Gia - session 179 - Schooling at the Horse Park!

 Gia loaded up nicely on the trailer this morning to go school at the Carolina Horse Park again!  She had to hang out on the trailer a little bit, while Butch and Pippa schooled first.  Then it was her turn.

As soon as I pulled her off the trailer, I picked out her feet, put on her boots and took her out to lunge.  She was a bit vocal at first, talking to Pippa, but she quieted down after a little bit.  She was very looky on the lunge line though, and it took a while until I had her attention more on me.  We did a lot of trotting in each direction, stopping to rest when she was more relaxed, and starting back up again when she got distracted.

Eventually, I thought she was quiet enough to tack up and hop on.  Although, she wasn't as quiet as I had hoped, and not as quiet as she has been in the past.  Right away, I started gently asking her to move off my leg on a circle, bending and counterbending.  She was quiet pissed that I was asking her to do stuff, and kept kicking out at my leg cues.  At first, I stayed very quiet and relaxed, waiting for her to drop it.  However, she started escalating her reaction to my leg cues - stronger kicks out, small bucks, maybe a half-rear.  So, I pulled her in a tight circle, and got more stern with her.  After that, she seemed to settle down and give up the fussiness.  

It took her a little longer to relax more than that, but I did end up getting a decent walk and trot by the end.  I have found, with her, that if she is feeling rather electric, it's best if I sit the trot.  Whenever she feels like that and I start posting, it seems to light her up even more.  So, I did a lot of our trot work sitting at first.  By the end, I was able to post a bit more though.

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