Weekday Sessions & Goals

The “During The Week” Sessions…

Fall has come to the Sierra Foothills. The mornings are crisp and the temperatures are mellowing from the very warm summer. Cearra came to us underweight and recovering from neglect. So we have to be very vigilant on her caloric intake and fitness level. In our minds she could gain another 100 pounds and be just right. This is going to take time and it will be more of a challenge (on several levels) to maintain and increase her weight and fitness levels during the late Fall and Winter season. Still, real progress is happening and we are seeing the results in her ability to train and her overall attitude.

During the week we usually do more ground work than riding at this point in the program. She may do 45 minutes of ground work and 30+ of riding. We work on new skills and new challenges. The weekends are for refinement focuses and new places/ new adventures. By the end of October it is our goal to see her under saddle longer. One of the cool things about working with Cearra during the week is improving her “connection time” by which we mean seeing how quickly she focuses on us and the tasks presented. It is VASTLY improved from the first week we had her home. A few laps or circles and she locks on to us and is ready to go to work. Her reactions are getting more precise and refined and the explosive reactions of Week One are all but gone. We are speaking the same language and the relationship is defined much clearer in her brain. The real personality is also coming out. She is willing to trust and try new things, quick to learn and very social. With the increase in fitness she is comfortable. With the regular exercise she in mentally challenged and seems to enjoy “doing stuff.”

Building up her strength, her fitness and her confidence is really our focus this season. Whatever was done before left some big holes in her foundational skills so fixing those things is critical before we move on to the “cool stuff”. It is a process. We also think she has actually grown some since coming home with us! She is shaping up to be a good partner and a very pretty girl!