So I've been getting really bored with the same ol', same ol', and frankly so has Cheyenne. So after watching some L3 liberty videos, I realized there are a couple things we haven't even tried that look like fun! One is to challenge her to jump only one barrel (on its side, not standing up just yet) and the other is to sidepass to me. I drug a barrel into the round pen, and to my surprise, pleasure and disappointment she got it EVERY time, both ways. It's cool that she is so willing, but I'm disappointing because there was no challenge in it. But I can be okay with that knowing it's because of such a positive reason!
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| My Baby Chey <3 |
So the next task I knew was going to be a little bit harder. We sidepassed over the barrel like normal a few times, just to get in the "sideways" frame of mind. Then we went into the open, I put the carrot stick on the opposite side of me, and asked her to move towards me. I got sideways away from me, forward, backwards, but never towards me. Hmm.. how interesting! After about a minute of her flipping through her little card file trying to figure it out, I realized we needed to back it up one more step. I rubbed her to a stop, then tapped her on my side, asking her to go away from me. Began going forward, then backward again, but on her third attempt she crossed her front feet :) Success #1! She got her scratchins, and we did it a few more times, confirming it in her mind that when the carrot stick taps her side, she is to move away from the rhythmic pressure. So now to try it towards me again. I put the side opposite myself up against the fence, then tapped the opposite side again. Like every time before, she tried moving forward, then backwards, trying to figure it out. This went on for another 30 seconds or so, and she was trying SO hard to figure it out... the determination was so obvious in her facial expressions. I think she just thought she didn't want to run me over, and she has always been taught to stay out of my space unless invited in, but you could see her thinking "well nothing else is working, I'm getting frustrated, and towards mom is the only way I haven't tried... well, here we go!" and BAM! Her outside front foot crossed over inside front, and she got all kinds of scratches and praises. OUR VERY FIRST STEP OF SIDEWAYS TO ME! I am SO excited!! I've always wanted to be able to do it, it looks so fancy on everyone's videos, but I never knew the proper way to teach it to her, and I didn't want to mess things up. This process seemed logical enough to me.. haha.. and I couldn't be happier!! We got about two more steps towards me, one at a time, and she was showered with "atta girls" and we called that good :) I am SO thrilled!!
A while back you might remember I was trying to teach Cheyenne how to lay down. And, over my past blogs, you may have noticed the re-occurring pattern of mine to push too hard. Well that's exactly what happened.. she was making quick progress, and I kept trying for a little more.. and a little more... and an iiitttyy bit more... and then all of the sudden she refused to pick up her foot :( I knew I should have stopped, and I knew it was all my fault. I was so bummed, and I knew I had to lay off for a while so she would hopefully forget and we could start with a clean slate again. That was a few months back, I believe mid spring or so, and figured it was time to try again. I picked up her front left foot, and slowly brought it backwards. She shifted her body weight backwards a bit, and I gently put her foot down and loved on her a bit. I had been fighting her from eating all night, and I figured now would be the time to embrace her love of food and use it as a reward. So I picked up the foot again, bringing it back a bit further this time, and when she put her head down to sneak in a bite, I didn't stop her. I put her foot down and gave her some rubs, and when she brought her head up I asked her to put it right back down, which she happily did. We did it about 5 times total, each time getting her a bit lower to the ground, and right when I got the urge to push for her knee to touch the ground, I called it good. Humans really can learn! lol. Anyways, at that point we called it good for the night. I introduced a few new things, and she was a champ at them all :) I am so, so proud. She is really turning into such a wonderful, TRUE partner, and I can't remember the last night she went RB that I didn't notice (it was my doing) and correct, bringing her right back down to LB and relaxed. Hard work and patience (a big learning step for me) is really paying off... they always say you end up with the horse that will teach you the most, and I believe it with all my heart :)
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| Chunky McChunkerson at her finest :) |
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| Our dusty desert sunset at the end of the night :) |
