Quiet Thursday Night

Xena and I essentially had the barn to ourselves tonight, as no one was riding and the aisle was quiet. We played in the arena for about an hour.

What We Did Today
7:55 to 9:30 p.m. = 1 hours, 35 minutes  Counting the Minutes

• Squeeze Game℠
  With the trotting poles laying 2 feet apart, I stood at the mid-point facing the two poles. I sent Xena on a squeeze between me and the nearest pole, and then a figure 8 between and around the poles. We did this at the walk.

• Parellel Walking Game
  I tried reverse psychology tonight, asking Xena to walk very slowly on the right, to see if this would translate into a calmer trot — the slower we walked, the more often she wanted to step into the trot. The left side continues to come along nicely.

• Liberty
  We finished off with a few minutes at liberty, playing Friendly Game℠ with Carrot Stick™ and string, and a close-range Circling Game℠.

• Worming Practice
  Using the empty syringe, I played the Friendly Game℠ by gently rubbing it on her nose, face and shoulder — I started with her shoulder as that’s my usual pattern for introducing new objects. Within a few minutes, I was able to place my finger in the right side of her mouth, and the syringe in the left side. She’s becoming more confident with the syringe, and just calmly chews/gums my finger.

Circling Game℠, Squeeze Game℠ and Friendly Game℠ are service marks of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, Inc.