I am writing this while listening to the theme to the movie Contact, Forrest Gump and various Star Trek soundtracks. Fine music, good for concentration. Some of it would probably make good music for a spotlight with Walker at some point.
Anyway, I had a wonderful time playing with Walker and Maverick this weekend. They are two horses with overlapping similarities. Walker blends his left brained extroversion with right brain extroversion; Maverick blends his left brained extroversion with a healthy dose of left brained introversion. Every now and then, I see a hint of right brained introvert in Maverick. I really have to keep a close eye on him when he shows any sign of a lack of confidence, he really has the potential for an explosive reaction if you don't take care of that small part of him. At some point, I will explain how well I know that in a later blog.
Our weather continues to be wet, so we have been limited by and large to the small indoor arena. There isn't much room in there, but in some ways, that is not all bad. Because of the small area, it has allowed me to be very progressive with Maverick in teaching him the seven games and starting to show him how they can be put together. This week, we have been playing with the figure eight, the weave, and I have been playing a lot of liberty (NO rope NO halter) to test our connection. Most of the time, our connection has been pretty good. When he decides he wants to do his own thing, I say fine, and then some. Sometimes the "and then some" is pretty darn big. Three nights ago, he decided to test me and my leadership. After I sent him around the arena until he wanted to come into the middle softly, we did a willing figure eight at liberty. But before that could happen, he expended a lot of energy on the rail! Big trotting, cantering, kicking and farting. Afterwards, the figure eight wasn't smooth, but he was really connected, asking lots of questions and trying really hard to get it right. It is impossible for me not to come away from a play session like that and not feel my heart full. Wendy and Maverick did both the figure eight and the weave today, and our playtime really paid off watching the two of them. It just goes to show that if you teach a horse how to communicate with people, it doesn't take any special magic for someone else to play with that horse. Consistency of language, being appropriate in strategy and being in the moment are the keys.
Now, Walker was really something today. Our session was very short because he offered so much, so quickly. I asked for sideways over a barrel, which we have never been able to do from either side, and he gave it to me. He came sideways towards me over poles AND a turning a corner so calmly, it was as though a soft wind was blowing him towards me. We played with long lines from zone five, in other words, from behind him, and he did the easiest weave we have ever done together. I knew we were done after that. So he hung out with me in the middle of the arena while Wendy was playing with Bingo, and even though Bingo was getting a big lesson in obedience, spending a lot of energy out on the rail, cantering and trotting, Walker knew it had absolutely nothing to do with him. He remained completely calm just being with me.
The big goal with Maverick right now is to make both sides evenly responsive. His left side is much better with everything than his right. Stay tuned, knowing this horse, it won't take terribly long...
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