6-13-00 Still haven't had *any* problems catching Spirit. She's been easy :-) Worked a bit on showmanship-type stuff today. She'll do a turn on the haunches and a turn on the forehand from either side. The right is still harder than from the left, but I suspect it will just always be more work from the right. Right now, I'm not really "working" her much. I just want her to get used to coming in when she sees me, eating her grain and paying attention when I'm leading her. I'm a little nervous to led her out of "her" pasture--there are barking dogs at my barn. I know I just have to buck up and do it. If she get's loose, the place is completly fenced. I think we'll just start with little journeys ;-)
6-14-00 Today was the first day all the ponies came running in when they say I was there!! Very cool. Spirit's still easy, and I doubt that will change. I think she might be getting a bit herd bound with Shaman, but I can't do too much about that. After I worked Shaman today, I took her for a walk around the property. Once we were back in sight of Spirit, she came galloping up , nickering (I've never heard her really nicker before!) and followed us on her side of the fence. At least Spirit didn't flip out when I took Shaman out of the pen. I'll have to watch this herd bound thing, and if it gets any worse, separate the girls.
6-15-00 FINALLY got more pics of Spirit!! Wahoo!! I'll try to keep these small so they'll load quickly. Click on the pics to see them bigger.
6-16-00 Just for the hell of it, I free jumped Spirit today. She did really well, only refusing *once* and that was when I took the height up too fast. We finished jumping ~2'9". It took her maybe a dozen crossrails to figure out what to do with her body, but once she figured it out, she was jumping in pretty good form. Today I also worked on catching her out on pasture--it was pretty frustrating. If I'm within a certian distance (about 30 or 40 feet), she'll usually come with no problem. If I'm farther away, and ask her to come, she's either ignore me or run away. I spent lots of time today walking her down, catching her, taking a couple steps, letting her go and repeating the process. I'm not sure if I made any progress. I want her to know walking away from me is *not* acceptable. <sigh> We'll see how she does tomorrow.
6-21-00 I've had a busy few days, and I've just been going out and graining all the ponies. Today I got the chance to play with Spirit again, and we took a walk. This is the very first time she's been out of the pasture at this new barn, so I didn't quite know what to expect. She was *really* good! We didn't go far, and I was _really_ careful not to ask her to move if she was scared. We just walked around the hay barn a few times (it's the closest building to my pasture) and then up and down the alleys between the pastures. Spirit got scared enough to move her feet once--but she never hit the end of the leadrope. She just circled around me once, and stopped! Wahoo! Leading this mare in an "unconfined" area is still hard for me, after that whole incedent the first week. With more events like this, I'm actually beginning to trust her a bit. After we took our walk, I let Spirit and Shaman loose in the pasture (Springer was in the round pen--I was trying to make him eat his grain) and I started walking down Spirit. Walking down is a process where you follow the horse, at the walk, until they stop and stand to be caught. Spirit is really good about being caught if all the factors are right--I have to be in front of her, from a certian distance, and ask her to come. She doesn't know how to be caught any other way. Hence, the walking down. The first time it took maybe 20-30 minutes before she let me get her. I just told her what a good girl she was gave her pats and scritches and walked away. The next time it took about 10-15 minutes. The third time, it just took a couple minutes. Shaman thought this was a great game, and would follow me everywhere. Usually, she would be right by my right elbow. Sometimes, she would get behind (she's so much smaller than Spirit!) and then trot to catch up with me...awww. She would stop behind me and put her nose in the center of my back before returning to my elbow--kinda like she was saying "I'm right here, don't get scared when you see me beside you" LOL. Only a couple times did she get excited and go off trotting with Spirit.
6-25-00 Today was a busy day. The farrier came out to do Shaman and Springer, and I had her look at Spirit, too. Spirit let Shelley pick up her feet and play with them a bit. Spirit was tense, but was watching me for "time to be scared" cues. When I didn't give her any, she at least stayed put--even though she wasn't relaxed. Shelley and I scheduled an appointment in a couple weeks to get Spirit's front feet done. What was really interesting was that Spirit stuck to me like glue when Shelley was in the pen with us. She was scared, so she kept close to me. Now thats the kind of response I like!! LOL!! After the farrier left, I worked on getting Spirit to accept me behind her. She did really well! I discovered she *loves* to have her inner thighs and teats scratched (I was shocked). I can stand behind her and play with her tail. I can walk behind her. She was even *real* careful about not kicking at flies on the side I was on, or at all if I was behind her. She's still pretty tense about letting me pick up her tail up and move the tail bone around, but I doubt it will too much longer before that's a non-issue as well. I also worked on Spirit letting me take her front feet out in front of her (think stretching or putting the foot up on a hoof stand) I can get her knee about to where it should be, but she was reluctant to relax and let me extend the lower leg. Just one more thing to work on and gauge progress with :-)
