FAST TRACK DAY SIX

Lisa Trowse said Fast Track - Week 2 Day 6
What an utterly fantastic day from start to finish. So many breakthroughs. Firstly jack was calm on my arrival and was vocally very pleased to see me. Managed to give him breakfast and skip out without defending the door space and we then had an itchy spot scratching session and he kept trying to groom me.

We we're the first out onto the field this morning. I haven't managed to take him out on his own before as he gets separation anxiety from the herd. He went out for a full ten minutes and had a roll, before he started calling and getting upset, so we wandered back to the yard and hung out there instead until more people were out with their horses.

We started in a small group with our individual coaches. First session was to improve the circle game. At a higher level, I had to be particular about not really getting to slap the stick. I had to gently lead the nose to follow the feel, and then use the stick to support driving the nose if required. Then to up the gait, keep a porcupine on the nose and put pressure behind and release as soon as you get the gait you want. For the first time I had a fantastic relaxed canter like you see on the DVD rather than the whirling demon I usually have as I up my phases. Didn't need to up my energy, just needed tounderstand the communication, the release and the timing of it all.

Second workshop this workshop was warm up strong for riding. Jack was really connected, rope dragging on the ground, blowing out and relaxed, so my warm up was good, I then had to saddle. I managed to get my stand still but had issues with grass eating. I was then given a technique to stop the grass eating....I had to be effective!

Managed to join the last fifteen minutes of the ridden group this morning and got on jack. He felt quite nice, but didn't manage to do very much. However, he had been so good I was excited for the afternoon. We finished the morning with a talk on the history of natural horsemanship, saddles and bridles.

This afternoon the sun shone :0)
We started with playing on the seat balancer or Mighty Bronco. It was great fun and also a great way to see how you are with your focus and balance. Lots of laughs were had! We then got the horses and had an afternoon session with our coaches playing the seven games.

I played with extreme friendly in game 5, then my coach gave me some great direction in my porcupine...again I needed to be more effective. Jack doesn't know what had hit him. Cuddly mum has turned into a LEADER!!!!! Managed to drive Jack from zone 5 for the first time on a follow the rail pattern using one rein, not two. Usually he turns into me. Again, I had to watch, read him, and move real quick if he came off. He tried twice and then gave up!

We then had to warm up strong for riding, and again Jack was amazing. With his trot he had his nose on the ground he was so in the zone and just kept maintaining gait and direction. He saddled well with my new anti eating grass technique, and had a perfect stand still for mounting. Practiced lateral flexion, direct and indirect rein lots. We were put in the honeycomb so we only had a small space....with the 'naughty' ones to keep them in a controlled environment. In the end I was only lifting the rein, and jack was offering lateral flexion and holding his head there on his own!!! How cool is that!!!! follow the rail was also great and we were particular that the knuckle does not come off the wither unless giving direction. He was sooooooooooooooooo goooooood!!!!!! Felt proud of him today. Really proud. Fantastic day!