Kenny came to the barn with me last night and videotaped my ride. This was the first time I had ridden in about a week - I have been lunging in side reins primarily. Of course in my classic wisdom, I rode her bareback last night, but hey she was good! Bareback makes it much easier to get off, anyway. I left the surcingle on her just in case things went a little haywire - it gave me a bit of stickability.
She is getting better and better about this. She has progressed from having big backward explosions to taking just a step or two, then stopping. I hardly had to brace myself against her at all last night; just one split second of pressure on the rope halter and then she stopped. I am going to start introducing treats, like a peppermint, so that when I get off she will immediately think, treat! and come toward me. I generally do not feed her with a bit in her mouth but I think this will really help her understand the goal. I just hope she doesn't become an absolute pig and frisk me for treats every time I dismount. I suppose we could integrate clicker training if that becomes an issue.
You will see that the last time I dismounted, I did it to the right. Um how insane was that? I was psyching myself out, trying to figure out how to arrange my body to get off that side and every fibre of my equestrian being was screaming, this is WRONG! lol. Too funny. It was not a graceful dismount at all, but then again most "unscheduled" dismounts aren't. I figured when you fall off, it isn't always to the left, so we might as well work on that right side also!
My horse is pretty back sore, so my chiro actually recommended alternating the side that I mount and dismount from. Archie doesn't care at all, but even after months of doing it, I still have to scramble up the right side and can't help but fling myself off when I dismount. It's good practice, though!
ReplyDeleteI think it's so awesome that you are working with her on this! It's a great tool and hopefully you'll never have to worry about using it again! I am really good at emergency dismounting, what the horse beneath me does is a whole other story!
ReplyDeleteI use the treats wtih William all the time, for him - it really works. I also mount on both sides...mostly because Archie is a dink and won't stand where I want him to so I just get on whichever side is close. Same with dismounting.
ReplyDeleteA good thing to practice, especially given her history. I practice mounting and dismounting from both sides with all my horses. Erin had a knee brace for a while and could only mount from the right. I imagine there are other people out there with similar needs and I like my horses to be indifferent about which side their humans are on. Good to see you installing the same with Lulu.
ReplyDeleteAwesome that you got that on video. I am not brave enough to do that just yet... I probably should though!
ReplyDeleteawesome!! It's working :)
ReplyDeleteShe looks great! Chris used to have me mount and dismount on both sides with the young horses and it did them a lot of good :) I'm glad to see it's working!
ReplyDeleteShe's really doing well! As I was watching the video I was thinking that next you should try "falling off" on the wrong side (although I was having qualms just THINKING about doing that on her haha) and then you did it! Must have read my mind :)
ReplyDeleteSo smart of you to be practicing this! and I laughed thinking of how confusing it is to make our bodies dismount on the right hand side. As another commenter noted, practicing mounting on the right is super important too. You guys are going to have a GREAT 2013! Happy New Year to you and Lucy!
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