My 4 P's- Positiveness; Passion; Patience and Perseverance!

I'm having withdrawal symptoms; I've not been out of the house for four days- It's been snowing again; I've got the flu and have felt like total crap! 


To keep my brain occupied; I've spent some time thinking about next year with Shadow and going through my books and looking at some ideas being presented in there for inspiration and tips on what to do. 


We've had a break from clicker for nearly a month- due to bad weather and exams, but that is soon to change because 2011 is hopefully going to be the year.


Shadow is pretty good at groundtying, backing up and moving over- but; I want to refine this a lot more. 
So I've been developing a rather large 'shaping plan' which is going to work towards our main goal- ( it sounds so silly to some, but to me and Shadow- it's huge). 


Walk, Halt, and steer round the school 


So; that is our main goal- the paper consists of lots of sticky notes and arrows! 
I've found that in my life; In general; I'm a really disorganised person- there appears to be no structure- I can mentally link things together; but my head is so unorganised, that I like to write things down- even then, there is no apparent structure to it. 


I am adamant to not follow that trait though; in Shadow's training regime. We've spent the past few months really just having fun- playing games with the clicker, working it all out and just beginning to appreciate the power of clicker- we've had some successful rides this year- out on the roads, but at home; he is not sure on what is asked of him- I think partly he's not used to working on grass; he sees the horses in the field and the roads are a lot more interesting for his inquisitive mind! 




I won't bore you with all my shaping plans- but we're going back from the beginning- the key to having a nice to ride horse, is having good foundations and I want to be extra diligent and ensure I've not missed anything out! So; it's back to the beginning for me; I want to refresh things he's pretty good at, so he can become great at it!! The following are things I'm planning on teaching, in this order ( structure !!!) and I have shaping plans for the all ( but I will be here ALL day, and I really must be doing some coursework and revision too...)

1. Lowering Head on cue ( this will be useful when bridling/ and in-hand work!)
2. Stand still on voice command
3. Back up to voice/light pressure of rein
4. Move over to light touch of side
5. Walk forward to touch of whip on his side/voice
6. Stand still at the mounting block
7. Stand still when I mount
8. Stand still when I'm on
9. Walk on when asked

This is the first few steps we're going to take- this will get us in the school and hopefully help us get round. I was given a few exercises to try with him in the school by a friend; who successfully has worked with her youngster with the clicker! 

I must go, as much as I'd like to stay!

Enjoy;

Amy xxx