Feb. 27 — Taking Territory, first time Friday, Feb 27 2009

February 27, 2009

I had a fun time playing with her in the paddock – she came up to me when I came out, and I drew her in and she started to trot. Then I realized I forgot something, left, returned, and when I called her she came RUNNING in a big trot, apparently thinking we were going to play again. She loves playing. She’s addicted. I just have to be careful she doesn’t get too wild. J

I did some stuff with Caspian/Deo, then some Sharing Space with her, and also playing with the halter. I experimented today with letting her do things out of curiosity – touching the halter or going through the gate, etc, not “asking” any more than presenting the opportunity and waiting for her to accept. It is interesting. I’m not sure how it’ll work, but I like it for now. I want to develop her curiosity as much as possible.

Anyway, took her into the arena, let her go, and she RAN AND RAN AND RAN. Bucking and leaping and racing and slipping and running and a step of passage and another step of Spanish trot. And bucking and bucking. Lots of bucking. Potential for standing capriole, perhaps? She also kept a very close eye on me almost the entire time, which was interesting, and several times came over my way, eventually getting brave enough to come all the way to me. I think she really wanted me to play with her, but I wasn’t going to – not with her as wild as she was. Once she took some movement as mine as an opportunity to play and did this gorgeous levade-pesade right in front of me. <gawk gasp drool> Wow.

Then she calmed down and I did a bit of whip prep (walking around, swinging my whip near the ground, asking her to move away when I got closer), then put out a nice pile of hay and grain and let her eat for a few minutes. Then I did Taking Territory maybe 3-4 times? She ran away bucking the first time/two and came right back to me. The other time(s) she didn’t buck so much and stayed away a bit more patiently. After that, she kept a good eye on me, and if I clicked when I was behind her she’d pop her head up and look at me.

I did Sharing Space for a little while longer, then went to put her halter on. She was okay with me standing there, but did start to move away with the halter. So I just turned it into a little Leading from Behind, although she just walked in a tiny circle around the hay.

Then I haltered and led her back. She stops right away when I stop. Very forward and energetic.

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Feb. 26 — Catching adventures and stall fun Thursday, Feb 26 2009

February 26, 2009

We had a snowstorm, so I went out in the afternoon to check on her, and of course, the other horses wouldn’t let her in the run in. She nickered to me when I came up to her, though!! But then I had to halter her to bring her in. She pulled away and I tried to keep my hand on her neck, and she ran through Caspian into the run in (pretty brave of her!). That got the other horses both annoyed and spooked and pretty soon they were all charging around the run in. Eventually Caspian/Deo ran out and I stood in the doorway of the run in, my back to Maia, not letting her run past me but not trying to catch her either. She was pretty spooked but eventually stopped. Then I said Hello, and left, letting her run out. They all ran around over to the hay bunker, and I went over after a few minutes (let them all calm down first…) and Maia came right up to me. She did pull away again and once again all the horses got in a tizzy and then I got between her and the other two and kept her there for another few minutes. Then I haltered her and we were all good. Being cold certainly seems to make the horses kind of jumpy!

Then this evening I went out to play with her in the stall for a while. We did a bunch of Sharing Space all throughout, and also started with that and ended with her eating hay out of my lap. The other things I worked on were petting her all over her head, scratching her face, etc, which she is starting to like more and more. Then I crouched down and fed her a handful of grain while I stroked her front legs. I did that a few times, then was able to stroke them without the grain while she stood relatively still (a little frozen – she really wants to pick up her legs when I touch them, but I just want her to be still).

We also worked on giving to a feel (backwards, HQ, and forehand) and she was able to do a step or two in each of those yields. The feel is very, very light, almost a thought – but she gets it! I also did some yielding without touching her, but that was quite a bit harder. I’m not good yet at inviting horses in/out of a space, and didn’t want to use normal rhythmic pressure, so she didn’t quite get it. I found, however, that it worked better if 1) I went straight from a back up to a HQ yield (versus going straight at the HQ) and 2) if I gestured with my hand towards her face first, so that she’s turn her head toward it (looking for a treat? Sniffing?) and then it was easy for her to swing her HQ away.

At the end we played kind of a fun, silly game where I had a big handful of grain, and I’d run from corner to corner of the stall and every time she swung to face me I’d give her a bite of grain. I suppose it’s good prep for teaching her to keep her eyes on me!

She wasn’t really spooky at all when I was shaking the bedding bag when cleaning the stall!

I used some treats, but kept them in a bucket and went and got one when she was especially good.

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Feb. 23-24 — Playing/taking space, scratching, and moving from a feel Tuesday, Feb 24 2009

February 23-24, 2009

Yesterday was just a continuation of my last entry – some running and playing, some standing and petting, and some asking her to move away. She had some pretty wild playing – once she came tearing after me and did a huge, full-body leap through the air… airs above the ground, anyone?? She is also getting really quite confident about me, whips, etc. I do want to impress on her that sometimes she needs to leave, and stay “left,” (not just turn and come right back), and once I ended up giving her a good tap with the whip on the rump, although she had on her blanket and I doubt she felt much. But it seemed to make a good impression. I used treats that day.

Today we had a good bit of Sharing Space, me petting the other horses and ignoring her, etc, and then I also focused on getting her confident with me touching her, massaging, scratching, etc, all over. Finally it was warm enough for her blanket to be off, so I could scratch her all over. She is relatively confident everywhere but her legs. I haven’t found a good itchy spot that she REALLY likes, but she did seem to like her rump and neck scratched. She didn’t seem sure at first if she “should” like what I was doing, and sometimes I stayed with her as she shifted away (versus stopping immediately) and she got quite good. Definitely the most I’ve ever touched her. She’s still a bit busy/slightly unconfident about it all, but infinitely better.

