Communication through Scratching

I had just come in from spending some time scratching my stud colt Globetrotter Moth in all his favorite places when an email on that very topic appeared in my inbox. While there are lots of training tasks I could do with Moth right now, what seems to be benefiting our relationship most is these short, focused, quiet times together. I know from experience that when he turns two later this year, he’ll eventually cross a mental threshold where he’ll be more interested in tasks. For now, companionship is good enough.

If you are on horsemanship clinician Warwick Schiller’s email list, then you will have seen his “Scratching for Connection” message. I could easily put pictures to his story in my mind because I was once in the spot that his client was. Twenty years ago, I had to be shown that a very stoic Fell Pony I owned actually did have an itchy spot and did enjoy being scratched there. Now I’m pretty good at eventually finding the itchy spot on any pony I spend time with. And scratching my foals is how I begin establishing our relationship. It’s then easy to move on to building their basic skills, such as wearing a halter, yielding their quarters, not using me as a chew toy, leading, having their feet handled, and loading into a trailer.

Schiller uses different terminology, but in general what we’re doing is establishing a language that lets us communicate. We can scratch and then quit at a particular point of achievement to let them know what their achievement was, or as Schiller describes, we can scratch and quit when a stoic equine indicates they notice what we’re doing, acknowledging their choice to acknowledge us. Or we can scratch in reaction to an achievement to express our appreciation. By establishing these patterns of communication, we can build on them in ways that may be unique to the two of us but nonetheless enrich our relationship.

At the moment, I wouldn’t call Moth stoic. He’s quite willing to express himself about what he thinks of his world and the beings in it. When I am scratching Moth, he interacts with me almost continually. And then when I leave, he stands still. I know by that stillness, and that he stays with me when I’m scratching him rather than walk off, that I have made a favorable impression on him. And that’s good enough for right now.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2024

At the Sentinel's Request

The Sentinel is my senior Fell Pony mare Bowthorne Matty. She has earned that name by repeatedly standing apart from the herd looking into the distance, as if watching for trouble. The picture here shows the same behavior in the corral, letting the three younger ponies nap while she stands watch.

When my ponies get their feed buckets, they are often tied to a fence so that each pony gets their bucket without competition. (The buckets contain vitamins, probiotics, and other supplements; minerals are available loose and free choice.) The other advantage of giving them buckets when they’re tied is I can tell if they’re eating what I’ve given them, instead of the bucket being emptied by someone else. Even when they’re tied, I watch to make sure each pony is enthusiastically focused on their bucket, eating its contents. If that’s not the case, I investigate to correct whatever is keeping the pony from eating.

Occasionally, the Sentinel will stand back from her bucket and not touch it. When I first saw the behavior, I was puzzled. I figured out the situation by going to her and standing next to her bucket to watch. She would then start eating. Once she started eating, if I attempted to leave, she stepped back again and quit eating. But if I stayed there, she would finish the contents of her bucket.

I have responded to the Sentinel’s request and she is finishing her bucket in thanks.

I can’t know for sure, but the conclusion I’ve reached is it usually happens when we’re having windy weather. She seems to be requesting that I take over the sentinel job while she eats. I assume it’s because she can’t hear what’s going on around her because of the wind, and her sentinel responsibilities mean she must keep watch rather than eat. Now when I see the behavior, I recognize the Sentinel’s request. I join her and don’t leave until she has completed eating. When I respond to the Sentinel’s request, she cleans up her bucket just like normal. There aren’t many beings in my life that take their job that seriously. Always something to learn from my ponies!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Starting to Walk Together at Liberty

A Fell Pony colleague recently asked me how to start walking with a pony at liberty. I like questions like that because they make me think! In this case, I had to think back quite a few years to how I got started. The good news is that most of us already have probably started without even knowing we’re doing it.

By walking with a pony at liberty I mean walking from one place to another or in a particular pattern with no tack connecting me to the pony. They willingly walk beside me, stopping, starting, and changing direction whenever I do. Mostly I am doing things at a walk with the pony right beside me where they would be if there were a lead rope between us. Sometimes I increase the distance between us, which requires a stronger connection between me and the pony, and it’s certainly possible to send the pony away from me and bring it back, if our connection is strong enough. And sometimes I will ask for a faster gait such as a trot or canter.

The way that I got started was to evolve something we were regularly doing with a halter and lead rope between us to doing the same thing without that physical connection. Once we’d figured that out, it was possible to build on that. Rather than communicating via the halter and leadrope, we communicated via body language. It’s likely your pony is already paying attention to your body language when it comes to being led, so this sets you up well for success!

First, leave the halter and lead rope on, and be more intentional about how you move your body to communicate with your pony. Perhaps you can stand up taller before you start walking. Perhaps you can take a step without moving the lead rope. Perhaps if you use voice commands, you can say ‘walk’ before you change anything else. Look for the slightest reaction from your pony, and reward it, whether they just flick an ear or raise their head or perhaps even prepare their body to take a step. And build from there. Remember this can be subtle stuff, so pay really close attention to what you are doing and how they respond.

