Tamarack Sitting

This was Tam's fifth or sixth session. We filmed because I was pretty sure he was close to sitting down. Each session was very short and Tam was very calm and accepting. If he had protested at all, I wouldn't have done it. I listen to my horse!

I "helped" Tam quite a bit at the end as you can see.

For further sessions, I will let him find the position himself without indicating to him he should back up with the cordeo. I'm not sure what strain this exercise places on his hind legs (particularly the hocks), so I will free shape it from here to ensure that I'm not encouraging him to repeat something he may not be physically ready for.

I also want to avoid any straight-legged leaning back because this may put undue strain on the hocks.

I will pay more attention to the "sinking down" of the haunches and pair this with a verbal cue ("Sit") so that I can fade the bale as soon as possible. The whole idea of this exercise really isn't the sit itself, but getting him more comfortable in bending the joints of his hind legs which requires him to engage some muscles while learning to decontract others.

So I will likely ask Tam to try to keep his hind legs a bit more forward so he's not bracing right against the bales. If I make the focus of the exercise the free bending of the hind legs, that should be what I get.

I may also level the ground so there is no slope back to the bales (this means also raising the ground under the bales).

The important aspect of this is the potential this movement may have as a gymnastic effect. It's really NOT about teaching a horse to sit.

If you do this exercise with your horse, please do not force it in any way and if you use a straw bale (we actually used 2 bales side by side), please ensure the bale has enough give so your horse isn't just leaning the hocks against a very hard surface. Ensure the wellbeing of your horse first in all exercises.

Paul Dufresne at http://www.trainingforcourage.com gave us this challenge at a recent clinic. In all of Paul's clinics, he always manages to give us something interesting and different to work on.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Horse
• bridleless
• natural
• clicker
• cordeo
• art of natural dressage