I had an interesting play day with Cactus yesterday. Janet was working with Penny-Paris in the arena and invited me to join her with Cactus. I went to the barn (all by myself!) and haltered up Cactus and brought her outside to join in. Cactus, a 28 year old QH has never played Parelli games, so this was all new to her. Because of that, I thought I would start at the very beginning – Game # 1 – “Friendly”. Well? Immediately we had a problem, as Cactus thought the carrot stick meant “lunging time” – so it took a lot of passive persistence to have Cactus understand that a carrot stick was a friendly tool and she did not have to lunge into circles with the very sight of it. We worked and worked away at it, calmly, passively, and with persistence. Cactus finally realized that she could stand still and be “massaged” with the carrot stick. She relaxed to the point where she dropped her head and relaxed one of her hind legs. Kapla! (i.e., success!).
I had to be quite in tune with Cactus’ body language to keep her relaxed around the carrot stick (she was not frightened by it, she just thought it was a cue for her to lunge). I soon found out as well that a cluck will immediately send Cactus into a Trot! A new horse, so much to learn about her. I really enjoyed my time studying Cactus, her body communication and how she responded to the Friendly Game.
At the end of the night, we took our equine friends to the barn and gave them a nice groom. Cactus was getting a little frisky (she still has “go”, despite her age) and Janet/I practiced driving her backwards with the lead line (driving game). Cactus caught on very well (she is quite the smart lass!).
It really was an enjoyable night and with every visit, I learn more about Cactus’ horseanality.
