Chuffed to bits

I think I'm still on a high and grinning, Bailarina surpassed herself today :-)

I thought I'd try going over to the busy dual carriageway again, we had only tried it the once a few weeks ago and although she was good, she still found quite nerve wracking and showed a bit of tension (no wonder really!!) so I wanted to have a no pressure wander over and back, with the plan of stopping, standing and turning round if she started finding it too much.
It was fairly wild and windy and drizzly, but never one to let a bit of weather get in the way I just spent a few minutes doing the calm standing / back / walk/ halt routine which seems to work brilliantly at getting her focussed when it's all a bit hairy

Well then off we went down the flitch path with Bally leading and me on the longline directing operations from behind, then on to the lane with her close inhand where we were passed by a couple of cars one each way and Bally paid them no heed whatsoever yay!
Onto the next bit of the flitch and over the scary horse eating cut through gate.....Bally once again stepped over it without a second thought (oh what a star!) and I let the line out again and asked her to lead on and have a trot..which she did.

Once we got to the bend in the path where we start getting close to the traffic whizzing by I halted her came back round in front and gave her loads of praise then calmly walked on.

Well blow me down Bally just calmly and totally happily walked with me - not minding the traffic at all, I mean literally ignoring the fact that not 20 ft away from her separated only by an open wire deer fence and a barrier is a major dual carriageway. Cars. lorries trucks...not a flicker of interest.

We walked all the way down past where she'd had a bit of little strop before, on through a narrow gateway and up the slope (so now above the traffic) to the start of the bridge itself. (WOOOHOOO!)
I didn't want to push my luck so she stood at the foot of the bridge and watched the world go by having lots of praise, scratches and rubs. Then we turned and walked all the way back the way we came...again steady as a rock, and even before we'd got to the sheltered quiet bit I'd asked her to take the lead and she did!

She did crack me up though - her one and only oops moment was as we were nearing the end of this path and passing a picnic area...when she caught sight of the big table and went OOOOH WHASSAT and did a little spook...funny, funny girl.

Back over horse eating cut through gate then we stopped near the exit to the lane as a big lorry went down, then a Golf GTI with the noisiest exhaust on the planet...all watched without any bother.

Down the lane again, onto the Flitch part two, no rushing because we're heading home, just a lovely walk in hand...ooh we come face to face with a sweaty man on a mountain bike who Bally does a giraffe statue impression at as he peddles furiously towards us ignoring my slow down signal...ah well no worry Bally just stood and looked and then walked on again back to the yard once he'd gone past (maybe I'll use a different hand signal next time lol!)

And well, that was it, a brilliant brilliant session today, I think it will have done wonders for her confidence and trust, it certainly did wonders for me!