The Belle Chronicles: Needles

So here's how it went: Mike put a toothpick on his index finger and than wrapped it in masking tape so it would stay on. Then he proceeded to do a lot of ground work with Belle-yielding to pressure, circles, walk and halt using just a little rope pressure. Every now and then he'd poke her neck (MAD! I"M SO MAD!) and then immediately stroke her neck. At first she was really, really bad. Same as she is with Drs. Ben and Mark. Rearing, pulling, even snapping her filly teeth. Then we did some other things (trailer loading--a star), practicing leading right next to the shoulder and following the steps, and then he'd poke her again. If she didn't really react, he'd stroke her and tell her how great she was, but if she did, he'd just keep circling her or walking with her. In short, we worked on the pressure-release model of horse training-if she didn't react to the toothpick, we stopped and rested. If she did, we kept working. This is not going to be a one-session fix, I'm afraid. We worked for 90 minutes, and made a modicum of improvement, but there is much more to do. I'll practice again tomorrow, and Sunday, and Mike is coming back Tuesday for a western saddling session, along with more poking.