Well today Roxy surrounded by her 'boys' tried to avoid me again. I quickly resorted to the feed bucket, which definately works but I would rather not go into a paddock of horses with a feed bucket. I am really asking for trouble.
I had my mother in law out with me this morning collecting poop for her veggie garden, you have to love the dedication of an Italian woman to get the veg just right!
We started with some play and circles again and after twenty minutes we saddled up.
We headed up the hill and Roxy was more interested in heading back towards the right. I worked on comfort v's discomfort to get her in a straight line and after a while she got the idea. When she looks to move the other way I apply light pressure to bring her back around with both my hands on the reins and my calf. As soon as she yields to this I drop all pressure to show her the reward for her acceptance is me backing off.
Up to the top through the scrub and back down again we waved goodbye to my mother in law as we headed into the next paddock. Roxy relaxed into a nice jog trot and remained forward moving for a lap.
After we came back to her home paddock she was relaxed enough to mix it up again so I started out at a trot and and then practised neck reining her around to change direction so that we were doing some random figure eights. She accepted all of this with interest and it was nice to see her enjoy it.
The best part was the nice controlled 4-5 strides of canter back to the yard! YIPPEEEE!!!
Yay Roxy on another great effort...now just stop using your boys to avoid me?
Love Lorrie
xxx
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