Gia - session 229 - lunging and flatwork

 Charlie worked with Gia and I today on some ground work that we can incorporate into our routine.  It was basic lunging work on a line with a rope halter (he's big into rope halters to help control and communicate with the horse better).  Two things he had us work on - not allowing her to step towards him/me on the lunge line, and moving off to the right better.  

Each time he asked her to whoa, and she stepped towards him, he would correct her quickly with a sharp yank on the line.  Eventually, she learned to whoa and stand still, not stepping in.  When he asked her to move off to the left, she went willingly and correctly.  When he asked her to move off to the right, at first, she resisted going forward, and tried stepping towards him again.  When she did, he kept stepping around to his left, cueing with the whip, until she got the idea.  It didn't take her long before she was performing much more correctly on the lunge line, and was much more relaxed in general.  I practiced with her as well, and we will definitely be adding this to our repertoire, once or twice a week.

Once under saddle, we mainly worked on traveling around the arena, using a lot of leg yielding, at the walk and trot, to keep her busy and moving forward and thinking about her job, rather than all the things she could spook at on yet another windy day.  She definitely started out spooky and looky.  I worked on ignoring her behavior, and slowly working her closer and closer towards the scary areas.  By the end of our ride, we were able to travel all over the ring without any trouble.

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