Homing Beacon Malfunctions
On April 4, 2019 by Erika EckstromMiss Poco wanted to head home a little more quickly than I wanted. We even had to one rein stop!!!!
Video of my personal freight train…So someone got home and found out she had an EXTRA workout in the arena.
Take that! Home ain’t that great, chica!!!
By making the destination harder than the initially planned ride she will start to realize that getting home doesn’t mean I’ll jump off and she will get a nice rubdown before she frolics off into the field with all of her friends. Instead returning home may mean about 30 minutes of canter circles AFTER her 6-10 mile endurance workout.
It may become a routine for this mare to do her hardest work at home. Maybe then she won’t want to go home so badly.
However, the balance is key. If we do this every time we may also be punishing good behavior.
If she walks home on the buckle, trots peacefully when cued and stops on my seat (well, okay, and some hand… we are heading home) and doesn’t make me feel like I’m weight lifting just to keep her in check then she can TOTALLY have the night off!!
The concept is a mix of positive and negative association to reinforce my goals. Positive association is a hot trend topic in the training world and obviously that rub down at the end is a positive perk. And at the same time punishment is now seen as the bane of training. However, I firmly believe that the punishment for being a freight train is justified for the following reasons.
- I’m being fair and friendly. Fair punishment is incredibly key. Like I said, if she’s good she’s not getting the extra work out. But even during the workout, I’m listening to her to see if she’s ready to listen. Once she’s super observant of ME again she immediately gets to go inside (aka downward transitions on my seat, upward transitions without a launch, balance and off forehand, generally ACTING LIKE I EXIST!!!).
- I am not being emotional about it. Other than the one rein stop when she was getting out of hand I didn’t yank on her face or bash her around. I wasn’t emotional but came in with the “Are you done yet?” mentality.
- I know my mare. We ride miles and miles together. I know I will never “run the joy out of the running” with this mare. She will still be participatory and forward when asked. She loves to run! I’m not taking a horse that hates running and MAKING them run. I’m taking a horse that loves it and giving her too much of a good thing so that she can learn restraint.
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