One thing I've come to accept as I've been playing with Gambler these last few months, is that there are always going to be good days and bad days. Some days he progresses so quickly I can hardly believe it. The day I discovered that he'll do a little bit of circling at liberty was one of those days. So was the first day I put the western saddle on him. However, there are also always going to be bad days. Those days when you just don't seem to be on the same page.
Yesterday was one of those days. I was tired and headachey and Gambler was grumpy and distracted. Nothing was technically going wrong, we played the driving game, moving the forequarters and the hindquarters. We've played this game before, but yesterday I introduced the idea of moving the hindquarters and forequarters towards me instead of away from me. It took a little while, but Gambley got it down. Then I practiced throwing the rope over his head and back so that he had to disengage his hindquarters and spin towards me to untangle himself. When I was standing on his left, he understood and unraveled himself quite quickly. It took quite a bit longer from the right side because he just wanted to back up at rapid speeds. Once he figured it out, I tried long-lining, but I just wasn't feeling it. I'm definitely going to try again soon, but it just wasn't working for either of us. Instead, I tied my lead rope to his halter like reins and practiced lateral flexion.
Disengaging the hindquarters away from me
Bringing the hindquarters towards me
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It's hard to see here, but I'm playing the friendly game
by hitting the ground with the carrot stick.
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Lateral flexion
Overall, the session went quite well and we both learned a lot. So why did I come back from it feeling so discouraged? It was just one of those days. Maybe it was the storm that was a few hours away, maybe it was that I forgot to eat lunch, maybe I was stressed out about school, maybe Kezi and Gamby got in a fight. Whatever it was, it was just an icky day. The important thing for me to bring out of it is that even "icky" days can be very productive. Even though Gambler and I were grumpy and not working as well together as we could have, we still made great progress.
A great example of this is Gambler's before mentioned fear of windy days. Wind means that the small cluster of horse-eating trees in one corner of the area are flying around in obnoxious and terrifying ways. A few months ago, I would wake up in the morning, look out the window at the windy day and think, "Well I'm not gonna get much done with Gambler today." Then, when I got to the barn, he would run around terrified and pay very little attention to me. He acted like that partly because he was afraid, and partly because we didn't have the connection we have now. However, it was also because I had made up my mind that when it was windy, I couldn't make any progress with my horse. Now as you can see from my post
A Blustery Day Gambler and I are much closer, and he is farther on in his training. The biggest difference though, is that I have learned that every situation is a learning experience.
Today was very similar to yesterday. We made progress, but he just wasn't feeling it. There were people around (which apparently is the coolest and scariest thing since the discovery of horse-eating trees) and coyotes making weird noises, so Gambler was super spooky and actually starting him under saddle has been put off a little bit longer. However, I'm not going to get upset because he has been in a weird mood for the last three days. I'll just try again next time.
I guess what I am trying to say is that some days are good, some days are bad, some days are spooky, but if I just keep a positive attitude and make the most of every situation, Gambler and I can learn a little bit more and grow a little bit closer every day.
