Some new stuff, and getting some old stuff right

Well yesterday, Sunday, we didn't do anything. I was not well.

But today (Monday) we went up and did some training. I started doing the progression like the other days, but as we began the yielding the hindquarters, I decided that we were not getting it as good as I wanted. I thought she was walking forwards too much and wanted her to pivot more on the front end. She was stepping around with the hind end but I wanted her to pivot and not do a small circle with the front end.

Also when she was getting closer to a pivot, her head would get in too close to me, or even in front of me. Part of it was me working out my position relative to her, and part was just bringing her head in too close to me, or at times bringing her shoulder over in towards me.

So we worked on that. When she walked forwards I backed her up. If she was backing up without being asked (instead of pivoting) I reached back and tapped her forwards. I was doing a better job of putting my hand up and making a wall of it that she could not go past, in towards me. A couple of times I had to tap her shoulder away from me.

I was putting quite a bit of pressure on her, to the point before where she "blew up", but making her really work and move. And as soon as she got what I wanted (step across with the hind foot, with the close hind foot in front of the far hind foot, and pivoting and not stepping forwards with the front feet), she was rubbed to a stop.

I was looking for a very precise movement.

We did get a nice step or two in each direction. It's not consistent yet but we will work on it. Another good thing is that she is really getting the difference between "move" and "stand still". Each time I'd rub her to a stop, I'd then rub her over with the stick. Instead of standing there being nervous, she was really good at just relaxing and dropping her head and chewing. So even though she was highly motivated to move away from the stick, she was able to switch quickly into relax mode. I thought that was really good and useful.

From there we went straight into LFR - 1. She was getting that pretty good an it seemed natural to move to LFR - 2, where I swap hands with the lead and stick, step into her path, and she rocks back onto her haunches and changes direction. A couple of times she did a nice rollback type of turn. At other times she was not so good. A couple of times I had to move her away from me as she was cutting in too close after the turn. And a couple of times I had to keep asking for the turn as she didn't get it at first.

I'm pretty sure I was clear with what I was asking. We need to get our communication worked out, with her understanding what I am asking. And we need to be consistent about her not cutting in close to me after the turn. But I am confident we will get it. I'll review the DVD section on it after I finish writing this. I was actually planning to do the sending exercise today but LFR - 2 just seemed to flow on from what we were doing and so I went with that.

We mixed it up a bit once she was twigging onto what I wanted. Sometimes I'd ask for a turn, sometimes for her to turn into me and stop (LFR - 1). Sometimes after she stopped I'd ask for a new direction, and sometimes the same direction. Sometimes I'd rub her, and sometimes just stand her for a little bit and then get her to move. Basically I want to get our cues clear, and I want her to be really attentive and watching me, not trying to predict, but just to respond to what I ask.

Not perfect yet but we'll keep working on it.

After we were done with that we did a longer session of desensitising. We'd been doing shorter sessions while we were doing the other stuff. Just to let her go into calm and relaxed mode, to keep her at the optimum learning level. Responsive but not too hyped. Looking for the difference between asking her to move and asking her to stay still. We are working out our "language".

Anyway so we did the stick and string, throwing it over her, slapping the ground, whirling it over her head, etc., and then I put the plastic bag on it and we did the same stuff. It was only the third time she's seen the bag and it's been a while but she accustomed to it really quickly and even let me rub it over her head before we were done.

Also I got Connor to run around her while I was doing the other stuff with her. He's eight and it's good for her to get used to a child running around her. She was getting used to a dog running around her because Xia, my Kelpie, feels she just HAS to run around her in circles when we do stuff, for much of the time.

So, pretty pleased with what we did today. I am pleased by the way she can switch from "active" to "relaxed". Before we do more stuff, I have to review what I am doing so that I can be sure I'm doing it the right way, and helping her.

While Darcie and I were working, Ellie rode Orion. She took him down to the arena and was practicing his circles. He's better on one side than on the other. She was working on getting him good on both sides, also on getting him to do even circles, not to fall in towards the gate and fall out when coming away from the gate. After that, she gave Connor a lead on him, which he enjoyed.

Oh, and Wart was not at the gate of the big paddock today. He was closer down towards the dam near the gate, and there were other horses there as well. He was thrilled to come up for his feed and did follow me up to the gate, along with Banjo, who seems to be his buddy now. He seems to be settling into his new paddock, although he is largely staying close to the gate area for now.