Wandering

Roped in Superhubby as chief car watcher yesterday so I could take Bally for her first in hand hack from the new field. Just wanted an extra pair of hands on the ground as it had been quite a long time since her last hack, out down a new road...and she'd still been a bit flustered about cars approaching her when we were working last year - since she time the idiot woman nearly skidded into us (grrr!)

She came in OK, planted in the gateway as she realised Dee wasn't coming in...so dinner wasn't immediately in the offing! Bit of nifty feet moving and we were in.
Tied B up with haynet and got all the gear out (we have fluorescent EVERYthing) along with the clicker bag - specifically to help with the bridling...but Bally was really good, held her head a touch high but lowered it when asked and then accepted the bit without too much asking, no hint of panic this time thank goodness!

All togged up and off we went, plan was just to go to the end of the lane and back. Good start - we hadn't gone 50 yards before a lovely chap in a white van with ladders on the roof came round the corner, he pulled right in for us and I just kept Bally walking and although a little looky, she didn't try to speed up..yay!

She was on high alert though and wouldn't take food reward after clicking, always a sign she's finding what we are doing challenging. So I worked on keeping her calm, letting her have a look at things and praising quiet behaviour.

Passed by another couple of cars and again B was great, a look nothing more :-)

Got to the end of the lane and she could see a couple of horses hacking out up on the horizon which made her go into I'm not listening la-la giraffe mode, so as I had the opportunity and the coast was clear I asked for head lowering and feet moving to get her attention back on the task in hand - it did take a minute or two which is a bit concerning when we were by the side of a road - we won't always have that luxury! So long as I always keep my approach exactly the same when she does this (calm, low energy and focussed on what I want) then I'm sure we'll be able to keep a lid on her sometimes OTT reactions.
She'll be coming across lots of new scary situations again this year and I want to make each one a good learning experience, not a stressful one. I would use the clicker - and always try to, but I don't think she'll let me in those situations where we need it the most (just a bit frustrating!)...well time and lots more practice with it at home will help I hope!

Anyway around we turned once order had been restored and we walked and trotted back up the road, passing another car, all good - we even got up close and personal with a wheelie bin (good associations - I keep my chaff in one so as far as B is concerned they are full of goodies not monsters!)
On past the field and back down the lane to the gate where B did really well to contain herself as B B, Bonita and Little Dee all bucked and yee-haa'd and larked about as we came by.
Plan is to take her out for a wander at least twice, if not three times a week gradually building up the distance as it gets lighter in the evenings and exploring new routes, so that as soon as it's time to back her there'll be no surprises about where we're going :-)