Watering Can Can

Right so hopefully now that the summer hols are upon us, I have been able to make a more organised childcare arrangement with Mum so I can have the time to work with Faith on a more regular basis.

So yesterday afternoon, I found myself at liberty to do some training with my filly. Actually, I guess now that she is four, she is officially a mare, but whe will always be 'the filly' to me!

I didn't really have a plan for what I should be doing, so I did ten minutes or so of rope desensitisation. Basically I want Faith to get used to ropes etc round her body, for when we start long reining, and also ropes wiggling around her feet and legs, for when I fall over when we are long reining, and let go of the reins. Basically I don't want her to take fright and run off, should she find a rope or a long rein around her feet. I've also owned a pony who was terrified of ropes etc. on the floor, and when you have a pony with a fear like that, you are often surprised at how frequently that situation will present itself. I think it's called Sod's law!

Anyway, we have already done quite a bit of this, and Faith is now entirely bored with me flinging ropes all over her neck and back and swishing them around her front and back legs and even allowing the rope to coil around them.

So after revisiting this, I was wondering what to do next, when Tilly, having taken a long drink, popped her head over the stable door, which Faith happened to be standing next to, and dribbled water all over the floor.

Well you would have thought Faith had had an electric shock. She is terrified of water. Here was our training opportunity, I fetched a watering can.

So we did a little targetting with the watering can. Fine. I then poured a little water on to the yard. Faith did not like that one bit, and took herself off to bed. I sat down and waited for a bit, and after a few minutes Faith re-emerged from her stable and looked prepared to play again. So I took the watering can a little further down the yard, and once again pured a tiny dribble of water on to the floor. Faith stood still, so I clicked and treated her. She wasn't terribly happy though, and after repeating this a couple of times she took herself back to her stable.

I wanted to end on a good note though, so when Faith once again poked her head around the stable door, I poured a little water out on to the yard, and clicked and treated her for standing still and watching. We did this a couple more times, then called it a day.

This is going to be a really interesting training issue, and if I can get to the point where I can pour water on her legs, then I know that Faith really has placed her trust in me. Anyway, as ever, there is absolutely no rush. We shall get there when we get there.