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Discussion on Looking out in the round pen
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Member:
Pauline
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Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 7:13 pm:
Hi everyone,
I have a 4 year old thoroughbred who was raised by a man learning natural horsemanship and then started under saddle by a very gifted NH trainer.He sometimes looks out when we are engaged in our round pen work and I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions.
Regards,
Pauline
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Member:
Jcsmoon
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Posted on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 9:54 pm:
Yah... forget about it. Young ones will do this and it is no big deal. Sometimes (this is my opionion only) people over do the round pen work and the horse gets bored. If he has done what you want then, as we say here in the back woods, "shut up and ride". I think you should ask him a few things that you know he will do well to get a postive start on the day, ask a couple of more difficult tasks, then back to what is easy. At that point get out of the round pen or it becomes a round hell of boredom and repetition.
I went through a lot of the NH clinics and the thing I found was that my horses really did not need as much round pen work as I thought. I got them thinking in the right frame of mind and then continued the lessons out on the trail.
If this horse is just a normal young horse who is going through training then I say acknowledge that he has been there & done that, give him his T-shirt, and get out round pen.
Happy Rideing!
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Member:
Dtranch
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Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 7:48 am:
Ditto Emily .. With all this new found interest in NH and round penning, people really, really, tend to over-do it. The horse gets bored and dis-interested, as well he should. I use the round pen exercises exclusively on new horses, executing a series of drills until I get results and quote "join up" and then I get to work. I continue to use the round pen, only because it is handy for a lot of ground work ... but NO MORE ROUND PEN RUNNING. Get out as soon as you are comfortable, and do not go back unless you absolutely have to.
I also vary the rest of my training, not working on any one thing for a long period of time just for this reason. A bored and dis-interested horse does not learn as quickly or as well as a fresh and curious animal. Think about it, how many figure 8's could you do without just screaming ... ENOUGH ALREADY, LETS GET TO THE DANCE.
DT
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Member:
Jerre
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Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 10:18 am:
Pauline, you may not be doing endless circles, but maybe the problem is that your horse really knows how. He'll stop looking outside when he feels more connected to you.
After your horse understands to stay on the rail, turn, come to you, back away, there's not much benefit in drilling. Use those skills (in the round pen if you want to control how far he can wander) and build on them. Direct him around and over obstacles, learn to dance with him -- walk, trot, canter at his shoulder, back -forward-sideways. By the time he's getting that in tune with you he won't look to the outside any more. And you won't need the round pen, because he'll want to be with you.
Lots of circles with no mental engagement gives you a fit -- and bored -- horse. So if you don't give him something interesting to do, he's more than ready to figure something out on his own.
My instructor likens it to always playing Old Maid after you've learned contract bridge. Yeah, you know it, but you can do it in your sleep. So watch your horse to see if he's saying, "Oh no, it's Old Maid again!"
Jerre
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Member:
Cowgrl
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Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 10:29 am:
I gotta agree here. My mustang is so bored with round pen work even though we rarely do any he doesn't even want to move. My Q.H. absolutely detests any arena work and gets into a snit and pouts and plants his feet. I have to really spur him to get him going. My spurs are pretty blunt so no pain just irritation. Once I get both out on the trail they're much better and have a great time. Mustang dude is still very green but can learn just as well on the trail as at home so why not.
Holly
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