Today was a busy day. I went to the barn early to work Rajiyyah and then bathe both horses. Rajiyyah was awesome. I lunged her first with the saddle and bride. The horses in the adjacent paddock took off a few times because of a dog barking at the back of the field. Rajiyyah snorted and curled her tail over her back. She bolted half way around the lunging circle and then calmed down. Even when she was completely hyper she still listened.
We’ve been working on getting Rajiyyah to pay attention even when all craziness is going on around her. Prior to this work out, we’ve been working when the horses were coming in to eat. She was never too happy about it, but she has learned that it means she will get to eat when we are done. It has taken a lot of patience and work, but she is doing well with it.
Today was an even harder workout because we were going to do a good bit undersaddle. We focused on getting her to listen to my seat: moving away from my legs and seat, moving out when I lowered my inside hip, circling around my leg, etc. She did very well.
It had rained on Friday and part of Saturday. A few weeks ago, Rajiyyah and I had had a discussion about a puddle she didn’t want to cross. I had purposefully worked her so we wouldn’t have to deal with the puddle. Except she headed for it. So I let her go towards it. She put her head down, snorted at it a little, and then walked right through it.
We stopped on that note. She was awesome.
