Like I told Rana.. she was perfect today! Well, not 100% perfect, but a really really good girl.
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very responsive, very soft, nicely behaved. But pillars a little harder. Not quite as soft in the neck and low in the head as I wanted. but some releases
Well... she's gonna be fun. :) hee hee.. Yes, on purpose!!
Today Funny and I went with Dan on a field trip for a lesson with Rana again. I groomed her at home and then we headed out. I loaded Dan first, but she walked right on the trailer the first try. Sweet! We got to Rana's and I decided to do her first since it was cool enough that Dan could stay in the trailer. He screamed and pawed almost the entire time we were working her. Rana told me to walk her around and let her see the arena and the mirrors. Then she took her over. She said that she saw some issues already. And then it got rowdy! Funny was all fired up and anxious being in a new place and with Dan screaming. So she had her head up in the air and was basically throwing her shoulder into Rana and walking over her. There was no respect and Funny was not paying any attention to pressure on the lead rope. So there was a good bit of Rana asking Funny to soften and stay in her spot and Funny raising her head.. then ignoring any pressure to soften, and then finally Rana had to yank to get her to pay attention and then soften. And then Funny would step forward, pushing into Rana's bubble. So she would get fussed at and backed up. And of course that meant a couple of rears!
The goal was to just get her to stand quietly and lead quietly. Minimal pressure required. Because this will translate to under saddle. So we just asked her to stand quietly, a space apart from us, and with her head and neck soft . And if she was naughty and disrespectful (which was often in the beginning), she had to work. She could stand quietly and softly, or she could work. She got a choice, but she had to pick one of our options. And eventually she will learn that I offer her good happy choices and she should trust my decisions. ha! We'll see. And when she did have to work, she had to behave still. She had to yield to Rana. We are obstacles... you must go around us and move your energy with our energy. We are not to be plowed through or pushing into, no matter how creepy slow you do it. So, same thing as I've been doing with her. She has to stay out on the line.... which means, when I push my energy/shoulders/flat/etc towards her, she needs to move off. And she can't decide to just lean into me while on the circle and fall into me. And she has to travel softly and relaxed with a dropped head. When she does that... I take my eyes off her. This gives her a breather. This tells her she's a good girl.
So, it was a classic alpha mare battle. TO THE DEATH!! ha. No, but.. it was a decent battle. But Funny is smart and while she is alpha, she's not nasty. So she soon realized what the game was and how she wasn't going to win and she settled and started using her brain for good instead of naughty. And then we asked her to stand while we talked. She still had to stand in her spot and not creep and with her neck soft. Which means she's relaxed and happy. But that's also boring, so we taught her patience! And then before Rana handed her off to me, she told me that because she is alpha and is pushy with her chest, to make her stand behind me and halt behind me. She needs to stay out of my bubble.
I figured we were done but I also figured I should reinforce what Rana just fought for. I had taken her and was about to walk her back to the barn for a rinse and... a boarder arrived right then with her dogs who went bounding about the farm. Funny saw them and I ceased to exist momentarily. Sigh... So I got her attention, got her to soften... then lost it. Then got it again, then lost it. Then finally got it again and kept it. We walked to the arena gate and halted a few times and she mostly stayed behind me. Well, it didn't take much reminder. And sometimes I pre-empted her by being a little more obvious in my asks. Which is okay. We're learning.
I rinsed her off and then turned her out in the pasture while I worked Dan. She was quite unhappy at first but eventually settled. Then I turned Dan out with her while I went to lunch with Kelli and they were stuck together like glue! When we went to go home, I just went ahead and loaded Dan first as it had been a long day. She didn't go at first. I tried 3 times and then stopped. I asked her to move forward on a circle and swung my lead rope at her and she scooted. And then she loaded up. Good girl! Kelli followed us out and called me laughing. Apparently Dan got his comeuppance. She had her head in his side and was chasing him into the corner. ha ha! But eventually they both took turns terrorizing the other one. ha ha.
So yeah... I promise she's better at home, but I also realize that home is comfortable and not new and exciting. And I also realize that there's probably some very subtle battles I'm losing and very subtle cues I'm missing. And there's probably some ease to the relationship because there isn't any disagreement. At home, she's pretty happy to play along. It's fun. It's even a little bit her idea. So there isn't any real reason for her to disagree with me. So I haven't realized some of the more subtle pushy symptoms. BUT... as Rana says.. we can fix this. And then we can still be best friends. And then, she'll be soft and light in the tack too and fancy! :)
Somebody was a sassy pants today! I took her into the arena to do some work and she was not having it. She wanted to sass! I let her off lead so she could investigate the jump chute that Jean's interns had set up. She was nosy. And farted around a bit. I did manage to get her into the chute but ha... clearly she does not understand the question. I think we need a second person and something a bit more motivating then her "follow this" flag. But she did at least go through it once, even if she didn't really "jump" it. Sigh... hopefully she'll figure out how to jump properly so she can be my event horse! ha ha. I did manage to get a little bit of proper pillar work out of her and actually got a few releases! She still seems a bit bulgy on her neck up high to me, but I'm wondering if that's actually now good muscling. We'll see.
After I worked Dan I gave her a rinse off as she was all sweaty and dirty. Goober!
Oh and earlier today we had Dr. Barrow come and x-ray her knees. The good news is that NO ocd lesions! Yay! Phew! I was a little worried we'd find more. ha ha. And she's mostly closed up so we can start doing her in hand/lunge work with Rana and not be concerned about her growth plates. But, sadly, her right hind fetlock lesion is still there. :( Luckily she's sound, there's no joint effusion, and it has migrated a little bit farther up the leg, so... hopefully Dr. Eggleston will tell me to just ignore it. I'm not sure I'm willing to stall rest yet again! And she was much better behaved this time than last time for her x-rays. Granted the plate wasn't up in her crotch either, so.. fair enough little girl, fair enough.
