Wizard Session 16: It’s Go Go, not Cry Cry

12/1/2008: Something good is happening! Wizard and I had a great session today. Like my favorite quote from Grindhouse, Wizard was all go-go and no cry-cry. And no kick-kick, either.

We started with a clicker training lesson. Wizard only learned the basics from me a month or so ago and he was a little rusty. I re-familiarized him with the process (target, click, treat) and he came back to the process fairly quickly. I also introduced a new behavior, “head down”. He caught on to it like a bright little student. Perhaps Wizard will live up to his name, after all.

After we finished with the clicker, I tacked him up and brought him back out to the arena for longeing. Wizard longed very nicely, trotting in each direction without stopping a single time! More progress!

After he longed (about 5 minutes), we did some more in-hand work. We walked over poles, walked and trotted patterns, and did several walk/trot transitions. Wizard seems to be building strength since he can follow me with ease. During the first few sessions, he was not as good with his feet or his balance. Now, he is learning to follow me and seems a tiny bit better with his balance. We ended the session with carrot stretches.

When we walked back to the barn, I noticed that he was a little short-strided in his front end. I’m hoping that this is simply tender soles and as his hoof gets rebalanced, he will be more comfortable. He also does a fair amount of “clicking” in his legs, back, and neck as he works- it sounds like he has gotten arthritic over the years and I hope that this light work will help him manage it.

Something felt really good during the training session today. I felt very confident with Wizard, and we were both very comfortable with each other. Since I lost Alibar, I have not felt as confident around horses, even though I’ve ridden since I was a little girl. Today, I felt some of that old spark. My Equine Therapist is doing a great job.