Today I hooked the girls up and did some more ground driving. Getting the harnesses on went without a problem, and this time I actually hooked up a real yoke between the girls. I also hooked up a double tree to get them pulling something.
Lesson #1: WHEN YOU HAVE A HORSE THAT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND BASIC COMMANDS, DON'T DRAG SOMETHING BEHIND THEM. As soon as I started the girls moving, the problems began. Just as last time, Pam didn't walk forward, and until Lily was pulling on her, she didn't move. This meant that the double tree was under her back feet with almost every step. I tried and tried to coax Pam up, but she just didn't understand. I tried and tried, until finally Pam stepped on the double tree, pinning Lily's evener to the ground. This made Lily jump and she broke her top hame strap. Luckily I just bought spares, so I had the wife hold the girls, while I replaced it. Once again, Lily was amazing. Broken harness, not a problem. She just stops moving when I tell her to woah. What a good girl!
Lesson #2: A CARROT STICK IS A GREAT MOTIVATOR!! As I unhooked the double tree, I realized that the root of my problem was that Pam would not walk even with Lily. I needed to confront that, instead of trying to work around it. I decided that maybe using the carrot stick would work best as a motivator.
For those who don't know, a carrot stick, is not an actual carrot. A carrot stick is a training stick about 3-4 feet long. It will usually have a removable rope on the end of it. This is a MUST for training a horse. For working with it on Pam, I took the rope off it, and since Pam is on the left as I drive, I carried it in my left hand with the line (rein).
So, I started the girls to walking, and Pam didn't move. So I smacked her on the butt with the carrot stick. That got her attention, but it also got Lily's attention too. Lily broke into a trot, and so, once again, my goal was not met. So I stopped the girls. It was getting a bit difficult to hold the lines, keep the ends out from under my feet, and use the carrot stick, so I made some adjustments. I tied the lines in a knot at the end, and placed them over my shoulders. This way the knot was right between my shoulder blades. The great thing about this, is that it keeps the lines out of the way, and if something were to happen, the lines would come up over my head and keep me free of injury. Doing this was great, and let me focus on keeping tension on the lines, and keep me motivating Pam to move.
I started the girls moving again, and this time, instead of slapping pam on the butt, I poked her with the end of the carrot stick. This worked really well. It got Pams attention and put a spring in her step. Next thing I knew, the girls were walking side by side, and the yoke was actually even between them. WOO HOO. I had to stop one more time, because my lines were adjusted to compensate for Pam walking behind. I readjusted them, and we were off again.
We walked around for about 20 minutes. Whenever Pam would start to fall behind, I would poke her in the butt with the carrot stick and she would then get even with Lily. Since she was walking even with Lily, she was actually feeling the tension on the bit. This was great. I got to watch her grow accustomed to it, and what it meant. It was a great feeling to give a bit of pull on the left line and watch both girls turn their heads to the left.
This ended up being a good session. I did lots of stopping and just letting them stand. They do much better than I thought at it. No anxiousness or wanting to get moving. They stayed stopped till I told them to get up. Pam required pokes every time to get moving, but she's learning! :) No pictures today, but it was fun and a great training session.
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