Post by blessedfarm on May 23, 2009 12:27:25 GMT -5
Molly is doing REAL good. We took her out for her first walk yesterday. Probably jumped the gun a bit, as we have NO options for a very controlled environment, but she's leading SO well in her 12x12 stall, I figured we had to chance it, since basically the next step open to us is getting her into a trailer and home.
She was great until she got spooked by a pair of horses in the round pen, and DD was leading her. I was holding the end of the line, so if 14 yo dd had to let go, I could take over. Sure enough, dd had to let go, and Molly starting pulling me all over the place. Of course, it wasn't her fault, she thought I was coming after her. She'd never seen me moving so fast around her, scuffling like I was trying to keep my feet planted. She eventually stopped, and faced me, and allowed me to walk right up to her, give her a cookie and a scratch, and we moved on. But, that was scary!
A while later, something else got up her butt, and she tried to take off on DD again. I again, had the line, but this time she REALLY got a handle on me, and I thought for sure I was going to loose her before it was over. I let her run out to the end of the line (which isn't long enough, I am sure), hoping she'd feel like she got me out of her flight zone. Sure enough, she managed to get her brain plugged in, faced me, and calmed down. I was, again, able to walk up to her, treat her, and we calmly walked off again. I am concerned, though, that she's going to start doing this all the time!
So, do I stop taking her out until I know I have someone strong enough to hold her (my husband, he can literally lift the front end of a car off the ground), before we take her out again, or do I put a longer rope on, and let her just move, until she stops? I hate to think we've undone some of her training, and I won't proceed if it's only going to make things worse. Kinda like working with the hind feet, I gotta wait til I have a soft rope so I can hold that kicking foot till she calms down instead of trying to do it with just my arm, lol (she's AWSOME with the fronts, btw, no problem).
Would a correction halter be a good idea now? She's just got a wide web halter, very little hardware, and figure 8 under the jaw.
Thanks!!
She was great until she got spooked by a pair of horses in the round pen, and DD was leading her. I was holding the end of the line, so if 14 yo dd had to let go, I could take over. Sure enough, dd had to let go, and Molly starting pulling me all over the place. Of course, it wasn't her fault, she thought I was coming after her. She'd never seen me moving so fast around her, scuffling like I was trying to keep my feet planted. She eventually stopped, and faced me, and allowed me to walk right up to her, give her a cookie and a scratch, and we moved on. But, that was scary!
A while later, something else got up her butt, and she tried to take off on DD again. I again, had the line, but this time she REALLY got a handle on me, and I thought for sure I was going to loose her before it was over. I let her run out to the end of the line (which isn't long enough, I am sure), hoping she'd feel like she got me out of her flight zone. Sure enough, she managed to get her brain plugged in, faced me, and calmed down. I was, again, able to walk up to her, treat her, and we calmly walked off again. I am concerned, though, that she's going to start doing this all the time!
So, do I stop taking her out until I know I have someone strong enough to hold her (my husband, he can literally lift the front end of a car off the ground), before we take her out again, or do I put a longer rope on, and let her just move, until she stops? I hate to think we've undone some of her training, and I won't proceed if it's only going to make things worse. Kinda like working with the hind feet, I gotta wait til I have a soft rope so I can hold that kicking foot till she calms down instead of trying to do it with just my arm, lol (she's AWSOME with the fronts, btw, no problem).
Would a correction halter be a good idea now? She's just got a wide web halter, very little hardware, and figure 8 under the jaw.
Thanks!!