I was out riding one day not too long ago when I decided that I was going to try something new with Miracle. What I was doing new is too hard to explain on paper but anyway I was trying to get Miracle to do something that he knew how to do but instead turning his head the opposite way… following me? Thus it was the same leg cue but it was like in reverse… Now then I tried doing this going to the right and once he really tried doing what I was telling him to I gave him time to think. Then kept that up until he was able to do what I wanted him. When I tried doing the same thing again quite awhile later except on his left side he was really trying at first but when he just couldn’t understand what I wanted him to do he got angry with me. First let me say something though, since you might be thinking “if he knows how to do it on the right shouldn’t he be able to do it on the left?” the answer is “no” horses have from top to bottom different “characters” on their left and right sides. Proceeding to the story; once I realized he wasn’t trying anymore but trying to get at me I “turned up” his head (so his nose was touching my leg) and was holding him there waiting for him to calm down when all of a sudden he just falls over! Without even laying down or anything! Just like if you had a 2 by 4 piece of wood standing up and you push on it with your finger it will fall down flat. That’s what my asinine Horse did! I was laughing by then because it was so funny that he just fell over (no one got hurt) but then I realized maybe he did that to get rid of me. Consequently I got back on him and kept up what we had been doing previously. Instead of falling over this time he laid down real fast! Oh no. He was going to get into a habit of lying down or something so I would stop what I was doing. Well I quit what I was doing (I didn’t know what else to do) and went on to something else. When I was heading home about an hour later I decided I would try it again. Sure enough when I tried it again Miracle went down on his knees preparing to lie down. Immediately I stopped what I was doing and swatted him with my reins on the forequarters to keep him from lying down and he scrambled back up. Ahha! I got him! Making this already long story short he went down on his knees again and also did a lot of almost lay-downs before he finally learned what I wanted him to do. He can now do what I wanted him to do, to begin with, thoroughly! (He is way to fast of learner! Imagine… he learned to do something totally new in one day!) To end this here is a “chart” of different things Miracle has done with me on him:
Slipped: 6 times
Fall/lay down: 3 times
Gone down on his knees: 5 times
Bucked me off: 2 times
Bucked: A gazillion times
