Ah, Summer on the Plains!

Hot days, pleasant evenings! The grass is greener this year than in years past due to a higher rainfall and the horses are loving it. Sean goes out with me pretty often to help feed or water the horses. He also goes on walks with Mick around Horseshoe Drive, one full circle of which makes exactly a mile. Today, Sean got in a two-mile walk.

I like working with the horses in late afternoon and evening. Last Sunday and Monday evenings, I rode Rosa bareback and worked with her on only one thing: leg cues. I purposely did not put a bridle on her, only a string around her neck. If I needed to balance, I held her mane. She has always been very sensitive to leg cues but not in a good way. What I mean is that if the rider put any pressure at all with one leg or both legs on her, she would squirt out ahead at a fast gait and not pay attention to much else. She had trained me not to use leg pressure. She hasn't been very consistent about things, but then how could she? I haven't been consistent in what I have asked of her. She is a very good horse and deserves better from me.

I had those two evenings with her, just working with leg cues: riding bareback, I would touch her with my right leg to go left and then touch her with the other leg to turn her right. After the 2nd session I thought she was starting to get it while at the same time she was not too worried about my leg pressure anymore. That was a good place to quit.

It had been 5 days since our last session. Yesterday we tried it again. Only a string around Rosa's neck, riding bareback, and again, I applied pressure only a little with one leg to go one way, and the other leg to turn the other way. Actually, it wasn't just pressure. I tried more to release her to go in one direction by opening my toe in that direction while applying the slightest amount of pressure from the other leg. At first, she didn't seem to get this at all.

Realizing that she was still thinking this through, and that she had old old patterns of behavior clouding her mind a bit, I changed my approach. I just asked her to go forward (not touching the string to do this) and each time she turned one way, I opened my toe on that side of her while applying the slightest pressure with my other leg. I just went with her, applying the appropriate opening of my toe and slight pressure with the opposite leg, as she turned. When she went straight, there was no leg contact at all and I looked up straight ahead and followed her focus straight ahead.

Suddenly after only a few minutes of my following her in this way, she seemed to get what it was I was after. We stopped, took a break and then started again. This time, I asked her to turn with my toe and leg and presto! She turned on a dime. I tried as quickly as possible to release all contact. We went straight for a few steps and I asked her to turn the other way, again, only with that toe opening to the direction, and a tad of the opposite leg. She turned INSTANTLY and I released just as fast. We then zig-zagged all over the place and each time, she GOT it. There was no mistaking it. It wasn't chance. It was total understanding. We had fun for a few minutes doing this and then I got off her and rubbed her a lot with tons of praise for a job well done. She got to graze a few minutes on her own while I went to get Bailey's feed for him before putting them all into their 2-acre paddock for the night. I was jazzed!

Well, this little essay wasn't at all what I sat down here to write. I'll put in some pictures here of Sean, Mick and the horses because Mick and Sean had some quality time with the horses this weekend too!! I'd better head off to bed before I write another long-winded composition about the horse time I am having!
Nancy