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[RC] Follow up to clinic post - Chris PausIt's been a horsey weekend... Had two new distance riding students start yesterday. I think they'll be fun to work with. Today, I had a little bit of time and took Ali out for a ride. She's the mare I took to the clinic last weekend where they had the horsey haunted house...I worked with her today in my own way and she was fabulous... We got a lot of rain last night, so there are puddles everywhere. She was reluctant to cross a puddle in the back yard, so that gave me something to work on with her! We went down the road to our neighbor's vacant cow pasture where there's a lovely creek with several good places for crossing. She had never been in that pasture before so it was brand new. She handled it very well. There were neighbor kids and dogs, my dogs, kids on bikes, etc. and of course THE CREEK! Unlike at the "clinic" last week, I gave her time to examine this obstacle and figure out what to do. A couple of times she became a little alarmed, but then stopped and sized up the situation. I like to work within a horse's comfort zone on obstacles. I just sat on her and let her relax and encouraged her and praised her. Pretty soon, she dropped her head and crossed the creek! And the good girl, she didn't leap it, she walked through it nicely. We did that three times and I figured that was enough. She was a good girl, did new things today. I stopped by at the neighbors with her to say hi and then we went home. She was awesome! I feel better now knowing that I didn't blow her mind at the clinic last weekend. And she showed me again that she's NOT a spooky horse and she has a lot of heart and will try new things for me. I just know that as this mare gets more and more confidence, she's going to be really awesome! She got lots of atta girls and BOSS when we got home! chris ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus ============================================================ There is no better way to see the world than from the back of a horse. ~ Teddy Roosevelt ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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