A Perfect Night!
Had an AMAZING night at the barn last night. After a couple of really hot days, the weather was perfect. It was low 70s and sunny. Between being away last week, and the hot days early this week, Lola hasn’t had much work. The couple of times I’ve been to the barn since vacation I basically groomed her, hosed her down, and let her graze a bit. Last night, we actually got some work done.
We started in her stall and did a really good grooming. I spent lots of time scratching her itchy spots and rubbing her down. The flies were pretty terrible. Fly spray helped, but didn’t solve the problem. At one point, I was grooming her, and she rested her head on my head and just stayed there for a few seconds. So cute! She’s a very snuggly horse.
After I groomed her, we went down to the indoor. We started with lots of Friendly game, and then moved on to the Porcupine game. I pushed her a bit and asked for a full circle of her front end, in both directions, and the same with her backend. I also asked her to backup quite a few steps, until she was almost touching the wall. She did really well. I tapped her feet, asking her to pick them up, and she did great.
We did Driving game. Her front end is now moving almost as well as her back end. It’s great! She was driving back with just the slightest shake of my fingers. We were really communicating well last night. It was really special.
I increased the challenge a bit by using the porcupine and driving games to back her over a ground pole and to ask her to come over a jump. It’s taking her a little getting used to. She’s a little nervous about backing over the ground pole, but she is really trying hard and really working to figure it out. It’s so neat to see her drop her head and lick her lips while she is relaxing and figuring things out.
We played Circle game a little, and she did very well. She understands what I want now when I send her off, she’s just not quite confident on keeping going yet, but it was MUCH better last night than it has been in the past.
I thought it might be a good challenge to stand outside the door to the indoor and send Lola in ahead of me. No problem at all. I decided I should make things a bit more challenging, so I played porcupine game with her through the much smaller people door. Again, no problem. I used the circle game to send her in through the people door in both directions, no problem. This horse is not very claustrophobic at all. I haven’t officially done Squeeze game with her yet, but I think that is going to be the easiest of all for her.
I finished the night be playing Friendly game with her from up on a mounting block. I leaned on her, rubbed her all over with the carrot stick, and rubbed her opposite side while I was leaning on her. She’s still not perfectly happy with it all, but she is getting MUCH more tolerant. I can't wait to ride her! I also can't wait to move her to her new barn and have her close enough to stop by and say "hello."
What a great night! I love my snuggly horse!
We started in her stall and did a really good grooming. I spent lots of time scratching her itchy spots and rubbing her down. The flies were pretty terrible. Fly spray helped, but didn’t solve the problem. At one point, I was grooming her, and she rested her head on my head and just stayed there for a few seconds. So cute! She’s a very snuggly horse.
After I groomed her, we went down to the indoor. We started with lots of Friendly game, and then moved on to the Porcupine game. I pushed her a bit and asked for a full circle of her front end, in both directions, and the same with her backend. I also asked her to backup quite a few steps, until she was almost touching the wall. She did really well. I tapped her feet, asking her to pick them up, and she did great.
We did Driving game. Her front end is now moving almost as well as her back end. It’s great! She was driving back with just the slightest shake of my fingers. We were really communicating well last night. It was really special.
I increased the challenge a bit by using the porcupine and driving games to back her over a ground pole and to ask her to come over a jump. It’s taking her a little getting used to. She’s a little nervous about backing over the ground pole, but she is really trying hard and really working to figure it out. It’s so neat to see her drop her head and lick her lips while she is relaxing and figuring things out.
We played Circle game a little, and she did very well. She understands what I want now when I send her off, she’s just not quite confident on keeping going yet, but it was MUCH better last night than it has been in the past.
I thought it might be a good challenge to stand outside the door to the indoor and send Lola in ahead of me. No problem at all. I decided I should make things a bit more challenging, so I played porcupine game with her through the much smaller people door. Again, no problem. I used the circle game to send her in through the people door in both directions, no problem. This horse is not very claustrophobic at all. I haven’t officially done Squeeze game with her yet, but I think that is going to be the easiest of all for her.
I finished the night be playing Friendly game with her from up on a mounting block. I leaned on her, rubbed her all over with the carrot stick, and rubbed her opposite side while I was leaning on her. She’s still not perfectly happy with it all, but she is getting MUCH more tolerant. I can't wait to ride her! I also can't wait to move her to her new barn and have her close enough to stop by and say "hello."
What a great night! I love my snuggly horse!
posted by Lisa @ 1:45 PM
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