I have not visited Kai for about a week because I was caring for Azami (my rat) after her tumor removal surgery. When I came to the barn, Kai looked like a little wild thing. He was all brown and his coat was clumpy because of the rain.
When we entered the indoor arena I let Kai investigate the toys, and then sent him on a quick circle to observe his movement and he playfully offered some bouncy canter steps. He was playful and very connected so I took the line off and we played at liberty. We did some very nice stick to me and even peppered in some "mirror me". Also we did some circling game at the walk and trot and some yo-yo game. We also worked on a more exuberant draw.
I also began teaching Kai liberty spins. He wanted to back up instead of yielding zone 1 away so I decided to tap behind the drive line with my fingers while sending his nose with my stick to discourage him backing up.
We ended on a good note with the spins so I began his long "heavy duty" grooming. As I was grooming Kai in the corner of the arena I was listening to the lesson that Kaila was teaching. Ally and her human were working on getting connected on the circle and pivoting when doing yields. The next lesson was Shane and his human and they were working on friendly game with sudden movements with the flag. Kai was tied in the corner eating hay as I was grooming him and it was a good experience for him to see someone other than me waving the flag.
At first he flinched whenever he saw the flag move quickly but soon he began to ignore it.
When it was dinner time for Kai, I asked him to back up before I set down his dish. I then waited for him to ask a question instead of trying to find a way around me to get to the grain. This time I was more particular and waited for both eyes and ears for more than half a second.
When Kai was done eating and was just licking the bottom of his bucket, I asked him to step back and then I placed a battery operated massager in the bucket. Next, I let him explore the new toy on his own time. When he was done I led him back to the paddock.
What a great session!
When we entered the indoor arena I let Kai investigate the toys, and then sent him on a quick circle to observe his movement and he playfully offered some bouncy canter steps. He was playful and very connected so I took the line off and we played at liberty. We did some very nice stick to me and even peppered in some "mirror me". Also we did some circling game at the walk and trot and some yo-yo game. We also worked on a more exuberant draw.
I also began teaching Kai liberty spins. He wanted to back up instead of yielding zone 1 away so I decided to tap behind the drive line with my fingers while sending his nose with my stick to discourage him backing up.
We ended on a good note with the spins so I began his long "heavy duty" grooming. As I was grooming Kai in the corner of the arena I was listening to the lesson that Kaila was teaching. Ally and her human were working on getting connected on the circle and pivoting when doing yields. The next lesson was Shane and his human and they were working on friendly game with sudden movements with the flag. Kai was tied in the corner eating hay as I was grooming him and it was a good experience for him to see someone other than me waving the flag.
At first he flinched whenever he saw the flag move quickly but soon he began to ignore it.
When it was dinner time for Kai, I asked him to back up before I set down his dish. I then waited for him to ask a question instead of trying to find a way around me to get to the grain. This time I was more particular and waited for both eyes and ears for more than half a second.
When Kai was done eating and was just licking the bottom of his bucket, I asked him to step back and then I placed a battery operated massager in the bucket. Next, I let him explore the new toy on his own time. When he was done I led him back to the paddock.
What a great session!