I'm kind of... sad right now.
Between the show on Saturday, and how crazy the barn was yesterday, I was really debating about whether or not to even go today. But I decided to make the trip tonight, and give myself Friday off as a rest-day before the show.
The riding ring was even crazier than it was yesterday, unbelievably, but I had come to the barn with the intentions of doing some barn chores, and then just hanging out and watching the lessons. Due to technical issues (flat tire) the barn owner/riding instructor was unable to be there, as she had to go pick up a delayed hay delivery. So rather than a structured lesson, it ended up being "free time" for all the students (only two of which had actually had a /scheduled/ lesson today that had to be cancelled. Like I said, shows bring kids out of the woodwork around here!) There were 12 kids in the ring, ranging from ages 11 to 15 (mostly girls, one boy), and one adult riding, and their skills ranged from beginner, to intermediate/advanced. By "beginner" I simply mean someone who has not been riding very long, but their actual skill set allowed them to walk, trot and canter comfortably (if not beautifully) and hop confidently over small fences (about 1'5" or so). By intermediate/advanced, I mean that one rider (a 15 year old boy who regularly shows his quarter horse in western-type shows, and occasionally hunter-hack) knew enough to confidently direct and teach his horse, and the others could comfortably walk/trot/canter/jump and could do it with some style.
This is important for my observations, to note that none of these riders were professional by any means, but they also weren't flat-out beginners who don't know what they're doing.
So, as they rode, I watched. I also watched them interact with their horses on the ground, as they groomed, etc. I didn't mean for this to become a study of horsemanship behavior (I was really just hanging out killing time) but that's what it turned into. And honestly, the results both worried and saddened me. No one did anything that would be considered abusive by any means, but it was the small things that I saw that kinda broke my heart. Like the girl that swatted her horse on the shoulder (with her girth no less) to move him out of the way. She didn't hit him hard, and she didn't hit him angrily, but I have to wonder what the horse was thinking when she did it. Couldn't have been nice thoughts. Or the boy who yanked on the reins to backed his horse five steps, simply because when he'd "ground tied" him, the horse had dropped his head to snuffle at a stray piece of hay and the boy had mistakenly thought he was about to wander off. (seriously, I nearly cried at this).
I want to take a moment and remind: the barn owner is NOT here for this. She definitely doesn't teach this sort of "horsemanship" behavior, and probably would have had strong words for both situations. However, I was not in a position to give instruction or discipline, though I did speak on behalf of the ground-tied horse to point out he hadn't actually done something wrong.
There were a myriad of little things that I saw, none of them brutal, or harsh, or mean in intention, but all of them were things that impressed upon my mind how little these riders really understood their horses. And I know they are all horse-crazy as heck, and they all absolutely love their horses (lesson ponies and "private" ponies both) and would never dream of intentionally hurting them. I'm also sure they all think they know the horses they ride, but it just hasn't dawned on them that the horse might see things a bit differently than intended.
And what really, REALLY broke my heart, is that I used to be one of them. I'm actually tearing up a bit as I write this, thinking about it. I loved my horse. I would have died for my horse, I loved her that much. But did I understand my horse? I thought I did. I thought I knew why she behaved the way she did, but I know now that I had the completely wrong idea about why Missy wouldn't jump when I wanted her to. About why she would get argumentative when I asked her to do things she didn't want to do. I used to say it was her "boss mare" attitude. Her stubbornness. Her bitchyness. That she was just mean, and wanted to fight with me. Maybe some of this was true, but I was clueless as to the motivation behind the behavior. It never dawned on me that I was the cause of her problems, because I couldn't be bothered to think from her point of view.
I will be forever in debt to Missy. She put up with me, and she taught me some very valuable lessons about being patient. She was no push over, and she wouldn't let me micro-manage or boss her around. If I was being a slave-master, she'd dump my butt on the ground. Eventually, after about a year, I finally got it. I learned to be patient, sit relaxed, and politely ask her to do things. I learned that I had to stop demanding she do everything /right now/, and to let her do things her way. I will never, ever, forget the last show we went to. It was a hunter schooling show. In the three years I owned her, I had never jumped a clean round without a refusal... until that day. I went into the ring knowing it would be our last show together, and wanting only to have fun... and she gave me the most beautiful performance I had gotten with her yet. We didn't win anything, but I didn't care. I cried into her neck and thanked her for being there for me.
