Tag: Mojo

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Mojo and the dummy body

I made a body for Mojo, I just need to stuff it more and make it heavier. The idea is to desensitise  and counter condition him to having someone mounting and being not very balanced about the process. He wasn’t bothered about the “body” after the initial sniffing at it outside the arena, it was on the fence whilst I groomed him.
The plan now is – once the body is heavier and sits better – to walk him round with the body on and get him used to someone wobbling on top.
If a horse feels out of balance with the rider it makes them fearful – just like we are if we feel unbalanced and about to fall. As the sympathetic nervous system takes over the horse may run or he may freeze. Mojo tends to run in  these situations.

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Saddle, bridle and long reins.

April 19th 2016
Today I saddled and bridled Mojo in his stable, not a flinch or movement – apart from his hay eating.

Then attached the long lines but he didn’t want to leave his hay so I did take the hay net with me and tied it on the sandschool fence. Now we have just rails rather then filled in boards it is easier for him to eat it through the rails. I left him outside the school with the hay net for a while as the farrier had a horse tied up next to the gate to the school.

I then asked him to walk on and in to the school, we then just walked round with me on the left side – which is the side he likes. Then I went to the other side and we walked round a bit more. He still wont go out on a circle so more needs to be done to help him with this.

Next was some standing at the mounting block – he was excellent when I leaned over him, put pressure in the stirrup and wiggled the saddle around.

Big jackpot when he got back to the stable.

Mojo with his saddle and bridle on.

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April 2016 Update

What a difference between today when I fly sprayed Mojo and last year when he tried to jump on me.
He was eating his hay and just stood whilst I sprayed him on the left side. Then he decided the smell was a bit strong, but after a sniff and a few treats he was ok when I went round the other side.
I also long lined him and he is OK on the left but still tried to put himself back on that side when I changed sides. So I got his frisbee and threw that in front of him and he walked forward and forgot all about me being on the “wrong” side.
Then added the legs and he walked round with them on. I took off the lines and pulled the legs off and pushed them off and tapped his rump with the boot. All he did was come a bit closer to the mounting block.

I have been working on leading him from the right side and he is getting better. A few days a go I had him at liberty and we walked round the school but he did try to move to the other side. So I got the frisbee and threw that for him to follow, once he was concentrating on that he was fine and very relaxed going forwards. Yesterday I did it over some poles and he was long and forward over them following the frisbee.

He did leave once to go and see if the people by the fence had anything for him, but he soon came back.

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More saddling

Saddled and bridled Mojo with no fuss, fidgeting or moving away. Even though the old bitted bridle has a browband that is a tad too small. He stood whilst I fiddled with it and adjusted the cheekpieces. Then we went for a walk with a headcollar and the saddle in place.
Now it is getting better weather (although not over the weekend as the weather forecast isn’t too good) we can start to do some mini treks in hand.
Then I need to get Liz to ride him again and sit on him myself – I will wait until he is OK with people being clumsy get on and off. I am not as agile as I used to be and sometimes get a little stuck dismounting.

I also cut the dreadlocks out of his feathers – so he looks a bit raggedy now. They grow so quickly it wont be long before they look OK. Roll on the warm weather when I can wash them.

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Mojo and the dentist

Mojo had his teeth done this lunchtime, he was very good about the experience. He got a little worried at the new person, but Corrie was extremely patient with him.  I was very pleased with him – he did hold it together, he did get a lots of scratches and a treat at the end.
He was however very happy to go out in the sunshine naked afterwards.

Before that we did some weaving round cones, walking over poles and targeting a frisbee that I threw on the ground. I had to keep him occupied whilst waiting for the dentist. He was better today with staying on the mat until cued to come to the mounting block or cued to target a cone. We hadn’t done that recently, I then put out the tarp and he was very keen to go and stand on that.

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Mojo being ridden.

