Things have been going really well with Filly and I. The sarcoid has now fallen off with just a little tug from the vet to get the last bit off. This seems to have freed up her movement a fair bit and even left canter lead seems smoother as a result. This is something we've been striving for for a while now.
Becca came over and gave us a lesson a few days ago. It all went very well. We played with neutral lateral flexion whilst walking forwards. This just means getting the neck to flex laterally whilst traveling in a straight line. Sound simple but as usual simple things aren't easy. We got there in the end. Then we played with vertical flexion of the head and neck. This was pretty good but it took a while for Filly to get the idea that a quick head nod was not enough. She had to keep it there. A light squeeze with the legs helped with that.
We did a little canter on both leads just to see how she was going. It all seemed so much smoother than in the past. So it is definitely going in the right direction.
There is an interesting difference between our two horses. With Bonitao he can get worried when learning something new and needs lots of reassurance. Filly gets angry and fights anything new but "correction" does not work. You just have to be patient and persistent until she eventually sees the merit in what you are teaching and the resistance melts away. This can be told by the activity of the tail :(
The new Facebook group is going well. Those interested in joining should let me know and I'll sign you up. It's the UK Bridle Horse group for the discussion of the training of horses in the Bridle Horse tradition.
Becca came over and gave us a lesson a few days ago. It all went very well. We played with neutral lateral flexion whilst walking forwards. This just means getting the neck to flex laterally whilst traveling in a straight line. Sound simple but as usual simple things aren't easy. We got there in the end. Then we played with vertical flexion of the head and neck. This was pretty good but it took a while for Filly to get the idea that a quick head nod was not enough. She had to keep it there. A light squeeze with the legs helped with that.
We did a little canter on both leads just to see how she was going. It all seemed so much smoother than in the past. So it is definitely going in the right direction.
There is an interesting difference between our two horses. With Bonitao he can get worried when learning something new and needs lots of reassurance. Filly gets angry and fights anything new but "correction" does not work. You just have to be patient and persistent until she eventually sees the merit in what you are teaching and the resistance melts away. This can be told by the activity of the tail :(
The new Facebook group is going well. Those interested in joining should let me know and I'll sign you up. It's the UK Bridle Horse group for the discussion of the training of horses in the Bridle Horse tradition.
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