Satin is on daily bute to help alleviate some the discomfort from the lameness in her front leg as well as the 'sticky' hocks in the back. She looks for an excuse to be lazy, so I just naturally assumed that she would use her leg issues to prey on my soft side.
I decided that I would start the porcupine game with her in the pasture and if she showed signs of discomfort then I would stop and just spend undemanding time with her. But she had more energy than usual (which just means she MOVED when asked). I used a cross-country jump (big log) and a smaller log jump that form an 'L' shape to keep her from walking forward when I ask her to move her forhand away from me. It worked! Just 2 or 3 times using the jumps and I took her to the middle of the pasture. She didn't try to walk away this time! Maybe before it was miscommunication - perhaps she didn't know I wanted her to move away, but stay with me. She could have thought I just wanted her to get out of my space. Either way, she gets it now!
To reward her I took her to the barn and let her sniff around (her favorite thing to do is knock stuff around) while I groomed her. She kept trying to pull away from me and when she would forget I existed I would give her a little tap on the rump with the tip of the rope. I only had to annoy her a few times before she turned back towards me.
I started getting creative and drove her into a stall, then drove her out, then backed her in and backed her out. Then we worked on Yo-Yo and she's progressing very well. We played with some jumps doing the squeeze game and used the porcupine game to side-pass over some jumps.
She really seemed to have fun and was getting into it!
I wasn't planning on working with Dancer but she was excitedly waiting for me at the gate when I put Satin back out. Satin wanted to come back with me when I turned her out! I brought Dancer to the barn for a good brushing - she's got some kind of fungal thing going on across her entire body. Her hair came out in patches! She looks silly with spots of exposed skin.
Dancer was so relaxed while I brushed her. She stood perfectly still, leaning into the curry. I played the friendly game with her and she's nervous about the stick on her back legs (zone 4). I used approach and retreat and she quickly relaxed. We played the yo-yo game in the barn and she did well! I wasn't sure how she would respond to the wiggling rope and because she's such a nervous ninny I expected she might get spooked and try to pull away. But I was quiet and smiling and she was being responsive and not completely right-brained! It was great! She backed up at PHASE 1 after only 3 tries. What a good girl!
I got my Level 1 Partnership set in the mail last night. I have the DVDs but didn't have the handbooks. The Handbooks seem very helpful. I also got 2 new halters, a 12' line with a snap and a 22' line without a snap. Any idea how to put a snap on?
Still waiting on the vet to email me Satin's radiographs... The farrier is coming out today to pad her feet.
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