Lots playing and lots of focus

      This morning I got up early and went down to the barn to play with Gingy.  We worked on circling which needed a lot of attention because he wasn't willing, he was quite dominant.  With some patience and persistance he found connection, relaxation, rhythm going both ways on the circle at the trot.  We also tried a new pattern to help him with the figure eight.  I want him to realize that changing direction is okay and I wanted to be willing to do that without a grudge!  So I'm just trying to brake things down for him a little bit.

        Later on today one of my friends came over and we went down to the horses again.  It was really hot so we gave Gingy a bath.  This is second time and I must say he did a lot better.  For some reason he really dislikes being sprayed on his right side, but on the left he doesn't care.  I've found that the thing that really helps Gingy accept the spraying water is to use rhythm(I.E. on, off.  Up, down.).  So we used rhythm, plus approach and retreat and he had a good lick about it all. 

         I did a few things with Marsan too.  We mainly worked on sideways, which went well.  Marsan's big challeng in sideways is that she has a hard time staying focused and relaxing.  We did both sides just going down the fence and eventually she began to relax a little.  I did a few HQ* disengagements with her, but those are a lot easier for her now.  She is also getting a lot better about letting me be on either side of her, before she used to kind of shut me out on one side.

          I drove my our car down the driveway today on the way to town and I learned something about focus.  As I was driving my mom kept reminding me to keep my focus on where I wanted to go, not on where I was.  This helped tremendously in my ability to turn and feel comfortable.  It occured to me that this is how you want to use focus with your horse.  When you know where you want to go, your horse will feel it, plus when we focus on the destination our bodies naturally make all of the tiny adjustments that are necesary to our goal.  So ultimately using focus sets everything up for success naturally :)