Gia - session 859 - in hand work with "straddle pole"

 Today was a pretty crappy day weather-wise - very cold, lots of rain, very breezy.  Definitely not my ideal weather, but if you want to succeed with horses, you have to get out there even when you don't really want to.  I decided today was a good day to work with Gia on her "straddle pole" in hand again.  We haven't done it in a while.  

For those of you who aren't familiar, I have a long piece of 2-3" PVC pipe, probably about 8-10' long.  We set it on the ground in the cross tie area (so we can stay dry ☺).  Danielle led her, while I guided her back end, and kind of her middle as well.  She has to walk along the pole, straddling it, both left legs on one side as she goes, and both right legs on the other side.  This is one of the physical therapy exercises that Cameron (her personal bodyworker) gave us to do with her.  It's actually a LOT harder than it sounds.  

She definitely remembered the exercise, and we could tell she was really trying to concentrate.  She went back-and-forth through the exercise about 5-10 times before she made it the whole way without stepping over the pole at all.  Every time she put each foot down in the correct place I would click for her, and Danielle would give her a treat at the end of each try.  She was definitely into it, and she seemed really proud of herself when she got it by the end!

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