With the tarpaulin on one side and the buggy on the other and Yvonne chucking her coat about, Kestrel was a little baffled for a second or two. I just stood and waited and then he was ready to go on. It's critical that ponies don't become frightened of being frightened which would only teach them to spin and leave.
We had a nice chat to this chap and his dogs. He used to work with the Household Cavalry so he appreciated Kestrel's colour.
Our p.m. visit was to meet Silver Bell, a cob with a complicated history and a sad story to tell. Despite all of that she doesn't mind being around humans but she's not so keen on being caught. I worked with her in the field shelter to start with and then her owner took over from me, repeating the same pattern of clickered rewards. We were soon down to a series of clicks followed by three major clicks and a treat for the whole thing. We might have sounded like dolphins.
Outside I began to work on picking up her feet as she has never been taught to do that properly. Accepting touch is the very first stage.
We finished the session on a real high when Silver Bell kept walking up to her owner in the open field asking to be caught.
Apparently she can now even do this in the dark:
"I was a good girl and let my human put the halter on in the dark in the big field , and Riley and Daisy where next to me!! I was a very good Girl"
