257. Riding Confidently...

Yesterday i hacked Spice out by myself and as usual she was great - no big dramas to report except for a short attempt to spin backwards just as we were passing a lorry but as soon as i told her to go forwards she did. The biggest difference i have noticed in Spice is her fight/flight disposition...unlike before where she would put up the biggest fight to avoid going past something she now backs down as soon as i tell her to. It seems that because she now trusts me and has confidence in my authority she actually prefers to listen to me rather than carry on fighting with me. Seeing Spice change so dramatically has given me the belief that no matter how bad a behavioural problem is it can almost always be rectified. My friend at the yard said that having seen how bad Spice could be whilst out hacking she never thought she'd be able to hack out on her own and that's someone who has dealt with horses with behavioural problems their whole life but it just goes to show that where there's a will there's a way. Now that the whole napping thing has been resolved I'm really looking forward to doing some jumping with Spice. :)