Ground Work!

Last night I worked with my sister and Chase on ground work. Heather (my sister) is very nervous around the horses, extremely Max. Nikki (the pony) could commit murder and she wouldn’t think twice (well she would but…), but Max just looks at her and she’s squealing. So, what did I do? I made her work with Max. I figured if she learns she can move him she’ll be more confident around all of them.

We started off desensitizing to the string. Max fell asleep for Heather. Chase was getting frustrated because he kept whacking Abby with the popper but she stood like a champ for him. Then it was the stick and string. Max was still asleep. Chase did much better with the stick and string.

Then we moved on to yielding the HQ stage 1. To my surprise Chase and Abby did very well. So did Heather and Max but she was a bit hesitant to tap him when needed. I showed her how to do yielding the HQ stage 2 but didn’t have her do it. We moved on to yielding the FQ. We need to work on that with Abby. She just flexes her head and Chase couldn’t tap her hard enough. Max of course was a champ.

We ended with Heather backing Max up and then I made her just rub him. I think she felt a bit more confident at the end.