August 15, 2008

Bev came over to help with Billie again. I had stopped round penning so much since I felt like I had somehow de-sensitized her to my presence--he stopping with her butt to me was a clue. Bev helped me clean that up, and I feel like we are back on track with that. It's amazing how the littlest things can convey so much to a horse, especially when you don't even mean to!

I proudly showed off how well Billie leads in the pen, how she sends through the connector gate, how she brings the hind, yada yada. So naturally it was time to open a panel and send her through--just like the gate, right? What's the big deal?

I could not believe how my heart was racing. It was almost making me feel sick. So I took a deep breath. The plan was to send her through a time or two and with both directions. It really went okay. The next step was to lead her outside the pen, turn, and come back in. That was definitely more scary for me, but the mustang seemed okay. When we had to try a few more steps, we were okay circling left with Billie on my right, but it fell apart circling right with Billie on the right.

This showed that we needed work on her yielding her front end, and me letting her yield her front end. We spent the rest of our time chasing that goal, and found a good stopping point with it.

I've spent the last couple of mornings working the yield the front. This morning, I was going to open the end panel and try through the opening again, but Billie twice pushed at me (I think) as if in a hurry to get out, and I hadn't even unhooked the chain. So I changed plans and we worked on her backing, bringing the hind and backing, sending through the gate, and then sending past me. She reached a good and cooperative point, so we stopped.

I'm realizing that when Billie's reacting not the way I want, I need to make a quick check of my cues to her. I still sometimes find myself offering her contradictory things. Focus focus focus! And baby steps!

And I had to remind myself what I figured out a month ago: It's okay for Billie to react to things. It's my job to NOT react when she reacts; be prepared that she is going to react; and welcome the learning going on. Duh! She's a baby and everything is new. She is not nearly as concerned about most of these things as I am, so I need to chill and enjoy the process. I wish I'd had this in mind on Wednesday when Bev was here and we were going through the panels.

I think I need to have someone on hand next time I want to go through the gate so that I do not have to mess with the chain.

And I need to get my Blocker tie put up so that we can have a tying session. I think we are ready for it.