Enter Spartan

Just like training Thoroughbreds, I'm learning when and how to put pressure on my kids' riding to encourage them to grow but not push them too much and kill confidence. Having a few kids who are daredevils that I have to rein in, Sage was a learning curve with her extreme caution. We've tried a few different trainer styles before I left her to her own devices at her own pace. Using this method, she finally decided the other night she wanted to canter for the first time on Pegasus and had success that built her confidence to do more.

The kids aren't just learning about horses and riding, they are also having to learn how to train them. While our ponies are nice, they are definitely not dead broke mounts that patiently listen and cooperate with kids that aren't clear on their timing. The most common thing we deal with is rein snatching to graze (yanking the reins out of their hands and sometimes the little kids out of the saddle) and mild pulling towards the barn type stuff.

Last night I was trying to simplify the idea of pressure and release with horses to Hunter, my oldest son. 

"Pressure tells the horse that what they are doing right now needs to be different and release tells them, 'yes, that was it, repeat that next time.' If your timing is good, the pressure needed will be less and less. If your timing is poor, you teach the horse that pressure just needs opposition"

Hunter worked through the lesson with a slightly resistant Spotlight, getting his hindquarters to yield to him on the ground. Then I let him play a little with Czech who encouraged Hunter's timing by giving to him with slight gestures.

Riding together as the sun went down, Hunter used his new found skill set when Spotlight spooked at a dog. I was on Czech about 25 yards in front of him (no I don't work horses barefoot, I had on work boots that wanted to slip off once I was on the bareback pad) and I heard the sound of fast approaching feet and Hunter saying "whoa!"

I looked behind me to see Spotlight's head up and butt tucked running for me, Hunter on the reins, elbows bent, and centered in the saddle. Spotlight stopped as Hunter released the rein pressure.

He looked like a ghost and I had to catch my own breath as I'd seen my kid in real trouble on a horse for the first time. I flashed him a grin and said, "Fantastic! Look what you did! And look how Spotlight didn't dump you but took care of you even though he was scared"

His face looked totally confused. He hadn't seen the dog, though he could see it raging along the fence now, and he hadn't taken into account that Spotlight could have dumped him and run but didn't. He looked reassured and giggled a little. "Well, I cantered on Spotlight"

I laughed too, "yep, you sure did". Scratching Czech's mane as we walked on through the pasture, thankful that he had stood solid and didn't also spook.

That ride on Spotlight put a lot of pressure on Hunter, and the pressure was released when he did all the right things, he'll learn from that just like the horses do.

Sage has also found ways to use pressure and have success. She began asking for a hamster about a year ago, with more intensity as Christmas approached. I stood firm on my, "no more animals in the house" as she drew pictures of hamsters and renditions of me giving her a hamster and how surprised and happy she was. It was emotional warfare and the final straw was an air-mail campaign.

I could not understand why this child who had every farm animal we could fit here, wanted a rodent. She explained that it would live in her room and be totally under her care. She wanted a charge that was her's alone, not one that she helped care for occasionally. This I understood, so I agreed to a hamster for her birthday in October if she researched them.

In her research, Sage found that hamsters were notorious for biting people, but guinea pigs were kind of like a hamster's nicer sibling. As we asked about guinea pigs to a friend that had one, she offered us a pig that was leaving the classroom for the summer and needed to not have to come back in the fall. Bugsy was a good piggie but ready for a life that didn't include daily mobbings of kindergarteners.

Lucky Sage doesn't even have to wait for her birthday anymore (though she has promised to use all birthday money for care items for the pet) and has already proudly re-named the creature, Spartan.

So pressure and release works training horses, teaching kids, and conning your Mother, I bet her younger siblings are taking notes...

Update: Many of you followed our experience on Facebook the other night when Pegasus had an episode with colic. I'm pleased to report that he is completely back to normal, grumpy to be in a grazing muzzle on turnout, and happily covered in mud. The vet assured us that nothing management wise could have been done to prevent it (barometric pressure was an issue that evening) and that cooling out, preventing from rolling, and banamine in that first hour helped keep it mild.