I realize it has been a while but I promise I am not so far behind as one might think. The week of March 28, I didn't make it to the barn at all so I had nothing to report.
Last week, I did get to the barn three days but found myself to be a bit at sea. (I even forgot to bring Matilda's apple two days in a row! ACK!) Matilda and I have reached a plateau of sorts and I am floundering, trying to figure out where to go next. I can see where we are, sort of. I know my long-term goals, but finding a short term goal and planning a course to get from here to there, out of where we are now, is escaping me. I go back to the barn tomorrow and I still am unclear as to where to go next. This concerns me.
I do, however, have accomplishments to tell you about, things that happened or that I came to know in those last three days:
First and foremost, all of Matilda's beloved behaviors are beautifully intact. Even after that week off, she remembered everything. They are also becoming more and more reliable; I mean that when I say "over", more and more often I am getting an "over" without having to stand and watch a half a dozen "backs" first. She is very slow in coming to me when I ask, but I am really not worried about that. It's not like with a dog, I can't foresee any circumstance in which I would want her to gallop, canter or even trot up to me and stop in front of me, just short of running me down. The fact that she comes at all is something of a coup, let her take her time.
Wednesday we spent a lot of time playing with the ball (since I couldn't figure out what I really wanted to do, that seemed like a safe bet). I am happy to report that she can pick up the ball with ease and fling it. Most of the time she flings it at herself but hey, who am I to judge. We did hit a spot where she was flinging it in my general direction. I could trap it (a soccer reference for A) and kick it back to her. We did it several times and it was really fun until she flung it to the side and it rolled into the paddock next to her. Kim has got all the electric fences working at My Barn so I had to go all the way around from gate to gate in order to retrieve the ball. We lost our momentum and she flung the ball at her knees thereafter. sigh. It was fun while it lasted.:D
I think that the most important stuff to tell you about happened on Tuesday. It was Tuesday that I realized just how confused I was/am. I stopped to think about it but I can't do that. If I try to stop and think, Dear Matilda starts offering behaviors. Back and forth, weaving side to side. When I don't acknowledge or reward those behaviors, those ears start to pin back and the shoving and nipping start. In order to keep my arm bruises to a minimum, I just started walking and she walked with me, of course. We walked and I clicked and rewarded for a while before I really started recognizing what was happening.
Remember a while back when she would constantly cut me off and could only walk nicely next to the rails of the paddock? Well, no more. I walked all over that paddock, in weaving and zig-zag patterns, and she stayed with me, her shoulders just behind me. She doesn't stay on my right, in fact she seems to prefer walking on my left. That's not proper horse etiquette, but it's good dog etiquette. Maybe she knows it is more comfortable for me. At this point, who knows??
When I tuned in to what was going on, I was truly amazed. I would turn suddenly into her, lightly bumping her shoulder, and she would STOP and wait for me to pass before picking up her walking position again. Once, I stopped short and she bumped into me. Dear Sweet Matilda then took an immediate step back and stopped until I walked on and she could walk with me. It was as if she bounced off me, not into me.
In all our time walking together on Tuesday, not once did she touch me or the carrot pail. She was incredibly respectful and I was amazed and delighted. She was pushier on Wednesday but I don't care. I am holding onto Tuesday.
So, where do we go from here? I'm just not sure right now. I can't go from C to Z with nothing in between and it's the in between parts that are temporarily out of my grasp. I'll see what unfolds tomorrow and take it one day at a time. In the meantime, I will love this horse and be grateful for the signs of respect that she is giving me.
Oh, one more accomplishment: I finally found her sweet spot. Under her head, from her chin to her throat. I can rub and scritch that spot all day and she will never get sick of it. On Wednesday I sat on the sitting rock in her paddock to try and think things through before I started working with the ball. She had her head in my lap as I scritched and rubbed and rubbed and scritched. She would move her head away for a moment or two, but then put her nose right back on my knees so that I could start the rubbing and scritching again. :D If all else fails (which it won't) at least I have that.
