Tricks and Connections

Ok, today I went out to play with Woody to try and work on developing a trick with him. I decided that a fun one to start on would be to have him put his lips on something (eventually pick things up). So, I went out, gave him and apple, got his halter on, and put out a rubber bucket, hair brush, and mineral block holder. We went to the brush first, and in the beginning, he DID NOT understand what I wanted him to do. I was pointing his nose at the object, and he would just walk over it and not pay attention to it. So, I helped him out and applied pressure the bottom of the snap so he would lower his head. He touched the brush a couple of times, and each time I would rub him. Finally, he decided to bite the brush, so I stood up and gave him a cookie and scrathed his itchy spot. Then, we went to the block holder. Woody still took a while to figure it out (he was focused on me and my waistband that held 3 cookies, so I had to gently push his nose back to the object.) but when he did, I gave him another cookie and let him rest. After that we went to the rubber bucket, and although it still took him a while, he was more focused and thinking. Once he bit it I gave him a cookie and let him think about it.
After our trick training I thought we should practice another pattern since we haven't done that in forever. So, I set up two barrels standing up, and began to Figure-8 with the 22ft line. It didn't take long before he knocked them both over to their sides; but I just left them there and said, "you made the mess, now you will have to deal with it." Again, I found myself micromanaging him and he had a really unmotivated, evil expression on his face. So, I recognized what I was doing, and stopped. I just started doing very little and, being Woody, he began to test if I was being a wimp. He stopped when he was passing through the gap next to me, so pointed, moved the stick to his shoulder once, and then I hit the ground. He was VERY suprised at this, and went off at a trot around the next barrel. The next time he went through, he started to slow, and then sped up. It was so funny to see him think about it and then say, "no, I better not do that." He is such a smart pony. Once he went really nicely around both barrels with out me having to support him much, I disengaged and brought him in. We rested for a bit, and then started on a new task. I have been working with him to keep him focused and thinking while he's on a circle, and teaching him to keep connected, so I tried working on that. I put one barrel in the way on the circle, and sent him out on the 22ft line, but not all the way out (probably about 17ft out). When he came to the barrel, I asked him to transition into the trot. He went around the circle and when he broke into the walk, I would ask him to trot again. Then, when he got to the barrel again, I shook the rope until he walked (he hasn't done many downward transitions so it took a phase 3/4 a couple of times). And again, if he broke into a trot, I would transition him down into the walk. We did this for a while because he wasn't really making the connection to the barrel, but towards the end, he wasn't breaking gaits barely any, he was calmer, and when every time he transitioned it seemed much easier for him. I stopped him when he gave me a really nice, slow but forward trot (that's hard for him to do, he tends to fall on his forehand and speed up, or he will slow down to a walk). I brought him in to me and gave him a cookie, and knelt down beside him, massaging his legs. I also picked up all four of his feet from 1 side (exciting!) while he was resting. I took his halter off and we just chilled for a little bit. When I got up, I walked toward the log, then broke into a jog and jumped over it. He followed me at a walk, then a trot and then jumped over the log right behind me. I gave him the last piece of cookie, and went back to the barn to put his equipment away.
He did really well today and I will keep thinking of ways for him to keep connected while playing long-range games and also keep improving his trick.
P.S. This morning I woke up and looked out the window and saw Charlotte and Woody playing and running around the field together (it was really winday and rainy). That was the first time I've ever seen them play together!
~Eden