Gia - session 308 - ground work

 My neighbors were getting some trees cut down today, which involved a wood chipper, and a crane carrying tree tops way up in the air.  Needless to say, I didn't think it would be a good day to ride a young, nervous type horse, like Gia.  So, I decided to work on some ground work with her.

Since the guys were working on stuff near the arena, I turned her loose in the arena to do the ground work with her.  She actually didn't seem too bothered by what was going on (although that could have been a different story if I had been on her back).  She wasn't worried, but she did not want to venture to the other end of the arena where the work was going on.  

I revisited the natural horsemanship work that I have done with her many times in the past.  Whenever she was distracted or not paying attention to me, I got her attention by moving my body in the opposite direction of her focus, or moving my whip to get her attention.  As soon as her attention was on me, I stopped, even if it was only for a second.  I went back and forth with this work until she stayed more focused on me, and walked towards me.  She seemed more interested in the poles on the ground, the saddle pads on the fence, and the jump blocks along the fence, than she was on me or the workers.

As she focused more on me, I tried to encourage her towards the other end of the ring, where the work was going on.  She never moved fast, and she wasn't hesitant or worried looking, but she never followed me very far towards the other end.  I was able to get her to go about 2/3 of the way to the other end, but that's as far as we got.  As relaxed as she was, I still consider our session a win, and it definitely went better than it could have!

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