Monday, May 12, 2008

late meeting again

but only 2 of us turned up. got some useful work done though! too late to work molly though.

caroline, you might be right, and it might also be that i'm frightened of potential reaction. and in a way that was proved when i did use the stick to get her into the arena. so i must try harder as well as getting her to.

3 comments:

cptrayes said...

I'd be the last person to blame you for being afraid of the possible reaction Claire. Perhaps you could escalate a little at a time and stop if you feel unsafe? A tickle with a long whip, a mild clip, a sharp flip, a smack, a wallop ...... Might work. Might not :-)

C

Jean said...

I agree with Caroline, but I might try some whip training on the ground first to acquaint her with the idea. If she is accepting from the ground, it will help you feel more confident about using the whip from the saddle.

A lot of times, all it takes is a little tap to encourage an uncertain horse to go forward.

Stephanie said...

If you didn't want to tap her first you could always tap the outside of your boot first, to make a noise.

You were long boots usually don't you? I know many horses who respond well to the tap-tap-tap noise of a stick on the boot.