Last week, I did get to the barn three days but found myself to be a bit at sea. (I even forgot to bring Matilda's apple two days in a row! ACK!) Matilda and I have reached a plateau of sorts and I am floundering, trying to figure out where to go next. I can see where we are, sort of. I know my long-term goals, but finding a short term goal and planning a course to get from here to there, out of where we are now, is escaping me. I go back to the barn tomorrow and I still am unclear as to where to go next. This concerns me.
I do, however, have accomplishments to tell you about, things that happened or that I came to know in those last three days:
First and foremost, all of Matilda's beloved behaviors are beautifully intact. Even after that week off, she remembered everything. They are also becoming more and more reliable; I mean that when I say "over", more and more often I am getting an "over" without having to stand and watch a half a dozen "backs" first. She is very slow in coming to me when I ask, but I am really not worried about that. It's not like with a dog, I can't foresee any circumstance in which I would want her to gallop, canter or even trot up to me and stop in front of me, just short of running me down. The fact that she comes at all is something of a coup, let her take her time.
Wednesday we spent a lot of time playing with the ball (since I couldn't figure out what I really wanted to do, that seemed like a safe bet). I am happy to report that she can pick up the ball with ease and fling it. Most of the time she flings it at herself but hey, who am I to judge. We did hit a spot where she was flinging it in my general direction. I could trap it (a soccer reference for A) and kick it back to her. We did it several times and it was really fun until she flung it to the side and it rolled into the paddock next to her. Kim has got all the electric fences working at My Barn so I had to go all the way around from gate to gate in order to retrieve the ball. We lost our momentum and she flung the ball at her knees thereafter. sigh. It was fun while it lasted.:D
I think that the most important stuff to tell you about happened on Tuesday. It was Tuesday that I realized just how confused I was/am. I stopped to think about it but I can't do that. If I try to stop and think, Dear Matilda starts offering behaviors. Back and forth, weaving side to side. When I don't acknowledge or reward those behaviors, those ears start to pin back and the shoving and nipping start. In order to keep my arm bruises to a minimum, I just started walking and she walked with me, of course. We walked and I clicked and rewarded for a while before I really started recognizing what was happening.
Remember a while back when she would constantly cut me off and could only walk nicely next to the rails of the paddock? Well, no more. I walked all over that paddock, in weaving and zig-zag patterns, and she stayed with me, her shoulders just behind me. She doesn't stay on my right, in fact she seems to prefer walking on my left. That's not proper horse etiquette, but it's good dog etiquette. Maybe she knows it is more comfortable for me. At this point, who knows??
When I tuned in to what was going on, I was truly amazed. I would turn suddenly into her, lightly bumping her shoulder, and she would STOP and wait for me to pass before picking up her walking position again. Once, I stopped short and she bumped into me. Dear Sweet Matilda then took an immediate step back and stopped until I walked on and she could walk with me. It was as if she bounced off me, not into me.
In all our time walking together on Tuesday, not once did she touch me or the carrot pail. She was incredibly respectful and I was amazed and delighted. She was pushier on Wednesday but I don't care. I am holding onto Tuesday.
So, where do we go from here? I'm just not sure right now. I can't go from C to Z with nothing in between and it's the in between parts that are temporarily out of my grasp. I'll see what unfolds tomorrow and take it one day at a time. In the meantime, I will love this horse and be grateful for the signs of respect that she is giving me.
Oh, one more accomplishment: I finally found her sweet spot. Under her head, from her chin to her throat. I can rub and scritch that spot all day and she will never get sick of it. On Wednesday I sat on the sitting rock in her paddock to try and think things through before I started working with the ball. She had her head in my lap as I scritched and rubbed and rubbed and scritched. She would move her head away for a moment or two, but then put her nose right back on my knees so that I could start the rubbing and scritching again. :D If all else fails (which it won't) at least I have that.
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