Tuesday night I drove Casey again. A little bit of long line work and then put her to. And then got in/on the cart. No breeching as all I planned to do was walk. Go forward, just walk, no pressure. She did Awesome!
She's really taking to driving and coming along so well. She understands there is very little effort to move the cart and has given zero shits.
Wednesday night a quick lap or three around the arena ground driving, put her to and off we went. Breeching this time as I planned to ask for a bit more. Lots of walking and stopping, waiting, waiting, check the brakes- excellent, so I asked Casey to pick up a trot. I had to ask and ask and really push for it and finally she realized to speed up is ok.
She trotted a few steps and as I praised her- she stopped. On. The. Spot. Lol It wasn't the reaction I was expecting but it's ok. I would rather she stops if she is unsure. Stopping is fine. Blowing up is the alternative and definitely Not ok! I'll take the stopping.
I chose not to take any video so I could focus on Casey and making sure everything went well, no excitement, no drama and no crashing into anything. Crashing into things is not good. Not a habit we need to start, at least not yet. At some point I may set up the barrels in the arena and crash into them. Teaching her that even If we hit something- if you listen to me and don't lose your mind, it will be okay. I can get us out of this mess.
We need to work on straightness as she tends to wobble to and fro going down the rail or across the arena. When walking she also drops her head super low. A friend of mine mentioned it but as we were trotting her head came up to a normal position.
After unhitching the cart and taking the harness off, I gave Casey a handful of treats and scratched all the good spots.
She's really coming around to the idea of affection. Then after putting everything away and turning Mazy out, Casey came running over to stand by the fence for more scratches.
So I literally threw a leg over her. She moved away a little, but not far enough I couldn't still scratch her butt. She has priorities ya know.
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