No rain + no snow= 2 hours with a Firecracker. I left the stick alone today, starting instead by just walking up to her and rubbing the end of the rope on her body, then dropping it over. Sudden movements still send her into a startled frame of mind, but the rope seems to be, for the most part, okay with her.
Once dropped to the other side, I now have to try to either walk onto that side, or reach under her neck, to pick up the loop end of my rope. She's not fond of either option, but by the time I finished with her, she was letting me do both. It took awhile, but we got it done. I was determined to stick it out as long as it took.
With the rope over the neck, I then made a figure 8 with it by reaching through the larger loop (the part that would normally be around a calf's neck) and picking up the long part of the rope and pulling it through. The top part of my figure 8 is around her neck, I just need to figure out how to get the bottom part around her nose. No easy feat, let me tell you.
Originally I was thinking I'd use the stick to help lift it over her nose, but the rope is too heavy and stiff for that to work. Firecracker isn't wanting the stick to touch her face and pulls away before I can get the rope in place, let alone drop it onto her nose and pull it tight before it falls off again. The only option was to try to get her to stand still as I lifted it over her nose.
Wish I had a video for you, as it was almost too funny. Then again...maybe I don't wish I had one! Let's just say it took a good long while, but I was successful! Yes, I managed to get the bottom half of my rope over her nose and into a primitive halter. Hooray! And it made a huge difference right off the bat. When she pulled and thought she'd spin away from me, she couldn't because I had her nose. A body can't go somewhere without it's nose. And since the nose was with me, so was the body, and before long she was truly enjoying being rubbed up and down on her neck, even up at her ears.
Today was a good day.
Once dropped to the other side, I now have to try to either walk onto that side, or reach under her neck, to pick up the loop end of my rope. She's not fond of either option, but by the time I finished with her, she was letting me do both. It took awhile, but we got it done. I was determined to stick it out as long as it took.
With the rope over the neck, I then made a figure 8 with it by reaching through the larger loop (the part that would normally be around a calf's neck) and picking up the long part of the rope and pulling it through. The top part of my figure 8 is around her neck, I just need to figure out how to get the bottom part around her nose. No easy feat, let me tell you.
Originally I was thinking I'd use the stick to help lift it over her nose, but the rope is too heavy and stiff for that to work. Firecracker isn't wanting the stick to touch her face and pulls away before I can get the rope in place, let alone drop it onto her nose and pull it tight before it falls off again. The only option was to try to get her to stand still as I lifted it over her nose.
Wish I had a video for you, as it was almost too funny. Then again...maybe I don't wish I had one! Let's just say it took a good long while, but I was successful! Yes, I managed to get the bottom half of my rope over her nose and into a primitive halter. Hooray! And it made a huge difference right off the bat. When she pulled and thought she'd spin away from me, she couldn't because I had her nose. A body can't go somewhere without it's nose. And since the nose was with me, so was the body, and before long she was truly enjoying being rubbed up and down on her neck, even up at her ears.
Today was a good day.
10 comments:
Well done! Sounds like things are going to be much smoother from here on out!
Cool! But aren't you freezing your *ss off out there. It's darn cold these days!!! LOL
LOL, Mikael, YES!!! It's cold, but I think Jessie is dealing with colder, still.
But what's really bad is I forgot to turn off the water this morning. Normally I water at night, but for some reason did it this morning. Four hours later you can imagine the mess!
Jessie, I'm hoping things will begin to progress a bit now, but then again she could end up being more cagey about getting anything over that nose! She's different than the others have been...
That's wonderful! Great job!
I'm glad I stumbled across this blog, it's facinating to read(and learn)!
Thanks for stoppping in, Gecko! Hope you enjoy the mustangs.
Britni, thank you =)
Hi Tracey, what exactly is the Midwest Mustang Challenge?
Sarah, the folks at Mustang Heritage held their big competition, the Extreme Mustang Makeover, last summer. Now they're doing two smaller, regional contests before their next national competition; the Midwest Challenge and the Western States Challenge.
Hi Tracey, thank you for your answers (both of them!). I also answered your comments on my blog, but in a post. I find it easier to answer that way. But in case you don't get back there, I am not thinking about taking part in the mustang makeover. I was joking. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. Perhaps someday though :)
I made my blog three columns by follwing the instructions of betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.
Having looked a little at your blog and the others in your links looks like it would actually be easier to compete than I thought. I hadn't ever looked into it because I always thought that it was for big famous trainers with big famous barns and lots of money etc etc. I didn't know about the two smaller competitions that they were doing. Congratulations for being selected. It will still be a while before I get to compete, but I maybe I will one day. Thanks for the info. Good luck. I'll be checking up on you.
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