Gia - session 52 - give and take
I started Gia out with a little bit of lunging on the line in the arena on Friday. After Rusty's ride on her on Wednesday, he recommended not lunging her anymore so that she would have more energy to work with. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for my almost 17 hand 3 year old who's only been under saddle for 18 days to have more energy when I ride her ☺. So, I compromised and only lunged her a little in each direction, making sure she was obedient to the cues (not pinning her ears when I asked her to go forward), and not in the mood to buck. She actually did very well on the line - no bucking and no ear pinning, so I went ahead and got on her. She did have more energy, but she wasn't naughty ... this time ...
Right away I started asking her to give a little on each side of her body. I kept all the cues very soft, but persistent until I got a little bit of give on one side, then I would switch and ask her to give on the other side. I always asked her to give in her mouth and neck with a light, wiggling rein, and I asked her to give in her body with a pushing or thumping leg. She was more responsive in her mouth than on her side, but that's pretty normal, and that should improve as we keep practicing.
Once she felt responsive at the walk, I pushed her up into the trot and repeated the work. I mostly stayed on circles with her, alternating directions when she would give a few times in one direction. This work also helped her to keep her focus more on me. She was sluggish to trot at first, but by the end, she was moving forward a bit more freely. I ended the session when I felt that she was giving good responses with less resistance both mentally and physically. Most of the time, a horse's body will stop resisting, once they stop resisting in their mind. They might have mental resistance because they are scared or frustrated or bored or lazy. It's important to reward the mental as well as the physical achievements with a horse. Once they are mentally on board, a horse is much more capable of giving you everything they have physically.
After we untacked Gia, Danielle held her leadline and the twitch while I clipped her nose. It only took a few seconds before she relaxed, much more visibly than she has so far. We immediately removed the twitch and let her have grass.
For bathing, I held her while Danielle bathed. She was a bit more nervous and did a lot of dancing around this time. She did eventually settle down by the end, and started to enjoy her bath.
Right away I started asking her to give a little on each side of her body. I kept all the cues very soft, but persistent until I got a little bit of give on one side, then I would switch and ask her to give on the other side. I always asked her to give in her mouth and neck with a light, wiggling rein, and I asked her to give in her body with a pushing or thumping leg. She was more responsive in her mouth than on her side, but that's pretty normal, and that should improve as we keep practicing.
Once she felt responsive at the walk, I pushed her up into the trot and repeated the work. I mostly stayed on circles with her, alternating directions when she would give a few times in one direction. This work also helped her to keep her focus more on me. She was sluggish to trot at first, but by the end, she was moving forward a bit more freely. I ended the session when I felt that she was giving good responses with less resistance both mentally and physically. Most of the time, a horse's body will stop resisting, once they stop resisting in their mind. They might have mental resistance because they are scared or frustrated or bored or lazy. It's important to reward the mental as well as the physical achievements with a horse. Once they are mentally on board, a horse is much more capable of giving you everything they have physically.
After we untacked Gia, Danielle held her leadline and the twitch while I clipped her nose. It only took a few seconds before she relaxed, much more visibly than she has so far. We immediately removed the twitch and let her have grass.
For bathing, I held her while Danielle bathed. She was a bit more nervous and did a lot of dancing around this time. She did eventually settle down by the end, and started to enjoy her bath.
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