Changes

Things are always changing in this little corner of the world. Denise is coming to stay and Clay shuffled off in his lost cowboy manner mumbling something about his sick aunt.

Donna is here this week which means everything that didn't get done for the last six months will be done by about next Thursday. We've been working with all the animals, so here is a status report:

Training Needs

• Paisley: needs to be ridden out and about, some signs of becoming yard-bound, needs to be disciplined to not put lips or teeth on humans;


• Jemez Dancing: needs to work on gait control, work on flexibility;


• Chester: needs to work on gait control;


• Cracker: continue dancing lessons; overcome yard-bound issues, work on flexibility, continue refining leadership perception;


• Cisco: continue rope desensitization; work on leadership perception;


• Tobiah: work on reining;


• Soloman: start learning a trick;


• Zekey: work on hoof lifting.

For the gait control issues with both Chester and JD, I am trying the lunging with positive reinforcement as shown in the video on my post "Is Wacking the Mule Necessary?" They have to be pretty motivated to work up to a canter for a horse cookie. We'll see how long it takes. Right now they are doing well with walk and trot, but I would like to get those things really stabilized before we move on to the real objective: canter under voice cue.

Tobiah was doing well with reining in the corral, but when I took him out and to the labyrinth things fell apart. We will be reformatting the labyrinth to make it a better learning tool for his issues. Expect photos.

Cisco was really set back by his dragging the ace bandage around the yard. He learned that he could escape me and run around. He had to snort about any rope he saw and try to escape it unless he was confined to the pen where escape was not an option. So, I decided to make him think differently about rope. We started targeting the rope. Then we started targetting a moving rope. I started half hiding the rope behind my back. He had to target the rope while it was draped over his withers. He has learned to pick the rope up in his teeth. The goal is to be able to drag the rope beside him, have it brush his legs, without him being concerned. We are partway there. Cisco must have learned to run from a swinging rope or been beat on. Ropes are magical to him. If you put a rope around his neck and toss the end up over his back, he believes he is tied up. If you drop the lead rope, he believes he is tied up. If you tie him up, he believes it is imperative to bust loose in a panic. He needs "Fun with Ropes 101".

Cracker was such a showoff for Donna. He did all his best tricks with glee. What a good hinny! But like JD, he is a stiff necked fellow and some limbering exercises would be good for him.