2 Steps forward, 1 Step back

Today I had all kinds of plans and ideas for Skittles thinking we'd move forward in leaps and bounds since our last session was so great. Well, there were lots of leaps and bounds, but not the kind I was hoping for! The old Skittles showed up today. So I worked with the horse that showed up!

She was very agitated throughout the session today. I started out just doing lots of friendly game with her mixed in with grooming her. I used the carrot stick, the lead line and the saddle pad, alternately swinging these around and grooming her. She was less concerned with the saddle pad than she was with either the carrot stick or rope. The rest of the horses in the pasture were starting to head to the back and away from her by this time and when I started losing her attention, I gathered everything up, including the bareback pad again and led her down to the round pen.

I took the halter off and let her drift for a bit, then asked her back in where I started swinging the saddle pad on her back again, followed by the bareback pad. Again, she was not too concerned. So I did up the girth, stepped back and asked her to move. She bucked again for a bit, but way less than she did last session. Throughout this session, the bareback pad did not bother her at all. I moved it around, I patted it, I leaned on it, but nothing seemed to bother her. The rope, on the other hand, was a python with 6" fangs to her today.

I did more of what I did last time: swing the rope around when she left and stop when she turned in or approached me. She's getting pretty good at coming back in, but is not doing so well with staying. We worked LOTS on rhythmic (non-threatening) movement of the rope. She started to get better: a couple times she thought about leaving (tensed up and stepped away), but didn't actually leave.

So next I put the halter back on and started doing some yoyo and circling game. Yoyo is excellent. But circling game needs more work. Last session I just had to point my finger to get her to move off around the circle and there was lots of licking and chewing with her head low. Today I had to use the carrot stick a couple times to put some pressure in zone 2 to turn her (which caused her to rear) and in zone 4-5 to get her to move off around the circle. She'd bolt more than trot, and as soon as she was behind me, she'd disengage and snort. I faced her and asked her into the circle again starting with phase 1, then lift the stick, then swing the string. We did this about 4 or 5 times before she managed to circle twice without stopping. The reason she couldn't get it today was because her head was high the entire time... she wasn't thinking at all. She had the same issues with the other direction, but we persevered. At one point she wheeled away from me, turning into the lead line which really startled her and made her bolt. I let the rope go rather than let her feel trapped, but then there was that 12-foot python with 6" fangs chasing her. After a few laps around the pen she eventually stopped and backed away from the rope and stood (left). I approached her and retreated. She tried to approach me, but the rope moved so she stopped and quivered, so I picked up the end of the rope and walked away and she followed.

I spent the next 30-40 minutes swinging the rope some more. I walked away from her swinging the rope, asking her to follow. Each time there was slack in the lead line (i.e. she released to the pressure -- toward the swinging rope), I stopped swinging. Eventually I was able to swing it closer to her and then over her and around her legs without her needing to leave.

I took the halter off again and did some more with the rope. She left a few more times, but kept returning. She started snorting at my carrot stick, so I started tapping it on the ground while walking around her, then retreated, approached tapping the ground, walked around her and retreated. She followed each time.

Next I tried getting a front end yield. I started by holding my carrot stick parallel to her neck and just moving it slightly (driving game). She left. Hmmm, Ok, next I just put my hand on her nose and my other one by her girth (porcupine game) and asked her to yield away. She backed up. I kept up, adding more pressure to her girth and eventually she stepped across in front. Yay! Release. I asked again but this time she moved away before I even touched her. Release. She stopped and faced me, licking and chewing. I stepped to her left side again and raised my left hand toward her head again and she yielded away a step again. Wow, she's sensitive! I repeated this a few more times until I was able to get 2 steps from her, then tried the right side. She's WAY more sensitive on her right side and she really doesn't like me there. I raised my right hand and she left. I stepped back as soon as she took one step, but she was already gone. She came back fairly quickly though and we tried again. It took a few tries before she'd only take one step away. It really only took me raising my index finger to drive her away ... that was enough pressure for her!

The last thing I did was go back to the halter and lead line. I swung the rope around her a few more times, then brought it around her haunches and asked her to yield her hind end from both directions. The first one was more of a jump than a calm step across, but the last 3 or 4 she was yielding quietly with her head down. We called it a day after that. Whew!