RE: [RC] [RC] Stall rest and things to do with your horse - Linda Cowles
>> go to www.trickhorse.com Carole has a few "how to"
tricks on her site.
This site cracks me
up!!!
Shatirr was laid up
following 8 instances of tying up when he was 5 years old. His recoup
period was 6 weeks of stall rest and hand walking. While he was laid up I taught
him to "talk" with me. He learned "yes" (nodding) and "no" (pinning his ears and
looking away), "yuck" (pinning his ears and making a spit-it-out face) and
"yummy" (licking his lips with his ears forward). He learned to count (he's no
math wiz) , point at things and touch things with his nose.
Now all of my horses
know these "stupid horse tricks" and use them all the time to communicate with
humans. They run loose on the property while we're home, and if I ask Gabby
where Shatirr is, he literally looks in the general direction and points with
his nose. He may even call him for me. They all answer yes or no when asked if
they want to eat (always "yes"!) or to be wormed (always no). They know how to
ask for fly grease (Gnat Away or clear Swat) by coming up to me and
pointing to the areas that itch with their ears pinned.
I taught Shatirr to
point at trail signs, marking ribbons and flour arrows after I got lost on a
ride... I showed him the target (ribbon, sign or flour marker), asked him "put
your nose on it" or "touch it" and rewarded him pith a carrot piece. After the
third touch, he had the game mailed and became the worlds best backseat
driver.
I use food rewards
when teaching communication - or tricks - and insist that the horses always be
respectful and wait for the treat to be extended to them. Clicker training is
cool, too.
They get really
funny about communicating with you. Gabby always has comments on bits (I almost
always ride him in a rope halter hackamore); he does the upper lip curl thing
with his nose pointed in the air, pins his ears and closes his eyes and shakes
his head softly... he's saying "Not the BIT! Not the BIT!!" Then he looks at me,
hopefully, and if I'm still offering the bit, will take it politely with a
resigned sigh.
It's body language,
its fun to get into, and can really start making a difference in how your horse
interacts with people... they start expecting you to pay attention to their
attempts to communicate.
One time the trough
water got turned off. Gabby grabbed a scoop that was laying around waved
it at me with his ears pinned, walked over and dropped it into the trough
<Clunk!>, and looked at me with this "you should be on top of this stuff"
look on his face.
It can be a lot of
fun... but not as much fun as riding! I hope your horse gets well soon!
Linda
