Clipping Juliet

Test and Review Day - June 30, 2009

Having been away for a couple of weeks, I will return today to spend a little time with Juliet. She no doubt will be rusty on many of the things which she has been taught, but it is a good way to find out what she really does own. I will review her confidence in forward motion, her stopping by body language, her shoulder yielding on an inside turn, and see if she can do anything with turning on the outside haunch. Then I will repeat the process and see how much she remembers on the off side. After playing with her for a bit longer, I will reevaluate and find out what the next step of training should be. Just as Juliet does not even know that I will show up or expect that I will test her, so too none of us know what a day will bring forth. God reserves the right to enter into our lives on any given day, not to embarrass us by failure, but to glorify Himself by that which has been truly learned. So too, I know that Juliet will please me because of what she will display which will provide another opportunity for greater investment of myself.

Juliet's Second S.O.T.M. - May 2nd

Now that I am home for a spell, I have a chance to go back and fill in the gaps on Juliet’s trailer loading experiences. Because she is small, and near the front of her trailer, I could easily turn her around to unload her. But there will soon come a time where that will not be possible, so I need to teach her how to back out of a trailer. To do so, I went back to my foundational training and groundwork, teaching a horse to lead from the hip, be soft at the shoulder, and to not run ahead of the trainer. Now I had the opportunity to work her on a 4x4 platform, where she could learn to step up, over, and back off of the platform. We had just enough time for Juliet to learn to successfully back off the platform. I will continue to work her with this little platform, until she cannot only back off of the platform, but until she can back onto it and then back off of it, at which point I will return to the trailer. This is one more bite-sized step in Juliet’s training. Remember, it takes a small fork to eat an elephant.

Arrival in PA

Though I had traveled from French Camp, MS to Wilmore, KY on May 2^nd, and once again from Wilmore, KY to Spring Creek, PA, on May 3^rd, Juliet had not yet conquered the fear of stepping down with her back feet. I was still turning around and letting her unload and then stepping up with her front feet. Was I losing the battle? You cannot lose a battle you do not fight. Therefore, I will wait until a better day when at the Ranch, I can take her to a small 4x4 platform and build her confidence in stepping back off of a six inch platform before I begin to build the pattern as a standard in trailer unloading. No doubt this will be part of my next Sermon on the Mount on May 10^th. 

Training - April 30th

Training today amounted to little more than catching her in the stall, loading her in the trailer, and traveling from Big Sandy, TX to French Camp, MS. However, I had not yet taught her to step down backward from a trailer to unload. She was very much afraid and bulled up on me. Though I could push her to get one or other of the hind feet out, she immediately sprang back up in the trailer. Rather than fight with her, because I had room enough to turn around, I did so, and let her jump off the trailer. However, I immediately took the cue stick, even after eight or nine hours in the trailer, and required her to step back in with only her front feet. After successfully loading the front two feet and stepping back out, I returned her to her stall. Though this was not my goal in total, it was a successful step from which we both could take confidence. 

Juliet’s First Public Debut - April 29th

I had been on the road for two weeks and had left Juliet behind. I left her in a round pen and while she was reluctant to catch, she responded immediately when I threw a loop over her neck. At least this training session was off to a better start. Since I live and train in public life all the time, I was planning to use Juliet for a Sermon on the Mount in Big Sandy, TX. Though she had loaded and traveled, there was still much she needed to learn. Today I would begin to teach her to respond to a cue stick directed toward her hip. Though she was fearful and reactionary to tarps, our goal was to get her to walk across a tarp. She reacted a little bit to the “ask, tell, command” approach to her hip, but within a few minutes responded well. We crossed the plywood several times, and though she was hesitant to cross the tarp-covered plywood, she did so hesitantly but successfully two times. The third time because it was new, she slipped on it and fell. GRRR. Just what we hope doesn’t happen. Now she had a just cause to be afraid of the big blue tarp. (There is always a danger in using a new tarp because they are extra slippery. We failed to put sand between the plywood and the tarp and on top of the tarp.) Rather than fight with her with the plywood and tarp, I changed my lesson plan. So now I simply held the tarp bunched up in one hand while holding her with the other. Within a few minutes, I was able to rub her with the tarp. It was a good win-win for both of us and time to quit. On the way out, I ponied her briefly with Romeo. 

Update on Juliet - 4/14/09

Yesterday was a bit disappointing with Juliet. I had been away for a week and I had left her on the outside in a round pen next to another horse. While she was anxious to be visited, she was reserved to make up to me and uneasy to rub or halter. I spent about a half hour just getting to the place where I could scratch her rub on her. When I went to put the halter on her, she startled and pulled away. I begged with her a little bit more but was short on time, so I turned her out for two weeks with the gelding that had been next to her. She was happy to run and play. I will return from the trip in two weeks and pick up where we left off. Soon I will take her to Pennsylvania where I will have a bit more time to work with her on a regular basis.

Our method of training to this point was to put the pressure on her hip with my eyes and even wave my arms until she moved away and then kiss to her until she turned both eyes and began to look my direction. As soon as she did, I walked away, only to find her be drawn and follow me. After several times of practicing this, she initiated the response every time I kissed.

-Lew Sterrett