Last night I went back out to the Throw Away Ponies rescue, and worked with Koda again. This was our second session together. Read all about the first one HERE.
So ... quick summary. Last session, we ended with doing a little bit of driving with a person in front of her. She really didn't like the bit though, and really acted out when she felt it.
I had been informed that they have been working with her more, and that she is slowly getting better. A few night ago they tried to work her with the bit, and she blew up on them. Definitely NOT like the draft horses I'm used to working with. :)
I got there and re-introduced myself to Koda. Since she blew up on them a few days ago, I re-introduced myself by doing some joining up. I think this is one of the coolest things in horse training. It's just amazing to watch the horse and see things click for them. If you don't know what joining up is, you can read about it on Monty Roberts website, and the following video shows it very well.
Koda joined up nicely in about 10-15 minutes. She's a smart little thing, and always trying to do what you want.
Since one of the problems I had last time was her wanting to turn and look at me when I talked to her from behind, I worked on that a little before I even harnessed her. I'd tell her woah, as I pet down her side, slowly working towards her butt. On her right side she was totally fine with it. But on the left side, as soon as I got near her rear let, she'd spin to look at me. BAD HABIT! I just kept working it, and when I would get behind her without her spinning, I'd ask her to step up and kiss at her. On the right side, she responded perfectly, by stepping forward. On the left, she still wanted to spin and look at me. We kept doing this until she had quit doing the spinning thing.
Then I harnessed her, and put the bridle on. She did fine with this. She can be a little jumpy with the chains when they first come out, but she's getting used to it more and more.
I did some quick leading with the harness on, followed by the thing I was doing before, where I'd walk behind her, and tell her to step up (without actually holding the lines. She was queueing up nicely on that. She did so well, that I asked for one of the volunteers there to help me. I had her hop on the lines, and I stood at Koda's head, to help queue her into doing the right thing. I've found that it takes two people who know what they are doing to really do this right. Not only am I training Koda, but I'm also training the awesome folks at TAP on how to do this for themselves. So I stood right at Koda's head, and I listened for command to "step up". When I heard that, I took a step. If Koda didn't, I would quickly grab the lead rope, and pull her with me. Same thing with Woah. If she didn't stop right away, I'd grab the lead rope and pop it down. Koda did great with this. This was also a time for Kelly (my help) to learn about line tension. the feel of lines that are looped through a harness is different than just a pair of reins in your hands. Kelly was getting the hang of this.
Soon Kelly peeled Koda away from me, and Koda walked around great on her own. It was pretty cool to watch. I thought we'd turned a corner and that she was done ... but I was wrong.
It wasn't long after that that Koda started throwing her head again, and just being a butt. It's as if she just decides she's been with us long enough and is ready to be done. She got very bad, and quickly resorted back into the "flip and face you" tactics I thought we'd gotten over.
So we went back to Kelly driving, and me at Koda's head for a few more minutes. Then we ended things on a good note.
I do admit that working Koda is trying my patience. After 2 days of training a draft horse, you are usually pulling a tire around the arena. The fact that I still haven't even hooked up an evener is a little sad to me. But ... we gotta take our time and go at her speed. This is definitely a new experience for me, and I'm learning a lot. They are going to keep working her, and I'll go back again in a week or so. Little by little!
No comments:
Post a Comment