Lola did so well all week that after ponying her a bit again on Sunday we took the lead rope off and we did our first solo ride! We had done some trotting while being ponied, not much since it was wet and not great footing, but enough for her to start getting the idea that legs bumping her sides means to go forward. We also did some extensions in the walk to make the point. So by the time we let her off the lead she knew forward, and she already knew turning, stopping, and backing from ground driving, so nothing was really new except having to step away from the old mare. We started by walking alongside her like usual, then did a turn away and circled back. Then did circles around her while the mare stood in the middle, and finally walked all around the round pen alone. She was calm about the whole thing. She really does try to please.
So with that big step forward, we’re taking a couple steps back. I moved her out to “boarding school” as we’ve named it, and we’ll spend the week repeating everything we did from last week since its a whole new situation now. I’ll be teaching her to pony off of Bear (and teaching Bear to pony someone besides the old mare) so that is a delicate process that needs to be positive for both horses. I’m getting her used to the new arena, and will be able to get back to lunging her each time I work her which will be much better for getting her into shape. I have a safe dry place to continue to ground drive and start making that a bit more challenging. So the plan is to go back to groundwork for the week, and get back on this next weekend. I think it is the best way to set her up for success.
I moved her Sunday afternoon after our training session. She loaded up like a pro, and I’ve seriously never trailer a horse that stood that quietly in the trailer. Bear stomps around like he’s being attacked by a swarm of bees! (Not that he is falling down while driving, he just really likes to stomp and paw and kick when ever we stop, so traffic is hell!) She got out of the trailer nicely and although she was nervous about the new place she was well behaved. I threw her out in pasture right away so she had a while to get situated before dark and the feeding frenzy. She is much smarter than Bear, she kept her distance from the herd instead of sticking herself right in the middle the way he did. She also checked out the fence lines all on her own! The funniest thing is that even though Bear and Lola had never even seen each other before, he took more interest in her than any of the other horses. He chased her down to say hello, and then kept running out to her every so often, then running back to the herd, then running out again to check on her. When I went out to catch Bear last night the two of them were grazing side by side away from the rest of the herd, and the owners tell me they’ve been inseparable since she got there! Super cute, but it could be inconvenient to have two horses at shows that call to each other when ever separated!
So Monday night she had her first training session at boarding school, I was short on time so it was short and very sweet. All she had to do was be caught in pasture, walk around the arena next to Bear while I led him (sort of ponying from the ground), then eat her “sloppy” while tied next to Bear, easy and very positive. I really want the two to come when they are called so I don’t have to hunt down horses in the dark, but since Bear is naturally so mouthy I don’t want to hand feed him treats, so hopefully they get the idea that me coming to get them means food.
I’m excited to start a regular routine with them. Things go better with a routine.
No comments:
Post a Comment