Really, though - Nick had to go help someone somewhere, so he wasn't around to trim her. I was all, "ooh, then I'll ride!" But then I remembered that I'm trying to get her fatter, not thinner, and that I should probably give her another day off since we've been doing some more work lately. See? She's so good, I'm so spoiled, I just want to ride all the time! So I made today about her, not me.
Anyways, I arrive and am immediately welcomed by my unofficial escort (the feline one, not Jeff):
He's so cute. His meow is soooo pathetic, like he's dying and only you petting him will save him! He likes me because I always give in and pet him (how could I resist!? I love kitties!). So as soon as he saw me pull up he trotted over for lovings.
Less talking, less pictures, more petting. Kthx.
I had a bit extra time, since Chi just fed Rei and I wanted to make sure she'd finished eating before I caught her and brought her in. So he got more pets.
And then, another kitty saw that I was giving away free pets (!), and decided to come take advantage.
One of the dogs decided to come try for some free pets too, and at that point, there were more animals than I had hands and I didn't want anyone to get upset, so I started walking for Rei. My true buddy stayed with me and escorted me over to her paddock.
Isn't he cuuute? He's so needy! So I go up and start talking to Rei and seeing if she's done rifling around and eating the last bits of her dinner.
And my new feline buddy was like OMG PAY ATTENTION TO ME! And freaking CLIMBED UP THE FENCE POST and balanced on the fence so he was eye-level with me and I couldn't ignore him.
And another horse came up and was like "wtf?" and proceeded to sniff my loyal feline friend.
And I watched Rei walk away from her food, which was my cue to get her halter and lead rope, hooray!
Come to find out she was scared of this randomly-appeared bright blue barrel that Chi left out for the horses to play with. Really, Rei? Really? Okay, fine. So I walk up to her to reset, and start walking towards it. She takes a few hesitant steps, click!
Suddenly it's not so scary anymore:
She keeps getting clicked periodically until we get up to it, and by that time she's more curious than afraid.
Investigation ensues!
Investigation discovers that there's water in the barrel. Oh joy! So she drinks some, and then she decides to just play in the water and wiggle it around with her nose. Oh, Reina, you are so silly, I love you.
When she's done being a goof, she starts biting the edge of the barrel and wiping her nose on it.
So much for the scary blue barrel, eh? Silly girl.
So then we walk into our old stall on the outside of the barn, since I just wanted to groom her and I figure the more I switch it up the steadier she'll get.
I curry her to death and brush some HHC into her coat so she's all shiiiiiiiiny, and I brush out her mane, tail, and forelock, and pick her hooves (extra emphasis on politeness - she's amazing with her front feet, but she's a little wiggly with her back feet... I want this to be fixed so I worked on it today, especially since Nick will be trimming her!).
Oh, I found an itchy spot! It's soooo cute.
It's right there! She'll leeeeeeeeean in and twist her head away and put her head down and everything! It's fricken adorable.
She's shedding a lot so I brushed her a lot, and she looked all pretty and shiny afterwards. Hooray!
But that's all we did today. Pretty boring, huh? She's getting fabulous at standing still, though. Once I start grooming, I start clicking for stillness, and she catches on a lot faster these days and stands for a lot longer between clicks. It's very encouraging. Soon she'll be standing like a pro!
Oh, and we worked on her girthiness - she's fine with my hand and the soft brush under her, but she doesn't like the curry comb and especially not the hard brush! So we worked on her making nice faces; I brushed lightly because I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but she does need to know that even if I have to ever do something uncomfortable to that part of her, she shouldn't be grumpy and I'm not going to hurt her.
So that was all. She was a happy horse; she got lots of love and attention and I pampered her today.
And it was a beautiful, beautiful day. I hope she appreciated my self control; it was a great day to ride!
But, I wasn't out at the barn until late, anyways, and we both really needed just a bonding day. She was perfect, aside from once, when the horses outside were running around, and she got upset that she was in a stall and couldn't place the noise and got scared. Understandable; I didn't really think much of it, honestly, because when we're out or I'm riding her and horses run around her or up on her, she barely reacts. And to me, that's what matters. This claustrophobia will go away in time!
OH. And we have baby bunnies in the barn now. They are ADORABLE. I'll get pictures next time I go out; it was too dark to get a picture of them by the time I remembered. They're all tiny and baby bunny-ish! Aww.
And, to make myself feel better about the lack of targeting a cone, here are things Reina has learned thus far:
- loose lead walking
- gate manners - she'll walk through, turn, stand, and wait either coming out or going into her paddock and I don't even have to hold the lead rope
- to walk into a stall without balking
- to stand still for grooming
- to pick up her hooves politely when I ask and hold them up while I pick them out
- to put her head down to my level so I can brush her face and forelock
- to not flinch when I spray her with various things
- to not be a total grump when I touch/brush her belly and chest
- to walk up to scary things and sniff/touch them
- to back up from a touch on her chest or from light pressure on the lead or reins
- to back up out of my space when I walk towards her or when I'm giving her a treat and she's too close
- bitless flexions
- steering under saddle!
- stopping and backing, bitless, without me having to haul on the reins
- the meaning of/correct response to leg pressure
- patience! still working on this, but she'll actually stand quietly under saddle instead of wiggling every which way
- courage under saddle; still working, but she's learned to work through her fears for tiny bits of carrot
- relaxation: while leading, standing, and under saddle (her head carriage has lowered by at least a foot since I've had her, lol! Not to mention she gets worried about a lot less, too!)
- walk/trot transitions: they're much more fluid, and they actually happen when I want them to!
- rhythm while trotting: she's slowed down and re-found her rhythm; she no longer changes speeds at random
- differences between cues for walk, trot, canter, gallop (haven't worked on this a ton, but she's actually pretty good at this already!)
- bravery on trail rides - both leading & following
- continuing on the path I steered her to
- sticking to the edges of an arena, using the corners
Wow. Look at that! That's some list. Yup, I feel much better now! :D
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