Ellie's unusual perception of the world and her place in it has led Linda and I to get creative in our approach to dealing with her. As a four-year old, Ellie went off with a trainer who frightened and confused her. She is a Peruvian Paso and tends to be a tad on the hysterical side when it comes to dealing with situations, old or new. Little in the way of traditional methods applies to her. |
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1. Reins? No thanks.
Ellie's initial reaction to placing the reins over her head was adamant: "No Thanks!" We stood for long periods, waiting for her to decide to let us pass the reins over her head, but each time we even thought of moving them, she did what you see in this picture. As you can see, Linda and I both had our patience hats in place and we needed them. |
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2. Ears Not The Problem
Linda demonstrates that touching Ellie's ears, forelock, forehead, face, or neck is not the problem. |
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3. Targeting The Fleece
By clicker training Ellie to target the fleece on the noseband of her Lindel, a TTeam product that is a bitless variation on a side-pull, I ask her to put her head through the reins to touch the fleece for a reward. She does this readily and in about five sessions, she is putting the reins on herself, without issue. |
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4. Lures, Bribes & Rewards
This is not classical clicker conditioning, but it works for the short-term efforts of getting the bridle on without a fuss. |
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5. Mounting Ellie
When we first entertained the idea of actually riding Ellie, her back caved in whenever Linda put her foot in the stirrup. Once Ellie had assumed a posture with her back dropped and her head up, her legs were literally stuck in the ground and she could not take more than a few labored steps. In order to break this pattern, we used a combination of distraction and reward. Ellie loves to push the ball and she does that with her head down and neck extended. We used the clicker, followed by a treat, to reward Ellie for assuming a desirable posture, touching her nose to the ball, as Linda got on. |
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6. Focusing Downward
We rolled the ball to distract Ellie from the weight of the rider. We all, Ellie included, soon discovered that she could move her feet and walk normally with weight on her back. Here, she is not in self-carriage, but it is an improvement over the inverted posture she initially adopted and she is moving without pulling her legs up off the ground as though they were stuck in deep mud. |
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7. Head Down/Back Up
Ellie is in balance and is happily engaged in the game of playing ball with me on the ground to kick it and Linda on Ellie's back. Linda's smile testifies to her excitement over realizing the dream of riding Ellie. Ellie is 9 years old and Linda has had her since she was only 4 months. Once we got Ellie moving by following the ball, we graduated to traveling from cone to cone. |
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8. Why so hysterical?
We may never know why Ellie is so easily set off into hysteria. Part of it is the breeding; Pasos are bred to show fire and spirit as part of their beauty. Part of it, undoubtedly, is her weak confirmation. Life is a challenge for her, even when left on her own. Physical weakness is cause for concern to a pray animal and an inability to feel safe certainly contributes to her attitudes. Her weak conformation also predisposes her to pain. We are conscious of this and keep her workload light and support her with a lot of bodywork. Linda's dreams of taking Ellie for long rides in the mountains have been sidelined. Her undying love for Ellie and her ability to accept Ellie for what she is, have not. |
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