Testing, Testing

Interesting lunging session yesterday!

I knew it would be fun as Tuesday (a slightly neurotic TB mare) was in the paddock next to school and she was greeting the entrance of any horses in there with squealing and neighing, charging up and down and round and round, then running up to the fence and windsucking on the posts…..just what you need when you’re training a highly bred youngster who still doesn’t fully appreciate the concept of concentrating on the job in hand.lol!

Ah well I thought Bailarina will have to get used to stuff going on a shows and competitions - I want her to be able to focus on me with distractions so now is as good a time as any to start.
To start I just led her into the school and asked her to simply stand still – any movement from her was calmly corrected and she was put back into her spot again. Then I asked her to walk around the arena in hand with me between her & the fence. Poor Bally was quite tense and jumpy about this as Tuesday was being a proper P.i.t.A. charging along the side of the fence squealing and bucking.
Once again I just asked for forwards in walk nice and calmly and if that’s not what I was getting, requesting a halt & step back - just keeping my own energy level very low and calm.

Bally got the message really well and before we’d got half way round the school on the first lap I had her nice and attentive – still tense, but trying so hard to listen to me and not be put off by Tuesday. I then just kept it up adding halt transitions in once in a while, then a change of rein, a three loop serpentine and then on to a circle and by the end of this I think we’d both forgotten buggerlugs was next door lol!

At this point knowing I had a nice calm Bally I attached the side reins to her bit and lunging her off the cavesson sent her out onto a circle…..Ah…seems like we need to practise a bit more often as most of the super work I had last time seemed hard to grasp..oops!
Good points – Bally was happy to be sent right out on a large circle and stay there, When she halted she halted square and if she wasn’t she corrected herself (wow!)
She didn’t turn in once halted, Up transitions were good and she was easily directed with the lunge whip.
Bad points - Halt took forever to get, downward from trot to walk better but only just. She seemed very unsettled with the cavesson on her nose and she was not altogether steady in the speed / rhythm of her trot work.
Shame about not getting the halting on my cue as she’d been such a good girl about it before.
I just did five more minutes of walk / halt / walk in hand and let her have a nice stretch out to finish on a good note.
So plenty to keep working on, I’m not happy to move up a step to double reins or asking for a contact until we’ve got the basics solid

She's having a pedicure tonight, let's see if all that practise (and the bruises on my knees) have been worthwhile ;-)