The beauty of following your videos has meant I watch Neville’s expression all the time. Only yesterday by simply taking the time to watch & listen to him were we able to play in a calm manner in quite a high tension atmosphere with the local Shoot going on in the background. Thank you Connie, I am loving your tutorials. 👍
@@myyounghorses you’re far braver than me, I’ve had so many upsetting comments in the past regarding how I interact with such a dominant horse…. I’ve stuck to my beliefs, I keep on learning from people such as yourself, & Neville is becoming braver, calmer & far more trusting under saddle as well as on the ground. I shall leave my postings to the sanctuary of my own FB page. 😉
@@LitterBoxCleaner i'm pretty thin skinned but within reason i like sensible critism as it makes me work harder to train horses in away the looks good to people from different walks of life. I understand why some people think riding a horse is cruel. I don't think that myself if its done well but i really get it that some people do feel like that
I’d love to see more about how you differentiate between the two states. It would be easy to say since he let you mount quietly he is willing but what you point out makes seeing the pain expression quite clear. There is this idea of “serviceably sound” that seems too ambiguous. My personal rehab horse is a long way from being ridden, but I’m curious to know what your threshold or criteria are for riding. Horses get blamed far too often for being “naughty” when they really give us more than we deserve.
HI Jenn, I think although this guy had been thoroughly looked over by a vet it doesn't rule out pain. Him swishing his tail and putting his head up when I get on shows he isn't happy about something. Because I use positive reinforcement (food rewards) there is a motivation for him to do what i train him to do and it is an equation between how much he is motivated minus how much discomfort or how fearful he is. In the video about he felt motivated to come to be mounted as he had been rewarded for it but he wasn't nearly as happy as when i was doing things on the ground. Training with food has its pitfalls as you have to make sure as a trainer you have a balance and the skill is to have them doing the behaviour because you have built it up to be a pleasent experience rather that them saying i really want the reward so i suppose I'll have to give you the behaviour to get it. So maybe I shouldn't have been riding this guy or maybe his past experience made him show is discontent by shaking his tail and grimace etc so with repetition and reward and keeping underthreshold then I would change the way he feels if not then back to the vets, probs a bit of both I would say. I am rambling but I think my answer about the criteria to ride is to go with your gut, the vets can't always find discomfort, and listen to your horse is he improving or getting worse when you go to mount him? If the vet says hes ok and he improves each time you ride then keep going slowly, if not back to the drawing board. I hope that helps
i have a question! i love your videos and way of working and want to try to use them on my horse. My mare doesnt want to be brushed all of sudden, she will look very annoyed and i cant find any reason for it! how would you tackle thus with positive reinforcement
First i would wonder why all of a sudden she doesn't like being brushed. Has she got any discomfort, skin infections, stomach ulcers. If we know there is no pain involved then I would start to reward for relaxation. So only when she isn't nuzzlling your pockets. Have you done any work like this before.
@@myyounghorses thankyou for the reply! i have rewarded with food before and she responds well to this but does get a bit impatient for the food! i really want to start using positive reinfocement with her, because your approach seems much more kind, but i am a bit lost at where to start :(
@elinguelinckx624 you need to start behind a stable door so you can ignore the impatience and wait calmly until she is standing in a neutral posture. If you go into my website conniecolfox.com/ you should be able to book a free call so I can get you started. 💕
Yes I think its a big possibility. He was at an advanced event riders yard competing at a decent level and had all the checks, but very often I have horses that have been through all the checks (masses of money spent) and nothing is detected, however I think they are in discomfort. It is such a difficult one, He is now with a lovely lady and doing really well. I know they had him on a gut suppliment which helped him but the vet didn't find any signs of ulcers. But answering your question Yes I think he could have had discomfort rather a ramble, sorry 💕
I can really see the difference in the facial features now that you’ve pointed it out. Love this. 🎉🐎
It’s so obvious isn’t it. I wasn’t so aware at the time
What a lovely horse. He looks so much happier 💓
Thank you for your comment. I was so caught up in the training I didn’t think enough about how he felt
The beauty of following your videos has meant I watch Neville’s expression all the time. Only yesterday by simply taking the time to watch & listen to him were we able to play in a calm manner in quite a high tension atmosphere with the local Shoot going on in the background. Thank you Connie, I am loving your tutorials. 👍
So glad you are enjoying them. You need a Neville channel
@@myyounghorses you’re far braver than me, I’ve had so many upsetting comments in the past regarding how I interact with such a dominant horse…. I’ve stuck to my beliefs, I keep on learning from people such as yourself, & Neville is becoming braver, calmer & far more trusting under saddle as well as on the ground. I shall leave my postings to the sanctuary of my own FB page. 😉
Agreed! The internet can be ruthless. I think folks could learn from my mistakes even but I just can’t take the criticism.
