April 3, 2008

Bebe

It was 8pm on a rainy night, under a noisy shed.

Yo-yo game- He was very light, Responding with only the wiggle of a finger.

Sideways- He was very straight and light both ways, the way I communicate with him during this task is very important.

Feet Up- This is a task where you tap his cannon bone with the stick and he holds his feet up. I had not done this task in a while, He did very well.

Driving Game- Bebe was yielding his forequarters and hindquarters very well, backed well too.

Fingers in Mouth- He mastered this task a few months ago, it's just fun to do and a good way to test your relationship every time you go out to play.

Needle Prep- An accomplished example of this task: You pinch your horse on the neck where a vet (or you) would insert a needle and the horse lowers his head and tips his nose toward you. Why would we want a horse to do that? Have you ever had a horse that gets high headed and their neck is concave and stiff when the vet goes to insert a needle? It is very hard to take blood for testing or give the horse the medicine they need with tight contracted muscles. If your horse has his head down and toward you, he will be relaxed and supple and so will his muscles in his body. Bebe is just now getting a hang of this task, he learns differently than Sundance so I had to approach the task in a different way.

Backing by the Tail- This tasks just proves how soft, connected and supple your horse is. This is a Level 3 Refinement task, stand behind your horse and hold on to the hair of his tail and he should feel the aid and back until you let go. Bebe just learned this task last month and is doing very well.

OF COURSE the Friendly Game!- Bebe decided he wanted to do some friendly after our little session. He rubbed and licked my hand, he also lipped at his halter a few minutes after I took the halter off. He was very friendly and playful, I wish I had more time with him last night but it was going on 9pm and very rainy. Everytime I take the time it takes in a session I see the positive results the next day, yesterday was one of those days I was very thankful for my patience and perseverance in the last lesson.

Todays Plan- I am almost done with school, I have a lesson to teach at 3pm for 1 hour. I will work with Bebe after school and before my lesson, I will have Sundance in his stall ready to go and as soon as I am done teaching I will hop on and ride to our friends house to work with our liberty. That will be my time to work with Sundance, the weather is supposed to be around 70 degrees and very nice so it will be a great day no doubt.

xoxo