Jewel's 3rd Day
- and Later
The training on Jewel's 3rd day and later covers various confidence building exercises and prepares her for things she will encounter in real life. The goal is to remove as many surprises as possible, so most things she sees won't be scary because she has already seen something similar and learned she can handle it. These pictures were taken on various days during her training.
This tarp wrapped around Jewel's leg will teach her to be calm if she ever gets something wrapped around a leg, such as a lead rope, fence wire or vine on a wooded trail. Of course, we do everything in baby steps and this is the final step for this lesson.
Jewel's first bareback ride! I hadn't planned it, but because she had a small sore spot where the girth would normally go from a kick in pasture, I rode bareback rather than irritate that spot. And we are outside any enclosure, riding around our lane.
She's learning to cross weird-looking things. She looks like a seasoned trail horse - calmly check it out and walking over it. This will help with crossing water, changes in footing such as mud, brick pavement, bridges, etc.
Here, I used a rope to pull a cardboard box from the ground up to her back. The rope gives me some distance in case she jumps (which she didn't) and simulates a rider pulling something up on the horse. For example, moving branches that are blocking a trail. Sure, you could get off and move the branch. But a better trained horse lets you stay mounted and accomplish the task!
You can see how calm she is with her head down level at the final step of the "bags on legs" lesson. If something gets stuck on Jewel's legs, she'll act like it isn't even there!
If you would like to learn these methods, click here to find a class.