Nine years later, I have the privilege of working with her daughter Gwen. I can't believe how much I love her already. And I am so, so unbelievably thankful for finding Natural Horsemanship, which has given me the chance to form an actually relationship with her, one built on mutual respect, trust, and love.
Interacting with a couple other horses today really opened my eyes to how much Gwen already trusts me, and responds to me. I knew she was getting better and more responsive to things like yielding, but it wasn't until I actually worked with two other horses today that I realized how she pays attention to ME. The other horses were dead in my hands, their attention only on me when I was asking for something, and I only got a response after I remained persistent. It's hard to explain, but I could just tell that they weren't used to being "talked" to.
Now, I feel the need to say a few Thank You's. Thank you Emily, for introducing me to Parelli through writing your blog. You have no idea how it's changed my relationship with horses. Thank you to Missy, for putting up with my crap all those years ago. Thank you to Pat Parelli for making natural horsemanship so accessible and easy to follow. Thank you Gwen, for giving me the benefit of the doubt and letting me be your human.
Today it really clicked in me how much Parelli is teaching me to understand Gwen. It's not just me making myself understood, it's about being able to understand HER, and to anticipate her needs and wants, and then to fulfill them.
J
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Those Darn "Best Laid Plans"...
I'm exhausted! This is day 4 of 6 in my work week, and I'm used to having every third day off, so I'm definitely feeling the strain. Spending time with Gwen has been a HUGE help in managing the stress, and I'm so grateful for my time with her. The reason for the intense work-week is simple: I've asked for both Sat and Sun off so that I could accompany my barn to a horse show this Saturday. I am going as a spectator/indentured servant for the day, but I don't mind! I love being able to give back to my barn and, especially, my barn owner/riding instructor, who has been more than awesome through the years.
Anyways, because there's a horse show coming up on Saturday, the barn has gotten progressively busier as the week has progressed, as students seem to come out of the woodwork to practice! Though I had the idea in my head of going on a nice, relaxing bare-back walk with Gwen, one look at the ring and I knew that was out. There were at least ten kids in the ring. And our ring is tiny!
Cool and Star were using the "second" riding ring (which is usually a turn-out for the more rough and tumble geldings, who were subsequently relocated to the round-pen for the duration of the wagon-pulling lesson...) which left me with no where to practice. I wasn't upset though. Not at all actually! I was happy to turn my evening into nothing more than a grooming/grazing session with Gwen. We practiced standing still while grooming, and I got a nice good rub on her coat (I thought I'd gotten all that winter hair, but a huge cloud of it came off her butt today.)
We're still pretty terrible at the yo-yo game, because she hasn't quite gotten the idea of backing up off the rope-wiggle (still tends to walk toward me rather than away) but, the only time she does back off the wiggling rope is when I'm coming down from the tack room and asking her to back away from the door so I can get out. And today, I think I figured out why she gets it here, but not when I'm on the ground! Gwen is not a very tall horse, but I'm not a very tall girl, either. When I'm on the ground and I wiggle the rope, I usually have to get to phase four before she responds at all. At this point, with the rope swinging, it tends to really get wild and a couple times the buckle has popped her in the chin (and I feel just terrible about this!) which tends to ruin everything because a) I'll stop wiggling, and b) she'll just toss her head in the air to avoid it. However, when I'm up three steps in the tack room, and she is "below" me, wiggling the rope seems to produce much more vibration than when I'm on the ground. It's hard to explain, but I'm going to experiment with keeping my hand lower when I try to yo-yo her from the ground. Otherwise, I see a lot of 'tack-room yo-yo' sessions in our future!
So basically, all we did today was some grooming, and then a lot of grazing, which I think she appreciated. I'm anticipating a "full" arena again tomorrow, and probably Friday as well, so it's unlikely I'll be able to really play with her until next week (unless I break my "Sunday is a rest day" rule, which is VERY tempting since I will be off work and the barn is likely to be empty...)
