Teaching Piero Ground Work Day 3

It always fascinates me to watch horses interact with one another. My established herd understands that I am the lead mare when I am around. Piero on the other hand, has yet to figure that out. He has asserted his position above Astro, and understands he falls beneath Tango. Yet when Scottie runs toward the fence where Piero is located on the other side, Piero stands his ground, pawing and flinging his head around. He was attempting to behave this way with me too.

When I approached him today, he turned and walked away from me. I then told him he had to keep moving, and moving. After about ten minutes of cantering around, and me running along, he finally stopped and faced me. Yippee. I immediately turned my shoulder toward him, and lowered my head. If he attempted to look away or graze, I slapped my thigh, made noise, whatever it took to keep his attention. It was either that, or he'd be moved again.

Piero is working hard to understand what I am asking of him. He steps back when I shake the lead rope a few times now. We'll keep working on that to improve the timing. When I lead him he is following at a nice position behind my shoulder, and he stops when I stop, and does not attempt to get ahead of me. He is learning to yield his haunches to me and to be driven forward. He is clearly accustomed to being lunged. I am striving for him to understand the difference between lunging and being driven. I point right, and he does go to the right, so I am very pleased with that. The next nice weather day we have I will tack him up for his ground work, in preparation to be ridden again.


Loretta