Nova and I went to a friend's place to ride this weekend for her first field trip! She hopped on the trailer to go and was pretty good, although excited, when we arrived. Nova does have a tendency to become a bit of a bull in a china shop when she's wound up, and being in a new place definitely counted as excitement!
I was able to get her groomed and tacked up, we wore our bright yellow and I also donned an orange reflective vest. We rode in the jump field to start and she gave me some peppy walk, trot, and canter, as well as walking and trotting over some poles and low cavalletti.
Next we headed out to the fields and trails!
Today's jewelry courtesy of Chameleon Browbands:
Sweet Nova was pretty tired when we finished, you could hear her saying "My brain is full, may I be excused?" We got untacked and I asked her to get in the trailer and she politely declined. Unfortunately, not getting in is not an option, so we ended up doing a few minutes of the hokey- pony and the tappa-tappa stick. I call it the hokey-pony because she "puts her left foot in, she takes her left foot out, then she shakes it all about..."
I tapped her on her hip: tap-tap- ...rest... tap-tap ...rest... the tapping twice is to irritate her into going forwards, the rest is to give her a minute to think, then choose to go forward. When she takes a step forward I stop tapping and praise her. If she backs up the tapping gets faster.
She's a very smart mare and figured it out quickly. It didn't take very long and she was making a face at me in resignation "...Ok FINE!", heaving a deep breath, and launched into the trailer. She got a couple cookies, a "good girl!", and we were on our way.
All this is super normal for a five year old. She is trying to determine the rules and boundaries, what she's allowed to do and what's not ok. As long as I'm consistent with her and give her the structure she needs to feel confident, she'll learn to be a super steady and enjoy the job.
It all starts with the first field trip!
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