Everything else is going great, tho! :)
J
Anyways, because there's a horse show coming up on Saturday, the barn has gotten progressively busier as the week has progressed, as students seem to come out of the woodwork to practice! Though I had the idea in my head of going on a nice, relaxing bare-back walk with Gwen, one look at the ring and I knew that was out. There were at least ten kids in the ring. And our ring is tiny!
Cool and Star were using the "second" riding ring (which is usually a turn-out for the more rough and tumble geldings, who were subsequently relocated to the round-pen for the duration of the wagon-pulling lesson...) which left me with no where to practice. I wasn't upset though. Not at all actually! I was happy to turn my evening into nothing more than a grooming/grazing session with Gwen. We practiced standing still while grooming, and I got a nice good rub on her coat (I thought I'd gotten all that winter hair, but a huge cloud of it came off her butt today.)
We're still pretty terrible at the yo-yo game, because she hasn't quite gotten the idea of backing up off the rope-wiggle (still tends to walk toward me rather than away) but, the only time she does back off the wiggling rope is when I'm coming down from the tack room and asking her to back away from the door so I can get out. And today, I think I figured out why she gets it here, but not when I'm on the ground! Gwen is not a very tall horse, but I'm not a very tall girl, either. When I'm on the ground and I wiggle the rope, I usually have to get to phase four before she responds at all. At this point, with the rope swinging, it tends to really get wild and a couple times the buckle has popped her in the chin (and I feel just terrible about this!) which tends to ruin everything because a) I'll stop wiggling, and b) she'll just toss her head in the air to avoid it. However, when I'm up three steps in the tack room, and she is "below" me, wiggling the rope seems to produce much more vibration than when I'm on the ground. It's hard to explain, but I'm going to experiment with keeping my hand lower when I try to yo-yo her from the ground. Otherwise, I see a lot of 'tack-room yo-yo' sessions in our future!
So basically, all we did today was some grooming, and then a lot of grazing, which I think she appreciated. I'm anticipating a "full" arena again tomorrow, and probably Friday as well, so it's unlikely I'll be able to really play with her until next week (unless I break my "Sunday is a rest day" rule, which is VERY tempting since I will be off work and the barn is likely to be empty...)
Everything else is going great, tho! :)
J
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Quills and Wills (Willpower, that is!)
Today was all about the Porcupine game! Hence the "quills" part of the title. I've been a bit of a slacker lately, working on the things that are easy (like hindquarter yields) rather than the things we need to improve on. A lot of this was lack of planning on my part, and as of Saturday I've been going to the barn with a game-play, and a general outline of what I want to do/accomplish when I get there. These plans are meant to be a guideline and starting point, and are more to get me motivated than anything else. All plans are, of course, subject to change based on Gwen's attitude once I have her.
Before I get into the play session, a little highlight of my day: when I went to get Gwen, both Star and Cool were dragging the arena again. I ducked into the turn-out, and headed her way. When I got close, I called out my traditional greeting ("hey pretty girl!"). Usually this gets an ear twitch, or a quick glance, which is OK with me. I don't want to surprise her, or make her feel like I'm sneaking up. TODAY, however, I not only got an ear-twitch, I got a whole body-turn and even two steps forward! As soon as she turned toward me, I stopped and leaned against the fence all casual-like (like I had the day before when we just hung out and watched the arena dragging). She stood where she was for a few seconds, and then started heading my way. A couple super-friendly(and kinda nosy!) horses came up behind me to say hello, and totally spoiled it by making Gwen back away (I've come to realize that Gwen is really low on the barn totem pole) but I stuck it out and after they moved on, I continued to Gwen. Did a little rubbing, and then turned away. She followed me a few steps, and it was then that I decided to finally halter her, and off we went. :)
Yesterday I started leaving Gwen "loose" when grooming. I'll either loop the lead-rope over my arm, or over her neck, as I brush her. Today, I did the same thing and she did even better than yesterday! Not only did she stand where I put her, she didn't even try to eat the hay off the ground, and she let me pick her feet no-problem! (on a side note: if you recall one of my earliest posts about Gwen and her feet, I mentioned that she didn't really want to let me pick them up. Well, I am happy to report that this is no longer a problem, and has not been a problem for over a week now. I've followed the pattern I laid out "left front-hind/right-front/hind, and she now shifts her weight in anticipation and lifts up her foot when I run my hand down her leg. Such a good girl!)
