Not posted for a while...

but Tia and I have been having a ball since Cathy came over last week.

2 weeks ago I came out to find Bonny had an enormous lump on her side, obviously from a kick but I was concerned if there was any broken ribs, so another vet bill on its way!!! No broken bones so that put my mind at rest and I've now separated them again.

Jaime the podiatrist came over last week, they all have infections in their feet so have to have salt baths every day. That's fun... not! Bonny will stand in the bath which is great but none of the others will so they have to be scrubbed instead. work in progress that is!
I couldn't possibly write everything here that Jaime told me because he was here all day! We have to change the feed they are on to Pureeasy and stop feeding carrots (too much sugar) Thankfully we are not over feeding them, but he was concerned about Bellas weight! strange that Cathy wasn't, in fact she thought Bella had lost some weight!

Cathy came over last Friday, we worked on the circling game.
Cathy was laughing so much at the faces Tia was pulling at me behind my back! Cathy taught me how to flick Tia every time she told me to (eyes in the back of my head) now I can feel it every time Tia breaks gait behind me ;o)
Cathy played with Tia for a little while, got her cantering, and showed me when to put pressure on and when not to because she had become unconfident. It's a fine line that I will have to watch very carefully! After the session Tia was following us around like a little puppy.... I think we blew her mind again!

We've been playing with circles since then, Tia doesn't stop behind me anymore and I've only had to flick her once because she broke gait. Yesterday we had change of direction both ways, travelling circles, sideways and squeeze all flowing one to the other. Fabulous!

Not so good day!

Found myself becoming very direct line today, no matter what I was asking Tia to do! So I thought I better just sit and do nothing for a while... of course I couldn't even to that, so I got the camera out instead. Pics will be added over the next few days.
The one good thing that we managed to do was front feet on the rubber mats and trailer ramp, Tia discovered she got lots of treats for that!

Fabulous day

Thought It was going to rain again, but while we were poo picking the sun came out and now it's really hot. The bad thing about that is now the horses are covered in flies! can't win can we! always something to complain about!
Tia managed to corner Rocky and really laid into him, Donna was in a panic, but he seems ok, just a few bare patches and a couple of cuts that are only surface. I did feel sorry for him though he was really shaking. We put Rocky and Bonny in the back field so he could calm down in peace.
We had a great play session again, I haven't asked Tia for circle game for a few days so I thought we'd better get back to it as Cathy will be here again soon. Tia went off on the circle and wait for it... walked the whole lap without stopping once :o) I was secretly doing the happy dance, while giving her a rest. Asked again in the opposite direction and yet again 1 full lap without stopping, she got a big treat for that! Trot still hasn't improved but I'm happy, I know it will come eventually.
We played with the ball a little, she's happy to put her nose on it but not any other zone, another thing to work on then. We played with squeeze again, I made the gap smaller which she could walk through fine but not when the horse eating hula hoop was on the ground! left it there because I was getting too hot!

Rain, rain go away!

We managed a short play session in between the showers today.
We moved Rocky and Bonny into the back field today which totally upset Tia and Bella because they couldn't see them! oh well play with the horse that shows up... Tia was rb, very spooky so we played by the barn to begin with. Donna was checking through the self assesment sheet when Tia wandered over and nicked the paper out of her hands, Tia wasn't going to give it up so I had to rip it before she started eating it! Very funny, especially Donnas expression as I handed it back to her... almost in one piece!
We opened up the trailer, Tia was very interested with that but very careful not to put her feet on the ramp! I gave her sometime to explore before we went off into the barn and played with touch it, she's such a cool horse, happy to explore most things. We went back to the trailer, I asked her to put her foot on the ramp which she did after a couple of minutes, so I gave her a treat and went and sat down for a while. I could see that had been a big thing for her, she spent ages just licking my hands.
Went to the squeeze game, Tia walked through in both directions really calm and disengaged beautifully. No point in doing that to death, so I thought we'd have another go at figure 8 at walk... coming from my left she goes through with just a point of my finger but the right is where she got stuck, but she was asking a question so I redirected her till she did one without stopping. I was so tempted to then ask for it at trot..... but I didn't!
Went over to the pedestal and asked her for a try there, eventually she managed to touch it with her foot :o) she's never done that before! so again we went to the trailer. Without me even asking she put both feet on the ramp and was really curious about what was in there. I backed her up then asked her to walk over the ramp, which she did no problem. That was it for the day.
Funny to watch Bella and Tia while we were putting things away, Bella loaded herself in the trailer and Tia stood on the ramp watching her :o) Why do I never remember to take the camera out with me?

