Youtube videos

I set up my video camera and took some video in 2008.  This winter I am going to try and pull out some useful clips to show what I am doing with my horses.  These are not going to be teaching videos but will show some of the rein mechanics and how I set things up.  Mostly they are to give people ideas and show what my clicker trained horses can do.

March 2009: Willy flips a hula hoop over his head. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0FgvQNnosY

I made this video for my niece and it is a bit dark but Willy, my older TB, picks up and flips the hula hoop over his head.  I had decorated the hoop with Christmas decoration for something else, which made it harder, but he still did it.

Uploaded Feb 2009: Rosie cantering in-hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1xOQ2_9Abo

This is a short clip of a session where I was working on cantering in-hand.  She offered it a while back when I was working on something else so we have been practicing it on good days. She has an easier time going right than left so we have focused mostly on the right lead, but in this video she shows a few good strides of cantering on the left lead. This is hard work and I don't ask for a lot, but she has been steadily improving and seems to think it is great fun.

Uploaded Jan 2009:  Rosie 2008: A progress report showing going to the mat, posing, back feet on the mat, closing up and walk work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xrYLR7fExM&feature=channel_page

Here are my comments on the video. Rosie summer 2008

This video was shot in June of 2008 and shows her walking to the mat, posing, putting her back feet on the mat, closing up her stance and some walk work.  I debated about whether or not to click and treat when taking the movies, but I decided to leave the clicks in as they show some of the steps I used to train these behaviors.

Front feet on mat:  She loves her mat which is a piece of plywood.  I have spent time teaching her to stand square on it and also worked on being able to leave her and go around.  I should have checked her back feet and had her step up. She ended up a bit stretched because she stepped forward to the mat without paying attention to her back end.

The pose:  I have been working on a few different things with her front end.   She already knew the pose, but this year I worked on making it a more dynamic exercise as well as teaching her to soften at the poll without dropping her front end down. In this little sequence I am clicking for a few different things. I clicked her for adding a little lateral flexion toward the side on which I was standing. I clicked her for allowing me to pass in front of her and I clicked for her lifting her poll and the base of her neck.  

She is still figuring this out and she sometimes does it in steps so you can see a big movement where she brings her neck up. I am actually looking for her to lift and reach a tiny bit forward with her neck while keeping the elevation so that she goes forward and keeps her neck long as she flexes at the poll.

Just as a note, if this was a novice horse, I would have been concerned about clicking when she was shaking her head at the flies.  But she knows this exercise so well that I was pretty sure she would not add in the shake.

Back feet on the mat: I started by having her come forward to the mat with her back feet so she knew what we were doing.  I have been using that method to start horses putting their back feet on the mat as it is easier than backing them on to it, or walking past it.   Once they understand the point of the exercise, I teach them to back on to the mat. It is a good way to learn to control the hind end.   We had not done this in a while so I had to remind her. I love how good she has gotten at letting me rock her back and forth and place her feet.

Closing up: I taught her to walk her back feet up to her front feet. This was hard for her and she wanted to be crooked to avoid tucking her pelvis but she is getting the hang of it here. She has actually improved a lot since I took this and I need to video her again.

Some walk work: I just threw this in because it was on the same DVD.  I am working on asking her to pick herself up at the walk and do some walking in-hand as well as some backing. She got very distracted by the neighbors and wanted to look over at them.  A few years ago it would have been a struggle to get her attention back but here she was pretty good about coming back to walking with me.

I have some more video of her latest tricks and some groundwork that I can share. And I have lots of riding, but that is going to be the hardest to edit as we go in and out of the camera.

If you have any questions about anything, you can email me.  Everything I am showing here is still a work in progress.

January 2008:  Guinea pigs, just for fun.
part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKftLNS1wQ4
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO8YcsAMyoM

January 2008: Buster the mini lying down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ot0htpaFws