Since the arena was occupied, we used the round pen. There were really scary monsters in the woods behind the pen (or so Gwen tried to convince me), so her attention was a little split for the first five minutes or so. Once she was sure there were no boogie-men, we got down to business. I really wanted to work on forequarter yields and backing today. We ran through the Friendly-game real quick, and then got down to the porcupine. She made some real progress with her forequarter yields, and I'm going to make it a point to practice them every day until they are as good as her hindquarter yields.
Backing was great, too. We did porcupine on her chest and nose, and I even got her to really back-up without hesitation at one point. I'm using every excuse to back her up (down the aisle of the barn, on the way out to the turn-out) so that she will confidently do this no matter where we're located.
Our circles are getting good as well! This time, I got two complete circles both clock-wise and counterclock-wise without hesitation/stopping. Yay!
Something I noticed/need to work on: Body posture. Several times, while I was playing with Porcupine on her chest, I caught myself standing kind of lazily. My focus was on her chest, and my fingers, and I realized that I wasn't projecting the kind of energy I should be. She did remarkably better when I was aware of my energy/body posture, and it was focused on "back up" rather than just on what my fingers were doing. It's something I'm going to have to really work at, as I tend to zero-in on the details and forget the bigger picture. Gwen is definitely reading more than my finger-placement.
All in all, I'm super happy, and very excited to keep practicing tomorrow!!
And here's a picture of Gwen that I took from inside the tack room! Aww, so cute!
J
Before I get into the play session, a little highlight of my day: when I went to get Gwen, both Star and Cool were dragging the arena again. I ducked into the turn-out, and headed her way. When I got close, I called out my traditional greeting ("hey pretty girl!"). Usually this gets an ear twitch, or a quick glance, which is OK with me. I don't want to surprise her, or make her feel like I'm sneaking up. TODAY, however, I not only got an ear-twitch, I got a whole body-turn and even two steps forward! As soon as she turned toward me, I stopped and leaned against the fence all casual-like (like I had the day before when we just hung out and watched the arena dragging). She stood where she was for a few seconds, and then started heading my way. A couple super-friendly(and kinda nosy!) horses came up behind me to say hello, and totally spoiled it by making Gwen back away (I've come to realize that Gwen is really low on the barn totem pole) but I stuck it out and after they moved on, I continued to Gwen. Did a little rubbing, and then turned away. She followed me a few steps, and it was then that I decided to finally halter her, and off we went. :)
Yesterday I started leaving Gwen "loose" when grooming. I'll either loop the lead-rope over my arm, or over her neck, as I brush her. Today, I did the same thing and she did even better than yesterday! Not only did she stand where I put her, she didn't even try to eat the hay off the ground, and she let me pick her feet no-problem! (on a side note: if you recall one of my earliest posts about Gwen and her feet, I mentioned that she didn't really want to let me pick them up. Well, I am happy to report that this is no longer a problem, and has not been a problem for over a week now. I've followed the pattern I laid out "left front-hind/right-front/hind, and she now shifts her weight in anticipation and lifts up her foot when I run my hand down her leg. Such a good girl!)
Since the arena was occupied, we used the round pen. There were really scary monsters in the woods behind the pen (or so Gwen tried to convince me), so her attention was a little split for the first five minutes or so. Once she was sure there were no boogie-men, we got down to business. I really wanted to work on forequarter yields and backing today. We ran through the Friendly-game real quick, and then got down to the porcupine. She made some real progress with her forequarter yields, and I'm going to make it a point to practice them every day until they are as good as her hindquarter yields.
Backing was great, too. We did porcupine on her chest and nose, and I even got her to really back-up without hesitation at one point. I'm using every excuse to back her up (down the aisle of the barn, on the way out to the turn-out) so that she will confidently do this no matter where we're located.
Our circles are getting good as well! This time, I got two complete circles both clock-wise and counterclock-wise without hesitation/stopping. Yay!
