Outside Perspective

Finally made it out to the barn today. The weather has been awful, hot & rainy... thunderstorms multiple times daily. I knew Cheyenne was going to be a challenge today. When I showed up I couldn't find her out in the pasture. When I walked out I found her flirting with the stud colt through the stall wall (there are indoor & outdoor stalls that share a cement wall between them). I have never seen her in heat or been able to tell when she is... she LITERALLY (no exaggeration, really) must have squirted twenty times today. She was just the biggest hussy I have EVER seen. She wouldn't stand still, and when I walked her by her new boyfriend, she WOULD NOT MOVE. She planted her feet, swung her goods right into his face, and squirted. UGHHHHH! I eventually got her stubborn butt out of the barn & she was giving me a hard time in the arena. She did okay at the walk, but she had much more energy than usual. When we got to the trot everything fell apart. It took about thirty minutes of trotting to collect her & get her responding consistently... but the important thing is that it eventually happened.

The WONDERFUL thing about today was that Nikki (the girl who boards her horse with me) rode Cheyenne today. No one else has ever ridden her, so it was great to have a second opinion. She only rode her at the walk, but she said that she was doing really well so far. She said she had a bit of a hard mouth (which I knew unfortunately) & she suggested we work on stopping with a very light cue. After only 15-20 minutes of Nikki working with her she was stopping on a dime, a very light whoa cue & she would stop. Nikki suggested we work more on trotting lunging in the round pen in addition to under saddle. I HATE lungeing Cheyenne because she is SO bad & today was no exception. Nikki really helped to build my confidence with Cheyenne & helped me to reestablish my dominance over her. We're still in a bit of a power struggle & I need to work hard to make sure she knows I am alpha mare, not her. She likes to cut into the middle of the round pen and push on the gate. Nikki showed me a slightly different way to lunge her and helped to get rid of some of my fears about lungeing. By the end of the session Cheyenne was doing REALLY REALLY well, and for a solid 5 minutes or so didn't try to pull ANY stunts.

I really need to have a firmer hand with her and not show ANY fear. I know that, and have known that... but sometimes it takes someone else showing you the correct way to do things, and how much of a difference it makes in order to make you realize the importance of it. I also need to praise her more. It's funny because when I first started working with her if was ALL praise, all the time. I rarely got frustrated & I always corrected her very gently. Now that she has come as far as she has & knows what is expected... I have been doing less praising and more correction. She is a different horse now. It used to be that she had no idea what I was asking or expecting, she came from a place of fear, and every little step was a HUGE milestone. It was impossible to be frustrated because she was a blank slate... I couldn't expect her to know something she had never been taught. Now she is a sweet, loving, trusting horse... she is extremely smart & a fast learner. I get frustrated because she KNOWS what I am asking now, but she is stubborn & testy. But I do blame myself for much of it... she has been allowed to get away with certain things because of my fear & lack of experience. I think we are going to go very far with help from someone else. I know Nikki is busy but I'm thinking of asking her to work with us maybe once a week & see where that gets us. She told me she would work with her today while I am out of town, so I'm anxious to hear how it goes.

It's always a work in progress... but as frustrated as I sometimes get I really truly wouldn't change it for anything. I love that pony more than anything... & our good days are SO great because of the struggles we have gone through.