Yes, it has been forever since I've updated. However, today, I realized something that may just be worth cataloging. Basically, the past couple of weeks with Chase have been a TRAINWRECK. We went back to playing in...like..pre level 1. I couldn't believe it-I was so frustrated that Chase wasn't upholding his end of the relationship and listening to me. Well...we all know how caveman style that train of thought is. And I found out something-It was ME that wasn't listening to HIM. Yea. I had completely overwhelmed him with my energy, and he had just been saying 'enough' in the only way he could. At first, I was just going with his ideas-I was tired of arguing with him. Played with that for a while, and then decided everything seemed alright, so I went to go get on him. First off-he didn't offer me his back-that should have been my warning bell number one. Second, when I asked him to sidepass over to me and put my foot in the stirrup, he headed off without me-four, five times. Warning bell number two. Of course, being the neanderthal I am, I got on anyways. That..didn't work out so well (who'da thunk?). He circled in a small circle with a crabby expression and tail cranking, refusing to go straight, even when I took his idea and 'helped' him circle. Finally I just let him go, and decided to passenger it. He picked up a trot, nearly a canter-towards the door leading out of the indoor arena. Not ready for that, I bent him to a stop, and got off, putting the 22 back on him and resuming the 'your idea is my idea' game. That brought us outside of the arena, to the little play area we had played in a couple of days before with just...no success. I just stood there, figuring he was going to just stand there and graze. And he did-for about four minutes. Then I tried offering my ideas-notice, offer, TOTAL different mindset I had-which was, go over a log, stop, graze. Did this a couple of times, and then he started offering more-going over logs of his own accord, at a trot. I thought that was just fantastic-a few days ago we had been dancing all over the place with me growling like a bear because he wasn't playing that game. So, yea, this new development was awesome. I took a break when I felt the connection between us that I hadn't felt in weeks. Led him into the round pen because I didn't want to leave him tied unsupervised. When I came back-I decided to try liberty and see what happened.
I looked at his behavior-REALLY looked at it as we played. We were more connected to each other this time, and my energy level was a lot lower than usual. I backed him up, and he responded better than usual. When I went to send him off, he did exactly as he had before-trotted, and then stopped, looking out of the arena. What I hadn't caught before was what I caught now. It wasn't disobedience at all-there was TENSION in his body as he was looking out. He was saying 'TOO MUCH PRESSURE'. Even what I thought to be a slight send-he went off tightly, head up in the air.
I backed off..a lot. Gradually, he grew calmer. The end of the session, he offered a close circling game-I stopped there, completely mind boggled. I sat down, and felt that our bond was stronger than it had been..in forever. It was just a feeling, and the little gestures-he stood over me, usually resting his head or cheek on my shoulder, against my side. It was incredible. Wow. I had completely terrorized him with my energy-and he had been waiting for me to realize that. ...
BIG OOPSIE......
JkayChase Outie
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