Yesterday I played with Filly, again from the comfort of my chair.. She started off being a bit unresponsive towards me, maybe testing my resolve to really lead her. A few phase 3 rope wriggles to get some enthusiasm in her backup YoYo soon reminded her that I was the lead partner in the relationship.
From YoYo we move onto some simple circling game. In the past these have tended to be rather egg shaped but now I am immobile it is interesting that the have become closer to proper circles. Changes of gait were achieved with ease except for canter. She seemed a little sore on her hind feet. Rick suggested that the hard ground has bruised her feet a bit and she may need a set of shoes soon.
A couple of small cones were set out about 12 feet from my chair. I decided to see if she would do figure 8 around them. Again I was surprised how easy this was. In fact the more I stayed in neutral the better she became, with just the odd encouragement required from time to time.
More YoYo followed, but to give it purpose I concentrated on backing her to one of the cones. Much better this time. Whilst she was stood by a cone I though I would emulate the task I completed with Bonitao the day before and ask her to go sideways over the cone. After I little time for her to understand my idea she performed the task fairly willingly. Not as snappy as Bonitao, but not bad considering her long break whilst I was in hospital.
This enforced sitting is finally driving home to me the true power of neutral. I have been criticised in the past by instructors saying my neutral was not neutral enough, but only now am I really getting it. Unfortunate though this accident has been I have to say that it is really improving my Savvy faster than anything else has. In that respect it is something of a blessing. Every cloud has a silver lining they say but sometimes you really have to search for it.
As you are all probably aware I am a passionate believer in being able to place her feet down, but could I accomplish this from the sitting position. No problem at all. A small squeeze on her chestnut and up came a leg for me to hold. She resisted my placing it down a little, but only a token gesture really. I only had the nerve to do the front legs so far, but will try the hind legs soon.
As for her compassion she made a great fuss of me whilst she was standing close. Very gently she sniffed my legs trying to work out why I wasn't using them I guess. She then moved onto gentle sniffing and caressing of my head, spending sometime just breathing into my ear. I was a bit nervous at first given her previous tendency to nibble, but her mouth remained closed throughout and she moved her head around incredibly gently.I hate to be unscientific and anthropomorphic but in these situations it is difficult not to conclude that she was being genuinely concerned and sympathetic to my plight. Research shows that many animals grieve, elephants in particular, so is it too much of a stretch to suggest that they also have the emotion of compassion ?
From YoYo we move onto some simple circling game. In the past these have tended to be rather egg shaped but now I am immobile it is interesting that the have become closer to proper circles. Changes of gait were achieved with ease except for canter. She seemed a little sore on her hind feet. Rick suggested that the hard ground has bruised her feet a bit and she may need a set of shoes soon.
A couple of small cones were set out about 12 feet from my chair. I decided to see if she would do figure 8 around them. Again I was surprised how easy this was. In fact the more I stayed in neutral the better she became, with just the odd encouragement required from time to time.
More YoYo followed, but to give it purpose I concentrated on backing her to one of the cones. Much better this time. Whilst she was stood by a cone I though I would emulate the task I completed with Bonitao the day before and ask her to go sideways over the cone. After I little time for her to understand my idea she performed the task fairly willingly. Not as snappy as Bonitao, but not bad considering her long break whilst I was in hospital.
This enforced sitting is finally driving home to me the true power of neutral. I have been criticised in the past by instructors saying my neutral was not neutral enough, but only now am I really getting it. Unfortunate though this accident has been I have to say that it is really improving my Savvy faster than anything else has. In that respect it is something of a blessing. Every cloud has a silver lining they say but sometimes you really have to search for it.
As you are all probably aware I am a passionate believer in being able to place her feet down, but could I accomplish this from the sitting position. No problem at all. A small squeeze on her chestnut and up came a leg for me to hold. She resisted my placing it down a little, but only a token gesture really. I only had the nerve to do the front legs so far, but will try the hind legs soon.
As for her compassion she made a great fuss of me whilst she was standing close. Very gently she sniffed my legs trying to work out why I wasn't using them I guess. She then moved onto gentle sniffing and caressing of my head, spending sometime just breathing into my ear. I was a bit nervous at first given her previous tendency to nibble, but her mouth remained closed throughout and she moved her head around incredibly gently.I hate to be unscientific and anthropomorphic but in these situations it is difficult not to conclude that she was being genuinely concerned and sympathetic to my plight. Research shows that many animals grieve, elephants in particular, so is it too much of a stretch to suggest that they also have the emotion of compassion ?
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