a mixed bag of an afternoon. friend turned up = but her group went to the other half of the estate first!
I did a load of work, in the arena, leave the arena, through the yard, back, go where i want. no napping back to the stable, which was something, but several "i'm not going through the yard". did TRY to get up the side of the geldings field,but no chance
anyway, eventually - been on over an hour - got off and fed her; friend and group she was with were heading our way, but i was SO pleased i wasn't with them.... it was in fact a fast hack with loads of jumping, wouldn't have been happy with that at all...
and then had to wait for friend to get back to her wagon as she was to sort something out with molly for me that she knew & I didn't, and she had some stuff of mine to give me back....
so wasted a lot of time.
and my hole punch, when i was trying to get it working, bashed a hole in the back of my hand, and won't work anyway
and it finally stopped raining when i got home...
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Well, maybe that all worked out for the better. No fun getting your horse all worked up with a bunch of people who just want to gallop all over the place.
Hope your hand is OK.
Claire can I just say that with a horse as obstinate as Molly can be that you simply can't afford to ask her to do something and fail to make it happen? Basically, with a horse like her, I would never start anything that she might refuse that I do not have time to see through - even if it takes all night. Once a horse that clever and opinionated refuses to do something you have reasonably asked and wins that argument, you are on to a loser for the rest of time. If you ask her to go past the geldings field again, she must go, by hook or by crook or however else you get her there, she MUST go, or she has you right where she wants you.
Easier said than done, I know!
C
you're right, Caroline, but it's seriously scary when she really starts and especially when I'm on my own.....last time i got off and led her up. But of course then i can't get back on without going back down to the yard to the mounting block!
i know WHY it is - there's a very narrow gap between a HUGE log and the fenceline
and to add - i did get her as far as that on our own, which is a major achievement in itself, you know....
Yes I know, it's easy for me to pick holes from where I'm sitting, sorry :-(
But if you get a chance to stop when she's done something you're pleased with, and avoid ever stopping on a note where she has said NO and got away with it, do take it - even if it means doing less than you feel like you wanted to try. You've just got to win with horses like Molly. It's better to ask less and always get what you ask for than to ask for more and ever fail to get what you wanted.
Unfortunately, research shows that intermittent reward is the best way to reinforce behaviour, so even if she seems only to win now and then, it's a powerful lesson to her that she does not need to do as you say unless she wants to.
As I said, easy for me to say, sat here in my chair with the cat trying to shove me out of it:-)
C
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