Moving into L2...

That BFO really did me good! Not long afterwards, I started moving into L2 and gaining much more Savvy and arrows than I had before.

A change I made not long after the BFO was to start being much less direct line about haltering and catching. Yes, the session before is important, but so is the approach today. Cloud started getting really claustrophobic if I just came over, put a halter on, and brought him to the barn, so I started trying ways to fix it. The solution, I found, was to go out, greet him, and put a savvy string around his neck just in case but to not put a halter on right away. We'd wander around with just the SS, graze a bit, play a few games at semi-liberty (one of the cool things about L2!) and then, only when he was ready, put a halter on. Before the BFO everything was gross motor skills - big things. Now we're starting to refine things a lot better, and fix the smaller aspects of our relationship.

Some notes from October 2005...


10/10/05: Cloud GOT the sideways game. He was totally soft and he actually TWO TRACKED, not just the front-back-front-back motion. That was awesome.

10/17/05: I put the 22' line on Cloud but I dropped it, and didn't touch it at all. It was simply a safety net. Then I did GAMES 1, 2 & 3 all using no stronger than PHASE 2!!!! YAY! That was totally encouraging.

10/17/05: I made my western saddle fit and I rode for nearly an hour.

10/20/05: I've actually begun thinking about cantering without being scared to death.

10/23/05: Cloud and I went for an actual TRAIL RIDE. He's still young and he used to get really excited on the trail. I haven't gone on a trail ride w/in the last year and was pleasently surprised when he was CALM, CONTROLED and RELAXED. He listened well and was just really good. I was sooo happy.


Lots of really good progress being made now! We've been doing PNH now for nearly a year, but just moved out of L1 purgatory 2 months ago, right after my BFO. Such fantastic changes being made!! The riding thing is a really cool thing - it was literally a year and a half, more like 2 years before I felt OK riding, but we made some really cool changes this month! Very fun!!