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This morning I went out and fetched Spunky out of the paddock, shooing a jealous Gizmo away! <VBG!>
Before I put any gear on her, I did all sorts of little pleasurable things to her. (Yes, I've been watching Parelli's 7 Games tape! <VBG!>) I was surprised at how much she seemed to enjoy having her upper gums gently rubbed! She just kind of went all still and soft. Went over all her favorite and not-so-favorite spots, but you could see she fully understood that I had some curious need to make her feel good today! She thoroughly approved, giving me as many kanoodles in return as she could manage. I got to her tail, and started pulling gently on it and it just went all soft! I rotated it gently as I pulled, and I was thinking of being on a massage therapist's table, with a hand gently cradled under my skull, gently stretching and rotating my neck. I can't think of anything nicer. She seemed similarly inclined about her tail!
So after we'd had a thorough Good Morning, I started teaching her how to lead with a hand placed gently on her poll and one cupped under her chin. The clicker accelerated this lesson about a thousand percent, and soon she was coming along quite confidently in this manner! :o)
Then on to a give-to-the-bridle lesson. Her responses to the left were very crisp, but the right was stuck a bit. The ol' clicker cleared up any confusion there!
By the time she got her surcingle on and we started down the road, she was all soft and buttery.
There is little to say about most of the ground-drive down the road, except that she was so exceedingly pleasant! We slalomed between the stripes on the road very handily. The stop is perfect. When we came to our gravel road, I thought perhaps I'd try ground driving Achenbach style! (For bitless riders, "Achenbach" is a method of rein handling developed specifically for carriage driving.)
I was amazed! Her responses to Achenbach were exquisite! Much better than in the bit! We were doing full circles, serpentines, all with the most glorious bend!
On the way home, I discovered that I had unconsciously left my hands in the Achenbach position, I had taken a position exactly where I would be seated on the cart, my contact with Spunky was exactly, perfectly familiar and steady, and I was looking over her shiny butt and between her ears, completely mesmerised. It struck me as amazing that I found myself walking and not riding!
The rest of the way home was with a feeling of greatly heightened enjoyment! My little mare was delightfully between, and steady in my hands. I thought of putting a bit in her mouth again and I just simply had to choke back a feeling of dread.
When we returned to the crossties in the trees, I deliberately stopped her a few feet too soon. Then I went to her head, placed one hand gently on her poll, cupped the other under her chin, and she softly and willingly took those few steps forward, in complete understanding.
What a pony. What a sweet, sweet morning.
Regards,
Barb L.
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