Something I noticed/need to work on: Body posture. Several times, while I was playing with Porcupine on her chest, I caught myself standing kind of lazily. My focus was on her chest, and my fingers, and I realized that I wasn't projecting the kind of energy I should be. She did remarkably better when I was aware of my energy/body posture, and it was focused on "back up" rather than just on what my fingers were doing. It's something I'm going to have to really work at, as I tend to zero-in on the details and forget the bigger picture. Gwen is definitely reading more than my finger-placement.
All in all, I'm super happy, and very excited to keep practicing tomorrow!!
And here's a picture of Gwen that I took from inside the tack room! Aww, so cute!
 | ||
| "Can I come in?" |
J
Monday, March 26, 2012
Hanging Out
By the time I got to the barn today, the sun was already starting to set. Star and Cool were being used to drag the arena (they are being trained to pull, and have learned in leaps and bounds in only a few short weeks! Dragging the arena is prep for a bigger (and heavier) wagon to come). While I love a freshly dragged arena, it meant I couldn't really play until they were done. I headed out to get Gwen with the mind that I would just groom and love on her, and see how things turned out.
My poor little girl was hanging out against the fence rail that is shared between the riding arena and the turn-out, watching Star and Cool with a pitiful expression on her face. It nearly broke my heart! So rather than drag her away, I rubbed on her a little, and then just hung out with her by the fence and watched Star and Cool work. She relaxed a lot while I was standing there. She went from "alert and attentive" watching her buddies, to dozing and half asleep with her head by my shoulder. Every now and then she'd peek over at Cool and Star, or brush her nose against the halter (I had it slung on my shoulder), but I think she really appreciated just having some company while her buddies were working.
When they were done in the arena, I brought Gwen out (she came very willingly) and we went "into" the barn for some grooming. I experimented with leaving her loose while I brushed her, and except a little backing while I was brushing her hindquarters, and sampling a bit of hay in another horses stall (thankfully, the horse was amiable and not at all upset with her for the theft) she did pretty good! Her winter coat is nearly all fallen out, and she's starting to get really glossy on her neck and shoulders! Can't wait for her summer coat to come in. I'm debating about splurging on some sunscreen spray to try and keep her from fading... I've never tried it before so I have no idea if it would work.
Tomorrow, I hope I can do a bit more with her. Maybe work on some forequarter yields since I've kinda been avoiding them O:)
On a side note, I really need some fly spray! I've just been lazy in driving to the tack store to get some...
J
My poor little girl was hanging out against the fence rail that is shared between the riding arena and the turn-out, watching Star and Cool with a pitiful expression on her face. It nearly broke my heart! So rather than drag her away, I rubbed on her a little, and then just hung out with her by the fence and watched Star and Cool work. She relaxed a lot while I was standing there. She went from "alert and attentive" watching her buddies, to dozing and half asleep with her head by my shoulder. Every now and then she'd peek over at Cool and Star, or brush her nose against the halter (I had it slung on my shoulder), but I think she really appreciated just having some company while her buddies were working.
When they were done in the arena, I brought Gwen out (she came very willingly) and we went "into" the barn for some grooming. I experimented with leaving her loose while I brushed her, and except a little backing while I was brushing her hindquarters, and sampling a bit of hay in another horses stall (thankfully, the horse was amiable and not at all upset with her for the theft) she did pretty good! Her winter coat is nearly all fallen out, and she's starting to get really glossy on her neck and shoulders! Can't wait for her summer coat to come in. I'm debating about splurging on some sunscreen spray to try and keep her from fading... I've never tried it before so I have no idea if it would work.
Tomorrow, I hope I can do a bit more with her. Maybe work on some forequarter yields since I've kinda been avoiding them O:)
On a side note, I really need some fly spray! I've just been lazy in driving to the tack store to get some...
J
Saturday, March 24, 2012
At the barn day ???
Updating from my phone. Had a great time with Gwen today! The barn was practically empty, considering it was a saturday. There were two girls just finishing their lesson when I arrived, but I had the ring all to myself! I tacked Gwen up, but instead of riding, I played online with her while she was saddled.
We played with the circle game both directions, and she did great. A little sticky when going clockwise, but counter she's awesome!! Tried to play touch-it but she had no interest in it, so we did a squeeze game instead. Again awesome. Did some backing up. I'm starting to get more insistent that she back up, since she tends to be a little sluggish. Second time she did great! Got lots of licking and chewing, and one big sigh. :)
Can't wait till monday!!
