Hello again!!

A big hello again from me and Star! Apologies for our absence for a bit but we're in the midst of major electrical works on the overhead pylons which cross part of our field. For the past two months the electric board have been undergrounding the power supply to the house, which basically meant holes appearing everywhere, major mud and disruption. Now we are having scaffolding erected over the track before the line work commences next month. I have to say I'm very pleased with how Star has been handling all this. There's been lots of different people about, noise, large vehicles, piles of stuff appearing all over the place, and for a horse that used to be disrupted by any minor change in her environment she's not even batted an eyelid. In fact she's had the best winter she's ever had and seems happier, calmer and more confident than ever.

The big breakthrough we've had is that she's enjoying contact and cuddles now. I have reinforced this a lot over the winter as this was when I had the most problems touching her, dare I say she's starting to enjoy it just a little bit now!

We're just getting back into training and my plans over the next couple of months are:
-train a retrieve and get her to put a ball in her bucket
-work on a send away. I need to do this as she now sticks to me like glue, so I'm using a bottle as a target on a long stick to move her forward of me on her own
-train her to ring a ships bell. I don't know if this is a good idea as she might be ringing for field service whenever she wants!
-work on getting her to hold her feet up on her own and use a foot stand. Barefoot trimming takes a while longer and she can get a bit fidgety so I just need some duration in this kind of exercise.
-train her to trot alongside me without getting too excited.

So hopefully we'll be able to share our progress again providing the electric board keep the power connected!