93. Long Reining

So (as i said i would in my last post) i used long reins on Spice today and boy did i enjoy it! It was so nice to be in control and not feel threatened by Spices behaviour. I was able to remain completely calm and focused throughout the exercise and this allowed me to 'not give into her ' in ways i probably have before. Finally, Spice realized that i was not going to 'give up' and so it was really not worth the effort trying to make me. I'm not saying it was easy because it wasn't we had a big discussion with lots of 'i can't do this' by Spice and lots of 'you can do this' by me. She wasn't happy... for once her rears were ineffective and all the tricks she had learned were failing her.

What i found fascinating about the exercise was that i was actually able to make her move with just two long pieces of rope attached to her bridle. She had no bit, no leg pressure and no crop/whip. I am definitely going to continue long reining Spice in fact i will do this until we get to the point that she goes everywhere i want her to go without the slightest hesitation or reluctance and only then will i attempt to actually ride her out again.

I know this is going to take a lot of time but i've said before i don't want to resort to using violence against Spice. I want to work on the basis of applying pressure and releasing pressure with lots of reward as positive reinforcement.

My hope is that long reining prepares Spice for the eventuality of riding out alone so that she doesn't feel the need to react so violently but i guess only time will tell...