What a remarkable job Kaya is doing with this little feisty pony! The growth in Kaya’s horsemanship and dedication to Lacey this winter was inspiring. All the hard work shows in how well they did in the clinic this past weekend. Kaya’s enthusiasm and commitment to the horsemanship has made her a wonderful addition to our rider program. Lacey had a great learning clinic and the changes were very evident in her behavior and attitude. Here is what Kaya had to say about working with Lacey:
This was a great clinic for Lacey! I am super proud of how far we’ve come this winter and we were able to get some serious changes this weekend! As is usual, Lacey was lacking life, making pretty much everything except stopping difficult. We recently had some incidents outside the arena of sudden explosions of life generated by outside stimulus, one of which left me on the ground, and when we asked Joel about these, his solution was to find life in the arena so we can get used to it and it will become less of an explosion outside.
I logged this information away and continued to try to inspire energy and forward motion in Lacey. Joel showed me a way to move my leg that could be more effective, and it definitely was! Lacey’s hind quarters and front quarters motions were much more lively after this. And, fortunately, this continued through the rest of the weekend!
Lacey and I did have a moment on Saturday that made me nervous. Her energy felt very similar to the day when I came off, so I rode into the center and dismounted. I told Joel of this feeling and he equated it to PTSD. He got on Lacey and was able to use the life that had made me nervous and showed me that, even though she had life, she wasn’t troubled like she had been before. I was still a bit nervous but conquered my fears a bit and finished the day on a good note. On Sunday, Lacey started to show a similar life and, instead of letting my nerves take over, I was able to help her use it in a positive way. I’m so glad we had this moment to help me conquer my fear! I’m excited to keep trying to fight both my anxiety and Lacey’s dullness. We’ll both be so much better for it!
