Sometimes things don't go to plan, do they. Particularly with horses lol.
I should really have bypassed the school this morning on the way to the field but because I haven't spent much time with Breeze this week I thought let's have a 'short play in the school'.
As soon as we got in there B offered me sideways but she noticed the herd in the field and wanted to be with them, so she wasn't really listening to me. She offered sideways over a jump and the cones but any suggestion of circle game and she got bracey and snotty! Here's how the conversation went . . . .
me: Ok B, turn and face me please. Back up and wait for the send please.
B: Err,I don't think so! I'm gonna put me head in the air, stare at you and pull on the line, then back up/drift sideways!
me: Oh B, do we have to argue about this? You want to go sideways? Ok, let's go sideways over here and then stop and rest.
B: NO! I want to go backwards!
me: Ok let's go back wards, but let me help you and see how far and fast you can go backwards!?
So we do a whole lap of the school going backwards but with B also trying to turn and run and then not wanting to yield her HQ when I block her turns. Until we get to the corner by the field gate where she gets really snotty and throws a tantrum. So I stop and ask her to rest after getting in the right position to ask for HQ yield.
We stop and rest and I look at the ground, trying to look at my watch to see how long it takes her to lick and chew. I stroke her lowered head and she blinks continually. Didn't get to time it but possibly 3 minutes go past. B lifts her head and blows out. I smile and we go for a walk side by side. She won't go past me but pulls on the line if I even look at zone 5. So we play with this for a while until she realises I am not going to pull her or release the line. I stay steady until she drops her head and walks towards me. I ask for this three or four times and she stops pulling and looks at me softly as she comes to me. We stop and rest again and wait for her to lick and chew. Not so long this time.
Walk together again and then play yield your HQ in either direction at close quarters then letting the line slide out until B is at least 12' away. We get some falling leaf until we reach the opposite corner to the field corner where something in the bushes spooks her. She leaps in the air but instead of towards me she respects my space and goes away from me. Cool. More walk then slip into circle game, one lap in walk and stop and rest.
I can't not ask because I want to see if it's fixed, so it's back up and wait for the send please B. B looks at me with both eyes, waits, then drops her head and we have a very soft full lap of circle game in walk anti clockwise. Hooray! I ask her in. Big piece of carrot and scratches and we leave. Phew!
I should really have bypassed the school this morning on the way to the field but because I haven't spent much time with Breeze this week I thought let's have a 'short play in the school'.
As soon as we got in there B offered me sideways but she noticed the herd in the field and wanted to be with them, so she wasn't really listening to me. She offered sideways over a jump and the cones but any suggestion of circle game and she got bracey and snotty! Here's how the conversation went . . . .
me: Ok B, turn and face me please. Back up and wait for the send please.
B: Err,I don't think so! I'm gonna put me head in the air, stare at you and pull on the line, then back up/drift sideways!
me: Oh B, do we have to argue about this? You want to go sideways? Ok, let's go sideways over here and then stop and rest.
B: NO! I want to go backwards!
me: Ok let's go back wards, but let me help you and see how far and fast you can go backwards!?
So we do a whole lap of the school going backwards but with B also trying to turn and run and then not wanting to yield her HQ when I block her turns. Until we get to the corner by the field gate where she gets really snotty and throws a tantrum. So I stop and ask her to rest after getting in the right position to ask for HQ yield.
We stop and rest and I look at the ground, trying to look at my watch to see how long it takes her to lick and chew. I stroke her lowered head and she blinks continually. Didn't get to time it but possibly 3 minutes go past. B lifts her head and blows out. I smile and we go for a walk side by side. She won't go past me but pulls on the line if I even look at zone 5. So we play with this for a while until she realises I am not going to pull her or release the line. I stay steady until she drops her head and walks towards me. I ask for this three or four times and she stops pulling and looks at me softly as she comes to me. We stop and rest again and wait for her to lick and chew. Not so long this time.
Walk together again and then play yield your HQ in either direction at close quarters then letting the line slide out until B is at least 12' away. We get some falling leaf until we reach the opposite corner to the field corner where something in the bushes spooks her. She leaps in the air but instead of towards me she respects my space and goes away from me. Cool. More walk then slip into circle game, one lap in walk and stop and rest.
I can't not ask because I want to see if it's fixed, so it's back up and wait for the send please B. B looks at me with both eyes, waits, then drops her head and we have a very soft full lap of circle game in walk anti clockwise. Hooray! I ask her in. Big piece of carrot and scratches and we leave. Phew!
P.S.
When I went to get B this eve she was up near the gate. As soon as she saw me her head went up and she immediately came towards me and when I opened the gate she walked through the gap and down the runway with me at liberty.
The whole time I was with her, feeding and picking out her feet she was polite and attentive. She allowed me to touch a lot of her really sensitive places that normally she would not be happy about. Wow! I wonder, did I make a good impression on her this morning despite the misgivings I had?
Fab session!! Sounds like you made some inroads...
ReplyDeleteJx
I hope so because this 'problem' with the circle game is puzzling me. Of course I think I have done something wrong along the way. It may simply be our honeymoon is over and I am seeing the real Breeze and dealing with the horse that turns up. How interesting!
ReplyDeletec x