Gia - session 103 - Walk to halt transitions

On the lunge line today, I had Gia continue to add a bit more impulsion at the trot.  She was definitely less grumpy today than on Wednesday!

Under saddle, we warmed up with all the same things - bending and counterbending at the walk and trot, and walking and trotting down centerline.

Today, I focused on helping her understand what I want her to do when I ask her to halt from my seat.  The key to this sentence, and to training in general, is "helping her to understand".  

She doesn't know what I want until I explain it to her, or teach it to her.  Now is not the time to "test" her, but rather the time to "teach" her.  When we go to our first competition, that will not be the time to "test" her either, but rather to "teach" her what competitions are all about.  There will come a time to "test" her, when she completely understands the material at hand, and is much more relaxed in a new, unfamiliar environment.

For now, we repeated coming down centerline and halting in the same place.  Often, when I'm teaching a horse something, I like to do it in the same place every time, so that they come to expect it and learn to give me what I am asking for.  Eventually, I won't want that level of anticipation, but right now, it's actually helpful in getting her to understand my cue.  On the last few passes down centerline, she started slowing down before I even asked her to halt, anticipating what I was about to ask her to do.  You can see her coming in very slow in the video I will attach in my Facebook post.  She was still a little frustrated, as she told me by shaking her head, but definitely not as much as she was on Wednesday.  Her halts definitely improved as she went along too!  

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