# Training Journal for Helios



## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

Wow, my upper body is sore today! Most of it is probably from carrying countless water buckets, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. Apparently I need more exercise!


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

That looks like an amazing facility you have access to. I absolutely love the photos.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

Thanks! I thought I read somewhere that you're in alberta too? Or you were? This is just west of Calgary in springbank.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

*2: A Day of Successes
*Today was an excellent day. When a girl loves her horse so, but unfortunately does not own a car or other mode of transportation to see him, she walks - 22km round trip to be exact. Over two hours each way!! It was the first time I decided to try it, and needless to say I'm _dead_. But it's worth it! Once the soreness goes away from today's walk, I'll be doing it again. And it's not a shabby view either. On clear days, you can see the rocky mountains:








Leo wasn't too bad to catch today. Like he has every day, he walked away but today it took less than a minute for him to stop when he realized I was just going to keep countering his movement. :lol:

He was great going over the stream to the round pen, hopped over it without any pressure on the lead. Then we had a very productive round pen sesh! It was a little longer than yesterday, with more direction changes and a little more pressure to stay forward. He's really responsive, which I love; he was stepping under himself and using his back better by the end of our session today, and tracking up more often.

*The Bridge Resolved
*Well..sort of. I decided that we'd head back over the bridge instead of jumping the stream (I'll get a pic tomorrow!). At first he put one foot on it, snorted and zoomed backwards a few steps. I didn't get after him, but just pulled him forward and asked again. Success! He gingerly crossed at a trot, and relaxed right after. It's the best crossing we've had so far! I honestly expected it to take more than two tries, but Leo continues to impress me. 

So after that, more hand grazing. I got a good picture of just how skinny he is, too. :evil: Some people..








But! We had a little more luck with the beet pulp today, so far he's just nosed around the feed bucket and hasn't been interested in it. So I sweetened the deal with molasses today, and he ate it (slowly, but he was!). I'm heading to the feed store tomorrow morning to get alfalfa cubes, rice bran and flax. Hopefully he'll love at least one or some combination. I have cool calories too. We'll make something work! He's been enjoying the unlimited hay and hand-grazing too, but I can't wait until he's in the open pasture with the other horses.

He's sure going to clean up nicely though, when I remember to bring scissors for his mane & bridlepath!!:








"See ya tomorrow human."


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

We had an AMAZING day!! Boyfriend came out and took videos, so I'll throw something together and upload it to youtube tonight. I'll post a link once it's done.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

Alright, here's the video from today! And for those of you who read my first post on this thread, you can see that he's doing much better with the bridge and gate. My clickers came in this morning, so we started clicker training too! Just 3 quick sessions of targeting, under 5 minutes each. If you're interested in learning more about clicker training, check out the thread http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/clicker-training-challenge-accepted-153311/. It gives a great explanation of how it all works, and why you may be interested utilizing this great tool with your horse(s).

We took a wither tracing today as well and emailed it to our saddle fitter, so hopefully there's a saddle on its way for trial soon! I'll have to buy a good correction pad to use until he fills out.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

*Another Great Day!*
I know I've said it before, but this horse continues to impress me. I also find it slightly hilarious that he was being sold as "too hot for kids", "not a beginner horse", "lots of get up and go". So far I'm seeing the exact opposite. While he's far from lazy, he's much happier with SLOW than GO, and his patience is endless. He's not spooky at all, and he tries to please with every ounce of his being. Now, I'm not saying I'm a beginner rider; I've been riding for 8 years now, and was blessed with a calm energy - this in itself can place a rider many steps ahead of somebody with the same years of experience. So maybe it's just me, maybe not. Either way, this is NOT a hard-to-handle horse, and I'm delighted that my eye proved me right when I went to look at him. I remember the first time I tried Leo out, his owner was having trouble with him. At one point she literally said "sorry he's being an a$$hole" and it took everything I had not to point out that there's a _huge_ difference between a horse who's being a jerk and a horse who's confused. He was the latter, but I bit my tongue.

