wants to go! So her preference is not to walk.

On line at first she was very sticky about going forward; when she did go she was crowding me or jigging, or looking away - anything but do what I wanted! Very heavy on line, which isn't like her at all.

I read this as lack of confidence, having lost some trust in me and the big world outside her pasture - resulting in a lack of obedience. I decided to A) let her have some grazing time if I got a few steps of reasonable walk and B) not go homeward until I was getting consistent relaxed walking.

After almost a mile, things had improved, so we went back.

Next day, the stickiness and crowding and jigging ended a lot sooner. On the way back, she was able to rate her own walk and stay in her own lane (trail with ATV tracks) and not grab food without permission. However, I wondered if I still had some pressure on the line to keep her in place - sure enough, the halter tail loop was curved towards me. When I allowed it to hang straight, she veered off to grab grass. So there was at least an ounce or two reminding her to stay straight, when she should have been able to do it without constant reminding. So the rest of the way I worked on getting her to rate her own speed and direction without any pressure on the line. She was much more relaxed about everything, so hopefully I'm on the way back to regaining her confidence.

Hitching will be a different story, I'm sure! So first I'll try getting some give on the bit (isolate that concept), then do some long-lining. Next would be hitching. Hopefully by then we are working in more harmony!

I'll keep in mind the "must walk" warm-up. It's true, it is very easy to let her get away with dashing around - way more fun!

thanks again for the responses

Wilma

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Sounds like you're doing very well, Wilma, and I'm learning things from how you're handling her groundwork. I told you I don't know much about NH! Thank you.

I'd say you'll know when it's time to let her trot by when she gives up trying for it on her own. It'll make the first couple of drives a bit of a battle and she'll be disgusted with you, but you can throw off her expectations by waiting until she's quit trying to break (distracting her with lots of bending and giving to the bit type work in the meantime) then telling her to go ahead and go once she's given up hope of it. Yes she'll fight you again the next time because you'll renew her hopes of being allowed to speed off, but the first few drives will be the worst while you set the ground rules then things will smooth out fast. Minis are smart- it won't take her long at all to figure out that the sooner she settles down and walks calmly, the sooner she'll be allowed to trot! Just make walking into a thoughtful, active task that requires her brain be involved and she won't find it such a hardship. Serpentines, stretching, bending, figures in the arena, throw in some halts now and then...you can keep her quite busy until she forgets all about going faster!

I agree with you that it's much more fun to dash around but it stops being fun fast when you're in a situation where it's dangerous and you suddenly realize your horse won't listen. It took me way too long to learn that lesson. And hey- once they understand the rules you can always make an exception! That's one of the perks of having a disciplined horse.

Leia

 

[studiowvw]

Update: our second cart class at a small fair (Madoc)

Success - we came in 1st out of 5 in the cart class!

I decided my strategy was to "isolate, separate & recombine" (a Parelli strategy), then the night before the show, I finally hitched again.

All week I worked on getting her to stay soft and walk - first on line, then I moved to the bit and surcingle.

I did some bending to either side, also Lateral Flexion - then I asked for a soft feel on the bit. I had never done that before with her, but maybe she's like me, where we don't learn by repetition - we need to be shown exactly what is wanted; also getting strong and tough doesn't work at all on her (or me!)

She learned to tuck her head in about 3 times asking! I used some of Nate Bowers techniques on long lines before actually asking her to line drive out down the trail. Her temper had improved a lot, so I guess our relationship had improved

I think I had lost my own softness when we had the problems a couple of weeks ago, and she was reacting to that too.

Friday and Saturday were really busy, but I really needed to hitch at least once before going to the fair, to know what to expect and to see whether my reprogramming to walk was working!

Saturday evening I did some grooming, then we hitched.

Yes, yes, yes! we had a walk. I remembered what Leia had said, so I was insistent on maintaining the walk to warm up for several laps both ways.

She was soft to the bit and there was no chomping or flinging her head.

So off to the fair on Sunday where there was a good turnout of at least 14 minis - we had some good success, as she came 3rd in open halter (all ages and sexes); 2nd in best colour class. Then I entered the showmanship class, which had some obstacles. I had only entered as Sharon, the organizer, told me to. I didn't expect to place at all, as it again was a large class of about 10.

However, we came 1st. (Credit to PNH for that one! I just pretended we were doing all our Parelli stuff.)

Also she wasn't into treats for some reason, so I used my hat to get her to perk up. It has a large sunflower stuck to the front and she found that very interesting, so every time the judge looked at us, I showed her the hat and she would perk up.

Then the cart class - she was good about walking, even while warming up, although I did let her have a faster trot around a grassy area like she enjoys. Also in the class I had her go further down the track than the others, so she wasn't always having to slow down and turn. Anyways we came 1st! There was no bit chomping and no flinging her head. YAY!

My friends took some pics, so I hope to put one up once they send it to me.

It was nice to see such a good turnout for the mini classes, as we are hoping to build some shows in our area for minis.

