Join Up

[Emo]

Seb unlatched the gate for the round pen door and swung it open, keeping a calming hand on the pony’s neck. So far, so good. She allowed Hope inside before closing it, locking it, and setting the equine free. Flicking the rope at her she sent the mare away at a trot to warm up. ”You need three signs. First, she’s paying attention when she brings her inside ear towards you. Second, she stretches out her neck. And almost instantly, third, she starts to ‘chew’ on the air. Until then, she cannot stop. I’m gonna need you to turn her every few laps, maybe every two or three. Once she gives you the first sign stop turning her.” Looking up toward the mare she saw that she had stopped and was looking away. Flicking the rope at her the pony snorted and started at the canter, giving a few agitated bucks along the way. ”When she gives the third sign you need to turn away from her, let her stop. When she comes into you walk a few steps away, if she follows reward her with praise and kind words. If she doesn’t follow, or if she doesn’t come into you within a few seconds send her around again and check for signs.” Seb flicked the rope again, putting her back into the canter, before looping up the rope and standing calmly in the middle, putting Hope beside her.

[DJ]

Hope calmly followed the mare with her eyes and twisting her body to face her.

She watched Seb's movements and actions to the mare, and the mare's reactions. She studied them both trying to take notes in her mind.

She listened and nodded, understanding Seb's words of training as she taught Hope.

OOC:: Wow that sucks. XD -pokes post- Basically, Hope's watching and listening. XD Not much to write about.

[Emo]

Seb watched the mare canter around. She wasn’t going to trust them for a while. After three laps Seb turned the mare in the opposite direction. It continued like this for over twenty minutes before the first sign came. Seb relaxed her body and watched the mare carefully. The second sign came about five minutes after. Stretching out her neck she began to gnaw on air and flicking her ear. Seb turned away, glancing a look at Hope to see if she had done the same thing. ”Once she comes up to us I need you to walk away and I’ll stay here. If she follows you turn to stroke her. If she stays with me I’ll walk away and she has to choose. It’s a hard choice for a horse but they usually pick quickly.”

Seb went silent as the pony walked up them, touching her shoulder softly with her nose. Seb felt the touch, but she was waiting o Hope to see which one of them the pony trusted the most.

[DJ]

Hope turned the same time Seb did, not wanting to mess up this session. After hearing the pony's hoof beats walking slowly toward them in the sand, Hope walked away slowly, following Seb's instructions.

Hope heard the mare fairly close to her and turned to pat her, but saw she seemed more interested in Seb. Hope was discouraged and slightly disapointed the pony hasn't come to her, but still glad Willow had taken an interest.

Her buckskined body was sticky and dark with sweat patches from cantering around for so long, but she sniffed Seb with interest, as Hope still took mental notes of each's actions.

[Emo]

Seb read the vibes off the bodies around her. Hope’’s discouragement and Willow’s sudden interest. When Seb saw that Hope had turned around in an attempt to praise the pony she saw her face and walked away from the mare. Now given the choice to choose between each person Willow flicked her ears. Seb watched from the corner of her eye, waiting for the mares choice. As the hoof beats came closer to Seb she turned around abruptly and gave off a predator stance, scaring the mare away from her. Her skittish movements sent her back to Hope for comfort. A smile played itself across Seb’s face. ”Praise her Hope, she did very well.” Seb didn’t move from her spot. It hadn’t been so much the stance but the movement that had scared Willow. The stance was simply an enforcer of the fact that Seb was dangerous, or that’s what she wanted Willow to think.

[DJ]

Hope turned to the spooked pony and stroked her neck under her poofed mane. "Good girl," Hope felt encouraged by the pony's behavior.

She turned toward Seb, still focused on the pony. "Do I walk away or anything?"

She wasn't sure what to do next.

[Emo]

Seb smiled as Hope praised Willow. When her question arose Seb was quick to answer it. ”It’s up to you. If you’d like to give the join up a try by yourself I’ll sit on the railing.” Seb made her way to the fencing and climbed over it, setting herself on the top railing.

OOC//: Ewwwwww

[DJ]

"You can do it more than once in a row?"

Hope moved the pony out onto the rail, keeping her moving. She reversed her twice within the time. She waited for the signs and they came sooner than last time, probably about 10-15 minutes rather than over 20.

The pony's ear flicked into the center within the first 10 minutes, with the neck stretch and chewing coming later.

Hope turned away from the mare as Seb did last time, waiting for her to come up from behind her. She spun lightly on her heels to praise the pony when she came up behind her, nudging her on the back.

[Emo]

Seb almost laughed at Hopes question. ”You can do it as many times a day as the horse will allow you.” Watching her push Willow out to the rail Seb brought her legs up a peg so as not to spook the mare. The constant circles were starting to make her eyes do crazy things. It took her a few minutes after Hope had praised the pony to get her bearings. Being up so high didn’t help either. ”Better, much better. You should probably try to do this every day, or at least once a week if every day is too hard. I’ll do joins up with her as well, work with her ground manners and the jumping problem.” Jumping down from the railing, Seb walked over to the pair calmly, giving off a friendly vibe to Willow. Allowing her to sniff her hand Seb stroked the mares neck.

