Lizzie - day four . . .

Thanks to Torri, Lizzie is really shaping up!  She was still a bit resistant today to begin with, and Torri was having to pull her around in circles again each time they headed back toward the gate.  But she was NOT trying to rear up or run sideways at all.  She was explaining to me that even when I pull her around to the side to slow her down, I still need to keep tension on the opposite rein.  Don't pull both reins, just keep slight tension on the opposite rein while pulling her around in a circle. 

 Torri did that each time Lizzie started to prance or try to run back to the gate, and ultimately Lizzie calmed down and began to listen again.  And it only takes a tiny, tiny bit of pressure to get through to her.  She's extremely sensitive.  Torri was wearing clogs so her heels were bare today and she still had absolutely NO problem getting her going.  The slightest pressure with those bare heels was all it took.  In fact, yesterday I realized that I could not move my legs in the slightest unless I wanted her to move out or speed up because even the most minute movement was enough to get her going. 

Anyway, today after the first five minutes or so she was listening fairly well again.

Tomorrow Torri has an exercise class at 6, so it will be my turn to deal with Lizzie again.  I just hope there is SOMEONE over there at the barn while I'm there so I can ride around in the open.  We'll see.  But I WILL saddle her up and ride SOMEWHERE regardless.  Tomorrow is day 5.  By the time I go back to work on Monday she will have been ridden 8 days in a row.  I sincerely hope it makes all the difference.   I'm sure it will.  I took videos Sunday and today and the difference is really striking.  I wish I could post them here, but apparently the blog doesn't take videos that large.  At least I haven't been able to get them to upload so far.