Big steps

Well, I've had this little yellow girl for a little more than 2 weeks now.

When she came she could:
- wear a halter
- be led with some hesitation and stopping
- trailer well/back out of a trailer (even if it was her first time ever in one)
- be caught in the pen after several minutes of round pen work

Now she:
- comes right up to be caught/doesn't move off in the pasture when approached, comes to meet you
- picks up all her feet, good for the farrier
- stands to be fly sprayed
- is easy to halter/un-halter
- leads everywhere
- yields to pressure
- does haunch turns
- does forehand turns
- steps onto the wash mats
- stands for brushing everywhere, no "touchy" areas

I am just floored by how smart she is & how quickly she picks up things.  This must be what everyone was telling me about these bloodlines.  I haven't ever worked with one of these horses before, and so far she is just easy, easy, easy.

We had our second ever lunge line session tonight.  Both horses got yesterday off while I went down to the Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Collins.

The first attempt was two days ago.

It was decent.  She had never been on a lunge line, so there was some confusion.  We were also in the wide open pasture so there were plenty of places to run. 

I don't think before she arrived she had ever seen halter pressure as a direction--and aid--a request to move her body a certain way.  Her first reaction to pressure was to plant her feet, grow roots and brace against it. 

If that didn't work, she'd just turn tail and try to take off.

But after a few very obvious releases for baby steps in the right direction, she picked it up fast.

She much prefers to go to the left (like most horses).

The first day when she got confused she'd try to revert back to her more comfortable direction.  I'd put her back going right again.

We ended on a calmly walked half circle.

Today it was like she remembered everything she did right from last time, and threw away all the mistakes.

She was lovely.

No pulling.  No freakouts.  No bracing and taking off.  No hesitation with going forward.  It was like she had been practicing.

She went to the right without any issues.  Even trotted a little both directions without getting flustered.

And I even got her to trot alongside me (which before when I tried it, was the Most Terrifying Thing Ever).

I really like her because while she is reactive--if you take a loud step toward her she'll skitter away--she is very thoughtful.  She thinks things through.  And for a 2 year old with the attention span of a gnat, she retains information really well.

I have high hopes for this little one.  And it's so exciting to see how she's better and better every day.