Had a great time with D yesterday. Lovely day which always helps! Only had 2 hrs so didn't go out. Had a plan...warm up with loads of lateral flexion, get on and do loads of lateral flexion. The reason for this was I had been watching Clinton Anderson (G'day Mate!) who is not my favourite presenter but does follow all the Parelli principles with the added bonus that, because he works with horses in clinic format, with each episode following on with the same horse, you get a clear picture of the steps he takes and his long term goals.
Well, Clinton was working with a stiff, bracey, horse with not much go or whoah. He banged on and on about flexion and said he would do lateral flexion every day for 7 days over and over again until the horse was feather light. I notice C is very hard on the horses at times but they know completely where they stand and don't get upset because the release is always perfectly timed - and it's the release that teaches of course.
So added to my 7 day plan of:
- porcupine back from nose
- driving Z1
- sideways at trot
- circling
- backing to touch things with back feet
- lateral flexion to emergency dismount
- extreme FG and flank ropes
- Was.......more, more, more lateral flexion!
D was really keen to play today. I'm really liking this positive feedback as he will always let you know if he didn't enjoy himself the last time you played! He did great with all the above, especially porcupining from the nose (after asking him to lower head). He did toss his head up a bit but it was less violent and diminished greatly throughout the session. Got some great back-ups like this.
Had a funny moment - put a water carrier out as a touch-it object. D wanted to dribble it like the ball and managed to get it rolling along which pleased him as he then looked expectantly for his treat! Had some lovely sideways though D does still drag his HQs because he's a bit stiff. He tried his hardest anyway.
Any time D got tight and fixed on a distant object, I flexed him sideways or gave him a feel to follow. Now is this is micro-managing.....I don't know.....it's following the Cesar principle of not letting things escalate and creating the behaviour you want. Up until now, I would have just waited or asked him to do something else which may of course have had the effect of getting him to soften. But this is different, it's saying "don't brace your neck!" I guess time will tell but at the moment, I really feel I'm onto something (I'm looking for the Holy Grail!)
I did a lot of flexion on the ground and by the time I came to mount, D was totally up for it and chilled. In fact, he was so good, I was very tempted to stray from my plan and ask him to walk about. But I didn't! More excellent LF from on top (now in my strangely-tied hackamore), great dismounts (with some height now!) and D walking about a tiny bit of his own accord. I was delighted with him and hopped off just in time to get away and meet my 6pm curfew!
Oh, and the rope chewing and biting was low level today so I just ignored it.
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