What have I done that is so terrible, you ask? Well, I ignored my Rosie's training for over a year and a half while I devoted almost all my working-with-horses time to the riding horses I bought/adopted that ended up not working out. I sometimes feel like I wasted so much time and effort and Rosie paid the price. But, in reality, I know it wasn't a true waste, especially with Rex. He needed the time I put into him to help him have a better life. He was a total mess when I bought him. Now he is SO much better and has a wonderful home and future. That is not wasted time.
Rosie was the easiest horse to train. She was confident, cooperative, and rarely spooked more than a little hop. She accepted everything I threw at her, well ... except clippers. She just hates the feeling of having her hair clipped. She even hates scissoring some areas such as the hair under her jaw. The clipper sound or vibration is fine with her, but the second I cut hair, she says no way. After devoting several sessions to trying to figure out a way to clip her, I decided to pick my battles and decided the hair could stay.
Now, since the riding horses are gone, I'm working with Rosie again. I've been surprised by how some things that were never an issue for her in the past now are. She became used to staying in the safety of her paddock, leaving only a handful of times during the past year and a half.
I resumed regular work sessions with her about a week ago. First thing I noticed was a degree of nervousness I had not seen in her previously. In the past, it was pretty easy to talk her down when she became anxious or afraid--she looked to me constantly for reassurance and then believed me 9 out of 10 times. Now, she seems to be more independent with her thinking. She is less "mommy save me" oriented. Some of that might be due to her age--she is 6 now. Last time we did much, she was 4--still a baby. I think most of it is because she has been on her own for a long time. She learned to be more independent.
Behavior wise, she is still very cooperative and willing. She will do anything I ask her to do. She doesn't pull any crap. The only issue is the new anxiety when she faces a new concept or situation in her environment.
I don't know why this surprises me? That is the way 99% of the horses out there are. If you let them sit for a long period of time, it takes a while to bring them back. I guess I just never thought that would be Rosie. I even remember telling myself and others as I was pouring all my free time and energy into trying to help Rex through his issues--Rosie will still be here when I have time to resume her training. We will pick right up where we left off. Well, turns out it's not quite that simple.
So now we are both getting back in the make-a-driving-pony swing of things. Rosie is slowly learning that she can get through uncomfortable situations and do things that make her a bit anxious. I'm learning how to be less of a "parent" and more of a Rosie *trainer*. I'm having to adjust what I do to get the kind of responses I want out of her. Things are different than when she was a youngster. When she becomes anxious and unsure, she seems more like a regular, typical horse than she ever did in the past. I wonder if the early years when there was a lot of "mommy, make it all better--I know you will!" are gone.
As I sit here thinking through all of this, I am having to really do some self-convincing that I haven't ruined her. Seems silly to some of you, I'm sure. She is fine. She is the same basic pony. We are just going through a different stage of training now. We will get there.
She is doing great with resuming ground driving in the two pony paddocks. We did have some hiccups the first two sessions. She became anxious about some things she never would have even looked at it in the past, spooked, spun around, and wanted to come back to stand beside me. I talked and worked her through these hiccups, but they really did surprise me. She was absolutely the easiest pony I could have hoped for the first 4 years. The good news is that she is once again relaxed and hasn't spooked while ground driving in the paddocks in subsequent sessions. The initial anxiety of the first two sessions is gone. Great!
Today, I decided to take her for an on-lead walk further away from home in an area she hasn't been. It was similar to the first two ground driving sessions at home--She had a level of anxiety and had a couple of spooks. I live in a residential area where there are many things to get worried about. We didn't go far because I didn't want to overwhelm her. I repeated sections as needed until she was no longer worried. She definitely breathed a sigh of relief when she got back to more familiar territory. Again, I was surprised ... but I really shouldn't be. I have put her on such a "perfect pony" pedestal. Not good to do this because the higher one is on a pedestal, the further they have to fall. The bottom line is that she IS a horse and she can behave that way just as any other horse can. Why is this so hard for me to come to terms with????!!!!
Something funny that happened after we arrived back home: I had left Heidi dog back home because I was going to be walking around traffic. After we arrived back home, I led Rosie to the back porch and called for Heidi to join us. She is 11 years old and her hearing is going, so I had to walk up on the porch to open the door and call her repeatedly. I parked Rosie at the end of the lead rope at the edge of the porch. Next thing I know, she hopped up on the porch, which is up to her chest! It was really cute. Apparently, she didn't want to be that far away from me. I guess she is still my baby.
My plan is to continue to advance with her driving training. I'll soon be re-introducing the cart in her familiar home setting. I definitely understand that she needs to have more exposure to new environments, but we will do that on lead until she feels more confident. After that, I'll advance to ground driving. I don't know if I will move past ground driving her in my residential area--we have a lot of traffic. I'm just not comfortable driving her hitched in an area like that. Too many things can go wrong. Just have to see how things go. I'm trying not to think too far ahead. I can only progress as fast as Rosie is able to. One step at a time.
Rosie is all dressed up and ready to work!
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