DAY 4 - MORE HOME WORK: The work we are doing in the round pen is like a crucible. It tempers and refines the relationship between the horse and the human. It helps to build that strong foundation upon which respect, communication and skill is built. That being said it is also tough work mentally for both the horse and the human. Since we do not use a lead line for the first stage of round pen work, the challenge is to keep the horse focused on “you” while you communicate what you want. Establishing leadership is not an easy thing. We want to “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult (thanks Clinton Anderson for that mantra)” as we ask for different gaits, direction changes, stops and giving us “two eyes”. 

            Since Nike is a young horse (4 years old) there will be those times where she will sass us and challenge our leadership. Our job is to be consistent, to correct poor behavior quickly and reward good behavior even quicker. Not always easy but always necessary. Nike gave us some sass today. Being “day two” in the round pen it was expected, especially when we raised the expectation bar. Today we wanted a more “yes, sir!” response when we asked her to move out. We wanted her direction changes to be a little crisper/tighter and not a screaming U-turn. We wanted her stops to be a little bit better and we wanted her to give us two eyes sooner. We had good and not so good responses at first. By the end of the session, after some heel kicking, ear pinning and pawing, we got some really nice responses and signs of relaxing. When she behaved well she got to rest, some scratches in itchy places (she has an Oak allergy for acorns) and baby carrots. We wrapped up the session on wins and took a stroll around the property again. You have to go through the ugly to get to the good sometimes. Still, we ended on wins and had real improvements. Tomorrow we hope to haul over to a local arena and do some work away from home. Should be fun!