More progress made, more uncovered LONG

Ok, first of all, the people of Western Washington need to learn how to drive. Traffic is bad for everyone, but I'm really tired of being stuck behind someone in the passing lane, who happens to be traveling BELOW the speed limit. This slows everyone down- and I think that is what they intend. Self proclaimed traffic marshalls. So you've got those dopes and then you've got the idiots who want to change lanes- they want to so badly. they let spaces that could fit an army or two pass by, still trying to get the courage to pass. finally, like a scared deer, they dart out in the SMALLEST of spaces- cutting someone off, causing brake lights to shine and voila- more traffic. Just step on the gas and let's go people!

FRIDAY:

Phew, i needed to get that off my chest. Friday I went out to visit Cassie after work. She rememebred my halter deal (ie- I have some small treats and if i get to pet her with the halter and put it on, she gets the goodies). We also practiced the friendly game, which for Cassie means this:

A (Ally):Can I touch you all over with the CS? C (Cassie): Yes

A: Can I touch you all over with my hands? C: NO

A: Hmm, ok- can I touch your neck with my hands? C:Yes

A: How about your back? C: uhh, ok but I am not really comfortable with this

A: OK, so i'll just go back to your withers then. C: phew, I thought you were going to hurt me!

A: Nah, it really is no big deal, i'll just pet your withers *big sigh* I'm so tired i can hardly keep petting you C: You are making me tired.

A: Whoops, looks like i may have touched your back, i was so tired, i didn't hardly notice. C: Yea, it wasn't so bad after all.

A: hey, are you hungry? I could use a break right now, and i see a comfy spot right by your hay.

And on and on like this until i got under her belly, near her teats, down her hind legs, etc. Pretty cool, huh? I am pretty proud of her for letting me touch her all over like that. I should mention that it was FAR easier to do on her left side than her right. Actually, i think I probably got twice as far on her left than I got on her right. Though, I think the emotional impact was greated for her right than her left.

So, at this point Cassie started turning her butt to me. WHAT THE? The red lights were going off in my head- OHMIGOD the horse wants to kill me?! Hmm... wait a second, what if I park myself next to her, use my cs, stretch my arm way out, and try to scratch her? OH YEA! Cassie loved it! Her head went down, her eyes closing, her legs relaxed- I wonder how long its been since she had that.

She actually reminded me of a young foal who always wants scratching on the bum. Foals love that, and they won't leave you alone once you start. Cassie was doing that too. So, as much as I believe she liked being scratched, I am not comfortable with her explosive butt near my person. I left the barn that night thinking "well, i think its time that we move from the friendly game to game #2 and maybe #3 (since cassie already knows moving from pressure), tomorrow.

Saturday:

Saturday morning I woke up, visited my own horses, and then went to see Miss C. We had a do nothing/ friendly session for the first 30 minutes of being in the arena.

I sat there, and I think she checked me out about 3 times.

After spending undemanding time, I got the halter ready, and did a little catching game with her. she is pretty easy in that respect, since she is #1 curious and #2 doesn't like pressure on her hind end. Halter. Treat.

From there we did friendly, friendly, and more friendly.
Cassie was a bit beside herself because her equine friends were out to play, and she was not. she was going a little right brained, but i helped to bring her back by giving her something to do. That worked a couple of times.
So she was pretty calm, and i started to mix in porcupine game with friendly- and yes, she already knows a lot of this. But the blood started to boil for Cassie. Yea, I was being friendly but, not letting her do what she wanted- go by her friends. That was making her upset, being with me was making her upset- between friendly game and 1 or 2 tries at porcupine were just too much.

She didn't bite at the stick, didn't try to kick or anything like that. she had a mental breakdown though. she was not ready for me to help her out with it, because our trust and her history of being mishandled. So, lest I be percieved as a untrustworthy predator, i let her go. Halter off, and she had her whinnying, running fest.

I really didn't know what else to do other than to just let her go. there was no way I was going to get caught in the middle of it and get hurt. She obviously needed some time to get over the threshhold and wasn't about to let a human help her- not yet.

So, for 15 minutes she whinnied and ran and snorted and did her thing. I even left the arena for a few minutes, and came back. I needed to think. Was it me? Well, heck yea it was me. At this point Cassie would rather have the comfort of her herd and get away from me, who she still does not trust. Ah HA.

She calmed down- the whinnies were gone and she came over to check me out a few times. I decided to halter her again. treat. forget porcupine game, lets just be friendly. I'm not a scary person, Cassie, I swear! So we did, and we had a good end of session, that ended with her following me over a tarp.

Cassie learned:

The human can be friendly, but I like horse friends better.

The human gets frustrated, and I get scared of her. But she let me get away from her.

The human asks me to do weird things like walk over a tarp. Just don't touch me with energy behind it and I'm good.

Ally's take aways.

-Friendly, calm touches are ok. Energy touches, like for porcupine and driving are too much for Cassie.

-At the end of the day, no matter how friendly or how many treats you have, Cassie still thinks of you as a potential threat.

-Think about why she wants to be with horses, and why she gets nervous when she can't see her horse friends. Don't get frustrated over this, but have a plan.

-Where do you go from here?

That last question- hmm, i really don't know. Back to friendly. I really have to think about what I am supposed to do when Cassie gets majorly distracted by the equines. I'd be a fool to think it is more about them than it is being with me. She wants safety, and safety is not near me. I can't get frustrated by this, but I do feel like a school teacher wanting to say "would you just pay attention already? recess is not for another 30 minutes!" ARGH. I'll get frustrated here and not at the barn.


-Ally