Ahhhhh...Relaxation!!

Sticking to our program and working on the exercises Jerry gave me for America's development:

1. Online back and over:  had a little trouble with this tonight; The back was nice, just a light lift of the lead rope and she would back up one step but America was a little sticky in the over part of the exercise. I took my time and gave her time to think about where to place her foot but when she got "heavy" I added some tapping to the porcupine game to help her move her shoulder over. I'm paying particular attention to making sure her neck is not bent around, a little tip is o.k. but bent around is not. She stays pretty straight through the exercise so this is good. This exercise is easier with me on America's left side, on her right side she wants to try and put me on her left so we slow everything down even more and play friendly game until she's confident and comfortable with me on the right.

2. Relaxation on the circle: America is catching on to this game very quickly and is relaxing sooner...generally within 1-1/2 to 2 laps. Tonight, while on a circle to the right she made two laps then lowered her head and actually "blew out the butterflies". Yeah...game over!! On a circle to the left, she did 1-1/4 laps and her head went down...again game over to reward the relaxation. At one point she decided to begin circling herself without me sending her. I wanted to see what she would do so I let it happen. She circled at a nice, cadenced trot for 2 laps, lowered her head, came down to a nice, relaxed walk, and looked at me asking a question...I said, of course you can come in and what a good girl!! She did quite a bit of licking and chewing at this point.

3. Catching game at liberty: this game is taking less and less time. We went to the round pen and I backed America through the gate - she did a super job of maneuvering her hind end through the gate and not bumping into anything. When I removed the halter and lead rope I invited her to walk with me and she blew me off by smelling the gound, etc. Going in large circles towards her hq wasn't working...she kept turning to face me but not following as I moved off so I sent her off and went to the center. I tried several times to invite her in and she kept circling so we went to version three. After one lap, America was beginning to look for me so I invited her in. As she started in, I began walking away and she followed me. As I sped up so did she and she eventually put her shoulder even with mine. Of course, we did better when I was on her left side. We'll need to have more practice with me on the right!

Once we were finished with our exercises, we just chilled for a bit and of course, I had a couple of cookies for America in my pocket. Once she had her cookies and a few scratches, we backed out of the round pen and headed back to the pasture for turnout and evening feed.