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I am still learning to pay more attention to each ear. I always knew this but now I finally have it in my brain and repertoire. All physical cues the horse gives are a reflection of how they are feeling. If their minds wander "out there" then they are not with you. If both ears are on something other than you, they aren't with you. Simple but powerful. This is a very gentle way to continue coac...

Twin daughters of different mothers: Tori and Poppy the 4-month-old rat terrier

This is really just more on getting comfortable with canter (you can clearly see her frantic start) but Whitney's dog Stella provided some additional stimulus that I welcomed... no trail ride or ring work or anything will ever be perfect and the more she learns to stay with Whitney and stay OK in her brain, the better! Toward the end you can see Kai lower her head slightly - in spite of Stella,...

Kai has been pretty tense when asked to canter so this will be a longer process, and we try to reward the littlest things. An ear or eye toward you, a slight head-drop, ease in the transition, or any number of signals she gives that suggest "feeling OK" rather then in fight-or-flight, is rewarded with a slow down or stop. We are generally not concerned yet about her head looking out (ESP in tra...

Mirroring 2

Kai started today very BUSY.... In some ways this is an avoidance of what is happening NOW. Mirroring asks her to stay in the moment, and stay focused on what we are doing. Whitney tries always to not pull or lead her but use her whole body to get Kai's attention when she wanders off (mentally or physically). This could be a kind of a start to liberty work.

You can see Kai is really fine/comfortable with standing still! We want a similar feeling when moving... not to say slow or lacking energy. Just being comfortable. Compare to the video entitled "Under Saddle and Not Loving It". I'm happy that this is the road we are (back) on.

We are pretty much starting over with Kai in movement to remove the tension. She retains discomfort or uncertainty when moving... we want to make it comfortable for her.

Whitney works on the most subtle nuances of Kai's behavior, which to most people may look fine...but if you pay attention she is still showing her uncertainty in movement.

Audra has been working with her "dummy" to help desensitize kai to weird things on her back

Under Saddle

Kai was tired at this point

I don't love what's happening here. I want my horses to go in a relaxed way.

I was as usual with others around, a little nervous and self-conscious so maybe went too fast. Her ears tell a lot. She wasn't exactly happy!

HANS 2

HANS!!

Laundry

Stage 1 2

Stage 1

Athleticism and Billdo

IMG 3184

Kai & noodles

Getting on long version

Palmettos

new construction

Obstacle Arena Roll

PR Equestrian Center

IMG 2600

IMG 2597