Damascus Road

Belle had an epiphany today.  She's been holding back her trust; building a wall between herself and me, and even though she seemed to recognize that I had some leadership potential, she's been unwilling to acknowledge that she needs my leadership.  I've been scratching my head, wondering if I should crank things up a notch in the round pen, or if I should give her more time to come around.  Well, I was in the mood for some honky-tonk today, so crank it up I did.  I needed to send Belle some of my energy, and I needed to see her really dig down and move. 

Until now, when working Belle in a circle, the only changes of direction I've gotten from her have been outside turns, where her head goes away from me and her butt points towards me.  Those kinds of turns aren't all bad, because they cause the horse to see me from first one eye, then the other.  But in order to get the connection that I'm working towards with Belle, she needs to give me inside turns, where the head turns towards me and the butt turns away.  How exactly does one teach a wild mustang working at liberty to turn towards the handler?  With energy and movement.  Lots of it, in Belle's case.  I used what Parelli calls a "carrot stick," which is a four-foot hollow fiberglass rod that has a four-foot cord attached to the end.  It is used to motivate a horse, and also to desensitize them to touch.  Today, motivation was the key, and just holding it away from my body and occasionally swinging it or snapping the end of the cord was enough to send Belle through the roof.

Galloping at full-tilt, bouncing off the round pen rails, Belle is a sight to behold.  I admit I felt a little bit sorry for her.  I guess you could call it tough love.  Nothing will ever change for the better without some exercise, right?  After several fast laps, and outside turns to change direction, I was ready to ask for some inside turns.  It all has to do with my body language, my position in relation to the horse, the "feel" between us, and finally the "draw," which is where she actually responds to me and turns inward.

The look on Belle's face when she came face to face with me was priceless.  It was one of those WOW moments for both of us.  Her eyes were bright and her ears were impossibly far forward, and if horses were capable of dropping their jaw, hers would've been on the ground.  That was her moment of epiphany.  I repeated the exercise over and over, and each time she responded correctly she was rewarded with a moment to stand still and look at me.  Each time she didn't respond correctly, she was made to keep working.  Belle took lots more steps towards me.  She didn't come up to me, so the connection isn't complete yet, but with another session like that one she will.  She believes me now.  I will be her leader, her trainer, and her master.  Before, I was the maid.  Oh, the changes that will take place soon.  I can hardly wait!