Beginning the Basics

My initial training goals for the first month were small as the focus was really about her settling in with her new herd, as it was too much to expect her to be engaged in a learning mindset when her basic safety and security needs were still being established. However, we been worked on quiet lifting of the feet in preparation for the hoof trimmer, and I trained her to pick up with a verbal click cue. I did this daily for the week leading up the trim, and she became lighter, less wobbly and her backs legs were waving around less. On the day, she behaved beautifully, and her feet were rasped and trimmed mindfully by the equine podiatrist. She was equally calm for the dentist.

She has been amazingly comfortable being led in from the field and away from the herd, so we did some familiarisation with the arena, and introduction to the flag to begin our groundwork.  

I introduced lateral flexions on a whisper of a rope cue with her. Zero brace. At times, she was a little 'in my space', particularly on the right where she had likely been handled less frequently. We worked on yielding and boundaries around this. I started a little back up work with her to teach her not to creep in with her feet, and she began to walk, halt and back up quite well in synch with my steps. After two weeks, Sky had totally settled, started to become boss of the herd, and appeared ready for some new steps.

I added some more groundwork basics into the mix after a consultation on progress with my trainer, as she is a clever horse who likes novelty. I added leading around obstacles from both sides, vertical flexion on a 'feel', along with hindquarter and shoulder yields from a circle. She needed a few back up steps in between these two tasks to set herself up for the second element, and shift her weight back so her correct 'reaching' leg was ready. Sometimes, when she tried to figure things out, she'd accelerate, but once she understood, and got a release on a positive note, things began to flow more comfortably and she started relaxing in mind and body. We also started with a few steps of side pass. Each following session things got smoother and less rushed. She understood, relaxed more with the try.

She's managed well with herd mates moving in and out of the field without her as their normal 'jobs' resumed after the settling in period. Clearly bonded with them, she was still able to focus on a short training session if they were out and about. After a month, I can see that she's naturally curious (which I really like), she's clever, and she has an affinity/trust with people. She comes in when she's called, and seems to know I'm her person (or at least I feel she's Ok with me). That feels good.