A good day

Session today was really good, started off with stick to me when I stood on the hula hoop that rattled... Tia spooked so I thought we better play with that for a while. Walking away from her while I shook it she soon calmed down but wouldn't touch it. The funny thing was the other horses came over to investigate the noise!
We were playing with the tasks Cathy had set for us on Monday, squeeze and circle. I set the squeeze up so Tia could get through easily, which she did no problems in either direction. After a little rest I changed the tyres so one was lying on the ground, she had no problem right to left, but the other way she had to walk around, that's fine, gave her a rest again then asked her to go through again which she did really calm in both directions :o) all the time I'd been trying to watch her expression for unconfidence, the only thing I noticed was her ears go back as she moved off, now I'm not sure if that's unconfidence or annoyance! 50/50 chance here, so I went with annoyance and gave her a treat after the last try. That changed the look on her face, she was much quicker to go next time I asked.
Circle game...when I yoyo'd Tia out she assumed we were going to circle so I had to spend a little time just playing with yoyo. Sent her off at walk, 4 times she stopped to look at me, each time I asked her to go again politely, the last time I upped the phases and got a full lap before she stopped, which I accepted and asked her in. When I asked her to trot, again I got the shake of her head and a stroppy look on her face, we did eventually get 1 lap at trot in both directions. I gave her a treat and finished there. This morning when I let the dog out and went to check on the horses, Tia came over straight away and spent ages at the gate even after I'd come back in the house.... I hope that's a good sign for later.

Lesson with Cathy

went really well. But I was missing all the little signs that Tia was giving me that she was unconfident! We were playing with squeeze game through 2 stacks of tyres, Cathy said to be clear and give her time to disengage her hindquarters before I asked her to go again.... I was rushing and swapping stick and rope far too soon! Next we moved 2 tyres so she had to step through them to get through, this was when she started to get unconfident...and I didn't even notice! first of all she jumped over, much higher than needed, then bunny hopped over and the last time she got stuck she couldn't go over at all! we did a resend and allowed her to go around the tyres, lots of licking and chewing and yawning from Tia, me too I was thinking, why didn't I see that she was unconfident, it was so obvious! when we moved to the other side of the squeeze she was even more unconfident and had to go around nearly every time.
Next we went onto the circle game, again Tia wouldn't maintain gait at walk, Cathy showed me how to flick the string behind me then to the side and finally in front to give Tia plenty of warning that it was coming. Cathy did have a play with Tia herself and she was no better for her than she is for me, which I was pleased about! Cathy confirmed that Tia is saying why should I? then when we up the phases she gets unconfident. While we were chatting about things to do and everything that had happened, Tia was looking very sleepy, alot for her to think about too.
I've got 2 weeks to play with these 2 games till Cathy comes over again.

oh wow!

Tia didn't want the halter on today, but was quite happy to stick around so we played at liberty instead. I sent her off on the circle with just a suggestion, she walked round and bunny hopped over the barrels, then turned to look at me so I allowed her to come in for a quick scratch then sent her off again and asked for a trot which she did with just a lift of my hand and a smooch, wow!!! lots of head tossing, and I asked her in again this time I gave her a treat. She has so much play drive, so now we have a lbe! Stick to me is better at liberty than on-line! I tried trotting with her but she becomes very exuberent, lots of head tossing and all four feet leaving the floor, frightens me to death I must admit. Another light bulb moment... I'm not playful enough for her! flippin heck! where am I going to get that from? and how do I learn to become big enough so she doesn't start dominating me?
A great play session that's left me with loads more questions... again!

No play today.... I'm still licking and chewing over our break through yesterday!

Circle game with a purpose

I found last night that Tia needs a reason to circle... after struggling yet again to get 1 nice lap at trot we went off to play with other things. When I sent her to the barrels she just put her nose on them and looked at me, with a question, so I sent her off in the opposite direction and she was more than happy to jump over!!! light bulb moment... give the games a purpose!
When I asked Tia to put her foot on the green turtle again she was very hesitant, but eventually she did manage to touch it with her foot, without going introverted, so I was happy with that, gave her a treat and we went off to play with something else.
I spoke to Tracey and she confirmed that once she knew what was required off her Tia then became lbi and started "asking why should I?" Nice to have everything I thought confirmed.
We put Tia in with Bonny last night and as expected Tia is Boss Hoss! Rocky soon calmed down without her and Bella took over as leader of their herd of two.