Stuck
Somehow we managed to go from having our best ride ever to our worst ride ever within a span of two days.
Oh, it started all right. Walk warm up, stepping over poles with nary a bump. Trot warm up, some figure eights, some trot poles without any touches. We weren’t overly energetic, but the bending lesson had stuck and we were navigating corners beautifully and going nice and straight down the long sides.
Then we trotted over some poles, and Ace caught his back foot. He didn’t even hit it hard enough to knock the pole out of position.
And then we were stuck.
For the next half hour, we were stuck in the middle of the ring, never going more than a step or two forward. I tried everything I could think of, from outhinking him to making it as uncomfortable as possible, to coercion. I tried just sitting there for at least ten minutes, hoping his brain would reboot and start functioning normally.
And he just stood there.
He wasn’t hurt. He wasn’t scared. He wasn’t upset. No matter what I did, he stood there with his head down, his ears up, refusing to move.
It’s like he didnt like something (hitting the pole), and so he suddenly refused to do anything.
Eventually I got off and led him out of the middle to the far end of the ring. I remounted (from the ground, which I haven’t tried in ages and was glad to discover I could still manage it), and it was like nothing had happened. I got in the saddle, took up the reins, gave the slightest squeeze with my legs, and we were off.
Until we had to turn early in one end to pass another horse and got close to the middle. Then we were stuck again.
I dismounted, led him away from the vortex of the ring center, and off we went again.
Now I’m stuck.
I don’t really know what to do about this. And past experience with Ace tells me that he will be stuck from now until I find a way to unstick him. He doesn’t usually magically forget and go on again as normal the next day. I can always hope though!
I just mostly hope we won’t be starting from scratch again when we do resolve this issue.
Oooh..I know that feeling! Can you try riding somewhere else until he is unstuck? An outdoor arena? Up and down a driveway? Maybe change things up for a bit…ground drive him around the property, do something different to get him to switch gears in his brain. From my experience with Gabe when presented with something that he doesn’t understand or is frustrated/worried by, it’s almost like he just needs to mull things over for awhile, thinking about options, maybe deciding how to handle it, before he is ready to move on.
Although I love trying to figure out what is going on in their heads, sometimes it’s FRUSTRATING as all get out!
Jenn – That’s exactly what I’m intending to do as long as the weather holds out. I know it’s my best bet, but I’m not entirely confident it will work. He seems to associate the “stuck” with a specific location, and even if I can get him going somewhere else as soon as we get back to the bad spot we’re stuck again. At least, that’s how it was back in January. Spent over three weeks doing other things and as soon as I’d try to get him unstuck under saddle it was no go. Hopefully we’ve come far enough since then that what you are suggesting will help now.
Hi Jackie,
I think this is my first comment, although I’ve been keeping up with Ace’s progress for a while.
I hope this doesn’t make me sound like an awful animal beater (I’m really not), but I’m wondering why when Ace does this you don’t grab a dressage whip and try giving him a bit of a whack? I’m sure you have your reasons and I’m not trying to question your training philosophy, I’m just genuinely curious.
Of course you don’t want to scare or hurt him, but I’d think at this point in his training he gets that when you say go, you mean go and it won’t kill him to obey you!
Again, I hope I don’t sound like a jerk! I’m looking forward to hearing your response. Thanks.
Sarah – No problem! I’m definitely not afraid to get after a horse when needed. It’s just that it’s completely ineffective with Ace! I DID have a dressage whip and made good use of it – to no avail. I did the ask first and then tell, and got quite strong with my heels and whip and was persistent about it. He still just stood there with his ears up ignoring me! I’ve learned that I almost always have to out-think him, because 90% of the time when I get after him with a whip or whatever he just shuts down further. It didn’t stop me from trying it when we really stuck and running out of options, but it didn’t help.
Whew. I don’t have anything helpful to offer, but I certainly wish you well. It seems it’s always something!
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