Halters, Crutch, Confidence.

As soon as I arrived home, I checked the mail box and there it was! The little slip letting me know that there was a package waiting for me at the office. I literally ran to the office to get it, and I practically ran the whole way home (except I was in nice shoes, and really didn't want to wipe out on the way back!).  I tore open the package without even leaving the hallway. My Halter! My lead! Woohoo!!! They're so beautiful!

I love it!  It's so soft and flexible, I'm really impressed!  I'd looked at some rope halters that were forsale at a local tack shop, but I was really displeased with how stiff and uncomfortable they were. I'm so, so glad that the Parelli halter is soft and flexible. And the lead is perfect too! And they look /great/ on Gwen!

It's going to take time to get used to how long the lead is, though. My other one was probably a six-foot lead, and it was super easy to just toss it over her back while she grazed. This one, however, will drag on the ground on BOTH sides if I just toss it over. And it doesn't like to double-back on her back either. Hmmm.

I was so excited to use it! After a very thorough grooming with the grooming mitt ( I love this thing! Gets so much hair off!) I took Gwen to the ground pen. There's only so much we can do without a carrot stick, especially since we haven't really finished the basics yet. But we did some Friendly game to introduce the longer lead and the rope halter. Did hind-quarter yields (and I even got her to do a full 180 without me actually touching her! Both ways!), practiced flexing and giving to pressure, and tried (<-- important word there) to do some Yo Yo. We really, really suck at that one. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that I've kinda... skipped the 'tap the lead' back up step (since I have no carrot stick).

She's really, really good at the 'come to me' part of that game! So good, in fact, that when I start wiggling the rope, she comes toward me, instead of away. With ears perked forward too! It's just way too cute. I tried to kinda "teach" her about finger-wag=back up by wiggling my finger/rope while I put pressure on her nose with my hand. It worked, in that she'd back up, but as soon as my hand was gone, nada. Ah well! Something to come back to once I have all the proper equipment and follow the previous steps.

I wanted to see if she'd follow me at a trot, since she follows real close at the walk. So, I "trotted" around the round pen, trailing the rope behind me. But my pretty mare (who's undoutably ten-times smarter than I am) tracked about three-feet closer to the center of the pen than I did, which meant she happily walked after me as I trotted along, and didn't even have to put tension in the rope to do it. She's so funny! I'll bet she thinks I'm just absolutely nuts. But I'm pleased to report that on our second attempt at trotting, she did trot after me! And I was so thrilled I immediately stopped and went kinda nuts with forehead rubbing and nose-kissing, which meant she only took about five trot steps total. Ah well!

I'm very pleased with her. There was a storm rolling in, and the wind was really shaking the trees. She was pretty tense toward the end of our session, but she still did everything I asked her to do, practically had her nose glued to my shoulder (which made me REALLY happy since her best-buddy Cool was just outside the round pen, learning out to pull).

Listening to the wind.

I'm pretty happy with the progress we're making in our friendship, but I've been kinda concerned that I'm using the Round Pen as a crutch. Not just because it keeps her separated from her distracting herd-buddies, but also because it isolates me from the other riders at the barn. The round pen is tucked into the very back corner of the property, so there's never anyone out there unless they're using it. This means I'm mostly free to do what I want with Gwen without the worry of criticism. But when Cool was being used right outside, my own confidence kinda faltered when I realized the girl working him could probably see me. Peer pressure is a mighty powerful thing, and I hate to admit that I sometimes worry about what others think of me. I'm confident in a lot of things, but in many, many ways, I am still a "new" horse person. When confronted with the opinions of riders at the barn who have owned horses their whole life/train horses themselves, it can be a little frightening.

I'll definitely have to think about this, because I don't want to be the kind of student who only plays with her horse when no one can see, or on Sunday when no one else is around.

Ah well. Here's another picture of my pretty little Gwen in her new halter! Awww

J