Well, first day of the new year! I had a lot
of fun working Jackson and Sadeem. There is
more distraction working/playing with two
horses at the same time than with only one,
but it can be more fun! It is fun watching
Sadeem learn from Jackson. It is fun
watching them interact together. It is fun
to watch Jackson go through his trick
routine, trying to get my attention, when I
am working with Sadeem. I worked them both
for about half and hour then let them spend
time in the yard digging for grass.
Sadeem
Sadeem continues to amaze me! His Jambette
with his left leg is getting better and
better. I just started to teach it on his
right side. I only am asking for a couple of
repetitions. He seems somewhat easily
distracted, so I keep it short. With the
clicker, he seems to remember and learn from
session to session. He also looks like he is
trying to either bow or lay down sometimes.
He sees Jackson do it all the time.
Today was a first as well. Sadeem reared
twice on command today! I am going to
attribute his learning it to allelomimetic
behavior, where animals learn from watching
other animals. He sees Jackson doing it
command all the time. Yesterday, when I
worked them, I would occasionally raise the
whip and ask Sadeem to rear by saying “UP!.”
Once he got a little light on the front end
(didn’t even leave the ground), but I
clicked and rewarded that. I only asked
twice, I think yesterday.
Today, I watched for when he was looking at
me and more energetic. Then I would raise
the whip and say “UP.” The first time, he
got light on the front end. I clicked and
rewarded that. Then a little bit later, I
asked again, and he did a small rear! I
really praised him and petted him. Then I
asked again later and he did another small
rear! It is so exciting to see how quickly
he learned that! I know that since he is
still young, I don’t want to ask much or any
height at all, but to teach him that he can
do it. From here, I want to teach him to do
a more controlled rearing using the cordeo.
That is my goal for this summer.
Jackson
Jackson is so fun! He is getting more
playful. Today Jackson accomplished one of
my goals. He free lunged around me at a
trot! Both directions! He even free lunged
around me and Sadeem! This was so cool! I
have wanted this for a while! He just was
ready and did it. Very, very fun!
As soon as we got to the pasture, he laid
down. That is his usual M.O. lately. He and
Sadeem ran around a little bit. Then they
both came running to me. Jackson had some
great rears today! I have been asking him to
hold them and keep his feet tucked in. We
made some progress on that today. He is even
holding them and walking 4 or 5 steps, even
though I am not asking for it.
