Another day of catch me game with Salvadora. What a contrast to the first few days. The actual catch me game took all of 5 minutes. We then spent a long time just walking and trotting around with the "stick to me" game. Very responsive. Transitions were a dream, up to trot anyway as I can't run fast enough to get her to canter !
However there was still this undercurrent of tension where I felt that she would leave me at the slightest disturbance. And so it happened. A few horses got loose in the yard outside the school and she immediately went right brain, left me, ran around and called to the other horses.
All I could do was redirect her feet from time to time to try and redirect her attention and emotions, and patiently wait for her emotions to subside. Once they did she was soon back at my side as though nothing had happened. This does show that the connection is not that strong yet, if it was she would have just stayed with me. That will come in time.
Interestingly I now find that putting the halter back on makes her a little more anxious and pushy. To ensure that I was upholding principle 2 (Don't make or teach assumptions) I made a point of opening the school doors and then walking two laps around the school with her.
Fortuitously Liz then turned up for a chat. This was a great opportunity to teach her patience (standstill). She kept trying to push past me to get out of the door, not aggressively but persistently. My response was that for every foot that came forward I moved two back. This really frustrated her and resulted in some pawing at the ground. I was not going to give in, or indeed respond to that. I just ignored the pawing, but attended to the two feet back if she moved forwards. Eventually she was at the end of the 12 foot rope, so I had to move back with her. I kept this up until she could stand still for just 15 seconds, then lead her back to her stable. Next time I'll ask for 30 seconds thus making a game out of it.
End of a very satisfying session.
However there was still this undercurrent of tension where I felt that she would leave me at the slightest disturbance. And so it happened. A few horses got loose in the yard outside the school and she immediately went right brain, left me, ran around and called to the other horses.
All I could do was redirect her feet from time to time to try and redirect her attention and emotions, and patiently wait for her emotions to subside. Once they did she was soon back at my side as though nothing had happened. This does show that the connection is not that strong yet, if it was she would have just stayed with me. That will come in time.
Interestingly I now find that putting the halter back on makes her a little more anxious and pushy. To ensure that I was upholding principle 2 (Don't make or teach assumptions) I made a point of opening the school doors and then walking two laps around the school with her.
Fortuitously Liz then turned up for a chat. This was a great opportunity to teach her patience (standstill). She kept trying to push past me to get out of the door, not aggressively but persistently. My response was that for every foot that came forward I moved two back. This really frustrated her and resulted in some pawing at the ground. I was not going to give in, or indeed respond to that. I just ignored the pawing, but attended to the two feet back if she moved forwards. Eventually she was at the end of the 12 foot rope, so I had to move back with her. I kept this up until she could stand still for just 15 seconds, then lead her back to her stable. Next time I'll ask for 30 seconds thus making a game out of it.
End of a very satisfying session.
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