Showmanship

[sunnyks]

I've been teaching Skeet showmanship.  Not that I really want to show again but I thought it would be a good way for him to learn all my ques and get a little better with the ground manners.  He's so funny.  He is soooo ADHD.    You can just about count to 10 and then he start fussing or fiddling or looking around.  Then you bring him back and get his focus then count to 10....la la la la la la.  The thing he does best though are pivots.  Oh my gosh I can't remember the number of horses over the years I have had to spend countless hours teaching to plant that back foot and spin. Little quarter turns at a time.  But not Skeet.  I don't think you could make him turn without the perfect pivot.  So cool.

So anyhoo does anyone have any tips on lengthening attention spans?  I don't need to "fix" it or anything.  Just wondering if anyone has had success stretching out the focused times to help balance the la la la times bit better.

[Wildcat]

I wish I had some tips, but I have no experience with that.

I have no idea if this would work, but what if you used the method many public speakers use.  Simply put, they have to hold on to an audience's attention, which tends to drift off after about 10 minutes, so the trick, I've heard, is to habe something that will grab their attention and "restart" the 10 minute clock.  To apply to Skeet, could you try doing something that would refocus his attention before he starts to drift off?

[sunnyks]

Right now that's a rattle on the lead and a "hey".  I was hoping for something more ingenious. 

[Wildcat]

What about changing up what he's doing every few minutes?  Keep him on his toes and force him to pay attention with rapid changes.  When he learns to keep his attention on you, you could try making the exercises a little longer.  (I did say I have no experience. )

Do they make horsey Ritalin? 

[sunnyks]

I wish!  My old mare Am was like this.  I just worked around it.  We never stood still.  She paced constantly, quietly, but constantly.  It was a pain in the hiney at a horse show waiting in the line up.  We had to just keep making circles.  Skeet will stand still when your riding him though which is good.  He's just a fiddler on the ground.  And I'm too old now to pace.