So I walked there again today, got a better picture of the view!








He was released into the main pasture with the other horses last night and was a little hard to catch. It took less than five minutes though, so I'm glad about that. We went through the standard grooming process, then I tried to fix his mane trim a bit (it was baaaaadd....). I think it looks a little better, but overall it's still an utter hackjob. Oops. Good thing they grow back, I guess!

Next, we did a bit more targeting with the dustpan and he definitely has this exercise figured out. He almost seemed to be getting bored after 2 quick sessions? I guess it's time to move along to something more challenging. Ideas?? I'm thinking satellite targeting; he has to touch the target when I'm not holding it. Then maybe he can learn to fetch! Haha, just joking...kind of.

I decided to take him to the indoor arena up the road today, to see how he'd deal with it. It was great! I gave him the chance to burn off some steam and run at liberty, but he wouldn't have any of that. He'd trot trot trot away, then stop and turn around and walk back to me. He cantered with a bit of coaxing. And I've yet to see him throw a buck, even when galloping around. Talk about a grounded horse. :lol:






























After that I hopped on Leo bareback and we walked around, working on a big, swinging gait with some circles and serpentines. Either tomorrow or Friday I'm buying a surcingle and a chambon, so we can start working on a nice big stretch at the trot. He's borderline ewe-necked so it may take more time, patience and muscle development than I'm used to, but I'm willing to stick it out! I hope he is too. Even today he was showing excellent suppleness at the walk, readily bending on our circles and quite often accepting the bit's contact. I know we have a long road ahead, but I think we're off to a fantastic start. 

So we walked home and I hand-grazed him for an hour or so. Got a couple cute pics!















Hope everyone else had a good day too!


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

I can't make it out to see Leo today, but if anyone wants to have a go at his conformation, I've posted a critique thread: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-conformation-critique/conformation-critique-helios-245930/ . Thanks in advance.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

I didn't have enough time to take Leo to the indoor today, so we settled on a really good groom (he was muddy!), and brushing his mane and tail. I've been slowly chopping away at his mane too, trying to make it more straight and even. We did some more clicker training, and we've now moved on to targeting my hand and objects other than the dustpan. He's been picking it up nicely! I can't wait to go to Greenhawk early next week and pick up a surcingle and chambon so we can start working on a good stretch while we lunge. And last, I'll be hearing from my saddle fitter today about my saddle options! I love when things start to roll forward. 

His pasture today:


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

Today was another uneventful one. There was a storm rolling in, so I just groomed Leo and did a bit of clicker training. We're now moving on to different target hand signals. If I put my hand flat like I want a high-five and say "Target!", he bumps his nose into my hand. However, if I point at the blue dustpan and say "Target!" (at this point it's within reach so he doesn't have to step away), he moves away from my hand and bumps that target instead. We're still working on it, but he's picking it up quickly. He gets the correct target first try about 50% of the time; most of the time he'll still bump the target he last got a click from, and if there's no click he'll bump the other one. He was definitely figuring it out much better by the last quick session though! I took a video but I'd tied my phone to the fence post with the lead rope - I know right hahaha - and it was angled too high, so you can't really see anything. I'll get a better video tomorrow!

I did get some cute pictures though! He was in the same pasture as Friday so it was easy to find him; he was being bullied pretty badly in the main pasture with the other horses, so now he's buddies with the other outcast in the smaller pasture. They've been getting along wonderfully...okay, okay, they're pretty much inseparable when they're in there together! Thank goodness he hasn't been herd bound at all. :lol::shock:






























Hope everyone had a great day! Hopefully I'll hear back from my saddle fitter tomorrow, but I know it's the long weekend so I'm not expecting anything until Tuesday. :-| I've been enjoying all the ground time with Leo though, I think we're starting to bond nicely.


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

I haven't been to see Leo in THREE DAYS!

