Let me preface this by saying that I am not an expert on swordplay and up to now, I haven't delved much in this area (although I suppose THAT will change in the near future). That said, follow me and Max as we learn...:-)
After my regular lesson last Sunday, I decided that it was time to start getting Max desensitized to swords. I'm not going into this cold in that in the past I have worked with a dowel rod and some rubber swords so Max is actually pretty comfortable with me swininging them around him (and tolerating the occassional miss where I wind up smacking him). Now it's time to step up to the next level and needless to say, I will have to be a LOT more careful in how I swing them.
I managed to borrow a functional sword that sort of mimics the US 1860 Cavalry Saber (he didnt' have the exact item and I'm a bit stretched on funds at the present to order one up) and in fact, is probably a bit longer. I started by placing Max and I in an arena with Max fully tacked up. I then rubbed the sword all over his body (it was securely in the scabbard), and especially on his back and hanches.
Next, standing on the on-side, I reached over with the sword and rubbed it on the off-side (this is important because often, horses spook when they see objects suddenly "appear" out of nowhere that don't seen to be part of the rider- remember, a horse's vision is severely limited in looking back and up). While doing this, I observed Max's body language and especially his eyes and ears. I also made sure to do it all slowly while at the same time talking softly to him and praising him. It all appeared to go well with Max pretty much accepting everything and in fact, it appeared that he was bored with the whole thing. Had at any point Max reacted negatively, I would have backed off and lessened the intensity of what I was doing- back off, just touch Max's body, etc.
Seeing that everything looked good, I then took the sword (still in the scabbard) and began to lightly tap him along the barrel, flanks and haunches. This is intended to get him used to the scabbard bouncing off of him or any sort of accidental contact- you don't want the horse to react to it (i.e. shy, run away, etc.). When this appeared to go well, I then tapped him lightly (and carefully) on the neck and the poll. I even tapped the muzzle a couple of times (wasn't thrilled with it but he tolerated it).
I then took the sword and rattled it in the scabbard a bit. Max wasn't sure abot this and he began to back away and give a concerned look in his eyes. When this happened, I'd stop, draw Max near again, let him sniff the sword, and then start again. He got better as we went along but this is something I'll be working more on in the future.
Finally, I decided that he was talking it all very well on the ground, so I decided to mount him wearing just the scabbard. There were no issues with this and I then proceeded to tap Max's flank with the empty scabbard- no siginficant response. I then started to ride around with the scabbard moving around and banging him on the side. He didnt' appear to react and soon I had him in a canter and even jumped a couple of poles lying on the ground.
Now came the climax...taking the sword in hand, we rode around and I proceeded to move it into all sorts of positions. No reaction. Next, I began to swing the sword and and ride around at the same time. Once again, no reaction. Great! I wound up taking some practice swings at some traffic cones and finished by setting up a line of traffic cones and then galloping through them while trying to strike them as a passed by. Max had no problems with this and he did his job even though my aim was pretty poor and I didn't strike too many targets. One observation is that a real sword is a LOT heavier than a dowel rod or rubber sword and my arms was exhausted in no time- got to work on that!
I finished by practicing drawing the sword and returning it to the scabbard multiple times. It's a pain to do on the move but not so bad at the halt. No issues there with Max.
Now the "training program" I employed is not a formal program and probably wouldn't work on all horses but it seems to have worked fine with Max. Of course, it's probably going to be a different story when he's with other horses so we cannot assume anything. Also, it helped that I did lot of the prep work long in advance with the dowel rod and rubber sword. The key thing here is to be patient and take your time- don't wait to do this just before the event! Also, realize that this is all about desensitization and gaining the horse's respect- he needs to accept your leadership and that you're not going to get him injured or killed- that's the horse's natural instinct and you have to work at using this to your advantage. Using force or "cowboying" this horse isn't going to cut it.
Anyway, things look promising so we'll see how it goes in the near future. More soon.
After my regular lesson last Sunday, I decided that it was time to start getting Max desensitized to swords. I'm not going into this cold in that in the past I have worked with a dowel rod and some rubber swords so Max is actually pretty comfortable with me swininging them around him (and tolerating the occassional miss where I wind up smacking him). Now it's time to step up to the next level and needless to say, I will have to be a LOT more careful in how I swing them.
