Training Notes - 14Feb09

I guess I should post something on here. Took herself out of her paddock yesterday, brushed off all the dried mud, and headed for the round pen.

Worked on:

1. Inside turns - she was a little froggy at first, and tried to play dumb, turning when she got the urge, with the occasional outside turn thrown in for fun. It only took a couple of minutes to remind her that this was unacceptable, and would not be tolerated.

2. Stopping and facing me - her favorite part, so no problems.

3. Yielding her head to pressure - A little easier to the left than the right, but still fairly easy.

4. Introduced her to a plastic bag - a little wary at first, but it passed in about 10 seconds.

5. Yielding the hindquarters - I've worked this successfully before, so this went well

6. Backing up - This area needs improvement. For both of us. The BNT makes use of the stick look easy on the DVD's but of course this is my first horse, so I found it to be a little unwieldy at first, and finally just tossed the darn into the dirt, and worked without it. All ended well, with her backing up just from a wiggle of the lead rope.

The best part for herself was getting her new Orican Freestyle blanket. It fits really well, which is good, since the blanket she was wearing was a little loose around the front, and was starting to wear the hair off one of her shoulders.