I do have a $150 Greenhawk gift card that should be arriving in the mail tomorrow, though. There are a few things I need to buy: a lunge line, surcingle and chambon. I also want to get gloves. Now that Leo is finally starting to get less ribby, sloooowly (and I've had him for TWO WEEKS today!!), it's time to start doing some light lunge work in a chambon to get him using his back properly and learning to stretch at the trot before my saddle gets in. He's borderline ewe necked, or possibly just lacking so much muscle that he looks that way, but regardless his head is straight up in the air at liberty so it may be a challenge to slowly bring it down! I think I'm ready for it, though. 

Speaking of which - time to check the mail then cycle out to see my guy! I'll take pictures of course. Be back in a few hours!!


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

*5 Instances Clicker Training has Been Invaluable for Leo's Training (so far!)*

I've now owned Leo for 22 days. We've had our fair share of discussions, progress, and I've definitely shed a few frustrated tears. I decided to try clicker training with him after reading http://www.horseforum.com/horse-training/clicker-training-challenge-accepted-153311/ and doing some of my own research online. We started in the standard way, with basic targeting (we used a dustpan) and standing politely with his head away from the treat container. We've now progressed to the point where he'll target any item in my hand if I say "Target!", including my hand itself if I hold it out like I want a high-five and give him the vocal cue. He will also target his blue dustpan if I point at it, and it's within his nose's reach. I've found, though, that clicker training has been invaluable in so many other, everyday ways. I thought I'd list five instances where basic clicker training has made a WORLD of difference for us.

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*1) Catching him in the pasture.* The first time I went to try Leo and had to catch him, I knew I had something interesting in store. His owner of the time tried and gave up within 5 minutes, so I offered to take over and give it a shot. It took less than ten minutes in his small paddock but he wasn't _really_ ready to cooperate; he was just tired of the chasing game and mildly annoyed.

Bringing him home to a 150+ acre boarding facility divided into 20-acre (ish) pastures was going to pose a giant problem. If he didn't want to get caught, there was no way it was going to happen. For his first week of boarding, he was in a smaller paddock - and lucky for me, because I got a chance to teach him targeting before he was out in the main pasture.

The first day he was out with the herd, it took me 15 minutes to catch him, only because I managed to separate him into one corner of the field and bribe him with treats. I decided to bring my clicker with me the next day to see if it would make a difference. My plan was to click every time he stopped running away, and that's just what I did. So, for the past 10 or so sessions, I've let him run away but clicked every time he stopped and looked at me. He has rapidly improved to the point where he now waits for me at the gate when I call for him, and patiently waits for me to clip on his halter! WIN! Once his halter is on, he _always_ gets a click and a treat, even on the days he wasn't so easy to catch. While I'm sure he and I would have come to this point eventually, clicker training has accelerated the results beyond anything I expected. I've never had a horse wait for me pleasantly at the gate, let alone after owning him for less than a month!

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*2. Sprays*. When I bought Leo, he wasn't just hard to catch. The bugs were really bad the second time I tried him out, and his previous owner apologized and said that he wouldn't let her spray him with the bug repellant. I'd brought out grooming tools and detangler, so I figured I'd try working with him and spraying his mane. After half an hour of a basic pressure/release session, he was doing okay but not as well as I'd hoped. At first I'd just raise the bottle at his mane and back up with him until he'd stop, then remove the spray bottle thus releasing the pressure. It took a while just to get him to stand there with the bottle near him, let alone spraying. Then I repeated the process except I'd spray the bottle away from him until he stopped freaking out at the noise, then removed the pressure by stopping the spray sound. Then, naturally, I combined the two. By the end, he would stand but he was clearly very tense and uncomfortable, leaning away from the spray but keeping his feet planted so I'd remove the pressure.