@@LitterBoxCleaner i'm pretty thin skinned but within reason i like sensible critism as it makes me work harder to train horses in away the looks good to people from different walks of life. I understand why some people think riding a horse is cruel. I don't think that myself if its done well but i really get it that some people do feel like that
I’d love to see more about how you differentiate between the two states. It would be easy to say since he let you mount quietly he is willing but what you point out makes seeing the pain expression quite clear. There is this idea of “serviceably sound” that seems too ambiguous. My personal rehab horse is a long way from being ridden, but I’m curious to know what your threshold or criteria are for riding. Horses get blamed far too often for being “naughty” when they really give us more than we deserve.
HI Jenn, I think although this guy had been thoroughly looked over by a vet it doesn't rule out pain. Him swishing his tail and putting his head up when I get on shows he isn't happy about something. Because I use positive reinforcement (food rewards) there is a motivation for him to do what i train him to do and it is an equation between how much he is motivated minus how much discomfort or how fearful he is. In the video about he felt motivated to come to be mounted as he had been rewarded for it but he wasn't nearly as happy as when i was doing things on the ground. Training with food has its pitfalls as you have to make sure as a trainer you have a balance and the skill is to have them doing the behaviour because you have built it up to be a pleasent experience rather that them saying i really want the reward so i suppose I'll have to give you the behaviour to get it. So maybe I shouldn't have been riding this guy or maybe his past experience made him show is discontent by shaking his tail and grimace etc so with repetition and reward and keeping underthreshold then I would change the way he feels if not then back to the vets, probs a bit of both I would say. I am rambling but I think my answer about the criteria to ride is to go with your gut, the vets can't always find discomfort, and listen to your horse is he improving or getting worse when you go to mount him? If the vet says hes ok and he improves each time you ride then keep going slowly, if not back to the drawing board. I hope that helps
i have a question! i love your videos and way of working and want to try to use them on my horse. My mare doesnt want to be brushed all of sudden, she will look very annoyed and i cant find any reason for it! how would you tackle thus with positive reinforcement
First i would wonder why all of a sudden she doesn't like being brushed. Has she got any discomfort, skin infections, stomach ulcers. If we know there is no pain involved then I would start to reward for relaxation. So only when she isn't nuzzlling your pockets. Have you done any work like this before.
@@myyounghorses thankyou for the reply! i have rewarded with food before and she responds well to this but does get a bit impatient for the food! i really want to start using positive reinfocement with her, because your approach seems much more kind, but i am a bit lost at where to start :(
@elinguelinckx624 you need to start behind a stable door so you can ignore the impatience and wait calmly until she is standing in a neutral posture. If you go into my website conniecolfox.com/ you should be able to book a free call so I can get you started. 💕
Hey Connie, love your work as always! Do you think the horse might have some discomfort or pain when ridden?
Yes I think its a big possibility. He was at an advanced event riders yard competing at a decent level and had all the checks, but very often I have horses that have been through all the checks (masses of money spent) and nothing is detected, however I think they are in discomfort. It is such a difficult one, He is now with a lovely lady and doing really well. I know they had him on a gut suppliment which helped him but the vet didn't find any signs of ulcers. But answering your question Yes I think he could have had discomfort rather a ramble, sorry 💕
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