Tai Chi with Lil' Richard

While I was working with Lil' Richard I thought I'd try out some Tai Chi breathing techniques that I'd learned with hubby last week.
One of the exercises is called the "Horse Stance", it is a way of being in the 'now' and present and controlling your breathing and becoming totally tension free.

So Lil' Richard was doing very well, but I wondered if I couldn't make him relax and come to me easier.

Well, it couldn't hurt could it?  Besides, I needed to practice my Tai Chi before we had another session.

So I had Lil' Richard standing facing me after a 'whoa'.  I took the Horse Stance, and then began letting the tension out of my shoulders, and letting my whole body relax into my breathing.

I concentrated on watching Lil' Richards knees.  Pretty soon he began to drop his head lower and lower.  He began to lick his lips and look totally relaxed.

I took my baby finger and lifted slightly on the rope.  Lil' Richard quietly walked into me and took a deep breath.  He was totally relaxed.

I couldn't believe it.  Well really, I could, because I am well aware that a tense wired up person near a horse will make that horse -- or any animal -- tense themselves.  I've always practiced relaxed body riding.  So this made perfect sense.

I wanted to make sure that this was not a fluke so I worked him a bit more and tried a more aggressive stance.  Lil' Richard ignored my commands and picked up the pace.

I returned to the relaxed breathing and body stance.  Lil' Richard progressed rapidly and willingly.

He is a an older pony, somewhere between 17 and 19.  I figured this would be an impossible job.  But I think he is enjoying the work.

Later I brought Siera in the round pen so that the sand could dry out her feet and I could check on her frogs.  She thought that she'd just nag at the gate to get back out with her friends. After asking her to work whenever she misbehaved, she settled in.

Siera then heeled me for the next 30 minutes, while I cleaned the roundpen.

I stood in front of her and did my relaxation technique.  Siera watched me and soon dropped her head and stood quietly as if she had not a care in the world.

I'd like to call it magic.  But it isn't.  It is just body language and it shows how quickly and animal can pick up on it.

Hopefully today will be the day that Lil' Richard gets to try a bridle and we get to our first ride by the weekend.

Dog Obedience can be used for Equine Obedience

The principal is much the same I've realize now after all of these years.

The lessons I learned in my first week of dog classes in 1980-something, was that it was important for your dog to learn to pay attention to you.

This was what we did for just one week in short 15 minute daily workouts.

A longe line was used, a very light cord tied to the collar.  In this case I had a corrective 'choke' collar.  We were never to nag or choke the dog.  The dog was to wander around and eventually 'not pay attention to the handler'.  As soon as the dog's eyes were not on you, you walked swiftly in the opposite direction.

Within two to three times my dog realized that she ought to keep an eye on where I was and she knew exactly how long that line was.

Now I wasn't working her a as a puppy, or taking her on walks as I did Morris as a pup because I lived in a city.  Her work started way after her puppy-hood.

How are equine trained?

In a round pen or on a longe line.  They need to learn to focus on the handler.
Wow.
Does that sound familiar?

Dog Obedience can be transferred quickly to Equine Obedience.

Today's world is all about non painful training or Politically Correct training. Yet still the principles are the same and the goals are the same.
Happy are those dogs who understand what is expected of them and the rules of conduct.
Why not the same for equine?
I see so many equine walking all over their handlers...



Yesterday, as I was reading through the old lessons and the paper work I saw a very parallel line between equine and dog 'trickery'.

I used the method I'd learned in how to teach a dog how to 'heel' and transferred it into teaching a mule or donkey to 'heel' at my elbow on lead line.

I was surprised at how easily it was accomplished and how much faster the donkey and mules picked it up.  
And let me tell anyone who wants to know.....
No harm, no pain!

Not only that, I can walk my 'tricked' mules on a loose lead.  Siera is my new shining star in that respect.
She will 'heel' me in the pasture.  She will stop and stand if I stop.  If I turn into her and give her the shoulder signal to back up, she backs up as I turn into her.

I've shown this to visitors at our farm, and the believe I have a 'trick' mule.  All I did was apply Dog Obedience 'Heel' training to her at halter.

To some who've seen it, they think I've preformed magic on her.  No, I applied a few weeks of 'leash' work to her!

In the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1976 an article was done on Shepherd House and its Obedience Training classes.  One of the men interviewed said if he called his classes 'Trick' classes, he'd have more people sign up.
They did not use the strict Koehler method for training as they felt is was a bit harsh in some cases and wouldn't work on 'all' breeds.
So they developed a very non-harsh method that drew from several behavioral theorists.