Feelin' that good drivin' feelin'!!

For me, when driving a horse, there is an amazing feeling.  I'm not sure if it's because you are successfully doing something that not many people can do, if it's the satisfaction that you are successfully conveying directions to a horse and it is listening and responding appropriately, or if it's just because it's fun.  I recon it's a bit of all of them, mostly the fun one.

Today I got home, and since I had a few hours of daylight, I thought I'd put the honey do's aside, and work Pam.  I love having Pam up close to the house.  She meets me at the gate, and lowers her head to get that halter on.  It's kind of nice.

So I got Pam out, and began with the basics.  After she did very well at the groundwork basics I wanted to do, I decided that I was going to give her a real test.  I was going to ground drive her and see how much of what she learned with Lily was retained.  I decided to put the entire harness on her, so that it might help her to remember the last time she was in it.

Next thing you know, she's all harnessed up, and I'm standing behind her with the reins in my hands.  Now is the time.  The next move would tell how much she recalled.  Last time I got to this point, my commands to start walking were worthless.  "Alright Pam, easy up" slipped out of my mouth, followed by a few clicks.

And then it happened ... she stepped off!!  I must've had an ear to ear grin, just like a kid who just got his dog to do a trick he taught it.  It was great.  We spent the next 30 minutes walking, stopping, and turning.  She's still got a ways to go till she's fully used to the bit.  Right now she really leans on one side, making it hard to keep the tension on it how I want.  But she was stepping off!!  That was great!!  I didn't work on backing, I decided just to keep this day simple, and give her lots of praise.

After a great ground driving session, We stopped, and she stood great for me while I got the harness off.  After that, she got brushed out, and then I used a rope to lift her feet.  She did great with this!  She fought hard for a few seconds, but with a lot of "easy" words, and some rubbing on her side, she let up, and relaxed.  As soon as she did this, I let her put her foot  down.  I repeated this 3 times on each foot.  This worked WONDERFUL!

Lastly, she got put back away, and got a full scoop of food.  She was very happy, as was I.  Today I got that feeling again.  That great feeling that comes from driving a horse.  For me it just gets inside, and it feels great.  Pam has potential!!  I may not be set back as far as I thought.  I wonder if I could have her ready by the 4th of July.  Hmmmm ... that may be a goal I could reach.  Only time will tell.  For now I'm satisfied with where we are!!