I managed to borrow a functional sword that sort of mimics the US 1860 Cavalry Saber (he didnt' have the exact item and I'm a bit stretched on funds at the present to order one up) and in fact, is probably a bit longer. I started by placing Max and I in an arena with Max fully tacked up. I then rubbed the sword all over his body (it was securely in the scabbard), and especially on his back and hanches.
Next, standing on the on-side, I reached over with the sword and rubbed it on the off-side (this is important because often, horses spook when they see objects suddenly "appear" out of nowhere that don't seen to be part of the rider- remember, a horse's vision is severely limited in looking back and up). While doing this, I observed Max's body language and especially his eyes and ears. I also made sure to do it all slowly while at the same time talking softly to him and praising him. It all appeared to go well with Max pretty much accepting everything and in fact, it appeared that he was bored with the whole thing. Had at any point Max reacted negatively, I would have backed off and lessened the intensity of what I was doing- back off, just touch Max's body, etc.
Seeing that everything looked good, I then took the sword (still in the scabbard) and began to lightly tap him along the barrel, flanks and haunches. This is intended to get him used to the scabbard bouncing off of him or any sort of accidental contact- you don't want the horse to react to it (i.e. shy, run away, etc.). When this appeared to go well, I then tapped him lightly (and carefully) on the neck and the poll. I even tapped the muzzle a couple of times (wasn't thrilled with it but he tolerated it).
I then took the sword and rattled it in the scabbard a bit. Max wasn't sure abot this and he began to back away and give a concerned look in his eyes. When this happened, I'd stop, draw Max near again, let him sniff the sword, and then start again. He got better as we went along but this is something I'll be working more on in the future.
Finally, I decided that he was talking it all very well on the ground, so I decided to mount him wearing just the scabbard. There were no issues with this and I then proceeded to tap Max's flank with the empty scabbard- no siginficant response. I then started to ride around with the scabbard moving around and banging him on the side. He didnt' appear to react and soon I had him in a canter and even jumped a couple of poles lying on the ground.
Now came the climax...taking the sword in hand, we rode around and I proceeded to move it into all sorts of positions. No reaction. Next, I began to swing the sword and and ride around at the same time. Once again, no reaction. Great! I wound up taking some practice swings at some traffic cones and finished by setting up a line of traffic cones and then galloping through them while trying to strike them as a passed by. Max had no problems with this and he did his job even though my aim was pretty poor and I didn't strike too many targets. One observation is that a real sword is a LOT heavier than a dowel rod or rubber sword and my arms was exhausted in no time- got to work on that!
I finished by practicing drawing the sword and returning it to the scabbard multiple times. It's a pain to do on the move but not so bad at the halt. No issues there with Max.
Now the "training program" I employed is not a formal program and probably wouldn't work on all horses but it seems to have worked fine with Max. Of course, it's probably going to be a different story when he's with other horses so we cannot assume anything. Also, it helped that I did lot of the prep work long in advance with the dowel rod and rubber sword. The key thing here is to be patient and take your time- don't wait to do this just before the event! Also, realize that this is all about desensitization and gaining the horse's respect- he needs to accept your leadership and that you're not going to get him injured or killed- that's the horse's natural instinct and you have to work at using this to your advantage. Using force or "cowboying" this horse isn't going to cut it.
Anyway, things look promising so we'll see how it goes in the near future. More soon.
What I'm looking at using- the 1860 Light Cavalry Saber. An original would be nice but a reproduction will have to do for now. :-)
2 comments:
I actually have a post on this exact subject in draft form......you beat me to it!
It's funny how some horses will react and some won't. Farley didn't have a problem with the sword from the very first day. Walk/trot/canter, it didn't matter...Minx was a different story.
Melinda
I think that I got lucky with Max but I'd would recommend a gradual approach with any horse.
One sort of mild side-effect of the traning is that sometimes they regard the sword or other stick-like object as some sort of whip/crop/bat and while they might not be "scared" of it, they do regard you're waiving it around as a cue to speed up or otherwise be concerned that you're going to hit them. I had this problem for a bit but after constant work on the ground, he pretty much ignores it.
But there are those moments when a smack with the flat of a rubber sword in the haunches pays off. :-)
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