Today my daughter Liz came to help me with Mojo. He is still a little unsure of new people and he hasn’t seen Liz for a while. So Liz brought him in and took his rug off and gave him some chaff.
Then we got the tack out and put the mounting block and a mat in the school.
Liz then went to get Mojo out of the stable, he turned his back – as he did with me when I first started with him. Liz stood quietly and reinforced any sign of him turning round and coming to her. Held out the headcollar and let him sniff it a few times, then he let her put it on.
We tied him loosely next to his hay net and let him eat whilst we groomed and Liz cleaned his feet.
Then I saddle him and gradually and gently did up his girth. We then put on his bitless bridle and attached the 12 ft line and took him in the school.
Liz asked him to walk a few circles – he responded very well to voice cues and walked and trotted – a bit hurried at first but he soon relaxed.
We then asked him to stand by the mounting block, I counter conditioned him to Liz mounting – he was slightly tense at first but she sat quietly and he relaxed again. Then she asked him to walk forward, which he did from a voice cue.
Liz walked and trotted him around the arena, he was quite stiff round the corners but he didn’t seem anxious. We only did about 4 minutes – 2 on each rein, then Liz asked him to “whoa” and he stopped and stood queitly.

I need to do more with his fear of strangers, so he gets used to anyone handling him.
Also do some long lining to get him bending more and continue with his stretching exercises.

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Mojo Trotting a Circle

I bought a long lunge type whip, more like a stick though and then tied a bag on the end. This I used to get Mojo trotting round me – he loves to chase the bag so a longer one was easier for me to get him to trot a circle.


I now have a saddle but haven’t tried it on him yet. Will do that tomorrow and then take some photos for the saddler – it is the same size as the one he wore last week.

We had a bit of a disaster whilst foot trimming, he kicked out and somehow got his leg caught over the lead rope, and as he was tied up he panicked and broke both the head collar and the lead rope clips.
We let him settle and reassured him with lots of scratches. Then I held him so it wouldn’t happen again and he was very good with his hind feet. We do think he was a little shocked by it all and it took a while for the adrenaline to dissipate.

He seemed fine once it was all done, the other horses were being fed during the final foot being rasped. He looked but made no attempt to pull away even though he could see his tea.
He went out to the field once he had eaten his well earned tea.

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Mojo and saddling

Mojo is pain free now after his Equine Touch therapy, so it is back on track with his saddle desensitisation.
I have been able to put on his numnah and surcingle with no problems, so a few days a ago I tried his saddle again. He was fine with having it on and the girth fastened and walking around with it on.
He still needs to be happy to stand at the mounting block so that is what we did today. Just with his surcingle on, it took a few attempts to get it fastened due to my clumsiness!
We got there in the end and I was very pleased with him.
Sorry for my very dusty pony!

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Mojo, the barrel and frustration.

I have just finished a shaping course with Jo Hughes and Carolyn Jenkinson of The Academy of Positive Horsemanship

Mojo was much more animated during this course than the last one, he got quite frustrated too when the rewards were not forth coming. I waited for a behaviour I wanted on the 3rd day and Mojo decided that was not a good idea.

I now need (with Jo Hughes help) to improve his impulse control and put the mugging on an extinction program.

Otherwise he is good with following the target and doing the agility obstacles. The umbrella was no problem when I opened and closed it several times. He couldn’t wait to stand on the tarp and his staying still on the mat is better. I now need solid cues for all these behaviours.

Then onwards with the foot lifiting – he did hold it up for a few seconds last time and I need to do this everyday and be consistent and not reward his pawing and stomping.

This is a video of him with the umbrella.

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Mojo Trotting

I have struggled to get Mojo a bit more animated when following a target, probably due to me not going fast enough. So my daughter came to help today, we put 2 cones out as he stations nicely at these and then she got him to follow the target stick and upped the reinforcement for trotting, he was getting quite lively towards the end. However Liz can run faster than I can so I need to get his trotting on a cue so he can trot to the cones by himself.

Before this he was very wary meeting a new person, a few big startle responses as Liz touched him, but he soon decided she was trustworthy and really seemed to enjoy the session.

When you have a horse who is nervous like Mojo you have to go slowly and desensitise to so much. It is like starting a horse from the beginning. Restarting often takes much longer than starting a youngster with no experience of aversive methods.