Bloody Fantastic

Oh what a brilliant day!!!

It was great to have such a positive start back into training schedule on Friday and Bally seems to be really happy to be back doing things to make her think...and there's always the huge amount of praise she keeps earning herself ;-)

So this morning was a perfect opportunity to start crowd training as the pitches in the corner of the field had three lots of matches on - Loads of lads running around playing, balls flying everywhere, flags fluttering and parents and coaches yelling their heads off....perfect!
Well Bally didn't think so to start.....
I opened the gate to the corral and called the girls whilst I made the morning feeds up. Now what happened was fascinating to watch. B herded the babies up and they started to make their way over, but then as she got closer to the crowds I could see her struggling, wanting to come in, but very wary of the noise.

I called again and she milled about obviously worried about coming in towards all the fuss and shouting. Now I must point out at this stage Dee had already made her way right up to the fence line not 10 feet from the pitch and made the acquaintance of a couple of little girls watching their brothers play, what a cheeky monkey!
I went out to give Bally a hand, popped her headcollar on and she led in pretty well, tense and wary, but happy for the offer of leadership.

Once she had her face in her bucket of breakfast she forgot all about the crowd, so I gradually moved her bucket around so she was nearer the fence and the pitches. She had the odd start as we were behind the goal and the ball flew around a couple of times, but happily went back to her food.
When she'd finished I walked her around by the fence and I could see her growing in confidence as I kept completely calm & quiet. Now came the really important part..keeping her focus on me with all the distractions and asking for some work at the same time. So we tried a couple of circuits of semi lunging, me walking with her on a long lead asking for her attention with half halts and halts. Then I halted her a few feet away from the fence and did a couple of direct rein disengaging her quarters moves..all done really well by Little Miss B!

I was really pleased with how well she was doing so led her along the fence line and out into the main field. Then after a couple of circuits in walk on a 15m circle with her again nicely attentive I halted her and let her off the lad but stayed where I was and stroked and scratched her, telling her very effusively what a brilliantly good girly I thought she was!!!
So there we were 10 ft from the fence with hordes of screaming boys and yelling parents, B completely at liberty to beggar off and she stood happily and calmly with me having a scratch and watching what was going on...blummin FANTASTIC!

Funnily enough all we'd actually got planned for today was a small trip out in Bessie Horsebus as it was two months since Bally had even seen the box on her trip up to the field and on top of that we had an incredibly useful training session!

So this afternoon Gi brought the box over and I caught B, walked out the gate and across the lane to the lay-by to see how she'd load. Well considering the time lapse and the fact that she'd pretty much fallen down the ramp last time when she was spooked by a car as she unloaded I think she did brilliantly. Nice and calmly I gave small asks with minimal pressure on the rope - just enough to ask rather than demand a movement, then release and praise for each try. It worked a treat and 5 minutes later with only one slight pull back, but no reversing, Bally walked up the ramp and on the box.

We just took her for a 10 minute drive down through the village and circled back to the field. She had a minor heart attack over the branches scraping the side of the box - almost went into tap dancing full on paddy mode the first time, but as I remained completely calm, she relaxed a little more each time it happened till it only garnered the response of a slight twitch and eye roll in the direction of the noise.
Bally managed really well considering the fact we were on very small bendy up and down lanes, she still feels the need to move her feet to keep her balance, but it's done quietly and deliberately with no panic and she'll learn to balance better with time and practice.

She was very careful backing down the ramp, I could feel her tension and again just kept my own energy level very low and quiet to give her confidence. She stepped off nice and steadily and with no drama...couldn't ask for any more :-)

I have an update on Little Dee too, but that can wait until tomorrow :-)