J
We played with the circle game both directions, and she did great. A little sticky when going clockwise, but counter she's awesome!! Tried to play touch-it but she had no interest in it, so we did a squeeze game instead. Again awesome. Did some backing up. I'm starting to get more insistent that she back up, since she tends to be a little sluggish. Second time she did great! Got lots of licking and chewing, and one big sigh. :)
Can't wait till monday!!
J
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Great Day at the Barn!
We got a huge thunderstorm Monday night, so Tuesday the barn was a muddy mess. Wednesday, we had sunshine, but it was still kinda muddy so I just said a quick hi to Gwen and came home. I had dinner plans that night, so it turned out alright.
Today was absolutely beautiful! Clear blue skies, a light breeze, temperatures in the mid 80's. Fantastic barn weather! I rushed right over after work. I decided to do a little riding today, so I borrowed a saddle from the barn owner, and got Gwen all set. I even lucked out with the arena! There were only three people riding, and they all left as I was about to enter. Score! Since this is only the second time I've ridden her in a saddle, and the fourth time total, I really didn't want to do anything too demanding. So we worked on maintaining gait. I knotted my split reins and looped them casually over the saddlehorn so they wouldn't get lost (but they were lose enough Gwen could put her nose on the ground without any tension at all) and just asked her to walk around. As long as she was walking, I didn't care about where we went. She did a pretty good job, we only had two little "stops" right at the beginning, and then she got the idea. I experimented a little with shifting my weight and turning my upper body, to see if she'd listen or be influenced in some way to "go" that direction. Mostly, she wasn't paying much attention, but if I leaned a little, she'd kinda drift the direction I wanted her to go.
She did well enough that I decided we'd try a bit of trotting. She wasn't too thrilled at first. When I asked her, she'd turn her head and kind of scowl at my boot, as if to say "seriously? I don't wanna!" but I was persistent enough that she finally gave in and we did some trotting around. It was definitely speed trotting, and ended up posting like a crazy person, but as long as it was /trotting/ I didn't ask her to do anything else. I asked her to walk, and then surprised her by asking for a halt as soon as she gave me the walk. We took a little break under the big tree, and she gave a huge breath. A definitely "Phew. That wasn't so bad!" kind of sigh. After a little break, we did some backing. She really surprised me by backing at very light pressure, so after I got three steps out of her, I immediately hopped off and loosened her girth.
Did some grazing and then a little of the circle-game near the pasture fence, and then back out into the turnout. She seemed pretty pleased, and I was very proud of her! I'm so excited about going back on Saturday! Unfortunately, can't go tomorrow :(
Grazing! Awww, pretty girl!!
J
Today was absolutely beautiful! Clear blue skies, a light breeze, temperatures in the mid 80's. Fantastic barn weather! I rushed right over after work. I decided to do a little riding today, so I borrowed a saddle from the barn owner, and got Gwen all set. I even lucked out with the arena! There were only three people riding, and they all left as I was about to enter. Score! Since this is only the second time I've ridden her in a saddle, and the fourth time total, I really didn't want to do anything too demanding. So we worked on maintaining gait. I knotted my split reins and looped them casually over the saddlehorn so they wouldn't get lost (but they were lose enough Gwen could put her nose on the ground without any tension at all) and just asked her to walk around. As long as she was walking, I didn't care about where we went. She did a pretty good job, we only had two little "stops" right at the beginning, and then she got the idea. I experimented a little with shifting my weight and turning my upper body, to see if she'd listen or be influenced in some way to "go" that direction. Mostly, she wasn't paying much attention, but if I leaned a little, she'd kinda drift the direction I wanted her to go.
She did well enough that I decided we'd try a bit of trotting. She wasn't too thrilled at first. When I asked her, she'd turn her head and kind of scowl at my boot, as if to say "seriously? I don't wanna!" but I was persistent enough that she finally gave in and we did some trotting around. It was definitely speed trotting, and ended up posting like a crazy person, but as long as it was /trotting/ I didn't ask her to do anything else. I asked her to walk, and then surprised her by asking for a halt as soon as she gave me the walk. We took a little break under the big tree, and she gave a huge breath. A definitely "Phew. That wasn't so bad!" kind of sigh. After a little break, we did some backing. She really surprised me by backing at very light pressure, so after I got three steps out of her, I immediately hopped off and loosened her girth.
