95. I love long reining!

Today i decided to repeat what i had done with Spice the day before yesterday which was to long rein her out of the yard. I started off being very gentle and asking her to go forward and without any hesitation i had her moving and following my cues. Everything was going well until we got to the difficult bit - going through the yard entrance. Spice had started resisting my cues and had decided that for as long as i was 'asking' she was telling' I kept asking for 3 or 4 minutes until finally i thought o.k i'm not 'asking' i'm 'telling' and with one meaningful swish of the nylon reins against her hind quarters i had her moving - almost as though she read my mind. At every single slight hint of hesitation i swished them again until i had her walking down to the stables in a power walk! I then stopped her, turned her around and then went back up to the yard stopping along the way making sure she was still paying attention. I could see her eyes looking back towards me and one of her ears locked on me...it was a great feeling...we had switched roles, she was the one doing the asking and i was the one doing the telling...

So, having been successful in our task i decided to re-run the exercise using the same energy and technique to ensure it wasn't just a fluke. And sure enough without any hesitation whatsoever Spice walked straight through the gates. It was an amazing feeling...she was listening to me not because i was scary or threatening but because she trusted my authority. I then turned her back towards the yard and before letting her into the field again backed her up and gave her a carrot. Tomorrow i want to long rein her around the block and if all goes well the next day i will attempt to ride her.
If i can ride her just round the block with no issues by the end of the week i will be very happy...

Once i have mastered this, we can move on and look forward to progressing in other areas.

The biggest lesson i have learned from Spice today is to spot the moment she shows any signs of thinking about 'telling' me she is not doing something and act on it by re-asserting my authority.

I think it is o.k for me to ask Spice to do something and it is o.k for Spice to ask me a question about doing something but it is vitally important that there is only ever one of us to do the telling.