Breakthrough!

So, I finally got to go see my girl today. Yay! I rushed through my research lab to get out to the barn in time to spend a few hours with her before it got dark.

So, she's sound! Perfectly sound. I saw it with my own eyes. And she came up to the fence to visit when I walked up! It was terribly adorable!

Nick says he thinks she's bored. She ran out of hay to munch and dragged her hay net across her paddock. Sigh, Reina! Well, at least I know she has a brain in there somewhere! ;)

So, first off, I worked her in the round pen for the first time. Hooray! She's obviously been lunged before, as she understood what my lunge cues meant and went around really well.

There's video number one! She didn't freak out and start bucking or take off at first, either, which was nice. She just trotted real big and nice, with her nose up in the air (we're really going to have to work on her headset... yes, yes we are). She settled down some though, which is when I took the videos. And then she settled down even more, into a shorter trot, and then I let her walk. We switched directions pretty frequently and I tried to keep her engaged and work her evenly. She didn't take even one off step and was a very good girl. I only lunged her for about 15 minutes, but she was blowing and a bit warm by the time we were done. She needs to get in shape!! But I can't really blame her; Nick commented that she looks about 200 pounds underweight. Poor baby. We're workin' on it!

Here's the video to the left:

Anyways, we had a very positive lunging experience. She's always so good!

On the way back, she started snorting and rolling her eyes at the old broodmare barn we had to pass to get back to her paddock. So I rolled my eyes at her and walked her up to it. I petted her and walked her onto the concrete floor and let her snort and blow at the big old cart thingy that was in the giant isles. I petted her some more and she put her head down, calmed down, and walked on just fine. She really is quite sensible!! I love this about her. She's not an idiot! Who knew!? Nick said he doesn't think I'll have any trouble with her at all if she's this sensible already, race bred, and hasn't had much done with her. I agree.

So then we did clicker training, and this is where my breakthrough comes in! We tried targeting, touching her nose to a cone, again. She understands that when I click she gets a treat, but didn't understand that her behavior was causing it. She's so polite with her nose that she goes out of her way to NOT accidentally bump into the cone, which can be frustrating for me, as a handler, trying to teach her specifically TO bump the cone! So I switched up my game and tried something else.

We worked on flexing with her riding halter. I figure if I'm going to get on her bitless, she needs to be prepared! Good thing I did, too, because the first time I pulled on one side of her riding halter with the lead rope I had, she just stood there for 30 seconds. Then she backed up. Then she stood some more. THEN she bent her head towards me. (Please note: I was merely putting a bit of pressure on it. I didn't increase the pressure at all, just kept it steady until I elicited the correct response.) I clicked and she got all excited for her treat. I gave it to her, and repeated the exercise. It only took her 5-10 seconds to release the pressure this time; no backing up. I switched sides, and got it down to 5 seconds. I put the lead rope over her withers and went around to the opposite side; pulled over her withers like I was "riding" her and made her flex away from me - 3 seconds. I clicked/treated with every correct response. I love clicker training; they learn so much faster when treats/positive reinforcement is involved!!

So that was breakthrough number one. I got her flexing pretty nicely tonight and I'm definitely planning on building on it this weekend. She was a very good girl, so I'm going to be breaking out the proper reins now, and probably sitting on her bareback just to see if the steering/brakes transfer here in the next week. Excitement!

Breakthrough #2: my clicker training books (by Alexandra Kurland) always told me that the way you give the treat can make or break the manners of the horse. On my last (and first..) clicker experiment, my leased horse Ruby, I never understood this. I realized that this is because I was doing it wrong! Ruby got impatient and grabby sometimes, and I didn't understand why this was. Now I do. Alex says specifically to hold the treat away from your body (which I did) and make them back up out of your space to get it. I didn't do the last part, and that's like, the most important part! I started doing this with Reina, making her back up to get her treat - I would click, go to get the treat, her nose would be near me and she would be looking adorable and excited for the bit of carrot... I'd step towards her and hold the treat near her chest and wait for her to back up to get it. Five repetitions of this and it got to where, after I clicked, I just had to shift my weight towards her and she would back up and wait patiently to take her treat.

BREAKTHROUGH! Seriously.

So after that amazing little clicker training session (maybe 10 minutes), I let her have her grain and groomed her. Then I had to say goodbye because it was getting dark, I have homework to do (which I'm still procrastinating), etc., etc. Life apart from horses is stupid.

In summary, I learned:
1. Reina can lunge (at least in a round pen).
2. Rei is getting more and more attached to me, and is totally adorable. (Yay!)
3. Good treat delivery skills REALLY ARE ESSENTIAL for clicker training. Don't skimp, self.

And Reina learned:
1. Mom knows how to lunge me (at least in a round pen).
2. Mom can lead me to scary things and they don't end up eating me.
3. Pressure on one side of the riding halter means move away from said pressure. (Still a little unsure about this, though!)
4. Be polite when Mom clicks! Otherwise I have to wait longer for my treat. :(

She also stood in her paddock at liberty and let me love on her for a few minutes before I left. Her ears were pricked and she had her head down so I could rub her. She really is a sweetheart. I'm definitely falling in love with her. I hope she's liking me as much as I'm liking her!! :)