A few people were missing from this morning’s training session–it seems like the holiday “cheer” may have gotten out of hand last night! Selene and Cec were left alone to clean the barn, feed the hungry hoard, and train the ponies… oh, what a hard life it is!
Today’s training was all about follow-through. We had to say what we meant and mean what we said by having the horses follow through with what we were asking them.
Dolly is having trouble going forward and staying moving, so Cec asked for forward movement only. Just go, no reins to tell her where to go. Just ask for forward movement, anywhere Dolly wanted to go, just go. Any halting or hesitation was followed with a kiss, squeeze , push, repeated over until there was movement. Dolly wandered the arena aimlessly. As long as she was moving she was left alone. After 30 minutes of this, there was understanding: kiss, squeeze, push meant go, no problem. After this was conquered, the reins and leg were added, walk ,whoa, reverse and the beginnings of a roll back.
LT's boo-boo
Dolly is a bit further behind than LT, as she had a week off with the swelling in her back leg .
Now, it is LT’s turn to have an injury. She has scraped a chunk of skin and hair off of her right foreleg, either on a bit of hard snow or maybe a kick form one of the cranky mares she lives with.
It looks way worse in the picture than it actually is!
LT had a break-through today also, with Selene’s quiet persistance. Go straight means go straight and turn means turn, OH ! LT has been a defiant teenager:
I don’t want to…
You can’t make me…
I am not going to listen…
Okay, fine, I’ll do it.
Selene eventually had her turning nicely and moving off the leg pressures, even though we had to go back to the basics on the groundwork. Not all training is in a progressive line; many times we must go back several steps to remind them of the basics. It’s especially true with the older horses as they have had more years of doing what they want.