Once he was home, I used a similar idea as catching him - when he wasn't moving, he'd get a click and treat. Except I upped the ante; even when he had stood still and was getting his treat, I kept the bottle near his body. Within 1 quick session, he was great with the detangler. And a week later we went through the same process with the fly spray, which was also a different smell, bottle and sound, and he went from backing around the paddock in panicked circles and giving my hands rope burn multiple times, to standing with a leg rested in twenty minutes of a click and treat every time he stood to be sprayed. While I do agree that clicker training sessions should always be short, I think it pertains more to when the horse is learning a new trick versus correction of bad behaviour. This is because I also agree with finishing what you've started, and if my goal is to have the horse standing calmly for whatever stage I'm at then I'm going to keep clicking and treating every time he stops, until his feet are planted and he's relaxed at that stage. The magical thing about clicker training is that it helps you reach desired results potentially _so much faster. _And what he learns really sticks, because he knows exactly what he SHOULD do, and that it's beneficial to him too - it's not just a session of him being very aware of what he's trying avoid and doing what he can to get rid of whatever that may be.

We're at the point where I can walk up to him while he's eating hay and spray him, and the most he'll do is turn and look at me, then keep eating. I honestly thought this would take so much longer, but more than anything I'm so proud of this horse who so naturally so nervous about everything.

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*3. Flymask. *Naturally, he threw a fit about wearing a flymask the first time too, so I quickly incorporated the clicker. Same deal. Started by holding it at his head's level but far away, and backed up or countered any of his forward movement until he stopped. Lower mask, click, treat. By now he has figured out that when he's uncomfortable and REALLY wants to move away, standing nicely = click and treats, and is therefore his best option in such situations. It took maybe 15 minutes to have him wearing a full flymask that covered his ears and happily eating his hay. 

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*4. Farrier. *The BO of this place is also a farrier, but does all his horses in this contraption, the name of which I've forgotten:








Anyways, as you can imagine, he felt incredibly claustrophobic and lost it a couple times in there, scraping up his legs and making him stressed as hell in general. Before we decided to pull him out and wait to call a farrier who'd trim him outside of the box, I thought I'd try standing by his nose and just getting him to target my hand for treats. Magic. While he was clearly still nervous about the procedure, he seemed to really appreciate the easy, rewarding distraction. I always heard that animals don't eat if they're truly afraid, but he is _definitely_ a nervous eater. :lol: You can tell how relaxed (or not) he is by how feverishly he takes the food from my hand. :lol: He's never been rude or pushy, but he gets about 30x faster taking it from my hand and chewing it at lightspeed while looking around all worry-eyed. Anyways, the BO trimmed his last two hooves with ease and we were golden. Leo had been panicking so badly before that I expected we'd have to take him out of there and call it a day.

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*5. Hosing Down. *Well, if you've read his reactions in the previous four instances, you can make a pretty safe prediction about his reaction to a horse spraying water in his vicinity, let alone _near_ him, or - god forbid - _ON HIM. _Hosing him down was definitely our biggest challenge of yet, and it still took just one (albeit long) session for him to stand still while being sprayed with the hose. I recruited my boyfriend to hold his lead rope, and we used the same process as the fly spray - clickedntreated every time he stood. This was 3 days ago. Yesterday the boyf held him again, and it took no time (maybe 30 seconds) for him to not step away from the water. Today, I had the leadrope looped twice around the fence, and sprayed him down while he rested a foot and took a snooze with complete slack in the rope. SAYWHAT?!

Okay. Maybe my horse is just extra willing to learn or behave; I can't tell you that for sure. But what I do know is that he's naturally very nervous in every new situation he has encountered. Every time I've incorporated clicker training into a session, it has accelerated our progress way beyond anything I could ask for. I'm also lucky to have a horse who has, from day one, been incredibly respectful about food and hasn't been pushy for it even once - despite the fact that he must be pretty hungry by looking at those ribs. Here he is, waiting politely for dinner outside the barn while I mix it up right in front of him:










I don't know many horses who would be quite so respectful when I'm mixing soaked alfalfa cubes & beet pulp with rice bran, flax seeds, Cool Calories, veggie oil and paprika right in front of him. :lol: Have I mentioned that I LOVE my horse?

