Home

Sitting on a Bean Bag Chair

Krista has become enthralled with Allen Pough and his Imagine A Horse website. This website is just filled with interesting information, including video of Allen's horses doing fantastic tricks.

At From Start to Foundation, the tricks take on a slightly different meaning. As much as it's incredibly fun to have a horse that can do silly things on request, the focus of trick training for Krista and company revolves more around desensitizing the horse to it's surroundings, while sensitizing them to their handlers' instructions.

Match-April 14, 2010

Match is a pretty adventuresome guy: he's the hackney horse who works the Flag like a seasoned cutter.
He's never seen a bean bag before, and certainly has no idea that he might be asked to back into it and park his butt.
Match

Gail introduces Match to the bean bag. She doesn't expect it to be any big deal, and it isn't.

 

 

Gail positions Match in front of the bean bag and asks him to back into it.

 Match
Match

Match can see a bit of the bean bag behind him, but like any sensible prey animal, he moves his butt to the side to avoid being eaten.

 

That didn't give him any relief, so he tries moving to the other side.

Match
Match
Match
Match
Seeing that Match is going to need some guidance, Gail has picked up a long dressage whip. Rather than tapping just the hindquarters, she's tapping Match along his barrel: she wants him to step his entire body sideways, not just swing his hips around

Gail encourages his feet to move over.

 

 

Now that Match is pretty well centered on the bean bag, and has backed up close enough to touch it, she's finished for the day.

 

Joe Black-April 14, 2010

At 24 years old, there isn't much Joe Black hasn't at least tried. A willing participant in Scott's follies, there's no expectation that he won't do this just as soon as he understands what it is Scott wants him to do.
Joe Black
Joe Black
Joe Black

Joe's introduction to the bean bag has taken a second or two. Scott gets his front end lined up, then taps his hips over.

Scott blocks Joe's forward movement.

Then blocks the leaky hip.
Joe Black
Joe Black
Joe Black

Another block to the far side.

And Joe's standing pretty square.

Scott asks Joe to back up. Joe complies. And that's the end of the lesson for today!

Sally
Sally is about as far as you can get from the type of personality you'd choose to teach tricks to: she isn't curious or adventuresome; she doesn't like to be touched or to touch things; and she absolutely despises anything even looking at her from the back end. She is a mare after all!

With all this in mind, Cristie has introduced Sally to this idea. Twice, Sally's been able to back into an upright barrel covered in fleece blankets. They started out just walking past it, and worked on it until Sally could touch the fleece with both hips. They started out with the barrel in a corner, but Sally could back up to it in an open space. Cristie's hope with this work, is to desensitize Sally's back end. She'd like Sally to be more comfortable around other horses coming up behind her.
Sally
Sally
Sally

Sally's met the butt-eating monster, and it's clear that all her preparation has paid off. Cristie asks Sally to back up, and she goes straight, and willingly.

 

 

They take a break, as Sally's done exactly what she was asked to do: back up into the bean bag and touch it. She waits quietly.

 

 

Cristie is now asking Sally to move on to the next step. As she asks Sally to continue to step backwards, she also lifts her head slightly to begin teaching Sally the cue to actually sit.
Sally doesn't have the slightest idea what Cristie wants, but in her efforts to figure it out, she's picked up a foot and offered to bend that leg a little and go even farther onto the bean bag.
Sally
This was a great try on Sally's part and certainly worthy a cookie!
Unfortunately, Sally has been diagnosed with degenerative joint disease,
(particularly in a hock) and most likelly won't be asked to do sit again.
In spite of this, it's been a great experience for Sally, and should help her out.

 

 


Krista@FromStartToFoundation.com
831-588-6214
1425 San Marcos Rd. Paso Robles, CA 93446