Lyric 3/15

Well, the weather is supposed to be crappy tomorrow (and isn't all that hot today either) so I decided to do some "inside the barn" work today. Lyric got officially introduced to the pedestal and he did SPLENDID. Again, a conformation that the horse knows EXACTLY where his feet are, he just leans to the left and doesn't have a lot of motor control to keep him from doing so. At first, he would consistantly "fall" off the pedestal to the left. While this remained a possibility, I watched him learn to compensate, figure out where to put his feet, and self-correct when he became really off balance. He can put two feet on fine, and he can put all 4 feet on the long pedestal fine. The smaller pedestal is JUST out of his comfort/balance zone to stand on with all 4, but I'm determined to make that a goal. First time I put Dolly or Eddie up there there was NO way they could get all 4 up there. Now they happily stand up there and pose like little statues. The great part is that it builds the stifle muscle, stretches the lumbar, and just generally gives them the gymnastic ability and balance needed for trail, dressage etc when trained for that purpose. It also gives them the ability to learn their own balance and learn ways of compensation if they're deficient (i.e. Dolly leans on the wall a bit when mouting the pedestal from one way and falls off to the right, but is getting better and better at holding her own)

I was able to school him getting up on it at "liberty" on cue, starting to cue the back legs individually (a pre-piaffe exercise), having him thoughtfully put his weight on his hindquarters and try to step down and leave the hindquarters up on the pedestal, WAITING when told to stay still and hold a pose, and taking his time and thinking where to put his feet in general. He became very successful at choosing where to step up, bowing when asked on cue (and WOW---he can practically do a "face plant" when he "says his prayers"!) and was really learning to rock back and support his weight on his hind to navigate the pedestal, bow, dismount from the pedestal and WAIT etc. He actually got 3 feet up there several times. He was SO close to putting all 4 up! And he was SO good at holding the bow--that's VERY difficult for a horse to grasp, but he happily "held" the pose until released.

I also started teaching him "Smile", which many trainers use as a "release" cue and horses tend to offer when they think they've done a good job and are proud of themselves. Lastly, I finally have our ball together and had him pushing it on cue around the stall. He did great, and I could easily see him "playing soccer" all on his own. He catches on LIGHTNING QUICK when he understands what his human wants and offers it over and over for reinforcement. He never seems to tire from repeated asking, unlike most horses that get bored and want to move on. And he definitely has the intelligence necessary to make decisions about the ball--again something that seperates the intelligent horse from the obedient horse. Intelligent horses start to realize and predict where a ball will go and make decisions to push it where they want, or quickly react to redirect it. I saw glimmers of that in him--very cool to see!

So, we got some great hindquarter work done, balance training done, and didn't have to get too sopping wet!