Gia - session 65 - Puddles!
Gia was really good for her grooms this morning. She was also really good for me to brush her face and forelock. I started out on the lunge line today. Since it had rained a bunch last night, we had a really good sized puddle on one end of the arena. No time like the present to start learning to go through water! So, I started the lunging in that section of the arena. She was definitely worried about it when we first approached it on the lunge line. I let her check it out, but she really just wanted to find a way around it - most horses do. Every time she tried to go backwards or around it without touching any of the puddle, I would cut her off and keep directing her the way I wanted her to go. Anytime she touched even a tiny bit of the puddle, I would relax my cues and tell her "Good girl!" Little by little she would get closer to the deeper part of the puddle. She would take very halting steps, but as long as her feet were in the water, I rewarded her. It really didn't take her too many repetitions before she was walking through it without hesitating. Then I asked her to trot through. She was hesitant with that at first, but in a short time was trotting through with no problems, even stretching down to play a little.
At the mounting block I had to take a little time to get her to stand still. I had to tap her on the chest as I pulled back on the reins whenever she would move forward. Once I was on her, she did walk forward, uninvited, for a few steps. I asked her to stand quietly for 3 seconds (that's a long time to a horse, or a 2 year old child). At the walk, she was super relaxed and swinging in her back. She looked around a little, but I was quickly able to get her attention. When we approached the puddle, she walked through it slowly at first, but after just a time or two, she was fine. At the trot, she was fairly obedient. I did have to tap her with the whip the first time, but then she moved off my leg better. She trotted through the puddle quite well for the first time, and after a few times, was a pro. She was fairly straight today, maybe falling out a little through her right shoulder, but not too bad, and she was easily corrected. She did feel a little quick at times, almost like she was thinking about her canter work. It was easy to slow her down though.
Up in the round pen, Rebecca worked on asking her to canter a few times until she was moving obediently. Then I hopped on. She was quite anxious at first. She kept trying to throw in a small buck and/or throw her haunches into the center of the ring. Rebecca was staying in the center of the ring, and keeping her whip still, but turning as we went around. I got the feeling that Gia was focused on Rebecca and tensed up, ready for her to tell Gia to canter. I asked Rebecca to stand perfectly still in the middle, and that seemed to calm Gia down. When I asked for the canter today, Rebecca did not have to help me at all, but it did take a few cues on my part in both directions. I could tell that she was trying to gather herself though, so I didn't push it, and she got it after about 3 cues to the right, and only 2 to the left. I think she was thinking about bucking at first, but I kept her moving forward and kept her head up, so she let it go and cantered about one lap in each direction.
On that note, we untacked her to work on clipping. She was still anxious when I approached her with the clippers, so I put on the twitch. After just a few minutes, she started to relax, so we loosened, and slowly removed, the twitch. She stood perfectly still, and almost fell asleep while I clipped her some more. It's almost like she needs the twitch to help her calm down. Hopefully, we can wean her off of it sometime soon.
As the girls brushed her off (she wasn't sweaty enough to bathe today), I pulled a little more of her mane, while she stood in the crossties. She was pretty quiet for the most part. She got a little fidgety as I got closer to her head, but nothing too bad.
At the mounting block I had to take a little time to get her to stand still. I had to tap her on the chest as I pulled back on the reins whenever she would move forward. Once I was on her, she did walk forward, uninvited, for a few steps. I asked her to stand quietly for 3 seconds (that's a long time to a horse, or a 2 year old child). At the walk, she was super relaxed and swinging in her back. She looked around a little, but I was quickly able to get her attention. When we approached the puddle, she walked through it slowly at first, but after just a time or two, she was fine. At the trot, she was fairly obedient. I did have to tap her with the whip the first time, but then she moved off my leg better. She trotted through the puddle quite well for the first time, and after a few times, was a pro. She was fairly straight today, maybe falling out a little through her right shoulder, but not too bad, and she was easily corrected. She did feel a little quick at times, almost like she was thinking about her canter work. It was easy to slow her down though.
Up in the round pen, Rebecca worked on asking her to canter a few times until she was moving obediently. Then I hopped on. She was quite anxious at first. She kept trying to throw in a small buck and/or throw her haunches into the center of the ring. Rebecca was staying in the center of the ring, and keeping her whip still, but turning as we went around. I got the feeling that Gia was focused on Rebecca and tensed up, ready for her to tell Gia to canter. I asked Rebecca to stand perfectly still in the middle, and that seemed to calm Gia down. When I asked for the canter today, Rebecca did not have to help me at all, but it did take a few cues on my part in both directions. I could tell that she was trying to gather herself though, so I didn't push it, and she got it after about 3 cues to the right, and only 2 to the left. I think she was thinking about bucking at first, but I kept her moving forward and kept her head up, so she let it go and cantered about one lap in each direction.
On that note, we untacked her to work on clipping. She was still anxious when I approached her with the clippers, so I put on the twitch. After just a few minutes, she started to relax, so we loosened, and slowly removed, the twitch. She stood perfectly still, and almost fell asleep while I clipped her some more. It's almost like she needs the twitch to help her calm down. Hopefully, we can wean her off of it sometime soon.
As the girls brushed her off (she wasn't sweaty enough to bathe today), I pulled a little more of her mane, while she stood in the crossties. She was pretty quiet for the most part. She got a little fidgety as I got closer to her head, but nothing too bad.
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