4th lesson with Mell

Is this really the 4th?
FINALLY Mell came out to help us again. First thing, I asked her to check my saddle for fit and she said it's bridging a bit, as Mara has lost a lot of padding lately. Oh boy, I get to shim the saddle! Good thing my saddle came with a ton of shims.

An unexpected thing happened when Mell arrived. I'd brought Bellis to just hang out in the arena, which she loves to do, and rarely gets in our way. (Today Bellis stood beside me as I lunged Mara, I'm sure it looked like we were both lunging the horse!) Mell was 30 minutes late, as usual, and I think both Bellis and Mara were aware that I was staring at the parking area, everytime I thought I heard something. As soon as Mell arrived, Bellis saw her and let out this ear-drum-crushing welcome bray that could be heard a mile away at least. I was so embarrassed, but it was cute cuz she was clearly saying "Well hello, come join us!" That was the first time I'd ever heard Bellis bray off our property, and thankfully, she didn't do the same thing when Herr S came to turnout horses this morning. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate losing his hearing because I had to bring a 2nd animal to his place.

I asked her to watch us try to trot and maintain contact, how Mara is inconsistent, kind of seeking for the right answer but not getting it. Why is it so much harder for her at a trot? She's got the game of contact pretty well at the walk. Mell explained that my outside rein is not steady, so the motion of the trot is actually causing the snap/weight of the rein to bounce on her mouth. This doesn't occur with the inside rein because I'm doing a give-and-take thing there. I'd been holding a light contact with the outside, but it wasn't solid, and so the rein bounced. Now that she's explained it, it makes sense. I knew my issue with the outside rein, I just can't seem to take ahold of it, there's something wrong with me. But with the mental image she gave me of it irritating Mara's mouth, I was somehow able to take it. Instantly Mara was rewarded with no bouncing, and she stretched down just as she does at a walk. OK then!

The leg yields and shoulder-ins are OK, except that Mara isn't precise at them, she kind of complies after I ask for a while. Mell says I must give a light signal for her to move her hips over, then escalate the signal to tapping, then bumping with my heel if she still doesn't respond. Only in these intensity intervals will she learn to be responsive and light. Did I just forget that or something?

Then Mell noticed that whenever I ask Mara to stop, I don't insist that she stop immediately, I let her "work her way down to it", even though she knows what I'm asking. Mell says Mara is manipulating me, giving me responses to my requests "at her leisure", deciding for herself how and when to respond. I'd been thinking I'd been asking inprecisely, but Mell says Mara knows exactly what I want, she's just playing a points game with me. She'll do it, giving me 2 points, but she'll do it how and when she likes, giving herself 8 points.

Mell made me trot around, ask for a halt, and then however many steps she goes after I've asked, make her back up. Mara went from 4 steps after "Ho" to 1/2 step, pretty good. We'll work on it.

Strangely, it was after these little discussions about when, exactly to stop, that Mara started giving me both ears, not just one. Mell noticed it right away. Mara was gnawing on the bit in frustration too, I could tell she thought it just wasn't fair, that she should have to respond when I like, not just eventually.

She says I'm afraid of making mistakes, and I'm making things way too easy for Mara. I was looking at it like "Let's keep this easy and positive" and Mell agrees that soon, Mara will see she must respond precisely, and she'll likely start to fight us. I asked Mell not to mention potential future problems, I have enough right now.

Oh, one more thing - about the backing up under saddle. Mell says when Mara pulls down, bracing against a very polite request, it's OK to bump her in the mouth and say No to her. She said to immediately go back to a very light friendly request though, and give her a chance again to do it right. Her backing got better in this one session, now that she's figuring out leaning on the reins is not something we want.

Bellis was there the whole time, standing right in front of Mell (oops, I didn't realize she'd be annoying) but Mell was charmed by Bellis just like every other person who's ever met her, cuddling her, and even teaching her to circle and disengage her hindquarters. She said I should teach her tricks. I said, "Horse first."

Then she said, "You know, Mara is a lot like a donkey, in her character. Her answer is usually 'You can't make me, just try.' to our requests, and she has to be convinced in a way that makes sense to her or else she'll react violently, or stubbornly, just standing there."

Like a donkey. Great. I was thinking Mara was like a Shetland pony. Maybe someday I'll actually own a Shetland pony. I'll be ready.