[DJ]

"Okay," Hope grinned. "Are there other exercises too?"

Hope continued stoking the pony who seemed much more friendly than when they had started the session.

"Oh! I also can't catch her in the paddock very well. I know people say if the horse wants to run away from you, make them run and chase them, but are you supposed to do that? I always take about half an hour finally getting her close enough to grab her forelock. I hate sneaking up, but I can't catch her in any other way." She twisted her mouth to the side, not sure what to do about it, hoping Seb had an idea.

[Emo]

”Play with your horse. Play tag. I know you don’t have a lot of time and it hurts the relationship but it can’t be helped. If you get out with your horse as much as you can she, or he, will respect you more and eventually you two will make a pattern. Say you go out to see your horse every day at five pm. He’ll be waiting for you at the gate every day. As for other arena exercises you can try Parelli. Ground work with Parelli is my favorite. I really don’t understand the riding work because it has no meaning in general. But go for trail rides, play games. If you ride bareback, like me, it gives the horse a sense of trust. There’s a lot of stuff you can do in the arena.”

Seb stopped talking, not wanting to go into one of her lecture modes. Hopes question made Seb think. Don’t chase her. If there’s something you absolutely don’t want to do it’s chasing the horse. Sit in the paddock until she gets curious and when she walks up to you give her a treat or a stroke. The first few times don’t take the halter with you. You can separate her into a very small arena and sit on a bucket or a stool. Take a book with you or paperwork. When she gets curious she’ll walk up to you. Don’t touch her until you feel her touch you first. When you finally get the chance to stroke her be slow, you don’t want to frighten her. Until that point don’t even look at her. Half an hour at max. If she doesn’t respond within that half hour try the next day and the next until she responds.”

Seb watched Hope stroke Willow. It was going to be hard for Hope, knowing how busy she was, to bond with the horse and gain her trust. It made her think of how Twilight had hated her when Seb had first gotten her.

[DJ]

Hope nodded, understanding. "Do you think she'll be ready by April 15th?" Hope asked, questioning the date, coming up in about a month.

"Her owner wants to have her daughter ride her for the first show of the season," Hope gritted her teeth, frustrated with the owner. "I have trouble talking to her because she's not a horse person. She just wants the pony ready for her daughter and she's 'paying me to train the pony'. It's truly annoying because she doesn't understand training takes time. And I can't get her to understand that."

She calmed down again, not wanting to give Willow bad vibes and upset her.

[Emo]

Seb gritted her teeth as she listened to Hope’s explanation. Horse owners, not Horse people. ”She might be, it depends on how frequently you can get out here. The daughter will have to work with her as well or she’ll just come to trust you and will refuse the jumps for the daughter. I can work with her as well when you don’t have time. Jumping isn’t a problem, neither is falling.” Seb smiled, remembering the times she had fallen off a spooked horse without a saddle. It was life, and it happened. She shook it off and got back on. ”I’d start with a saddle for the daughter, and work your way to a bareback pad. If she truly trusts her horse she won’t refuse. But if Willow doesn’t trust her rider she’ll refuse.”

Seb sighed. Parents these days. All they want to see is their children to win. They aren’t willing to watch them and see a bond between horse and rider, mainly because there is none. Push-button ponies, they make her sick. They have no spirit, no will to do anything outside the box.

[DJ]

"Alright," Hope sighed, "I can try to get her over to work with you." She twisted her lips again. "She's been training with other ponies because hers is in training. Gah. So her schedule is very busy." Hope rolled her eyes lightly, usually patient with clients, but this woman was crazily annoying.

"The mom is just crazy. And I have trouble talking to her calmly. She's a spoiled brat with the same type of daughter." Hope's face went flat and focused back to the attention craving pony.

[Emo]

Seb almost fell off the railing as she started laughing. This was going to be fun. Seb had no restrictions with telling her clients they needed to shape up or forget about their show season. Hope had a job and a reputation, Seb didn’t. ”No worries, she’ll get the training she needs with me if she even shows up. Willow here deserves an owner she can trust, and I plan on giving her one.” Seb rubbed her hands down the mare’s legs, feeling for heat. Wondering if she had any prior injuries Seb prodded the mare’s legs softly, checking for healed cracks or fractions. Turning to her back legs Seb narrowly avoided being kicked in the face. Standing up Seb brushed off and tried again. With gentle hands she slowly rubbed down until she reached Willow’s hock. Moving farther down she gently pulled the hoof off the ground and pulled lightly, flexing out the joints and muscles. ”She seems pretty sound, no prior injuries that I can tell of. She’ll need more exercising though, she’s stiff.”

Moving back to the front of the horse she pulled on each leg, flexing them out as well and testing Willow’s stiffness. Allowing her to set both legs back down Seb checked her spine and hips. Jumping up she rested her weight on Willow’s back, checking for cracking or popping. Hearing nothing she slid back down. ”She’s sound by my calculations, of course the mother might want a vets check for clarification if she had just gotten Willow. I don’t know the background so it’s hard to know if the parent has gotten a vet check for soundness.”