Watch for those holes in training - a cautionary tale

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I posted on here a while back about Cruiser and how he had picked up right where we left off a couple of years ago when I started driving him again this year. I have been thinking it was all too easy and that made me think I'd better check my memory and see what I have done with him to this point. So realizing that I skipped over much of my normal desensitizing I decided to back him up a step or 2 and make sure our bases were covered. Now understand that I have driven him pretty consistently this summer and he has gone very well and made steady improvement in the cart while in the arena. However on Friday I decided to let him drag a tire over some rough terrain where I can not go with a cart. It started off very nicely, nothing to be concerned about and he seemed mostly bored by the whole thing. Great, I thought. No worries..... Right! After 10 -15 minutes of driving him around, over brush and rocks, tall grass and deep ruts I turned into the arena and we made a full lap around, about half way thro the second lap something changed. His head came up, turned slightly to look back and .. boom! We had a full out bolt, bucking, kicking and panicking. Why? I have no idea really, but of course he decided that the tire was following/chasing him and once he really started to run and buck it became airborne and that just confirmed his belief that it was a predator set to eat him. I lost count of the number of times he went around me before he stumbled and ended up on the ground. After doing a complete roll over (not a somersault thank goodness) he lay still, panting while I untangled him. I got him up and readjusted the harness and asked him to walk on. He did but he was shaking hard and blowing in fear. Good grief! Glad we found this out now not while we were driving cross country in the cart. So I worked with him (wouldn't you know it was late in the day and we had plans for the evening) until he would eat treats off the tire but he was still pretty worried if it moved. I have spent the weekend going back to start filling the holes I left in his original work. Instead of the tire I have him dragging a tarp in the round pen and he must pass the tire on every round. Now I have moved the tire closer to his track and the tarp snags it and pulls it a few inches on each pass and he will no longer bolt from that so we are making headway and I am sure he will soon breath that big sigh he does when he suddenly gets past a mental block and accepts a step in his training. The whole point of this story is to remind every one to watch for the holes in their driving horse's education and not to give up on a horse who has a fright. They are wired to react first and learn later if it was safe. If you are training your horse to drive be sure to try to introduce them to everything you can think of, imagine in your mind's eye what Cruiser's and my wreck would have looked like had I not decided to check his steadiness before putting him in a stressful situation while hitched to a cart.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

We have worked past his over reaction to the tarp and he is once again pulling the tire. He is tense but when I worked him last (Monday, on Tuesday my day was booked solid with errands and work) he was no longer bolting (or trying to) when pulling the tire at a distance and he was starting to lick and chew which is always his first indicator that he's thought thro the lesson and nearly ready for his big sigh of acceptance. I will gradually decrease the distance until he is pulling it close to the single tree once more. Once I have him pulling the tire without stress I will be looking for other articles to have him pull to help to desensitize him. I'm think a burlap sack with pop cans and a willow tree/bush with lots of branches. Any other suggestions?

 

[chandab]

Make a skid (stone boat), ok so typically they are wood; I think they are typically used on snow, but might pull on dirt. I'll see if I can find the picture of my FIL training the boys (I have one of them, the other is deceased).

This one seems to show the skid the best:


And, a couple more angles:

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks Chanda, I do have a 'stoneboat' (I think the name comes from the fact it was used to float rocks - they were loaded onto the bed- when land was being cleared but I am not certain) but I think it would be too much for him alone, maybe in winter on snow he could pull it but I don't think it would move for him alone on dirt or grass. I might see about using a sled or even having hubby build me something with enough weight to make him work a bit (and keep it from becoming airborne too easily) but not too hard to move.

 

[chandab]

Build a smaller version of what you have, so a single can pull it (perhaps a couple 2x4s and 1/2 sheet plywood, or maybe it would be 4x4s to be more sturdy). My FIL isn't very big, and the pair didn't have any problems pulling him on the skid, not sure if one could have pulled it.

 

[BSharpRanch]

one of the things I like to have them drag is an old surf or boogy board. They make a lovely swishy sound which changes with ground surface changes. I have a short hay string on mine that I can accidentally, on purpose, step on to cause it to jerk on the traces. Helps to get them use to the jerking of uneven terrain.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Update

Cruiser is making steady progress again now that his issues have been sorted out (thread on main forum explains what was going on -" Bold horse that's gotten spooky"). Last Friday I got the big sigh and his head came all the way down to relaxed levels again while pulling the tire. Since then I have been ground driving him through a cones course with the tire on which challenges his responses to rein cues and his focus on me (and mine on my reinsmanship lol). Yesterday we graduated to a closed bridle which he is not too sure of. He needs a lot of reassurance and my voice helps him to stay focused and moving ahead. The sound of the tire pulling over gravel or dead leaves now that he can't see it once again has his head coming up and his back dropping. Tension has caused him to loose his form but he responds to my voice well and "good boy" or "well done" helps him gather his courage again and there have been no panic moments. Once I am confident that he feels safe with the tire in a closed bridle we will try some other items. The tarp again, a clump of willow branches that need to be moved to a burn pile, a sack with pop cans/bottles and eventually the cart. I am thinking of having him pull the stone boat once we see a small amount of snow (my husband wants to put some UHMW - a hard plastic used for industrial wear plates- on the skids so it will slide easier) so I can ride on it but that assumes it is light enough that he can move it. Other than that I have a large toboggan here that he can pull until it gets too cold and the snow gets too deep. Then I guess he'll get the winter off and we'll see where he is in the spring.