I know! You thought i was done talking about Danni... But wait until you hear how amazing she is!
My fantastic trainer Trisha was here on Wednesday, and that lined up with Danni's every third day work schedule. Since I'm still learning about long lines, I got a lesson from Trish on long-lining. This was lots of little corrections to my technique, which just make that work better. Trish hooked the lunge line to the bridle, then had me belly up, slipping back to the ground after walking around until all the blood rushed to my head. Then she had me slide my leg over and get on. Danni was unfazed, as usual. We spent a very long time (well, maybe 20 minutes---it felt long!) walking around, with Trish gradually moving out on the lunge line away from Danni. What we are teaching her is that she's not supposed to listen to the person with the 'string'. She's supposed to listen to the person on her back.
It's surprising to me, the things Danni doesn't know. Having never started a horse this young before, it didn't occur to me that they have to learn what 'pulling' on the left rein means. I would pull gently on the rein, and she seemed to have no idea that it COULD mean something! And I would put my leg on, and she would just keep doing what she was doing. No language here!
Danni several times was frustrated. She would stiffen, and fling her head up. She knew we wanted something. But she just couldn't figure out what it was. Then she hit that point. You know the point. She started offering things. Is this what you want? What about this? How about this? And that's the point you are looking for. That's the point you want to encourage. So we praised every offering, but the RIGHT offering got so much more praise that it was unmistakably the right answer. And by the end of the lesson, she knew that 'pulling on the rein' means 'go that way'.
Danni had several moments when she could have taken advantage of an excuse to be naughty. But she just took a deep breath, and walked on. Trish got out to about 5 feet away on the lunge line, and Danni started to realize that instructions were coming from somewhere else.
So today (Saturday) was the next work day for Danni. We worked on the long lines, then John and Jo helped while Danni had her third ride under saddle. Huge improvements today in her ability to recognize that I was 'talking' to her. She made as if to move off my leg several times. She recognized the outside rein. She went the way I wanted her to, even though it meant John was about 30 feet away. At one point, she took a trot step. I said 'no', and she went back to the walk. Later, she caught sight of some kids on bicycles in the street. Her head went up like a giraffe's! But I sat quiet, and asked John to come in toward her, and pat her and reassure her, so she just stared. Then we walked on. After about twenty minutes, I slid off, and we praised the heck out of her, and gave her a bath!
So at this point, the plan is to ride her every third day from now until the snow flies. Then she gets the winter off. Next spring, she will begin to work in earnest. If we get all three gaits this fall, so much the better. But there's no hurry, really. I need to just listen hard, to hear what she's ready for, and then do that. This is what teaching and learning is really all about. Feeling your way, every time, as though it's the first time. Which it always is, for one, the other, or both.
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