I intend to be as honest about my mistakes in this blog as I am about any successes I may have. So it's confession time: Without intending to, I accidentally put Quattro in rollkur more times than once this evening. :-( It was NOT intentional, and I think I've figured out a tactic so that it won't happen again.
For those who don't know what rollkur is, the video below provides a good explanation:
So how did we accidentally end up there?
Well, it started because I decided I've kinda had it with Quattro not wanting to be rated at the trot. I have tried every trick I know to try and get him to stop speeding around like a road horse - short of getting in his mouth.
In fairness to myself, you have to remember I've spent my whole 50 years with OTTBs. The hardest thing about transitioning from OTTBs to an ASB is that man, it's so terrifyingly easy to back a Saddlebred off the bit! OTTBs are notoriously stiff-necked; when you first start trying to explain flexion to them they are genuinely lost, and tend to look at you with amazement going "You want me to do WHAT??? Whyyyyyyy?" Saddlebreds, of course, are bred to be much more flexible and "hingier", and God knows Quattro can do "Saddlebred neck" with the best.
So: I started by long-lining him in smallish circles at a walk, just asking him to drop his head and relax. Once he was doing that well, I put my whip DOWN (he's getting better about whip-shyness, but will still try to run away from one) and quietly asked for a trot. I'd get three strides of relaxed, even trot and would give to his mouth as a reward - whereupon he'd decide "Oh yippee, I can go FASTER now" and off he would go, full bore. So... yeah... I did it... I committed the cardinal sin of hauling on his face. Go ahead, shoot me.
We did this experiment about 3 times each direction, with the old War Admiral collecting a massive "FAIL" every time. It REALLY didn't solve much. If you think about it, you know exactly what it got me: a horse on his forehand in a tight, incorrect little frame, champing to be let free so he can GO MO' FASTER!
I finally decided to try it another way, and I think if I stick with this, I may solve the problem. My next gambit in the "Slow the bleep DOWN" wars is going to be working him in the lines, but in a straight line, along the rail. Ask for a few strides of trot, then nice easy whoa. Then a nice walk into trot transition, then whoa. Repeat ad nauseam.
I tried it a couple of times at the end of the session and it seemed to yield the desired result, although Q gave me a rather quizzical look and I'm not sure he has figured out the "why" here yet. We'll see how it goes. Anything is better than another rollkur trainwreck!
The adventure continues.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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very interesting video. does it still count as Rollkur if the horse dumps himself over in the bridle after having gone along with a nice headset? Louie did this to me a lot at the beginning when I first started riding him, and I wasn't asking for that or applying more pressure on the bit, but he would just assume that position sometimes instead of coming up and collected. Now if he tries to do that I give him a quick tug on one rein and he brings his head back up. If I find that he is doing that a lot, I take it as a sign that he wants to work with a lower head, and I loosen my reins and let him stretch down. I understand that Q's situation was completely different, as he wasn't wanting to yield to the bit. hmmm, Saddlebred necks are easy to overbend. I hope your trot- halt transition strategy works out for you guys. Good post.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I'm still feeling a bit sheepish! No, IMO what you describe does NOT count as rollkur... Sounds more like avoiding by getting *behind* the bit if I'm reading you right! I'm sure Quattro will play that card too at some point. :-P Q got the night off tonight b/c I'm picking up my new TRUUUUUUCK tomorrow and too nervous/excited to be of use to anybody much but especially him. Will report back the results of the experiment at the weekend probably.
ReplyDeletex
Liz
Hey Lady! Things a really crazy here but I am glad to see things going well! The few times I did work him (bridle over halter) I would do a half-halt and say easy but you may not want any flashbacks (lol) and I may have been wrong....who knows right? The whip thing breaks my heart for him as I obviously had no control when he was not in my backyard but know that it was not by my hand and I am glad to see progress! Take care of each other and love the blog!
ReplyDeleteKiersten
Hay girl - I do NOT think it's anything you did. It's really hard to tell sometimes w/ Q. whether he is genuinely afraid of something or is just using it as an excuse to GO!! FASTER!!!
ReplyDeleteA lot of times he'll spook at stuff he is perfectly familiar with and then give you this "tee hee" look as he takes his "victory gallop".
Too bad he's not old enough to have been grandfathered into the road horse classes. He likes nothing better than speeding around, splattering dirt against the walls! :-)