Sunday morning

It is getting hot out there again today, so I am glad I have worked the ponies already.

I took Sophie for a quite walk across my neighbours place, and did some truck training with Ata.

Then with Tika I worked on dragging ropes. She has had in the past, panic reactions to ropes, and once when a short rope got hooked over her ear, when I was first starting getting her used to ropes, she galloped round and round in a panic till it fell of.

So all through the training I have done with her, I have made sure that if she panics or runs off on me, the rope stays with me. I only have it looped through her halter, there is not clip on it and the other end is tucked into my belt or waist band. (not tied to me in any way either) but it means that I know where that end of the rope is.

As yet I have not attached a rope to her halter. But as some stage I am going to have to so I can teach her to tie up.

So this morning, I looped a piece of bailing twine through her halter and lead her round with that on. She stepped on it and hardly turned an ear.

Then I let the long rope I use for training her drag behind her, holding the other end. She stepped on it with her back hoof and tossed her head up, and got a bit of a fright. There was of course some movement as the rope was only running through her halter and I was holding the other end. But she stopped still and did not panic. Did a little more of this, and then swung the end of the rope and touched her front legs with it, and flicked it round so that it flicked right round her front legs. She was fine with this. So moved the gentle rope flicking down her belly just touching her gently with it, and on to her back legs. She did not like this and pulled her back legs up a number of times. But as I kept talking to her and gently starting at her rump and moved the touches of the rope down, she got better and more relaxed and I managed to get the rope touching her all the way to her hoofs.

I left it there and will do quite a bit more work like this before I attach a rope to her halter.

But that panic reaction is so much less than it used to be.

So I had another good morning with my ponies.

Oh and I won a auction for a saddle that I hope will fit Sophie better. It is a brand that I have been interested in getting since I sat in one at a second hand saddle shop, but that one was to small for me. This one is the size seat I like to ride in, so I hope it fits Sophie!