You can see she's not really into it at first, she got a bit grumpy, going through the motions but trying some evasions, like eating, and at one point she went a bit wide, lost the plot, so I restarted her; at which point she was asking, do I really have to do this? If I had been impatient at that moment I would have set up a conflict; but by being calmly persistent she continued, only to ask the question again next time round; and got the same firm unemotional response from me; you see me getting intense rather than upping the phases; but at one point I just dropped a bit of energy behind with the communication stick, slapping the ground not the horse, so it isn't offensive; then I let her go large, and was rewarded by a good outcome, her attitude softened and a nice happy finish, which I held for a moment, without letting her come in.
In the second video, she has started to relax, her head has come down and she is walking and thinking; I like it! I have to be careful with my energy here, so great practise for me! Now, I can just point and send her; the object being to use as small an ask as possible. You see me just pushing her a little further out with the stick to make sure she goes around the tyre. She keeps asking me if I really want her to continue, but she is not asking nicely so I have to insist, be firm; she tries to come in on me, trying to dominate and get me to yield to her; but I stand firm. Now, it is no longer about the figure 8 but about her attitude. The last turn, she is really thinking about it and her attitude is good, and so we stopped it there.
Later, she offered me a few steps of sideways towards me which I wanted to show, but the camera had run out of memory and stopped filming!!
My direction hand is a bit high, because she kept falling in and I didn't take up the slack, I would like her further out on the rope, but it was not the moment to be critical.
You have no idea how delicate it is with this horse and how she will react to the smallest sign of weakness (as in anger or too much pressure) from me, which can turn her against me and set us back for days.
But I do feel we have reached a turning point; thanks to re-assessing her last November with Susan's help (see post), we have been rebuilding our relationship. I had been misreading dominance issues as unconfidence, because that was how she was at first and I didn't spot it changing. Never assume; continually question and observe. By re-asserting my leadership in our herd of two, I evoked some extreme reactions from Lucie; I now believe it was a transitional period where she was testing my consistency as leader. There were a few challenging situations, but I must have responded appropriately because it is becoming easier although still necessary for me to get her respect. We still have to have a small conversation every time I take her out of the field, but now it is just a reminder not an argument (as in: no rushing ahead, walk behind me, ask me politely for permission to graze; I decide how long for; then as soon as I move on she follows readily....). I am working through her attitude of must I do it, are you going to make me? My response must always be that I am asking her politely but firmly to do something, and if she throws a tantrum I will not react but I will continue to ask until she gives me a try, and we will continue until she thinks about it and I see her relax her attitude. I must not be afraid of working through her range of reactions; I must remain calm and firm, and smile! If she gives me something, I reward by either stopping, or doing something else like go for a walk, or do something she likes, like let her graze.
I know that I can turn this into her getting interested and involved and if I keep it varied and interesting she will forget the grass altogether and be asking me whatwe are going to do next.
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