Jim Anderson Clinic - Day 2 - Spooking My Horse On Purpose

Saturday, October 1st, 2016.  Previously posted on Facebook.

Here is my review of my go at Day 2 of the Jim Anderson clinic. We went "back to basics." After Cayenne's little demo of her spook on Day 1, Jim said he thought about it a lot and wanted to help me get her better. Not that she will not ever spook because she is a horse and a cow bred, looky horse. He said that the spook itself didn't bother him so much as her continued elevated adrenaline level afterwards and the fact that she did not give to pressure (when I held onto the rein) I would not have ended up getting danced on and nearly sat on if she would have just given to that rein pressure.

We went over what I have done in the past when she has spooked. Like I said, she is very "looky" and that doesn't bother me. But, there have been times where she will take huge leaps straight in the air or whirled 180 degrees and launched over relatively nothing. She is very fast and I have been lucky to ride her out every time except 2 of those spooks. I've hit the ground twice this year including Day 1. It does not matter if she's fresh or physically tired. I have gotten her in big trouble on some of those spooks and sometimes just when she's going overboard with lots of little spooks or the tippy-toe-high-head-blowing-nose crap she will pull. I have pulled her head around, jerked her around, spurred her on the inside to kick her hind end around, etc to try to let her know that it is absolutely not acceptable. She maintains a little better after that but it really hasn't helped. I never did that to her when she was green because I am a lot more understanding and patient with a young horse. Cayenne is 10 years old and I started her as a 3 year old. I have ridden this horse a lot of years and at about 6 or 7 was when I started having issues with the violent spooks. That correlates with about the time when I started thinking, "I've had enough of this, now you will get punished for spooking." I figured she was trained enough, had been hauled to countless events, trail competitions, etc that she should be trying harder to maintain. While I still think that is true, I went about it the wrong way.

So, Jim helped me get to the root of my issue: Cayenne is a spooky horse and when she spooks, I have caused a fear of punishment. So, I get a big spook and then a high level of tension in anticipation of the aftermath. The "fix" is to teach her a new result of her spook. We started on the ground with her in a rope halter. I stood in the "scary corner" of the arena with a couple flags and Jim checked her out. She did her typical flyaway, high anxiety reaction. Jim pulled her around and asked her to give both vertically and laterally with her head/neck. She flew around quite a few times and was braced up against the pressure. He got her to give and then we started again. I took her after a few minutes and he flagged. We got her where she'd trot around in circles and I'd use a blunt stick to keep her out of the circle when she went by him (by poking her in the shoulder or ribs) and if she reacted dramatically to the flags, which she did many, many times, I'd drop the stick and grab the rope up close and bend her head around to her shoulder/armpit until she stopped and gave softly. We'd stop and give her breaks as she really was trying. Once we had it in hand pretty well, Jim had someone else be my flagger while he worked with other people in the clinic. He said that once I could get her bent around and soft in 2 seconds from the spook (rather than 6, 10, or 20) then I could saddle her up. We got to this point.

We actually put her in the round pen and did some joining up first just to help her get back "with me." At that point, we also dealt with her excessively pinny ears at liberty. She used to pin her ears on the line, which Jim had me fix this spring by chucking her under the chin with the tail of my whip. Jim chucked her under the chin when she gave him a dirty look and then called her to him with the other whip. Of course, she was completely shocked but she kept her ears up! I had to chuck her twice to get her snarly ears up and then she quit. I'd actually forgotten that she did that since she hadn't done it on the line in so many months.

Under saddle, Jim rode her to feel out her spook. I stood in the corner again and he loped circles on that end of the arena. He did a one-rein stop on her a few times without her being spooked. Then we moved on to me scaring her with the flags. As soon as she'd spook, he'd one rein stop her and wait until she gave completely (standing with head at his boot) She was not in "trouble" like I'd taught her. She just had to give to pressure and use her thinking brain rather than stay in that elevated state of mind. He did it quite a few times and then I got on. Nothing like knowing someone is purposely going to spook your horse while you lope circles!