I am going to gloss over the end of last week, summarizing the largely uneventful days to get to today which was much more interesting. Last week, we continued to work on backing and it is really nice now. Matilda is pretty reliable in backing when I point and stopping when I bring my hand down to my side. We have started doing sets wherein she backs 2-3 steps, stops, then backs 1-2 more steps and stops before I reward her. We have also worked on her backing from a start point of 4-6 feet away. Her first instinct, when she is so far away, was to come into me no matter what, but it didn't take long for her to figure out that back means back and I will find a way to get the carrot to her. I think the distance work also helped solidify the hand signals that I have been using.
With "back" going so well, I decided to revisit the lateral work on Friday. Somehow I had convinced myself that she had a handle on this one, but it was evidently not the case. Her front end moves well, but the rear end? Not so much. It's sort of amazing to watch her pivot on those back feet as the rear legs twist into the most uncomfortable looking positions. It should be so easy for her to just pick her feet up and move them, but even when she does occasionally move them, they go in the wrong direction. Mostly she just spun like a top.
Which brings us to today! We started with a little review to make sure that nothing was lost over the weekend before launching into the lateral work. The review went beautifully. She is still only standing still about 5-20 seconds, but that will come with time. Actually she stands still beautifully for long periods of time as long as I don't ask her. sigh. The backing and stopping and coming to me were exactly like they were on Friday. On to lateral work, aka "over".
I went back to the same routine I had when I tried working this before, using the target stick to put pressure on her back hip and literally press her over. I've tried to think of some other way to convey to her what I want and have come up with nothing. Today, however, I think we made a significant breakthrough. I started on her right side and pressed and pressed I rewarded her a few times for moving her front feet sideways, but then started holding out for the back feet. (We've been through this before, I know). She moved those back feet out and over and I clicked. She did it again, click. I tapped and said "over" - not pressing, just a tap - and her whole body went back and forth and then over! The whole body went over. That means she use her front and back feet to shift sideways!
We did this several times, then it was time to switch sides. As I crossed in front of her, I started switching the pail to my other hip, so it would be farther away from her mouth. As I switched the pail over and turned to face her left side, she moved over! With her front and back legs! I clicked and gave lots of carrots. Tap, "over", tap, "over". Now I know how Professor Higgins felt. We did that several times, too, before I switched back over to the other side so that I could be sure I saw what I thought I saw, you know?
There's still a lot of forward and backward movement preceding each sideways movement, but it's there and it is taking less and less effort from me to get it. Hoorah!
It was time for a break, but Matilda did not agree. Once the carrots were gone, she got all nippy at me again. I didn't want to break out the carrots when she was being so nippy and I had brought down the longe whip today. Over the weekend, I thought it might be time to reintroduce Matilda to Mr. Longe Whip. If you go back, you will recall that one of my primary objectives is to be able to longe Matilda safely. You will also recall that Matilda has a bad longing reputation and that much of that reputation was related to the whip. She was manageable on the longe line, but as soon as you picked up the whip shoulders were damaged or lines were broken.
So, I brought the whip into the paddock. No carrots or clickers for Miss Nips-A-Lot. She has had little to no problem with everything else I have brought in, including a dressage whip, so I figured she would not really have a problem with this. Plus it's been so long, she's probably forgotten whatever incident pushed her over the edge with this thing, right? wrong.
I lifted up the whip while I was still several feet away from her and the end of the lash swung from side to side and she took off. I mean took off. I had an idea in the back of my head from a video I had watched over the weekend, I won't go into the details of it, but the upshot is that I followed her with the whip. I didn't run after her cracking it in the air or anything like that, just walked after her letting the whip move, occasionally swinging it back and forth or up and down. She kept running. I was effectively driving her around the paddock, keeping her on the move. I used the whip and my body to tell her to change directions and keep moving. It was quite exciting.
Eventually she gave up. Once she gave up, I was able to walk up to her and touch her all over with the whip. She didn't move a muscle. I felt triumphant until I looked at her face and realized she had simply shut down. What I had done was not a bad thing, it's sort of a traditional method of desensitization, but it was not OUR thing. I didn't want Matilda to just give up and tolerate the whip, I want her to love and explore it. To not be afraid of it, and to learn that it is a way for me to communicate with her.
I had to walk away and get the carrots. I stood in the center of the paddock with the carrot pail on my hip and the whip in my hand and asked her to come to me. No dice. I put the whip behind my back. Nope. I leaned it up against a tree and took a step away from it. AH! but only a couple of steps towards me. I took a couple more steps away from the tree and she came into me. Once she was with me, she was with me. It was a simple matter to walk with her to the tree where the whip was resting. I picked it up and she did not run away - click! I held it near her - click! On and on until I was again able to put the whip all over her body. During this time, she picked up the tip of the lash between her teeth and pulled it a couple of times and, with some coaxing, walked under it as if it were an arch. Lots of rewards along the way. I won't say that she will squeal with delight next time she sees it, but we are on track with it and the whip is going to be a regular part of her life for a while to come. Maybe one day she will squeal with delight at the sight of it, one never knows with Matilda.
When I put the whip up, I put the carrots up and we took a break. She did one of her beautiful stand stills in the center of the paddock as I walked away and threw stuff over the fence and then down to her hay spot. I turned and looked at her and asked her to "come". She thought about it for a while before coming to me, but the hay was right behind me and I fully expected her to walk past me to the hay. I mean, I didn't even have the carrots. She surprised me again and stopped in front of me. I turned around, picked up some hay off the ground and fed her, playing a little tug in the process.
We ended our morning together by doing a little review. She had not forgotten "over" in all the excitement and chaos. (YAY) and I coaxed her into following me to the gate so that I could give her her apple. It may be my imagination, but something seemed to have shifted. She was looking at me with a little more thoughtfulness, no bull dozing. We'll see how it goes in the next few days. Matilda having a little cautious respect for people is a good thing in the long run, as long as it doesn't dampen her sense of trust and curiosity. I'll go back tomorrow, anxious to see which Matilda I meet in the paddock.
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