Tipping the balance

So What did Diddy Dee Dee get up to yesterday?

Well I did mention that whilst Bally was having kittens over approaching the screaming hordes to come in Dee was merrily wandering along the fence line sticking her head over to say hello to people!

She's a proper monkey and doesn't seem fazed by much...except being manhandled by male vets, or being in a stable (and I can safely state that on the two occasions I've experienced her being manhandled by male vets IN a stable has just about seen WW3 breaking out...it was um hairy to say the least!) She has an absolutely super sweet nature, but like all youngsters by golly lets you know when she isn't happy...usually by going straight over or straight through you :-o

So we've been gently working on things she not keen on, using advance and retreat and the old calm, patient persistence with lots of reward for tries on her part.

Having seen her going vertical over having her head touched (she had a nasty cut on her forehead when she was younger that needed vet attention....you can imagine the rest!!) I can now pop her headcollar on and off over her ears like a bridle, touch all over her head, stroke her ears and I'm just working on being able to stroke around her mouth with the intended goal of being able to check in her mouth with her remaining happy and relaxed about it. She's absolutely fine to be stroked, brushed and scratched everywhere else, even notoriously tickly bits!

Other things I'm working on are her being happy about going into enclosed spaces...which now means I can't keep her OUT of the feed room lol! Tying up and remaining standing without trying to tie herself in knots (she's now tied up every feed and we've progressed to tying up and then bringing the feed out and remaining tied when she's finished...although this is definitely a work in progress.
We also need lots of practice at being foot perfect about hoof picking out and trimming.....So every day I pick her feet out and every weekend I "do" her feet - holding them up for longer at trimming height, holding her legs between my legs and resting her hooves up on my knees and using my rasp. I'm hopeful that when Ellie comes back in six weeks she'll notice a massive difference in Dee's ability to cope with all the palaver!
Her leading manners are excellent - I can walk , trot and reinback with minimal aiding, she's cracking the turn away whilst walking & trotting and she's 100% good to catch (helps in our situation!!)

So yesterday afternoon after Bally had been out on her road trip, I brought both girls in and tied them up opposite each other - Dee in the open barn (with the gate /bar across) and Bally on the fence by the road (good for getting her used to cars going swooshing past...I pretty much don't do anything without finding a training benefit / angle these days lol!!)
Then I gave them their dinner and a small haynet. Once Dee had finished her feed and was tucking into her haynet I started her trim practice....without thinking I went for her left fore first as it was closest (she's had a previous injury on this leg and can be a little sticky with it). Well she snapped it up and let me hold it, but as I put it down and changed to face the front then lifted it up onto my knee she went vertical and came down on top of the bar :-o So she was stuck - left foreleg over it and right just about on the ground with all her weight on the ominously creaking gate...eeek!
Thankfully she was completely calm about the situation and stood stock still whilst I gently manouevered her leg off the bar......oh boy was that a scary moment! But I kept a lid on my panic as best I could and calmly and quietly moved her back and lifted her foot again. Ok this time thank goodness and I was able to finish when I wanted.

I was able to work round OK and only had one other sticky moment, right hind this time when she pulled it away and rather than pull it out and put it down in a loss of balance which is fine...she cow kicked - and this time she got a real growling at and I backed her up sharpish - that's one I won't tolerate!

Leading her out she was still a little antsy and pushy as I think she was quite rattled, and not "with" me, so I did some feet moving - forwards & back and asking her to move her quarters, then asking for a flex side to side and a head lower with gentle rhythmical asks, praising for each soft try...and bingo, my sweet natured happy little filly was back...and why? I think her loss of control and her sensing my panic subtly changed her perception of the balance in the relationship and this was enough to either upset and unsettled her or push her to challenge me....interesting thought!!

I let her loose and she was super relaxed about me removing the headcollar, so we had a scratchy session and I stroked her face and around her muzzle...good stuff!