Next will be a pleasure drive in 2 weeks - something else to aim for.

 

[studiowvw]

Leia said above:

"the first few drives will be the worst while you set the ground rules then things will smooth out fast. Minis are smart- it won't take her long at all to figure out that the sooner she settles down and walks calmly, the sooner she'll be allowed to trot! Just make walking into a thoughtful, active task that requires her brain be involved and she won't find it such a hardship. Serpentines, stretching, bending, figures in the arena, throw in some halts now and then...you can keep her quite busy until she forgets all about going faster!

I agree with you that it's much more fun to dash around but it stops being fun fast when you're in a situation where it's dangerous and you suddenly realize your horse won't listen. It took me way too long to learn that lesson."

Yes, I did learn that lesson - we had a wild ride and I tried several things that didn't slow her down at all, just momentarily. It was educational. Dangerous too, but fortunately she had a good foundation and we survived. Yikes! It didn't help that the turkeys started chasing the cart when we raced by them.

Thanks for the ideas about keeping the walk interesting. Unfortunately with me not having a lot of driving experience, I was not sure what to do and I have a boredom factor myself about walking. Driving some patterns should help me too

 

[happy appy]

Studiowvw, I have a video of the show if you are ok with me posting the link?

 

[studiowvw]

That would be great - I have no idea what we looked like, so would love to see it. I know I made a couple of mistakes, oh well!

Thank you! (You must be in our area too if you were at the show. It was about a 2 hour drive for me. Where are you located?)

Here is a pic of the halter class which Sharon sent to me, we are in 3rd after Sharon with her beauty Tibbs Micky Blue Eyes and Grant with their gorgeous stallion Jones' Ain't He All Decked Out In Blue.

Also a pic of the cart class.

 

[happy appy]

Here is the video that my husband took.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Nice- I can see why you won. You were the only entry moving out at a nice, free, steady trot! She looks great and actually the whole class is very nice. Love that little gray pinto! Very good quality on the horses.

Leia

 

[studiowvw]

Yes, the gray pinto stallion Decker is a beauty!

I thought all the horses in the class looked good. Thanks for the video, Happy Appy!

I made a mistake passing Brian on the outside, which spooked the little guy. However, the track was a bit narrow and I didn't know whether I should pass on the inside or outside.

 

[happy appy]

I'm the person that started the first trip around. The judge just told me to make one loop around so when I finished the loop I wasn't sure what to do. He never motioned me to do anything and never said anything so I started trotting again. I thought that we would of had direction changes or gait changes but we didn't. The video is the whole class. It was such a small area that there really wasn't a safe place to pass, so if you got stuck behind a slower horse, you had to stop and walk a little.

 

[studiowvw]

Yes, I felt it was small, so I had her trot further on the straight so she wouldn't have to slow down and turn so much.

 

[dreaminmini]

Lacey looks great!! Congrats on your 1st place.

Glad to see you out showing her. You guys are going to make a great team. She is a sweetie. I miss her down at Lori's.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Whoo hoo!!! You and Lacey are out showing!!!! I am so happy to see you two out enjoying yourselves and having some fun competing! And first place at only your second show - that's great! I happen to know that the Kyte's (the couple you mentioned) have quite a bit more experience than you, in fact Grant says he trains, so that is quite an accomplishment beating the two of them at only your second show! Considering the size and openness of the 'ring' (and I use the term loosely <g>) Lacey looked to be fairly relaxed and moving nicely - you were the only two to offer a consistant and forward moving trot. A few more of those under your belts and I am sure you will both gain in confidence! Congratulations!!! Give Lacey a hug for me!

 

[studiowvw]

Thanks! I will give her a hug for you. Yes, she does have a ground-covering trot - she is fun to drive because she has speed and endurance - lots of fun.

Sharon and Grant beat me at the 1st show

They do very well with their guys - a friendly competition!

Grant and I had a canter race on the stone-dust track at the previous show. He was driving Decker, the gray pinto stallion, and the little guy sure looked awesome cantering along in harness! I should have had a video camera - it was a beautiful sight from alongside.

It was great to have 2 shows to attend in our area. As you know, I'm not an experienced driver but taking her to shows means I learn quicker (I hope!) It certainly motivates a person to put the time in!

There was another fair I could have taken her to, but didn't. I was at the fair with friends to watch the Extreme Cowboy Obstacle race. The mini harness classes were running in another ring, so I watched the ladies' cart class, plus some team hitches. (These classes were interspersed with heavy draft horse classes.)

In the ladies' class, there were 10 entries.

There were some very sharp outfits with lots of glitter and elegance. The harnesses were very spiffy too and the minis looked nice. However, I haven't a clue as to what the judge was looking for when he placed the winners.

I thought turnout and obedience were the two main criteria. Is this true? The turnouts mostly all looked good.

What would a judge be looking for? The ring was large so the minis had to trot around for quite a while.