I also did a bit of asking her to move away from a feel.  I simply placed my hands on her (hip/face/etc), and just focused my body on what I wanted her to do. NO phases, not at all, just very light, waiting and waiting for her to figure it out. She did, often very quickly. Backing up was a little tougher, but not bad. She seemed to like the interaction.

She seemed to connect well. In fact, midway through I sat on a ledge and she just stood next to me for a long time, sniffing some, but in general just standing. Later on, I finished the session with such Sharing Space and she stood just behind me almost the entire time. I didn’t have any treats today, not on me, didn’t feed her any. It was just me.

She is leading much better as well (have to lead her into the barn each night). She drops her head for the halter and leads up at my side, as long as I’m on her left (right side she is extremely unconfident). It was phenomenal how fast she learned to drop her head – just a few practice sessions and she has seemed to absolutely learned it, no big learning curve, no working towards softer cues – she just does it on a feather cue like it’s the most natural thing in the world — when before she didn’t want her head down for anything. Now she gets so into the head down thing that pretty soon she’s distracted by my boots or the ground and I have to ask her to bring her head up.   

We did have a slight discussion when I was haltering her, and I can’t remember what happened, but Caspian and Deo ended up going one way and Maia decided she was leaving town, didn’t matter what I was doing with her or if she had to go over me, and I ended up driving her back so that I was between her and Caspian/Deo, and we stood there for a bit, and I didn’t let her go past me. Then I said Hello a few times (she was a bit spooked, I had had used pressure to keep her there) and everything seemed good again.

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Feb. 21 — Starting taking space Saturday, Feb 21 2009

February 21, 2009

I interspersed Sharing Space throughout my time with her today; it gives us both a nice break where we can ignore each other and not feel like we have to be “doing” things all the time. I did some of my sharing space standing/sitting in the hay feeder, constantly working to get her used to things above her. She was quite comfortable with that today and hardly raised her head as I climbed in and out.

She is SO playful! Today I switched between two main things: letting her follow/play with me, and then quietly taking her space. It seemed like a good balance. She’d race after me, running/trotting/slinging her head, and I’d often give a treat (but not always), and she’d walk with me around the paddock. Sometimes we’d run around together. Then, when she got farther away, I’d start sweeping my whip in front of me like a metal detector and just “happen” to walk into her territory and ask her to move out of it. She actually wasn’t very frightened of the swinging whip (having chewed on it and swung it around earlier for a while…) but would move, especially if I scraped the ground with it. As soon as she did, I’d turn and walk away.

Caspian/Deo just stood and watched, mostly, but I did go and pet them for a little while, and of course Maia decided petting was a really great thing, too. She let me pet her face and neck, although it’s interesting how very, very sensitive she is. If she doesn’t like my hand on her neck, or if I’m standing wrong, or anything, she clearly turns her head away. It is so nice she doesn’t internalize it. Because the moment I “fix” myself, she’s very happy to come back and play again.

So we just transitioned between those (playing/walking/running around, sharing space, and my taking her space) for about 45 minutes. She is definitely getting more comfortable around me!

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Feb. 20 — Playing with and without the ball Friday, Feb 20 2009

February 20, 2009

Caspian was so cool today! I had to ride on the driveway (arena too icy) and so we’d practice walking/trotting out long and low to the end of it, then doing dressage stuff on the way back. He’s getting pretty confirmed in shoulder in, great leg yields, and is even understanding half pass and haunches in!! He is getting just more and more fun to ride, so light and fun. I also liked how his neck was today; somehow it seemed he was using it better and it looked nice and thick from on top.

But this isn’t Caspian’s diary. I spent about ½ hour reading my book while Maia ate hay beside me. Then I got up and played with the jolly ball all by myself in the paddock. I ran around and kicked and played with it for a while – maybe 15 min? At first she was a little spooked, then got more and more intrigued and would watch me for a while. If she made an effort to come over, I’d say “yes!” and go give her a treat, then leave and play some more. Caspian/Deo came over maybe once, but they were more interested in eating hay. Maia was bored with eating, though, I think.

Then I got tired of that and just stood by her while she ate (getting her used to me being at her side; she is very confident with me in front, but somehow being closer to her at her side pops her space bubble), and eventually got in the hay bunker so I was above her.

Then I rode Caspian, came back, turned him out, and they all ran around for a minute as dear friends reunited once more in this brief life… since she seemed so playful I decided to play a bit more. So I just started running and skipping and playing around the paddock. I didn’t have the ball, so apparently was less scary, and she started to make an effort to come over. Every time she did, “yes!” and treat. It’s amazing how fast she’s caught on to that; she learns SO fast, perhaps because she wants to learn, wants to be a part of what I’m doing. It’s very interesting, a different feel than most (any?) other horses I’ve worked with.

Anyway, within just a few minutes, she was playing!! At first, she’s just kind of leap back to Caspian and Deo (she didn’t know what on EARTH I was doing, running around like a crazy person) but soon she started figuring out… this was FUN! So she started running after me and running around with me. Unfortunately, it’s rather too icy/slippery to do much, but she made a great effort. She was just starting to get kind of wild about it when I stopped. It’s enough to know she’s having fun; I don’t want to start wild play quite yet – we don’t have enough of a relationship and I don’t want to be correcting her for something I may want eventually.

Such fun! She’s so cute, smart, has the best expressions, and the funniest little whinny – very quiet and trilly – just like a little girl. For some reason it reminds me of a goat. A very cute, very noble, extremely esteemed, very beloved goat.

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