I have hamburger training sessions, easy stuff to start, new topic/hard stuff in the middle, easy in the end. For example, my guy backs up beautifully, however, he was having issues backing around cones.
To start, we practiced backing up. Practiced that for about 8 to 15 minutes. Then, i introduced the cones. Same thing happened, he would back to them, stop near them, and refuse to go further. Instead of frsutrating myself and him, i stopped, and thought WHY. He wasn't refusing to back up, wasn't a matter of "I DONT WANNA." It wasn't a matter of I don't understand, it was was a matter of "are you SURE they won't get me?". I thought he might be afraid to step on them. So, we practiced stepping on cones for 15 mintues. First forward, then backing over them, then poking his belly w them, etc. About 10 mintues later, he no longer was afraid of stepping on them, so he was more comfortable backing up around them. He knew that even if he couldn't see them, that it wasn't going to hurt him IF he stepped on them. Voila. 15 minutes of stepping on cones sovled my problem! The end of the session though, we jsut went back to backing up and a few showmanship moves he's known for a few years now. Cleared his mind, I 're-set my pony."
To think positive, you need to think WHY. Instead of "you stupid horse!" I thought, "WHY are you all of a sudden being a stupid horse!" Then, we worked thorugh it, from itty bitty steps (just back up near the cones,) to the whole thing, (backing up in a figure 8 around them.) Once again, go to the root of the problem. If there's an " I DONT want to" reflex from you rhorse, stop training what you are, start demanding more respect. If there's an "its going to get me" response, stop what you are doing, start de-spooking.
If there's jus tno focus, too flightly, too hyper, there's a mare in heat outside thats "more important", one thing i do that works on my horse very well is a "time out on the patience pole." I tie him there, and leave him there, completely ignored - even disciplining is attention, which he CRAVES, so if he's pawing etc, too bad. I find a stall mat works well to prevent digging.. I make sure he can't break anything (he knows how to tie, he won't hurt himself. Obviously this will be different if the horse is posing a threat to himself etc. My pet peeve is when they leanr to break stuff. I had an arab who was a ninja at breaking quick release halters when he didn't feel like doing something. No fear, but he would methodically BREAK the little piece of leather. Kinda cool to watch, not so much when you go through 4 straps a month!) He stays tied until he is calm. No pawing, no whinnying, no moving, etc. When you STAND I untie you. It seems to "clear his mind," and i get a blank slate instead of a jittery horse, plus it gives me time to clear my mind! Win win in my opinion.
Everybody has those days when NOTHING goes right. Some days, just coming when called and standing for grooming is "good enough" if it's just been a bad day for me. I don't ever try to train if i've even had an off day, even if he is on fire. Maybe practice something he understands very well, but never ever introducing something new.
My "rule of thumb" is three to five sessions of practicing a newly learned skill where he is performing perfectly before we go onto somehting new. I never drill my horse, but we combine a lot of his cumulative education to have good sessions.
As for my head, once again, never go to the barn angry to train or on a time budget. When you only got half an hour, you bet that will be the day it will ruly take an hour for him to learn it. Plus, my favorite quote is "Every expert was once a rank beginner." However, instead of visualizing my barely halter broke 6 yr old as a showmanship champ, i envisioned him as just plain "not a jerk." Now that he's a fantastic horse a full year later with 8 mos of semi intensive showmanship training, i picture him doing a 3rd of 4th in showmanship at a breed show.
Settign goals too easy will never get you anywhere, however, setting goals too high will get you frustrated. Pick a reasonable goal (no matter how stupid it may sound!). If your goal is "My horse won't run me over," at first that's ok! However, if your goal is "I want my un broke horse to be a showmanship champ this summer," that's jsut a bit too much, no matter the potential of the horse.
Hope this helps! Trust me, I've been there, and anyone who says they've never been, is a darned liar!
