Snow/Ball

Official Records Information
Misty
2=11=10
1 hour
evening

You don't get much better than today. I had that same unbreakable feeling with her that I had before I took that long break from horses. I did everything at liberty until I went over the hill outside the pasture to let her graze when we were done.

When I got dropped off, Misty made eye contact right away and nickered to me. She followed me along the fence after I waved to her then went inside. I peeked around the lilac tree that was between us, and she peeked and saw me, ears up and eyes bright. I waved again and went in to feed the dogs. When I came out, she called again and began walking up. I ran out to her and got what I needed in the barn. I kicked the green ball into the pasture. The kicking startled Conner and then when it landed on his butt he really took off. Misty chased the ball down and began rolling it around, though! I was laughing so much, but this was a serious tip off to me about what she was today: a confident horse whose leader was me, not Conner.

I climbed through the fence and pointed to the ball and gave her a cookie for pushing it. For the next half hour or so, we played with that ball. I stood and followed in all kinds of positions in relation to her. I stood behind her and whenever she stopped before I wanted her to, I clucked. I used the carrot stick to direct her, too. I also walked along beside her, as well, and other times I kicked it and stayed in one place and let her go get it. She brought it back to me several times, which pleased me. She was really excellent! She would only push it with her nose, but several times, when it stuck in a rut (the foot of snow now had many tracks through it), she would push it and it would roll back and after that happening several times, she would carefully push it out with her head or the side of her leg. I also ran off several times and played with her extreme stick to me. We did some cow game and she was rearing/rolling back to keep up with me. I also did some spins. I got three in a row! I remember when I first saw the Parelli horses having their horses spin at liberty. I thought, "That looks impossible! How will I teach that?" Well, that was before all of this winter I have spent experiencing Misty running to me and having better draw than I have ever known with a horse. Once, I sneaked away to the other side of the pasture while she was playing with the ball and then I whistled to her. She looked up immediately and cantered to me. Then I put my head down and so did she and she got a cookie.

While we were down, I picked up her foot and asked her to bow. I have not taught her this, yet, but I started tonight. She completely yielded to the pressure of me pulling her front (left) leg back as I held a treat for her to bend down and get.

When I was done playing with her, I raced her to the gate. She read my focus and beat me there. She was on a bit of adrenaline, but she was still connected to me. That was the best part of it. The other day, when her energy came up, she sped off, but today, she was always checking in with me in her high energy times.

After I put the halter and 12' line on, I grabbed a chair and took her behind the barn to let her graze. I used my boot to dig a hole in the snow so she could reach the grass. Unlike Blu, she does not paw regularly. She would only use her nose to uncover more grass. She ended up with her head buried in the snow a couple times!

Tonight, after I fed her, picked out all four feet from one side (left) and she was great for it. I would like her to get better at giving me the foot I want before I physically ask, but from a normal perspective, it was a great experience.

In closing, I love my horse.

Natural Horsewoman Out.