Getting back on the horse

I went out to the barn today and spent the first real quality time with my girl since we've been back from Florida. It was great! I have been so sick the past two weeks, so my motivation has been at an all time low. Kari kicked my butt into gear this morning, and I am glad that she was there to do that for me!

We spent about half an hour de-hairing the horses. I think I probably pulled 5 pounds of hair off of Josie. She sure slicked up after having all of that dead hair removed. We then moseyed into the arena and played a little bit. I kept things really low key. I just wanted to work on a few very specific things.

One of the goals that I made for myself upon returning was to really pay attention to how specific I could be about placing her feet from the ground. After all, if I expect to be in control of her feet from the saddle, then I should probably have good control of her feet on the ground! Makes sense, right? One of the challenges that we were presented with at the center was to see how good we could get at picking up our horse's feet and placing them back down where WE want them to go. Sounds easy, but when you get really specific about it, it is amazing how many times when you go to let go of their foot, they actually place it where THEY want to. This is one of those little opposition reflexes that we should be paying attention to.

I know that Josie has issues with control of her feet. She always has, and I have been very good at ignoring them. No longer! I am going to get good at this, and I think that it will be a key breakthrough in our relationship. It will make farrier visits more positive too. The eventual goal is to place your horse's foot where you want, but only using TWO FINGERS. Then you will know that they have really given the leadership and control over to you. That will be my goal with Josie. We worked on the left front foot today and made some good strides. Choosing the appropriate time to release and reward is the key to helping her to keep trying. I'll keep you posted as we go!

Tally ho!

Molly and Josie