Well I bit the bullet 2 nights ago (just after last post) and treated Lindsay again for her ticks. Goodness I hope those suckers are gone! I hate treating them as much as she hates having it done. I actually clipped her up first, cleaned her ears out all slick and pretty :) She was a very good girl...not crazy about the clippers, but was still very good...no twitch :)... I soooo hated to have to squirt that Frontline in her ears after she'd been so good for me with the clippers, but it's in her best interest so I had to... as soon as I squirt it in she wheels around and shakes her head like crazy (even sedated!) It must aggravate her so bad :( Just hate it..anyway, it's done now and hopefully I won't ever have to do it again. As I expected she was not crazy about me back at her ears the following day. It is so frustrating when certain things have been going so well and then we regress over having to treat something like this, but there was no way around it...anyway...I did lots of desensitizing starting over again and she is fine so long as it's just me and my hand (or halter or bridle thank goodness) but the water hose or spray bottle, not so much...reminds her to much of the treatment I suppose. We took our time with that and she will get better I know, just have to give her time to see I'm not going to be squirting stuff deep in her ears anymore. At least she is still good to halter and bridle! that would have been a mess if not.
We have continued to work lots on our canter transitions, loping in a straight line and now our halts again. At first yesterday I felt like we has lost a bit of our "in sink" halt..thus slide. We have spent so much time collecting up at the canter that she knows now every time I start to relax my seat it does not necessarily mean halt as it did before...sometimes it just means rate to a slower speed. So I started really consciously being sure to melt in the saddle as much as possible and then give her 2 strides before I followed with my hand if she did not respond...the first few times I did have to follow with my hand and we were not as engaged behind as we had been, but after a while of consciously sitting then giving her those two strides to think about it she started to sit again! Oh it felt so good and I was so excited to feel that coming back. We still don't get it perfect every time..especially if there were lots of distractions, but I think she is catching on well now and the sitting deep and really relaxing...plus giving her 2 strides to think really helps her use her hind end to stop rather than her front :)
We also worked lots on me picking up different objects..that is something we have struggled with...me picking up a foreign object while on her back, but we are making progress...even though I believe this tick ordeal has made us regress with that a bit unfortunately. It all goes back to "There is more than one way to ask the same question" It can be frustrating when she spokes at something that she used to be totally ok with, but it is just part of the process. There is just so much I am asking of her in such a short period of time...I mean I expect her to be super responsive and move away from certain aids..like my leg in a turn...but yet ignore others like a bottle rubbed on her neck. It is a lot for her to always know the correct response...especially after her new partner that she has grown to trust (me) does something to cause her such discomfort (ie the tick treatment :(...But she is so quick to trust me and is already coming back around...we did lots of me sitting up on the rail of the round pen and tossing these scary friends around her...she never reached the point of being oblivious to them, but did get much better. We are going to keep on with the new friends (bottles, bags etc) as consistently as I can... we could have the best lope and slide in the world, but blow it all by spooking at a raincoat! Oh how that would be just be awful! I am going to do my best to prevent that from happening!
So much to do and she is becoming such a good ride and feels so "Educated" under me that I have to remind myself this is only the 50th time I've asked anything of her!!!..and stepped aboard day 18...so I guess that's around 33 rides...minus the day or two she had off..so just over 30 actual rides...she has just gone above and beyond.... I can not let the fact that she has come so far and done so well distract me from the fact that she still has a lot to learn...and the things she has learned are still fresh in her mind. She needs constant reassurance from me that she has made the right decision and answered my questions correctly.
She is continuing to do her part every step of the way...I must continue to do mine.
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