Let me be clear. Even a bad day with Storm isn't "bad" like some! He's just been pretty good from the very start, and aside from the problems one would naturally expect from a nine year old that's just being introduced to having a real job, he's been super easy so far.
That doesn't mean he's perfect! And the best thing is, Storm's no poker player. When he thinks life has become unfair, he just plain has a temper tantrum. Nothing personal, but he's going to "get pissy". So far, my most frequent thing to say to Storm is "don't get your knickers in a twist".
This seems to happen when Storm doesn't get his own way...just like a spoiled child being told that they can't go play til their assignments are done. Wah,wah, wah. Much drama insues. Much bewilderment as well when I'm just not particularly impressed. Much thinking about what to do next.
The nicest thing about Storm, (among many nice things) is that he LOVES being told he's done something right. Something cool. Something amazing. Like standing still in the long lines while facing the barn when he thinks that the other horses might be thinking about dinner. That's a big one for him! But, hmmmm, getting neck scratches and being a rock star, is pretty cool too and we haven't let anybody steal his dinner yet.
So, we're making progress! For whatever reason, Tuesday, he couldn't make a mistake! Wednesday was almost as good and today was not bad at all. The best part about today, was that he started to "go bad" and decide that he didn't want to play my games any more. BUT...he thought better of it, got his "mojo" back and finished up like a star!
Below are just a few pictures of jus 2 of Storms sessions. This session was actually August 30th! The next couple of weeks promise to be prime photo taking weather here, so more to come!
Below, 3 pictures showing Storms first "step ups" with Mike...left side first.
What a champ!
Now, repeat on the other side...right
Back to the left side, and Mike is cuing Storm to take a couple of steps with the hind legs over to the right...just to get a feel of what he might be like when the feet start to move. Storm really preferred to just stand here...not an over reactive type...Mike just kept encouraging him and Storm finally took a couple of perfect little steps over. Which, for us, is plenty. We are in no hurry here!
After a couple of more steps while perched on the left and then right side (and breaking down how this "perchy thing" is done would be a great blog post in and of itself!)...ta dah!
What now??? More long lining for a session or two, then we'll repeat and add in the walk!