Bay-bees on Trail

["Kathy Mayeda" <Kathy_Mayeda@atce.com>]

Title: Bay-bees on Trail

Drako, the tall wonder 4 y.o. was balking whenever he got overwhelmed.  He would
just stand there with his eyes glazed over and smack his lips.   Weird.  But he was totally
cured of this by me riding with a dressage whip.  Whenever his mind “goes south” I just
lightly tap him on the shoulder or behind my leg with the dressage whip – and the light
bulb would go back on and he would go forward.

Beamer, on the otherhand, was good at “ohmigawd – gotta take a CLOSE look at that storm drain
while trotting 12 m.p.h.”   I learned to keep her FIRMLY between my hands and my legs.  Would
not let her turn to look and keep strong leg pressure to keep on going forward.  I didn’t need to
kick or oversteer, but just not letting her take that “first inch” really helped.   Sometimes when
she’s starts winding up for her drama queen act, I would just say uh-uh in a growly voice and
she get’s the message.  Took riding her for a few years before I got the hang of timing the cues.
It’ll be as much of an education for you as well as her, but I know you’ll tackle this and win!
If I got on her back today, I probably would be back to her being “drama queen” because she
really likes to test people and she’s in broodmare mode now.

K.