30th October, 2012 Girls and their ponies!

What is it about girls and their ponies? The connection between them can overcome such adversity and hurdles. This morning I went to see an 11 year old girl with her 11 year old pony. She hasn't had him very long but generally they get on famously. He's given her so much confidence in her riding. On the ground he is normally polite but I was asked if I could stop him pulling away from her to get to grass or his field mates. Once more the 'motorbike' hand, the 'smile in the line' and re-directing his energy were all really useful especially when coupled with her quiet determination and good timing. What I really liked is that she already has a set of decent principles about how she treats her pony and she sometimes finds the kicking and hitting she sees in some places quite hard to bear. It's so important isn't it to give a child the right messages about violence and consent?

Tonight it was off to see Hilary, who although quite a bit older, still has the biggest soft spot for Benji, the pony she has taken from being totally wild to being backed today.

"I'm usually pretty good at putting words together but I'm struggling to work out what to write about tonight.
Thank you so much... I'm still feeling overwhelmed by what happened, I never expected to achieve so much with him, and it's down to your book, advice and skill in knowing what he and I were ready to tackle.
It's difficult to put into words the feeling of sitting on him for the first time- joy and awe but also calm and trust between the three of us." HP

"K and I enjoyed meeting you and got so much out of the session with you. Very big smiles from K afterwards although she was pretty tired towards the end (lots of concentrating). Consistency is going to be the key, and we will both have to really work at that, but I think we are both clear about how to go on with him, so I'm feeling optimistic! These notes are great and will help us lots I'm sure."LC