That definitely didn't help. I had a horse that couldn't get herself under control. I could get a trot from her, but only because she was tired. Walking was not really an option. She was having trouble changing directions, trying to switch back to the left, taking off again when things didn't go right. She wasn't seeing my cues. She was just in robo-drive. I even walked out of the round pen at one point while she was circling. That got her attention. I took a moment to think, gain my composure. Let her do the same and breathe.
Eventually she was able to walk calmly in both directions. We were still having some hiccups with directional changes but rather than having her get upset again I haltered her and we walked and worked on other things while she cooled down. She was too worn out for more of that crap. It took her a long time to cool down and dry out.
Still not cool with the mounting process... That one is requiring some creativity on my part, and a lot of patience. We are making progress, but she's still stiff.
By the end I had this horse. Thank goodness.
Relaxed, reaching out, interacting.
Then we both took a nap. That was mentally and physically exhausting.
I went out later and we had a short session and it went very well. No round pen. Calm, interactive, no fuss.
Juniper really wanted some attention so I took her for a short walk.
She's the cutest.
Halla watched us the whole time but pretended she wasn't waiting for us when we got back.
5 comments:
You’re so busy! They have good days and bad. I made the unfortunate mistake of pushing Beautiful too far on a bad day. You’re inspiring me to give it another try, but I need a round pen.
I've been so busy! I can barely fit my horse time in (but I do!) I wasn't planning to have her take up most of my day yesterday. But it worked out. :)
I wish they wouldn't have bad days. But then I wish I wouldn't have bad days either.
You could make do without a round pen, for ground work. I don't use my round pen much. But it is sure handy sometimes!
Yeah, it’s more the riding. The blowup last summer was made more dangerous because she had so much room to run after her bucking and spinning fit. The runaway is when I bailed off on the rail. I think I’d feel safer with a round pen. She might, too.
Yeah, definitely for riding. There's a lot to work on before stepping into the stirrup though. :)
You could make a small round-ish pen in a corner of your arena with some used panels, maybe? She some of the expense using existing fencing, and the size would be adjustable. Mine is a fixed size, which is sometimes not great.
Gambler and I spent months just learning to connect and slow down. Right now, Avalon and I are in a similar place. It can be so frustrating! But the rewards are great in the long run.
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