Stephan Schwab

My Peruvian Paso gelding Maximiliano is progressing in his training. Now that he has lost his fear a bit and it is safe to actually be on his back I have been working on cues with him. Teaching him things has really helped to establish a good relationship.

He has been respectful from the beginning. Whenever we are together in a small space and he wants to turn around he never turns his back to me. That’s quite important, because the hind legs are the horses weapons and I definitely want those to point away from me. However, that’s not always possible and so he does a remarkable thing. He puts all his body weight on the hind quarters and then pivots around. That’s like saying “see, like this I really can’t kick”. I do appreciate that. He also knows that I like to see his face and so when I move so does he. Good Boy!

At the breeding farm in Virginia he had learned to turn left and right, go and stop. But that was just a start and it was in the bozal. While in Panama I made good experience with a bitless bridle that creates pressure on the horse’s cheek instead of pulling the mouse. There is no piece of metal in the mouth either, which makes it easier to eat and drink with the bridle on.

Maximiliano understood the pressure on the cheek immediately and is moving left when the pressure is on the right. But then who wants to pull on the reins all the time. He is so sensitive and reacts to every little thing. Why pull and yank and do all that heavy stuff? With such a sensitive horse a heavy hand would actually be dangerous.

Instead of pulling the reins we have worked on leg cues instead. I put more weight in the left stirrup and he turns left. More weight in the right stirrup means turns right. That feels natural to the rider and keeps you on the horse when doing sharp turns because your center of gravity is moved into the curve. For some reason it works much better to the left than to the right but he really tries to please and get it. Progress is good. Good boy!

The last time we trained it was a bit windy and so he spooked here and there because of the wind. However, he did not run away. He kind of asks whether he should run and if I stay calm and move him into a circle, he calms down and stops moving.

Unfortunately I lost an opportunity for a wonderful trail ride in the snow. I was afraid that he might spook because of snow falling of a tree branch or something else unknown to him. I feel we need to work a bit more on our trust relationship so that he becomes more secure and safer to ride.

What has changed dramatically from before is his behavior when I want to catch him. Before he was always trying to avoid me when there was space to move away. Now I can walk up to him and he stays and let me touch him. It’s not yet perfect but the more I just catch and release him, the more he just waits for me to come back.

Getting there. Good Boy!

Earlier this week our new Peruvian Paso Maximiliano arrived. He traveled from his birthplace in Virginia to Ohio more than 10 hours in a big semi trailer where about 12 horses fit in. Although he had company he was pretty scared when he came out of the trailer. That might also have been because of the running Diesel engine of the truck, the new surroundings or simply the fact that he has never traveled before. Probably a combination of all.

After calming him down a bit I walked him up the driveway very slowly. He was nervous and ready to flee but somehow he also trusted the human at his side (me) enough to stay. I took a while to get to the barn. We did several stops to look around while I was trying to talk to him in a calm voice. His stall has a small run outside. For the time being he prefers to stay outside looking over the adjoining hay field.

Maximiliano is black with a touch of chocolate in his mane. Right now he is wearing his winter coat. I’m expecting him to get very beautiful for the summer. He is also quite curious about other creatures like the barn cat.

And of course Maximiliano and Max, the Haflinger, made friends the same day they met. Here is Max nibbling his new friend.

Although I have ridden Maximiliano briefly I don’t intent to get up his back just yet. Instead I want to figure him out a bit more and do some groundwork first to establish our relationship and respect. I’ve also ordered a custom saddle all in black that has to arrive first.

Young humans and young horses are very similar in their way of treating things they are being told. Usually they try to ignore instructions and get away with it. So did Max, the Haflinger, this afternoon. I took him out of his stable and started to walk him towards the training area with the round pen. It’s a nice little walk down a long driveway and over some piece of township road.

Max is usually a nice and obedient little guy. He makes space when someone cleans out his stall. He waits until his hay is in the right place. When he first came to us he was a bit weak and since then has gained weight and strength. It appears that now step by step he is coming out of his shell and does show all the traits that one would expect from a two years old horse.

Right now it’s pretty cold and although Max is getting quite a lot of feed (grain and hay) he is always hungry. That’s quite normal for a horse. They basically like to eat all the time. We left the barn area and he started to look for grass under the snow. Of course that created a conflict. He wanted to eat grass and I wanted to walk down to the training area. What happened? He refused to continue walking and as soon as I pulled on the lead rope he started to buck and express his discontent. It went so far that he jumped really high and even did a few playful strides in the air with his front legs. Quite impressive and good to have a long lead rope ;-)

My reaction to him saying “no” in a horsy way was to have him run in circles around me with me not moving any feet. That’s the important part with horses. Who moves his feet looses. Who stands still while making the other run is the boss. Quite simple and effective.

So there he was running in a circle. That had some effect. After a few minutes he got the message and we were able to continue our walk to the round pen.

We arrived, I took off the lead rope and raised my arm. He immediately started to walk in the indicated direction and when I raised the same arm again he picked up speed. Just as he learned to do. I stepped in front of him and he stopped and gave me two eyes looking at me and waiting for more instructions. I sent him off in different directions a few times and everything was just perfect.

A little bit later in our training session I jumped up and down next to him while holding tight on to him with my arms. That’s the exercise to prepare him for a riding getting up on his back. Somehow he didn’t like me doing that. His mouth came to my boots and legs and he started to nibble. So I gave him a slap on the nose. Still he was repeating this a few more times and on both sides. He clearly wanted to let me know that he doesn’t like this exercise. That’s not ok. He has to learn to tolerate these things, because when a rider mounts him jumping up is part of the activity.

After we were done and when I stepped away he raised his head playing with his tongue and exposing his teeth. Not in an aggressive way but I feel that I got the message. He was still discontent and basically wanted to let me know that he does have teeth. So… That’s a big issue and totally not acceptable. I raised my arm to make him go in circles. He did but stopped after a few steps. He was testing me. To figure out whether I’m really sure about it. That’s a horses way to question one’s authority. No. Wrong answer. So I used the stick and the attached string to whip the ground. That made him go. Good answer. I raised my arm again and he went faster. He was still trying to test me but each time he slowed down I responded by raising my arm with the stick and string ready to hit the ground again to reinforce my command. I told him to change direction and he refused. By hitting the ground and clearly making him understand the new order I got him to comply. We did this a few times and after a while he was breathing hard and ready for some air. So he got to rest a while and think about how’s the boss.

The next exercise went right by the book without any questioning on his part.

Now that we had established our pecking order we were able to do a few more things and then ended the session with some desensitizing exercises and a lot of rubbing for good behavior.

The walk up to the stable was completely uneventful. No pulling on the lead rope. No searching for grass under the snow. He walked with the same speed as I and kept his relative position.

Good boy!