I'll post more pics later this evening, and maybe even a video if I get the time to sit on Windows Move Maker for a couple hours. Hope everyone enjoyed their day!


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

*August 17 Part 2: Pictures

*Like I mentioned right above this post, I have some round pen pictures of Leo with the chambon. It was his first time wearing one, so I was worried about how he'd react to the poll pressure. He did well enough, though he couldn't feel the pressure unless his head was WAY up since I had it generously loose for the first session. I wanted to let him get used to the rig before asking much of him. So today's session was short and sweet at about 20 minutes of walk/trot with the chambon very loose. I think he's going to respond very well to it as we gradually work him into the stretch. He's currently a sad combination of no muscle that would be very inverted if he had it. :lol: I don't think he's carried himself properly for more than 100 steps in his whole life (kidding, but you know what I mean)! He has long legs and an uphill build, though, so he tracks up without much effort at all. I think with time he's going to be a very beautiful mover.

Anyways, here are a few pics from our quick session today. We did 10 mins each side, I was just lazy when taking stills from the videos and got a lot more going to the left. And please do ignore my horrendous posture and outfit...wasn't thinking I'd have someone to take videos when I got dressed this morning. :lol:









































And some recent ones I've taken and filtered:


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

Well I haven't posted in a while! Leo is doing great, it's been pouring rain the past couple days so I've just gone and fed him and not much else. Our progress with the chambon is coming along excellently, and he's almost ready for side reins! I'm really loving watching him progress. He started out jumping at everything, being nervous about everything, and a being handful during every new experience. Just this week, we changed out clicker training focus to letting me touch his ears - in one day, it was a success! And this is a horse who would, if you lightly brushed his ears, _flip out _and scoot backwards, jerking his head away as fast as possible. Poor guy, I'm really starting to think he was more of a rescue case than I thought. With patience he now lets me touch and hold his ears (though at this point, he's still uncomfortable with the idea but tries so hard for me!). He'll also drop his head when I say "down", whereas before he needed the poll pressure - and before _that_, he wouldn't drop his head to any level of pressure! He'll let me stretch all 4 legs now. The first time I tried to stretch a front leg forward, he **** near reared. He'll also back on command without me touching his chest, as well as move his hindquarters without me having to touch him. Still working on moving his shoulder away from me, he understands when I touch his neck but he doesn't understand without me touching him.

We went on a trail ride last week, and he was pretty good. Really his only issue was with the cantering, which I knew we weren't even CLOSE to ready for, but my trail buddy insisted - he took off in front of me, and Leo's Thoroughbred definitely came out. It was a race before I had any say! Then, naturally, he wouldn't stop if there was a flippin brick wall in front of him, so I got pretty scratched up in the trees before I finally pulled him up. Yikes!

Anyways, pics:
Heading down to the river for our trail ride:









Playing in the pond one day before I grabbed him:









Still skinny, but he's finally getting some neck muscle:


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## azarni (Aug 17, 2008)

*March 18, 2014

*It's spring, what what!! A lot has happened (well, not really). Leo sat in a pasture all fall and winter, we moved back to BC in February, and now we're starting all over again. This past month he's really figured out lunging and carries himself beautifully on the lunge, just in a halter. I've started riding him once a week as he gets stronger, and he seems to really enjoy it though he can't carry us both properly yet. The clicker training is going well too, though I've just been using it in his normal training as an accelerator and not so much to teach him new tricks. More pics and videos soon!!  

A couple weeks ago after lunging:









Checking out his new digs the first night after moving:









The boyfraaand's first time lunging! He makes Leo look tiny (he's 6'6"). This was back in January, right before we moved from Calgary.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Such a pretty boy!


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