Did some grazing and then a little of the circle-game near the pasture fence, and then back out into the turnout. She seemed pretty pleased, and I was very proud of her! I'm so excited about going back on Saturday! Unfortunately, can't go tomorrow :(
J
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Updates
Wednesday I went to the barn, and worked with Gwen using the Carrot Stick. We did pretty good. She had no problems with it touching her all over, or the string zipping over her head or around her legs, etc. She took it all in stride. She got a little confused when I started "poking" her with it, to yield her hind quarter, but only in the sense that she thought she was meant to stand still, not move away from the pressure. But we got that sorted. Unfortunately, she was really not concentrating at all. Her attention was definitely outside the round pen. The weather was kinda nasty, and the wind was really shaking the trees, so she kept tensing up and looking out to the tree tops. We wrapped it up after some backing, and called it a day.
Thursday, I had big plans. I was going to really concentrate on forehand yields, as those are currently our weakest. However, my phone had other ideas. It decided to do weird things like lock up and stop working. So instead of going to the barn, I spent the evening after work getting it fixed. I'm happy to say that it is all better now, and the solution was simple, and did not involve losing all of my pictures, etc. Friday was a late work day, so I wasn't able to get to the barn until today, Saturday!
It was threatening to rain all afternoon, but I pulled Gwen out, gave her a good brushing, and headed to the round pen. Since I want to get really good at the porcupine game with her, I left the carrot stick behind, and just worked with my fingers. Practiced on her hindquarters first, as she's really good about yielding those. So good, that often I don't need to touch her but once, and then she just goes off my hand lifting. Her forequarters, not so much. I stood quietly by her shoulder and "poked" with all my fingers lightly. If she thought about moving, or shifted a little, I kept the pressure light, but if she didn't seem to pay attention, I'd gradually increase. I could tell she was thinking about it, but wasn't really sure what to do. She did a lot of backing up instead of moving her shoulder over, but I did get a good one or two steps sideways toward the end. Throughout, she'd kinda blow out, and drop her head, and I could tell she was really thinking about what I was trying to ask her, but wasn't sure what to do. Something we'll definitely need to work on. I ended with backing her up off the halter, since it's something she knows and will do really well, so we ended on a very positive note :) I'm very proud of her. I barely had to touch the lead and she'd back up without resistance.
Tomorrow's my "day off" from the barn, but I'm super excited to work more with yielding her forequarters. Can't wait till Monday!
J
Thursday, I had big plans. I was going to really concentrate on forehand yields, as those are currently our weakest. However, my phone had other ideas. It decided to do weird things like lock up and stop working. So instead of going to the barn, I spent the evening after work getting it fixed. I'm happy to say that it is all better now, and the solution was simple, and did not involve losing all of my pictures, etc. Friday was a late work day, so I wasn't able to get to the barn until today, Saturday!
It was threatening to rain all afternoon, but I pulled Gwen out, gave her a good brushing, and headed to the round pen. Since I want to get really good at the porcupine game with her, I left the carrot stick behind, and just worked with my fingers. Practiced on her hindquarters first, as she's really good about yielding those. So good, that often I don't need to touch her but once, and then she just goes off my hand lifting. Her forequarters, not so much. I stood quietly by her shoulder and "poked" with all my fingers lightly. If she thought about moving, or shifted a little, I kept the pressure light, but if she didn't seem to pay attention, I'd gradually increase. I could tell she was thinking about it, but wasn't really sure what to do. She did a lot of backing up instead of moving her shoulder over, but I did get a good one or two steps sideways toward the end. Throughout, she'd kinda blow out, and drop her head, and I could tell she was really thinking about what I was trying to ask her, but wasn't sure what to do. Something we'll definitely need to work on. I ended with backing her up off the halter, since it's something she knows and will do really well, so we ended on a very positive note :) I'm very proud of her. I barely had to touch the lead and she'd back up without resistance.
Tomorrow's my "day off" from the barn, but I'm super excited to work more with yielding her forequarters. Can't wait till Monday!
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| Grooming time! |
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