Today was a little frustrating. I was supposed to take both ponies to Rana's for in hand lessons. We were excited. Except we didn't get to go because of the weather. Crazy storms. Which, is good... because we (in theory) need the rain. But frustrating nonetheless. So I pouted for a bit and then decided to bemer Flecky and shine up his tail. While I was doing that, Funny took a post breakfast snooze.
Then it was her turn. I did some fascial work on her head and neck. She was fussy about her poll today still. I did manage to get some releases and adjusted her again too. She was a bit grumpy about it but nothing like the other day. Then I decided to try some acupuncture. Given her aversion to needles when I first got her I wasn't sure how it would go. Turns out... pretty darn good. She was great! She didn't flinch really or fuss, other than the first ting point needle. But that's fair. I did just the chest and neck and poll needles, and the front leg ting point for the neck. We'll save butt needles for another day. But she was good and clearly enjoyed it as she released a good bit. Then we had a little bit of pillar work in the aisle and driveway and then I let her loose.
Then later tonight I took Dan to the arena to work him. When we were finished I was having him stand on the hill for a last little bit of pillar 1 and Funny came up to join in the fun. Then when I went them loose they went wild! Hee hee. They were making me laugh.
So today was interesting. I had scheduled a friend to come massage Dan but decided to have her work on Funny instead as Dan seemed to be doing well and had another massage recently. And I've noticed that Funny seems tight in her neck and I thought I could get some help with it. She agreed to switch ponies. After I fed them I pulled Funny in to adjust her. Since she was due and I had a little bit of time. Plus I wanted to groom her so she was clean. I also did show sheen in her tail and brushed it out. Hopefully the stuff I'm doing will help her tail. It's not bad, but it's not great. She adjusted well but was a bit sore in her lumbars! Hmmmm... I also got good releases in her poll.
So then I turned her back out for a minute to relax/pee/whatever. Then it was time for her massage. She was not a fan. She was okay in the beginning. Just wiggly. And we got some good releases but she was very adamant about her poll NOT being touched. The massager was super and brushed it off.. blamed herself for being too aggressive or too heavy in her touch. But she was being super nice. Funny was being a butt and quite rude to her. And her massager was being super nice and kind and not at all "too much". Although I suppose that's for Funny to say and not me. But by the end Funny was pinning her ears and swinging her face around, even chomping the air some. She lifted a hind leg some. And so I thought.. hmmm.. I went in and scratched her teats and she was fine and let me check her hind legs, but then when the massager went in, she would swing a leg (menacingly, but not actually kicking) at her. FUNNY!! I was horrified! I had no idea my sweet baby girl was such a butt! I mean, I guess she's only ever really had me deal with her, other than getting x-rays and such. And she's had Freddie and Taylor do her feet. Maybe it was just too much stimulation since I had adjusted her first? Or maybe she really was that tight and sore in her poll. The masseause made the comment that it was all in her poll and she was definitely tight and unhappy there, which would cause all the other stuff.
So, we let her be and I'll keep working on it. But she did enjoy herself in the beginning and she did get lots of good releases! So... hopefully it was just a fluke and not her true behavior with others! Guess we'll have to work on that!
Funny was hilarious today! And so good!
I did Danny's pillar work first and she and Fleck were hanging out in the shade at the hay hut. When it was her turn she followed me happily to the arena, with Dan right behind her. I kept him out and we went to work. And she was perfect immediately! I decided NOT to use treats today because I felt like they were getting greedy. And she was lovely. She dropped her head to the ground, softened her neck and marched on! We did a couple of starts and stops and she would occasionally throw her head up in the transition but it would go right back down. I tried to get her to engage her pecs some too, which was a little tougher, but we did manage it a few times. We also got some pillar 3 done. And we even did some pillar 3 at the walk. She was LOVELY! And she had a little roll mid session. I decided since she was so good and it was sooo hot, that we would call it quits. I went to walk her out of the arena and she got sassy. She squealed at me and popper up into a tiny rear. Almost like she was trying to get me to work her more. Oh silly girl! I ignored it and asked her to exit the arena and she got mad. She tried to go the other way. Ha ha. She wasn't done playing!!! I did get her to leave and she was calm, so then I said... fine... I took off her halter and let her back in the arena. She ran back in and ran to the other side and was saying hi to the Jean's yearlings over the fence. I called a few times and she ignored me so I walked back to get her and put the halter on. Then she got a little sassy so I just "lunged" her around me. I walked and she could trot or canter or do whatever she wanted as long as feet didn't come my way. Then I tried to get her to trot with me and she did a little bit but she was too quick. Hee hee. She did try to stay in the arena again, but I managed to get her out calmly. Then I took her halter off and stepped back and let her go. She took off back to Dan. Hee hee. Silly beast!
It made me happy that she wanted to keep playing. :) Especially as I didn't have cookies/alfalfa pellets. Then I tried to hose them off since they were sweaty. It kind of worked. ha ha!
So... the days are running together. We had another brilliant sunset! Funny and I did some more arena work. She's getting less sassy! :) And better at the pillars. Although I'm still not entirely sure she's releasing her entire neck. But we're working on it. I'm also going to do some more body work on her, as she still seems tight in her nuchal ligament. Although that is getting better with even a little bit of fascial work.
She was funny today because I worked Dan and she insisted on staying in the arena and messing with him. Hee hee. She wasn't too bad though. Then tonight she was making Dan run. Um, I'm not sure he's supposed to be doing that yet baby girl! Oh well. They had fun. :) I was bush hogging so they used it as an excuse.
