Today all I wanted to do was get out and play with Prince. I REALLY wanted to spent some time with him. So even though it was something like -17 I went out and played.
I decided not to carry my halter into the corral with me and so I left it on the fence and climbed in. I ended up played at Liberty with Twosox for a little while. Since just yesterday at our Parelli playday we watched the Level 3 Liberty DVD I had some new ideas of what to try with Twosox. So we did a couple of the things Mr. Parelli showed. First we just did some friendly game then I asked Twosox to move his hind quarters for a full circle then when he gave me his other eye I drove his forequarters. He did really well with that. After that we did a little bit of extreme friendly game. That didn't bother his at all. Then the last thing we did was a little bit of leading by the leg. Twosox wasn't quite sure what to do but he figured it out for the most part. I was really proud of how well Twosox did. We didn't do a lot but considering we were in the corral and he could have left....
While I was playing with Twosox, Prince was just looking at me and watching us. So it was really easy to get him to come to me. I didn't halter him for a while. Once he came over to me, we stood together for a while while I was helping my mom. Then we played a little bit at Liberty. We did leading by the tail, porcupine game on the hind quarters in a full circle, yo-yo's and some other stuff. Then we went over to my halter and I haltered Prince. Prince practically put his head in the halter. After I haltered him I found a good itchy spot so I scratched it for a while then I switched to the 22ft line..... our brand new, perfectly clean, 22ft line. It is SO nice! Prince decided that he would get it dirty first and started chewing it. It was funny!
The other day my mom and I measured the difference between the new 22ft line and our other one. Our older one is about 2 1/2 ft shorter than the new one! I couldn't believe that it was that much shorter! It was incredible!! I had a couple things that I wanted to play with while Prince and I were playing but I decided to play around in the corral for a little while first. First I asked Prince to climb up on the pedestal while I was about 15ft away and the I asked him to put his two front feet on the one pedestal and his back feet on the other. The first time he didn't quite get it but on the second try he did. The whole time we were playing I was trying to keep the belly of the rope on the ground. It was amazing how light and responsive Prince really was and how little I had to do for him to respond!
After a while I sat down on a tire and then asked Prince to walk over to the tree that was about 22ft away and sniff it. All I wanted Prince to do was walk over but he offered to go sideways over to it. So I took what he offered and the end result was the same. He sniffed the tree then looked at me and asked a question. When I brought him in the look on his face was priceless!! Then mom gave me some little challenges to try! First she wanted me to sit on the tire and send Prince sideways over a pole that was maybe 10ft away. Prince did that really well and for 90% of the time the belly of the rope was on the ground.
The next thing was to circle Prince around me (while I was still sitting), get him to walk over the pedestal and then on the second time around stop him on the pedestal with out looking or using my rope (The pedestal was behind me). The first two times Prince stopped right on the pedestal so I just softly sent him on again. But the third time he walked right over it and didn't break gait. So on the next part was to stop him on the pedestal... it wasn't hard because Prince loves getting up on the pedestal. All I had to do was time it right and then I relaxed and he stopped. It was really fun! After that we just spent some time hanging out together. Prince lowered his head almost to where it was in my lap and just kept it there! It was really special!
Then my mom thought of another challenge. She wanted me to climb up on the fence and then get Prince to jump over the small jump that was right by the fence I was one. So we tried it. I backed Prince up so he could have some room. I decided to back up all the way up to the end of the 22ft line and ask him to touch the gate with his tail. Prince used to have trouble with backing into things but now he is fine. Then I asked him to jump it. At first I wasn't sure how to get everything right so Prince wasn't sure what to do. But after a couple tries he got it. It wasn't a beautiful jump but it wasn't to bad. Then my mom asked me to get Prince to put his right hind leg on the really small tire.... while I was still on the fence. So we were off. I was actually surprised at how fast Prince caught on! He didn't get it perfect... he only got his hind foot on the tire but we figured that was close enough.
The last thing was mom wanted me to get Prince to straddle the pole (about 15ft away from me) length ways. I sent Prince over to it and at first I was going to just ask him to go sideways over it but then when he put his front to feet over it I decided to ask him to move his hindquarters over and then pivot and bring his front end around. I wasn't sure if Prince would bring his forequarters around and not move his hind legs but I was really really soft and he did it!! He pivoted about 1/4 a circle and when he had his one front leg over I relaxed and he stopped. It was perfect! The look one his face was really cute. He is so smart!!
The was were we ended. Both mom and I were getting cold. Prince stayed with me for a couple minutes before leaving but then he came back to me! It was so sweet! So I gave him a scratch and a treat and then left. Even though I didn't get done what I had planned it was SO much fun! our next play with will be even better I am sure! :)
Hopefully it will warm up soon so it won't be quite as cold ;)
Naturally,
~Keri
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