Cricket had her first official week of school! She's settled in well, figured out how to eat out of the HayChix hay net, & was instant friends with her pen mate, Nelly - a 3-YO filly.
This week, we worked on Round Penning, Desensitizing, Yielding the Hindquarters (HQ). & haltering more smoothly.
During Round Penning on Day 1, she showed she's got a little bit of spice. She started out a bit sticky & considered jumping out a couple of times. Once she realized that wasn't an option, she began to move around the pen & freed up greatly. She turns to the inside quite well & has figured out how to yield her hindquarters to remain facing me. It took her a bit of time for her to allow me to approach & catch her after the first session, but is doing much better at the end of the week. We also Desensitized to the Lead Rope & Stick & String, which she was initially unsure of. We also began working on Yielding the Hindquarters Stage 1, which she did quite well with.
When I caught Cricket for the first time, she was quite evasive with her nose & didn't want to be haltered. We've spent time before & after each session scooping her nose up in the noseband of the halter so that it's now a non-issue.
Next week, we'll continue to add more groundwork exercises as we gain control of her body on the ground in preparation for saddling.
We had a trip to Knotty Equine scheduled for April 12; however, we'll likely be pushing that back a bit as my equine dentist won't be back from his winter season down south until the end of next week. Because the teeth play such an important part in the rest of the body, we try to have dentals done before the first bodywork session.
- Lexy Nuesch
Next week's update will be posted on Saturday.
I do my best to get these updates posted in a timely manner, but it's not uncommon for me to be outside until after dark, depending on the weather, my schedule, & who gets worked when so updates will sometimes be posted quite late in the evening. Don't be alarmed if you don't see your update right away. In rare cases, I may have to push them until the next morning, but I'll reach out & let you know if so.
Comments