It's really amazing how much Loryn has added to this equation. Just meeting her, talking to her and seeing her interest in Matilda is keeping me motivated and focused. It's also helped me to shift my thinking from the theoretical to the practical, pushing to move on with Matilda's future as a riding horse clearly in focus.
This doesn't mean that we don't have time for some fun. One of our favorites is "up", where we lift a hand, say "up" and Matilda lifts the corresponding hoof. She is doing it so well that we are working on speed and sequences of lifting. We have been wondering if we can get her to the point where she will prance on her front feet, going back and forth. So far we've only got her going from left to right once, very slowly, before clicking but we are building. It makes me laugh to watch it.
I am trying to get it on video, but whenever I pull out the camera she stops. I have half a dozen 10 second videos of Matilda standing and staring blankly at Loryn or the camera while Loryn stands with one hand in the air saying "up" over and over.... that sort of makes me laugh too.
More practically, we continue to focus on Matilda's response to pressure. I think I said this in my last post but I will reiterate (b/c I can't remember and don't want to actually go back and look) that we are looking for Matilda to give appropriate responses in moving away from the smallest amount of pressure so that a child could apply a hand or heel to her side and get a decent response. She really does well with this and it is all about fine tuning (ew) and making sure that we are getting the exact movement we want every time.
Right now I can pretty much count on getting one step to the side when I put one finger on her shoulder. She moves one complete lateral step sideways with her whole body when she feels a finger around where her girth will be more than half of the time. Her hind end is where everything comes to a grinding halt... literally. When I start walking towards her haunch, she often bends her head around to watch me as if to say, "And where do you think you're going??" I apply a finger, then a knuckle, then a fist with my whole weight leaning up against her. I have to lean there for about 5 seconds before she steps forward and then, finally, out to the side with just her hind legs. We'll be focusing on the refinement of that skill until it's one finger to her hip equaling one step out with her hind leg. It's just a matter of good timing and consistency with that wonderful Click!
We continue to work on... ummmm.... encouraging her not to pull for the grass when being led around. Work sessions frequently start with a trip around the ring, stopping every few steps and clicking and rewarding if she can keep that giant head up and not reach for the delectable fringe of grass that tempts her just inside the fence. Yesterday she really started to get it. I noted several times with both Loryn and myself that she backed up and turned her head into us and away from the grass when we stopped walking.
I've started giving her those farewell pieces of apple on the trip from the ring to the paddock, since that used to be where the worst pulling occurs... Funny, she's not so interested in the grass once she knows there might be apples....
On Tuesday this week, Matilda was very rushy. I only asked for walk and stop and worked on her standing still while I picked up the whip then moved into and away from her. She tried to take off once or twice but either she responded to my request for a walk or I was able to pull her nose into me to bring her down. I don't know if I should say that I never lost control of her or she never lost control of herself. Probably both. We are a team after all.
This is video from Wednesday, towards the end of our session in extremely hot weather. I wish that I had before and after video, to show you what it was like when we first started. You'll just have to go back and read earlier posts and trust my descriptions and your imagination. I am no fool and know that the heat is giving me an enormous amount of help. In one of the videos I had to work really hard to get anything approaching a trot. (my husband has informed me that it is not a true Matilda trot - more of an upbeat walk :p) I think it is wonderful. When watching them back, I am still surprised at how I can flick the whip behind her heels. I was so proud of the way she listened to me for those downward transitions.
Sorry these are just links, I wanted to embed the video into the blog, but I am not that skilled.
http://youtu.be/aEYAHgeaKGE
http://youtu.be/ofawE_tuHxw
We are still working on the 10' lead. This really is not enough space for her to move comfortably but I believe that we will be starting to push out on the 25' longe line soon. Especially if we have more days like this.
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