Gia - session 71 - More poles on the lunge line and under saddle

I'm a little behind in my writing, thanks to a very busy week.  I worked with Gia on Monday.  I started her out on the lunge line, and I had Rebecca put a bunch of poles all around the arena, each in sets of two, about 9 feet apart, so that Gia could trot or canter through them.  On the lunge line I had her go over them at the trot and canter.  The first time through, she stopped a few feet before the first one.  I allowed her to stop and take her time to check it out and see that it was no big deal, then she continued through at a walk.  Each time she approached the poles she got closer before stopping, and then just came down to a walk, and then just hesitated slightly, and finally went through with no problems at all.  Each time she got over the poles, even if she stopped first, I praised her verbally.  She really likes being told when she does a good job, so that really helps to boost her confidence and makes her want to do even more then next time.  I had her do this process in each direction, and when the trot work was good, I had her canter the poles once or twice. 

Then I hopped on.  She was a bit anxious for mounting.  I'm not sure exactly why,  but I patiently asked her to stand still for a few seconds before letting her go.  She felt tense and distracted, so I immediately started walking her over poles.  The poles have been really helpful at getting her to pay attention to something other than what is going on around her.  Within a few minutes she was much more relaxed and focused on me.  Then we worked on trotting the poles.  They were set up all over the arena in a variety of different directions, so we really had fun trotting all around in circles, half circles, serpentines, figure eights, and more!  Gia seemed to enjoy this work more than just the boring trotting around the ring.  She is definitely one that wants to work and stay busy!  I didn't ride her for long, just until she felt relaxed, willing, forward and focused. 

I had a slammed day, so I didn't have time to do any other work with Gia after I got off.  Hopefully, we will be able to get back to that stuff next time though.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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