Gia - sessions 1338-

 Monday October 19th - I started out asking Gia to flex her jaw left and right in hand.  It seemed much easier for her today.  I got on her about the same time Danielle was getting on Belle.  Gia notoriously does not like to share the arena, so she immediately made it known (with ears back) that this space was all hers).  However, we don't share that sentiment, so I decided we would spend the entire ride next to Belle, much to Gia's disappointment.  We started at the walk, and a very safe distance away, but still close enough for Gia to feel slightly uncomfortable.  Belle could have cared less.  Gia likes to try a swift move of swinging her haunches at her opponent to kick them, so I decided today would be a good day to work on lots of haunches-in.  (Gia was positioned on the inside and Belle on the outside).  I used my outside leg to softly ask for the haunches to move slightly to the inside.  When she didn't respond, I tapped rhythmically with the whip until she did, then released and praised her.  After a few repetitions, she quickly forgot about Belle and focused on her new task.  We did it several times in each direction at the walk, then several times in each direction at the trot.  By the end, she was marching quietly beside Belle like it was no big deal.  By the way, for those who don't know, Belle is our new full Belgian draft horse, so she's practically as large as Gia.  We are thinking that this could be a future pas de deux.  Possibly to music from "They Might Be Giants"? 🤣😂