Reviewing Jac’s first week: Day Five

Episode 9 & 10 were both filmed on day five of training. Stacy worked Jac six days the first week.Jac Day by Day Review Day 5

Episode 9

The most frequently asked question after this episode was, “Did you do anything else except block his bite?” The answer is yes. If only the camera had been rolling 30 seconds earlier!

What I did was a bit like a Karate move, block and strike in one fluid motion. I was carrying the stick and string so it made it easy. People might ask where I struck…anywhere I can reach inside that immediate moment. In this case it was the side of his neck with the stick and string.

I can’t wait for everyone to see Episode 12 because it talks a lot more about biting (don’t worry-it is not me he is biting)

Do you see how Stacy drives the horse with her body language? If you have difficulty lunging, have someone video you, then watch to see your body language.

Episode 10

Can you see how Jac doesn’t come forward to the pressure alone?

Would your horse pass this leading test?

Do you see the issue with using a whip, voice, etc to encourage forward motion…the idea that no one will be around to add the extra encouragement when the horse is tied to the wall?

Can you see how jogging ahead is ‘warning’ for the horse?

Have any of you tried this yet?

12 Comments

  1. […] Day One……Day Two……Day Three.……..Day Four……….Day Five […]

  2. Joyce Pickering on November 28, 2013 at 8:44 am

    Stacy, where did you find the hook for the halter. I have been looking for them but haven’t been able to find them. I have one rope halter that has one and I love it. I want to have a couple rope halters made with the hook but need to find them first. Thanks

  3. Emmie on November 19, 2013 at 1:52 pm

    So I did episode 10 with Louie and Faith!!! ….both were totally different. Faith (2yr.) reacted almost exactly like Jac did in the video. …Louie (6yr) was a bit different. He just took the jog and jerk. Finding the release when I hit the end of the line and bounced back at him …lol He waited for the jerk because the bounce back (release) was coming. …So after getting super out of breath and realizing it wasn’t working. I rested and regrouped. I then hit the end of the line and when I kinda bounced back (where he found the release) I jerked pretty hard. After jerk 2 he jogged beside me as soon as I jogged. Other than getting really out of breath… It was fun to figure them out. 🙂

    • Stacy on November 19, 2013 at 3:16 pm

      Lol, Louie has always been a ‘creative’ thinker! Good thing his rider is MORE creative!

  4. Patricia Obrien Beale on November 19, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    my 12 yr. old quarter gives to pressure except, when tied he will back as far back as he can possibly get stretched to the limit. Drives me crazy. In the past he has pulled back, sat down, and broke his halter. He has not done that for a long while, knock on wood. Is there an exercise I can do to help with this bad habit of stretching the tie rope to its end. Thanks

    • Stacy on November 19, 2013 at 1:31 pm

      I would love to see a video of doing this running exercise!
      It is interesting how some will explore the ends of the ropes or cross ties. When I see them doing this I ‘refresh’ this exercise (yes, they need refreshers). I will be showing ponying, etc as the videos go…and if you try the exercise let me know how it went. Then I can give more ideas.

  5. Sarah Bernier on November 19, 2013 at 10:33 am

    I have a 5-year-old QH and I think I’m going to have to do this “pressure exercise” with him…I’ve realized he doesn’t respond to pressure! Whew. You think you’ve got a “trained” horse & then you watch a Stacy video and reality sets in 🙂

    Question re: biting/kicking. You say in this post that you “struck” him with your karate block/chop move…I’ve got various people telling me different things about my gelding (who threatens to kick/bite when asked to do something he doesn’t want to — like when I first got him & tried to get on his off-side!).

    One of my friends says do NOT “strike” them for biting/kicking because a horse “doesn’t understand that.” I beg to differ, since he’s a 1200-lb animal that could put me in the hospital if he so chose…I realize timing is everything — so the “strike” has to seem as if the horse caused it/ran into it on his own. Can you give any other “pointers” on how to deal with this? Especially a kick — my first reaction is to move, of course…which is submitting.

    • Stacy on November 19, 2013 at 1:24 pm

      Sarah…your going to love Episode 12! Or, I hope you do. Hopefully it confirms you and your observation that getting tough is OK….and in a way that maybe your friend will see too.
      The easiest way to make the decisions quickly when biting, kicking, etc is happening is to think, “How would the dominant horse react to this?” Pretend you are the dominant horse. Would that horse duck the blow?…very likely. Would they come back swinging?….also likely. (I know this lacks detail but you get my point)
      My dominant horse, Popcorn, even ‘holds a grudge’ for days or weeks and keeps ‘the offender’ on his toes during that time. Kinda like once the kids push you past the end….then you stay tough for days.
      Horses will respond well to tough love…and terrible to abuse. Amazingly they know the difference. They don’t hold grudges for tough love.

    • Stacy on November 19, 2013 at 3:46 pm

      Sarah, I also wrote a blog around this subject. It will come out the day after Episode 12, which would be November 28….happy Thanksgiving blog, lol

  6. Diana Pieters on November 19, 2013 at 9:36 am

    Yes, I’ve tried this with a two year old gelding. He was backing up at first when I started to run. It was very exhausting indeed but after a few times he started to come along and trotted with me. This was 3 months ago and now he is just fine with it.

    • Stacy on November 19, 2013 at 1:26 pm

      AWESOME! So glad to hear that you found the same success…and exhaustion (lol). It really sticks with them…but many horses have had this skipped.

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