Now as some will know, I have been having some difficulty with Qantas recently. If anyone has any helpful tips or ideas then I’m all ears. I’ve been trying my best but Q went from the sweetest, most laid back, lovely horse to have around in Spring and Summer to a whirling demon this Autumn. When I went to view Q at his old home he was very relaxed but when he arrived with us he was a weaving stress head (this was also in autumn last year) by spring we’d got him to relax and he was truly a pleasure to have around. Now it feels like we’ve gone backwards and then some and, although I’m sure I shouldn’t admit this, I have been angry with him, fed up with him, run out of ideas, been stressed and upset and everything in between.
I have read the Parelli books, watched the Warwick Schiller videos, scrolled through the TRT method, read the mounted police training, followed the stunt riders on social media to try and become a better horse trainer and to try and find a solution to Qantas.
I’m a firm believer in not following any method religiously, as in my job as a Physio, I will go to a course, learn stuff, take the bits I like and apply it to my own principles and way of working. I think the training needs to suit the human just as much as it needs to help the horse. I need to know what I believe in, what I am capable of and where my limitations lie in terms of skill, patience and understanding. I am not perfect, I do not know everything and I make mistakes, but the hope is that I’m helping my horse understand what I want from him and that we evolve together along the way.
Que the dinosaurs!!! My very funny and very supportive aunt sent me some little dinosaurs as we never got to see the one at the Concrete cows ride, that we failed to even vet for due to Qantas’ stressing. (Yes there is an endurance ride with a statue of a dino on route). Joking aside Q was getting stressed about anything and everything so introducing new things into our training would be key in teaching him that change is safe.
I started with working him on the ground in the sand school without any obstacles, just working on our aids, then each session I’d add an obstacle, be it something to walk over, a flag, a noise, an object to walk around etc. Then finally we decided to add a giant flappy dinosaur costume! My aim was to have the dino stood by the gate (as this is where he thinks his place of rest is, so more likely be comfortable in that space) and that Qantas would continue with his obstacles and ignore the dinosaur. We’d then eventually work up to the dinosaur (human inside the costume) wandering around the school, jumping over poles, lying down or whatever and Qantas would just carry on concentrating on the thing we were up to.
We’re still working on it and bringing him down from a panic is still really tricky for me but when he’s good he’s really good, it’s just that doesn’t seem to be very often at the moment.
Beth Endurance 