4th July, 2008 Combined training

I am pretty elated - I have had major breakthrough in trying to ask Petra Perkins not to rush towards home. So, picture this (you'll have to because I wouldn't photograph us looking so scruffy). Petra and I went out riding and she's wearing her red Monty Robert's Dually and her Boett to fend off the flies; we didn't intend to get hot. I'm wearing my gardening trousers and a hat with no silk. However, I combine everything I've ever learnt starting with Margrit Coates - the reason my horse rushes home is because that's what I do too; I've always felt a gravitational pull towards wherever David is, reinforced by the roller coaster of our early relationship. I used clicker training to reward her halt (and therefore her attention) and employed a variable schedule of reinforcement with the odd bonus. I'd added a dash of sugary coarse mix to the pony nuts to keep her really interested. I counted her strides a la Mark Rashid and thought "yes!yes!" every time I saw a stride I liked as suggested by Perry Wood. At the halt I waited for her to soften in some way before we move off again - a blink, a lowering of the head or even better a really deep sigh and suddenly I've got a relaxed horse that I can talk to, walking at a sensible pace with little or no contact needed.