It's been over a month since I posted my last update on sweet little Fancy....she was coming along really well up until the Thanksgiving Holiday, when we shipped off to California for a long weekend...then, upon our return, I had to attend job related training for a week....in an effort to cut down on the personal time off I took for training, I opted to work long hours the week after that....which led us to this past week, last minute shopping and Christmas! Time flies when you are busier than a one legged man in a butt whoopin' contest!
I made a little time yesterday to pull the little lady out, clean her up, and see if we could pick up where we left off...she's handling really well on the lead, so I added the saddle and bridle just before the Holidays hit us...she accepted them like a champ! She acts like she's been lugging that saddle around all her life....
After I saddled and bridled her up, I took her to the arena for some work on the lunge line....this is the most direct means of getting the horse some exercise when they aren't far along enough in their training to ride...
We walk, jog, and lope in both directions until she relaxes and brings her focus to the task at hand....she was feeling a bit froggy today! Must be this wonderful weather and all that time off!
After I lunged her, I wanted to get some ground driving in...ground driving is a way to work the young, green and/or unbroke horse from the ground, yet simulating the give and take you would be using on the bit if you were riding in the saddle....it introduces the horse to giving to a pull of the reins.
Long reins are attached to each side of the bit...in this case, I simply use 2 cotton lunge lines...I run the reins thru the training rings on the saddle..some people use the stirrups in the absence of training rings....I like the reins positioned up higher, closer to where my hands would be if I were riding her....
I start with the 'outside' or 'indirect' rein draped over the top of the saddle and take her to her familiar lunging position...this is the FIRST TIME she has been ground driven, so I want to help her transition smoothly by starting her in a familiar and comfortable position before I ask her to do things she has never done before....it's just a way to build her confidence and trust in what I am doing....it promotes more immediate response and compliance down the road if she trusts me...
After we get going in the lunging position, and she has gotten the hang of guiding off the pressure on the bit, I move behind her and ask her to change directions....I take her both ways and then zig-zag all around the arena once she starts responding better....
She is doing really well today, after having so much time off and on top of that learning new things! That's enough ground driving today...I will lengthen the amount of time I spend doing this as she gets more comfortable with it....
I decide to do some saddle work to start getting her thinking about having me up in that saddle....I start with making a lot of noise and movement on the saddle....if she were going to take exception with any of this, best she do it with me still standing on the ground! She seems not to mind one bit tho...what a good girl!
Next, I park her next to a mounting block, and climb up on it...she stands like a good girl...she is really taking all this in stride....
I position her so that I can lean all my weight on the saddle....if she was going to take issue with the foreign weight on her back, or uneven distribution of weight affecting her balance, or sight and sound of something being up on her where nothing has been before, this is where she would let me know! As you can see, she doesn't budge...she turns her head around to say hello and let me know she is feeling good about this whole experience today.....
Finally, I do a little work with her over poles and just to cool her down and take her back to a familiar place in her mind....to build back up her confidence again after having gone thru so many new experiences today....she is a veteran over the poles!
We walk over them....
Walk thru them....
Back out of them.....
And add a large piece of plywood just for good measure.....
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh....all done! Stay tuned for our next update the first week of January....that will be my last update before she heads off to finishing school to learn how to be a reining horse!
Happy Trails,
Leah & Fancy-Pants
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