Mouthing Cooper
Week 5 Lara Beth and Cooper
Mouthing
Cooper has progressed to accepting the bit and has been willing and engaged in all the mouthing exercises that we started this week. In The Equine System every exercise builds upon the next. In fact, prior to wearing a bit Cooper has already learnt the three most important things he needs to excel this week.
Trusting in my decisions as a good leader
Giving to pressure
Understanding halter cues
Leadership
From day one, every step of the way Cooper has learnt he can trust in my decisions to keep us both safe. There has never been a moment in Cooper’s training where he has needed to fear me.
Every day I consistently establish my role as the leader by choosing when and where Cooper takes his feet. Throughout the mouthing process Cooper has become even more open to learning. He is continuously searching for answers to the problems I present to him.
Giving to pressure
Teaching Cooper to give to pressure has been a high priority. This began at liberty when I put pressure on Coopers hind quarter as he learnt to Face up. Surprisingly, this exercise relates directly to mouthing. This is because regardless of whether the pressure is moving the hinds at liberty or lowering the head in a halter the principle of pressure and release is the same.
Cooper, like all horses, learns from the release of pressure. On Wednesday when I introduced the mouthing harness, I was confident that Cooper would understand how to accept the new gear softly. The link to Cooper's first mouthing session is available @brumby diaries Lara Beth on FB.
Halter Cues
The system of training that I am using to educate Cooper teaches a specific set of cues;
head down, bend/ flex left and right, step forward and back...etc. When introducing the long reins on Friday the transition to the bit flowed smoothly because Cooper already had a solid foundation in the halter.
For example when I work Cooper in a halter on a circle, I open my inside shoulder in the exact same manner as I do when I work Cooper on a circle in a bit. The best part is I will open my shoulder in the exact same way when we ride a circle at EQUITANA in November.
For more information on The Equine System that Lara is using to train Cooper check out www.equinesystem.com
