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Post by Sam on May 6, 2009 16:02:16 GMT -5
Horse The True Nut
Handler Sam Lettington
Purpose Develop a stronger bond and have Nut understand more that Sam is always the leader and boss.
The buckskin filly snorted at the profound idea of her in the round pen. She glared at me, as if to say, "This is so beneath me!" But I ignored the look and just smiled a bit as I took off her halter. Nut had been recently difficult on the ground lately and it has become more then just a rare occurrence. She started to develop the habit of being pushy and ignoring human space and commands. This wasn't something I ever enjoyed. So instead of the usual workout today, she would simply get a small workout for her body and a big workout for her brain.
She turned away from me to head out to the rail but I shook the lead rope at her, making her jog away so it was my idea. She only shook her head and snorted loudly at this.
She trotted along the rail, completely ignoring me for the time being. With a snap of the whip, she brought her attention back towards me. Another lash and she started to canter, not really pleased with having to canter on her bad lead in such a small space.
Around and around she went. Five laps, I counted. Slowly, but surely, her attention came towards me. Her ears stayed trained on me and her dark eyes would cast glances at me, though her gaze kept straining ahead.
With strong body language I made her stop. I changed my whip hand and sent her cantering the other direction. She now cantered faster, relieved to use her good lead. With the whip following her, I made sure she didn't slow too much when she got her energy out. Three laps later, she was paying attention to me more. Her head lowered and she started to lick. Her eyes and ears stayed on me, watching and listening to me intently.
Again, with a strong body language, I made her stop, though this time I didn't have her turn. I took a deep breathe and released the air as I simply dropped the whip and turned away from her, eyes averted to our shadows and body relaxed and hunched slightly. I watched her shadow's silhouette take a stride towards me. Then another. Then finally she made up her mind and walked towards me. I could feel the warmth of her breathe tickling down my neck and along the back of my arms.
With a small smile, I started to walk away. She quickly followed, accepting me as her leader.
Word Count: 437
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