Day 3 got pretty interesting right from the start.
Sophie was easy to catch, and I tied her to the trailer as I usually do to groom and saddle her. There was quite a bit of commotion going on with dogs playing, and people visiting. When grooming she wasn't too tight but when I went to throw my heaviest saddle up on her, she pulled back hard and sent the saddle flying and although she didn't knock me over I did have to turn my back and get the heck out of the way. And of course she stretched out the halter which I didn't have done as snug as I could have. Shayla fetched another halter and took over working with her then and there, sacking her out with the lead rope and not letting up until Sophie's mind came back from outer space.
The original plan was for me to ride her on this lesson. However, discretion is the better part of valour! So Sophie got a lot of sacking out. One of the things Shayla did was slapping the saddle (not the horse!) with the lead rope without asking Sophie to move. Sophie of course moved a lot, still being in that tight frame of mind and body. With persistence she finally got it.
Because of her setting back and pulling when tied, she needed to work on giving to the lead rope both in backing and coming forward. She was likely a little sore behind the ears from the episode at the trailer, she does have some hair missing there. Sophie is a very powerful horse, and having a rope halter and a tied on leadrope is one of my tools I use on every horse to ensure they can't break.
There's no more pussy footing around with this horse. She is going to have to figure out that her life of calling the shots is over. Once she had a pretty good (but not perfect yet) give when asked she got bitted around, and we ended the session with sacking her out with a slicker.
She didn't move her feet. Good girl Sophie
I gave her a day off after that and let her soak. The next day when I saddled her I didn't tie her solid to the trailer (just in case) and worked on getting her body soft just cupping my hand and patting her all over; she wasn't flinchy and tight so I moved on to saddling, no problems.
In the round pen she followed the feel on the lead rope easily, and was soft when bitted up. I worked on moving her hip over and moving her shoulder over, all from the ground using something I learned in a Buck Brannaman clinic; keeping it flowing like a dance; move the hip over, change direction by yielding the shoulder do a circle or two, repeat. Then I asked her to move forward in a half pass (still from the ground) and while she was good when I worked her from the right, she was reluctant from the left side to move her shoulder over and cross her left foot in front of her right foot; she did eventualy get it though.
I think the day off helped. However, the next day I found another hole in her training... stay tuned for the rest of the story.
3 comments:
The video where Shayla jogs in front of Sophie, pulling on her to follow is exactly what I saw on a Stacy Westfall video where she did the initial pressure training with that chestnut stallion, son of her Roxy mare. She said it was the toughest lesson in the series, for the human, because you might have to use your complete body strength to pull the horse into following you. I cannot seem to find that training series where she trains Jack? from not being able to be haltered, to a reining horse. I know I've mentioned him to you before because I've never seen such a naturally-born athletic QH before. That he was gelded, wow. Must have been a very good reason.
Oh, here is a little bit of that pulling training I mentioned, at minute 14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H0loHykJH8 Here the horse has a bit in its mouth the first time, so he forgot his giving to pressure lessons completely.
giving to the pressure is such a key lesson. I can see Sophie's wheels turning. It's funny how much she reminds me of Carmen.
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