Day Two

December 25th 2010

Hick:
I think Hick is actually a really nervous horse. Aria wanted to ride him today, but I told her and Ben that I don't want any of us riding him until we've done a lot of groundwork and he trusts us a lot more. So we started out by just having me rub him all over, with my hands and the stick; he was actually less comfortable with my hands. He tried very hard to always keep me on his left side, something I wouldn't have clicked to before the clinic. So I think I'm going to work on leading from that side more, as well as spending more quality time there.

Hick wanted to approach me when I let out the rope to face him, and was very startled by the jigging. It made him stop, but when I tried to use it to back him up, he consistently danced to the right (my right). Not sure how to fix that... stick and string? He was chewing hard trying to figure things out. I had a bit more success being beside him, but decided to leave it at that bit of success until I could think about whether I was missing something or asking wrong. I tried teaching him to straighten out, and he was TOTALLY confused at first; but he figured it out really quickly as soon as he had any success. We worked on walking in a circle, and he stopped behind me every time (we only did it 4 or 5 times, though); I got the feeling that he was getting to the point where he needed a break, and the light was fading, so I made it easier by turning with him instead of passing the rope behind me, so that we could end on a high note. What was really cool, though, was that by the time we finished, he was turning to face me as soon as I started to bend over and look toward his hindquarters. So cool! And he let me correct him all the way to straight without drifting forwards. I begin to suspect my “big dumb horse” of actually being my very smart, sensitive horse! He chews a lot more than Bo did, too- mind you, Bo had done everything before, but I don't think I saw him chew at all.

I had more of his attention than I've ever had, today, and he was so alert and responsive. It was really neat seeing this side of him. He may never be the horse I thought I was buying, but I think once I get to know him and we trust each other, he'll be a really neat one.