Still working on this lying down thing!
I reckon both horses have a good idea what I’m looking for at this stage. My cue is to crouch down near ground level, and once I see they’re getting less serious about digging and more serious about lying down, I say the word “Couchez.” To date I still wait for the horses to give an indication that they’re thinking about rolling before I ask. Flurry is usually quicker to respond than Aero, or maybe he just likes rolling more! I’m probably close on a 100% success rate with Flurry and maybe 85-90% with Aero – so long as I ask at the right time.
This was Aero last week. This week I have mostly been spending time in the bathroom, with a nasty dose of gastroenteritis. Next week I intend to be back to normal.
Continuing issues, questions, general ponderings….
How do I get to the next step, where I can ask before the horse is thinking about it?
How do I reduce the amount of rolling around so that they come to learn that it’s about the lying down and not about the rolling?
How do I cut down on the digging? I don’t think Alexandrine wants all these holes in her arena!
How do I get them to stay down, because I sure as hell can’t force them to stay down….
Tails From Provence 