Satin and I played some games today. Her attitude towards pressure yielding is definitely improving.
It was the middle of the day when I stole her away from her round bale, so she was feeling sleepy and very lazy. But she willingly came with me to the arena where we worked on the porcupine game. Her head, neck, and shoulders are becoming more sensitive to my pressure. Her hindquarters are moving away without physical pressure.
I'm excited to see how she improves with consistency.
I asked her to back up with the first phase - gently wiggling the rope. She just stood there with ears forward at me. The more I wiggled the rope, the more she came toward me instead of away! So I backed up the rope wiggling with an encouraging push with the stick on her chest. It only took a few times before she realized I was asking her to GET OUT OF MY SPACE! This really seemed to get her juices flowing because up until the back-up game she was falling asleep.
She started to become more responsive to my request for her to back up, but she kept moving to her right (instead of straight back). So I went to her right side and asked her to back... and she came forward.
Every horse has a dominant side, and for many horses it has been drilled into them that the left side is the side they should present to the human. But in Satin's case, I've been mounting and dismounting from both sides her entire life. She doesn't have that excuse. But she has always been right-dominant with her leads, so it makes sense. I'll have to try to spend equal amounts of time on both sides to encourage balanced suppleness.
I decided to try to get her excited, because for the majority of our play session she seems SO bored. Again, it could have been the time of day, but she's a smart horse. I know she's trying to express her lack of interest. "Mom, this is sooo not exciting enough. Booooring. Let's go make some prank calls!"
So I started to run backwards, letting the rope slide through my hands as she got further from me. She first followed at a quick walk, but the more I encouraged with my attitude - "C'mon Satin, Come play! You know you want to!" She finally tossed her head side-to-side and trotted after me. Poor girl is fat and out of shape!
My hope is that the more we play, the more she'll "get into it". I want her to join in on the fun - I see that she wants to, but she may be holding a grudge against me.
After our play session we walked to the barn and I gave her a nice grooming - her favorite! She played with the trash and knocked buckets over and kept herself occupied while I brushed her tail. When she forgot I was there I'd just remind her with a little push with a single finger.
I can't wait until out next playtime!
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