How I get Tio to move forward

[Sue B]

Several times we, on this board, have discussed getting reluctant warmbloods unstuck. I used the Pivo yesterday and just happened to get a really good video of what I do with Tio. The video starts seconds after I've gotten on and shows him "afraid" to go forward near the dormant grape bushes. What you probably can't see is that there are little sparrow-type birds that dart in and out of there as we go by. He is also still genuinely terrified of the 2 new geese I acquired, and even though they are out of sight a good 100 yards or more away, he can still hear them talking. Oh, and there's a nice cool wind swirling about just for grins. Anyway, when he was younger, these little episodes used to turn into twirls, pronging and even half-rears, especially if I was "too forceful." So I settled on this method of annoying him until his pea brain comes back online. Once we get through this episode, he has one more mini-melter, in which he suddenly decides that instead of staying stuck, he would rather march right up to the "scary bushes" and spooking in that area, at least, is over. (Later, he did bolt half way across the arena, but stopped himself and didn't even think of bucking even though he'd caught me completely off-guard!) Anyway, feel free to criticize my method; I understand that it would drive an instructor/clinician mad to have to wait through these episodes of silliness, but it works for me and Tio.

https://youtu.be/6cfVxHvcMKM

Oh, and this clip shows why I put up with the goof ball. He is, in fact, capable of doing nice work even when he's high as a kite.

https://youtu.be/6NlEztyp7MA

[demi]

Wow Sue! Tio looks so muscular. Your process with him reminds me of how I dealt with Rocky in the past. She’s not nearly as big as Tio but still, I never wanted to push her passed the point where I felt relatively safe.

Looks like the Pivo is working well!

[Ryeissa]

its always so fun to see where people ride
Thanks for sharing- love his color!

[Flight]

The pivo does a pretty good job of videoing by the looks of it. My soloshot is failing again but I'd need to buy a new phone if I went to a pivo anyway. I like seeing where everyone else rides too.

I have a scary side of the arena too and I tend to do even less and just wait it out. Initially I would have to wait a while, but nowadays its really only 30 sec or so and then they are ok with whatever it is (birds/rabbits/echidnas/sheep rattling around next doors junk piles). But every horse is different and its good to find something that works for both horse and rider.

Tio does look good!

[Sue B]

Probably should've clarified...Tio does this if he's worried/scared, agitated about being in a new place, but also if he just "doesn't wanna" go where I ask. He really is a cheeky fella.

[khall]

SueB I recognize that WB I don’t wanna! Pretty similar to what I do too. I frankly have no intention of picking a fight with Rip because I would lose. So yep I hear you on the annoy them

[heddylamar]

That worked with mom's appy gelding ... but, if I nagged like that, I'd have a very, VERY, ticked mare on my hands!

[StraightForward]

Be annoying is exactly what my instructor said, only Tesla tends to drop her head and get her shoulders over her front legs, so I often have to pull her head around and/or tap her on the shoulder to get the front legs mobilized again. I'm tapping her more on top of her butt instead of the flank. Today I was able to push her through a few near stops, so there is some tiny progress happening!

[Sue B]

SF, Tio used to do what Tesla does, and so I did as you are doing now. Anything to get those feet moving. My horses are also cued to the word "yes" as being a reward, so like clicker training, they get immediate feedback when they've done something "right." In the video, you can see him move out more in the walk when I said "yes".

It's funny, when I backed Rudy, early on he would sometimes plant his feet too. With him, though, all I had to do was lift the reins way up high (galopp suggested that method to me), knocking him off balance and causing him to have to move his front feet forward. Worked like a charm, very low stress, no tapping or kicking involved. These warmbloods seem to be a whole nother animal though.

[blob]

Interesting, I have to do almost the exact opposite with MM. Granted, she never stops to look at something. She just sometimes isn't very responsive to my leg. But any nagging or consistent asking results in her tuning me out even more. With her I have to do the 'ask at level 1' and if I don't get some kind of response go immediately to a 8 or 9. With her, it's about making her know from the beginning that i mean business. I usually only need to do now every other month or so. But in the beginning to retrain ourselves we had to do it in the beginning of every ride.

But she is neither a warmblood nor a gelding.

[mari]

Nagging/being annoying is about the only thing that gets through to my thug of an Appy x wb. It works shockingly well
Big sharp aids make him shut down. If I go tap-tap-tap-tap with my whip or ankle he will continue his non-reaction for a few seconds, and then you can feel his brain and body go "Mom stooooooooooooooop that is awful okay I'm going. Look, here I go."

[StraightForward]

Gad, I almost broke my arm off spanking Tesla today. I started off letting her stop and stand until she got bored, and then she would walk off from a soft leg aid. That didn't last long. At some point she doubled down, and I had to escalate the intensity. One would think walking would seem easier than kicking and rearing, but apparently not. Maaaybe she just doesn't like the Kent & Masters saddle that I had fitted for her, as it was the first time back in that one after trying the AP saddle, and then using Annabelle's BC Vinici. Sigh, she is probably going to insist on a custom saddle of equal or greater value because she views herself as a princess. We'll try the Vinici next time and see if the forward button is a little less sticky.

[Josette]

I've been slowly rehabbing my guy again after his recent NQR issues. We've been taking lots of long walks on our trails and completely avoiding the ring. Yesterday, I decided to walk around the ring but Mr Pony slammed on the brakes at the entrance. I realized it was because the footing was completely covered in deep leaves and did not look okay to him. So after a few bumps no forward, next a few swats behind my leg with my flat flap crop. He tried a little buck and then a half rear so he was escalating his resistance. Time to out trick the pony. I turned him away from the entrance and politely and very quickly backed into the ring. When I stopped towards the middle of the ring his reaction was priceless. He was definitely wondering how he got there.

note: My riding trails are covered in deep leaves but he feels they are not suppose to be in the ring.