Wednesday Training

No riding lessons.

Missy - Today's primary goal: tuning in and softening up
Secondary goal: standing to mount
After a through grooming, I tacked Missy up and she stood like a champ. No anxiety even when Jacob came flying by in the adjoining paddock with his show heifer. Began the lesson with lunging. She was more willing to move out, but the random "Oh, God - what is going on!" moments led me to believe that she still hasn't melded the entire concept in her mind. After about 15 minutes, she was changing direction easily and whould whoa much quicker upon cue. Her attention span was better and she stayed much more relaxed. She no longer thinks that the lunge line is a snake waiting to bite and trusts that I will not hit her. She relapses occasionally when her attention has wandered and I ask for a direction change, but as her understanding develops, she is learning to think first than react. We then moved on to suppling her jaw, poll and neck by asking her to give to the side. She did much better especially to the right. The left is still a little sticky. We need to continue with this to enforce the idea that she must give no matter the outside stimulus. Next we worked on her standing to be mounted. This is a very touchy area and one to be methodically worked through on both sides. This was the push button for her bucking. I believe that the bucking was initally due to wither pain at mounting ( thin horse, prominent withers) so I am encouraging Missy to remain calm and so far she doesn't show any anxiety. I begin by jumping by the saddle to accustom her to the movement, then I move the stirrups around to accustom her to the saddle movement and sound. Next I place weight in the stirrups by pushing down on the stirrups with my arms and then I place my foot in the stirrup and get into mounting position. At this point she begins to show anxiety and I continue this step a couple of times until she relaxes and then call it quits on this lesson for the day. She has already progressed so much in this area and patience is winning out. To end the day on a positive note, I again work through the suppling exercises and put her up for the day. She did fantastic and remained a willing pupil throughout today's lesson - she received a good rub-down with extra belly rubs. As far as her goals for the day, I think we progressed on all levels but still need refinement on all before she will be ready to move on to the next steps.

Kixsie - Today's primary goal: developing trust
Secondary goal: learning to relax and not be so reactive
To begin the lesson, I worked on catching Kixsie in her paddock. She moved away, but with advance and retreat, she came and stood to be haltered. This mare shows so much anxiety at being handled in any way. Since she came, she is finally beginning to relax in her paddock and shows signs of wanting to socialize. She nickers when she sees me and comes to the fence when I am around. However, she will not allow me to pet/scratch her throught the panels. She will now stay by the fence and sniff my hand. She is easier to catch in her paddock and acts like she wants to be handled, she just can't let her guard down. There is a willing and intelligent horse in there, we just have to work past her trust issues. I addressed this issue last night by simply treating her to a relaxing grooming session and walk around the yard. She is on guard the whole time you are around her - she holds her breath, holds head high and shows tenseness throughout. The human touch is not something that she finds comfort in. The human voice doesn't reassure her at all. After 45 minutes of walking and scratching, she finally began to lip and chew but never exhaled (sighed). She was calmer and upon returning to her paddock, lingered for a belly scratch. I will need to take it slow with her at first, but once she learns to relax and trust, I feel that she will progress at a rapid pace. Not much progress on her goals today, but I have to remember to not rush or push.

It is raining now and training tonight looks doubtful, but fingers crossed that the storms will clear off.