Gia - session 165 - more adventures in the field, including the ditch!
Gia was a bit grumpy while Danielle was getting her ready, so I was prepared for today to be a crummy ride, but she was actually pretty good!
We warmed up with stretching down at the walk, as well as corners, diagonal lines, and some haunches-in and shoulder-in. At the trot, we did some of the same, but she needed more lateral work to get her straighter.
After getting her nice and straight at the trot, I asked for the canter. There was absolutely NO bucking today! I cantered her twice in each direction, and worked to get three good moments each time. She only picked up one wrong lead the whole time!!
After all the ring work, we went out in the field for some more adventures.
I got a video today of her checking out the big, scary cactus and brush pile on the other side of the fence. She was still slightly concerned, but not as much as before.
She hesitated only slightly when I asked her to walk down the small ravine into the pond (no assist from Patti today!). She also hesitated only slightly when I asked her to step into the water. She was a little more tentative though, but I did manage to get her to go through the pond and exit at another spot on the bank.
So for today's big challenge, we tackled the small ditch I have. It's about 12' long, 2' wide and 1' deep. It's a common obstacle that you would see on a cross country course.
When we first walked up to it, she hesitated a lot. I got her close, but she backed up, and I wasn't able to get her to keep going forward over it. This is very common with new, scary things, and the best way to handle it is to hop off and lead them over it. So, that's what we did. She was still very hesitant to go over it with my lead, but she had done it before, many times, with Danielle, so I knew she could do it. She finally went over it when I got a lot closer to her, basically like her security blanket. The big concern with being that close to them when they go over an obstacle like that, is that they will jump on top of you. You have to be very quick to get out of the way.
I took her back and forth over it several times from the ground, and then I hopped back on. When we approached it again, I had Danielle "lead" her over. Basically, she walked over it, while I followed along behind. Just like when I was on the ground, she didn't want to do it until we tried it with me very close to Danielle, again being careful not to let her jump on top of Danielle.
Each successive time we went over the ditch, I had Danielle go a little further ahead of us, until I though Gia was ready to try it without a lead. It was much easier on her own after that, so we did it a few more times, and then called it a day.
I held her again while Danielle hosed her off, and she did pretty good. She was a little startled, but she didn't move her feet. She was also better about spraying off her face. It was easier to get her head down for that, and she kept it down a tiny bit longer.
We warmed up with stretching down at the walk, as well as corners, diagonal lines, and some haunches-in and shoulder-in. At the trot, we did some of the same, but she needed more lateral work to get her straighter.
After getting her nice and straight at the trot, I asked for the canter. There was absolutely NO bucking today! I cantered her twice in each direction, and worked to get three good moments each time. She only picked up one wrong lead the whole time!!
After all the ring work, we went out in the field for some more adventures.
I got a video today of her checking out the big, scary cactus and brush pile on the other side of the fence. She was still slightly concerned, but not as much as before.
She hesitated only slightly when I asked her to walk down the small ravine into the pond (no assist from Patti today!). She also hesitated only slightly when I asked her to step into the water. She was a little more tentative though, but I did manage to get her to go through the pond and exit at another spot on the bank.
So for today's big challenge, we tackled the small ditch I have. It's about 12' long, 2' wide and 1' deep. It's a common obstacle that you would see on a cross country course.
When we first walked up to it, she hesitated a lot. I got her close, but she backed up, and I wasn't able to get her to keep going forward over it. This is very common with new, scary things, and the best way to handle it is to hop off and lead them over it. So, that's what we did. She was still very hesitant to go over it with my lead, but she had done it before, many times, with Danielle, so I knew she could do it. She finally went over it when I got a lot closer to her, basically like her security blanket. The big concern with being that close to them when they go over an obstacle like that, is that they will jump on top of you. You have to be very quick to get out of the way.
I took her back and forth over it several times from the ground, and then I hopped back on. When we approached it again, I had Danielle "lead" her over. Basically, she walked over it, while I followed along behind. Just like when I was on the ground, she didn't want to do it until we tried it with me very close to Danielle, again being careful not to let her jump on top of Danielle.
Each successive time we went over the ditch, I had Danielle go a little further ahead of us, until I though Gia was ready to try it without a lead. It was much easier on her own after that, so we did it a few more times, and then called it a day.
I held her again while Danielle hosed her off, and she did pretty good. She was a little startled, but she didn't move her feet. She was also better about spraying off her face. It was easier to get her head down for that, and she kept it down a tiny bit longer.
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