I've barely touched Bijou in the last week. I took her out for our vet visit, but I haven't wanted to do anything with her since we didn't get anything conclusive.
I've been doing lots of online 'stalking' instead. Watching tons of youtube videos and finding some amazing stuff. Some of the things have challenged the way I think about riding horses. I've found that some people ride in nothing but a string around their horses neck. That's taking bitless to the extreme! I have no idea how, but I want to start playing around with the idea.
I've also been hearing a lot about clicker training and playing with horses. I'll post more details later, but some of the video's are amazing. I started a little bit of play with Bijou today. I figure the basic thing is that I have to get her to want to follow me. I went out to her, stood a few feet away, and talked to her. She came right over to be scratched on. I obliged happily for a little bit, but then I stepped a few more feet away. I wanted to see if she'd follow me for a scratch, and she did, slowly but surely. We did this a few times until I had to go. I don't really know what I'm planning on doing with this, but the urge to get a bitless bridle (or heck, a shoe string around the neck) is getting stronger and stronger. I think I can do it. I've never spent that much on a single tack item other than a saddle, I know, I'm a cheapskate. I'm going to look into return policies just in case I need one to try but it ends up fitting badly, or not being the right bitless for Bijou and I.
I have my second vet visit on tomorrow, we'll see how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed!
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You can do it! If you need any help or want to ask any questions about any bitless I would love to help you. Send your questions/concerns if you would like. sydney@bitlesshorseblog.com
ReplyDeleteThe key to riding with a neck rope is neck reining and your seat. Direct reining (riding with two hands) the horse moves the direction you pull the rein, neck reining or indirect reining you ride with one hand (or two in the beginning) and the horse moves away from the pressure/feel of the rein on the side of it's neck. It's relatively simple I taught Indigo how to ride bridle less (in a pen of course, outside she would go "hi ho silver AWAYYYY!") and it was easier than I thought. Of course the most important part of riding bitless/bridleless is your seat. People often forget that when riding with a bit and when you take a bit away it becomes apparent that using your seat/legs does a lot more than you thought.
Good luck with the vet visit. Have you ever had a chiropractor out? Maybe something out of alignment in another part of her body is making her off. Very, very big possibility.
I started my mare on clicker training by just clicking and treating her for looking at me, she was pretty intent on avoiding me at that time and I wanted her to know I was the source of good things. I then moved onto targeting, which is SO useful. I started my gelding with targeting too, it's by far his favorite thing to do.
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