Another thing that I have found helpful in working with ponies is to have a succession of ask ‘levels.’ Ask subtly first, then a little less so, then more assertively, etc. Be really consistent each time you ask, with the goal being they recognize the ask with the most subtle cue. For instance, if my goal is to have my pony step forward when I do, my first ‘ask’ will be to visualize what I want. Yes, I’ve had a pony respond to this sort of ask. It is incredibly humbling. My second ask will be to stand tall. My third will be to lean forward. None of this has any impact on the lead rope. My fourth ask will be to take a step, trying not to move the lead rope. And wait. If my pony doesn’t follow me, then my fifth ask would be enough of a tug on the lead rope to get them to move their feet forward to stay with me. Then I will start the series of asks again from the beginning. Eventually, if we’re patient enough and consistent enough, the pony will start to see the pattern and respond with movement before the lead rope is engaged. We can then build our liberty work from there.

Another way to ‘start’ is while you’re already walking. Then without using the lead rope, stop and see if your pony stops with you, and build from there, again using your body language and not the lead rope for communication. It’s important to be really clear with your body language, so if you’re walking, stand tall and plant your heels with authority when you stop, maybe even raising your elbows to increase the ‘size’ of your intent. It’s my experience that I need less and less ‘size’ or ‘authority’ over time because they learn that I’m using my body language intentionally to communicate, as opposed to being unconscious about it, which I definitely have been in the past.

What I have learned over time is that I can be really sloppy with my body language, or I can be really clear. The more clear I am, just as in spoken language, the more easily my intent is communicated. So perhaps the first ‘step’ is to walk with your pony as you always do and pay attention to what you are communicating with your body rather than the lead rope.

I can guarantee that beginning to work with your pony at liberty will change your relationship with your pony. I consider the change to be for the better, but not everyone will. The photograph here provides a good example. The mares that I wanted to come into the paddock in the morning decided instead to stay outside it about forty feet from the gate. I walked out to where they were, greeting them verbally and stopping about five yards away to see if there was an explanation for their unusual behavior (they usually meet me at the gate and come in when I open it.) Then, because I hadn’t brought a halter and lead rope with me, I walked to the lead pony and tucked my hand under her head and with gentle pressure asked her to come with me. She didn’t move except to toss her head in mild defiance. I took my hand away, and she stepped toward me, offering to follow me at liberty. Our liberty work has changed our relationship: she preferred in this situation to comply at liberty rather than with pressure from my touch. Some might not like the mild defiance; I just took it as a suggestion of a better way. As you can see from the photo, all four ponies then followed me in through the gate at liberty. I certainly can’t complain about that!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Lettie and Her Grandfather

One of the things that surprises me with my ponies, though it probably shouldn’t since I’ve been doing this long enough, is that I’m seeing traits of grandparents in grandchildren. On a beautiful February day, it was long-yearling Willowtrail Lettie reminding her of her grandfather Guards Apollo.

I woke up as the sun hit the house feeling the spring that is coming. Such a nice day had dawned that I was inspired to dig out my blue tarp and take it to the barn. The inspiration was to do something I’ve never done before: introduce the tarp to a herd rather than a single pony. When I stopped at the barn between sunrise and breakfast, I put some orange cones in the paddock. Eventually they would hold the corners of the tarp down, but they ended up being entertainment on their own. As the picture of Lettie shows, she immediately began pawing one and sniffing it and moving it around.

Willotrail Lettie showing tremendous curiosity in a cone.

When I returned to the barn later, I carried the blue tarp into the paddock. I was met at the gate by curious ponies wondering what I was carrying. Some recognized it, and some expressed concern for the crinkly noise it made. I unfolded it in the company of five ponies, being cautious in case one might spook. That didn’t happen, and I tucked each corner under a cone to secure it in the slight breeze. Nice idea, but almost immediately Lettie and her older sister Aimee were pawing at it. I stood back and watched.

I had thought I might halter a pony and lead them across the tarp, but what happened next was too entertaining to interrupt. Lettie and Aimee continued to paw and sniff, and they attracted some of the rest of the herd as an audience. I was able to coax the lead mare to put one foot on the tarp as it was being moved about by the youngsters’ activities. Then my most seasoned mare took my invitation and walked across it at liberty. The two others who were watching were a little worried, so I just let the entertainment continue.

After a few more minutes, I took the tarp corners out from under the cones so that the tarp was free. What happened next had me laughing heartily. Lettie pawed and pawed at the tarp, eventually making it into a ball under her. I laughed because I had seen her grandfather do the exact same thing thirteen years before, as shown in the picture of Apollo and the blue tarp that illustrates at least one of my book chapters.

Guards Apollo playing with a blue tarp in 2010

But then Lettie outdid her grandfather. She grabbed a corner of the tarp in her teeth and raised her head. Normally that startles a pony because the tarp billows and makes noise so they let go. She did pause, but then she stood there chewing on the tarp corner with the tarp swaying gently in the breeze as she surveyed the hill with alert attention. I thought it was hilarious because she was so comfortable with the whole picture. Of course, it was a morning when I’d left my camera at home, so I could only stand and chuckle. My apparent enjoyment attracted the mature ponies to my side, thinking perhaps they could out-entertain Lettie, but not a chance! I just enjoyed the granddaughter and the memories of her grandfather that she brought to mind. What a blessing life with ponies is!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

The photo of Apollo and the blue tarp also appears in my book What An Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover. The cover of the book features Lettie’s grandmother!