I told you last week of the solution I found for dealing with Tori this year, but what I didn’t mention to you was how the reining clinic January 17-19 went! I had written several editorial columns in advance, but then my current events tend to get behind!

The reining clinic was with Kevin Pole of Lethbridge, Alberta. Kevin is a trainer there, and he also coaches non pro riders. After having seen Kevin at a few of the shows when Raime and I travelled in 2001, it was nice to meet him and get to know him a little bit.

I greatly enjoyed the clinic and the chance to visit with the other reiners in the Prince George group. After not travelling to any shows last year, I realized how quickly you can get out of the loop. Getting some time to visit and catch up on news was super - several of the group are riding new horses I hadn’t even seen before!

I was very pleased to find some different methods that worked well with Tori’s temperament. As you know, I find her difficult a lot of the time, but I think some of the tips Kevin shared with us would work well with Tori in the long run. Even in the short term I was noticing a difference in her, a more relaxed feel and more comfortable frame of mind. With a sensitive horse like Tori, relaxation is a huge step in order to being trainable!

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

The reason that so many trainers - especially in the newer *horse whispering* set - talk so much about not stressing the horse out is that any time a horse is in defense mode, or run away mode, or just plain not with you mentally, teaching them is virtually impossible. In order for a horse to learn, he must be relaxed enough to think about the choices you put before him.

With Tori, as with many other highly sensitive horses, their senses are so close to overload just with regular handling that trying to add new things can become just too stressful. Add in a less than sensitive handler - like myself, although I am striving to improve! - and the horse just simply can’t take it. They respond by running away, jigging, head-tossing, champing the bit, or some other method of trying to deal with their sensory overload.

Of course, writing all of this makes me excited to ride again, but ever since the clinic ended Tori has been staying at a friend’s place and we’ve had no time to get her back to the barn at Foote’s! Hopefully I’ll be able to get back in the saddle soon though, so that I don’t forget everything I learned!

‘Til next week,
~ Kristi :)

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If your horse is simply a bit shy about being caught, try to give him some good experiences. Catch him, brush him, give him a few treats or feed him his grain ration, and then turn him loose.

Work on some small fun jobs, such as working in hand, clicker training or teaching him tricks - something that won’t make him think that all sessions are about hard work and being ridden. Take some time to go through the Archives here at Northern BC Horse (please link) to come up with some exercises that will strengthen the bond between you and your horse.

You can - in some cases - use holding out on their regular feed of grain as a way of catching them. I would never not feed a horse his main ration, but I have held back the grain portion.

One horse I had would come and go in cycles - for weeks he’d be easy to catch and then all of a sudden he’d act shy. With him, I only fed him his grain if he let me catch him. If he turned and left more than a few times, I’d simply close his small feeding pen back up and leave. He’d go without grain for a day or two, or sometimes three or four, but then his tummy would get the better of him (especially watching the other horses eat their grain!) and then he would eagerly meet me at feeding time to be caught.

If your horse is a little more blatantly obvious about leaving the vicinity, you can use a few different methods in combination. Always try to make things nice for this horse once you catch him, but be prepared for a struggle first!

I’ll go into some more detail on this type of horse next week.

If you have comments or suggestions along the way, please share with me at kristi@hiway16.com

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Now, with your help, we can unite all northern BC stallions in one easy to find page. Mare owners will need to look no further than Northern BC Horse to find a fantastic selection of stallions available for breeding.

All breeds and all types will be featured at Northern BC Horse’s Stallion Page. Standing Quarter Horses, Appaloosas or Paints. Breeding Sport Horses, Warmbloods, or more exotic breeds. All breeds and disciplines are always welcome at Northern BC Horse.

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