Lyle and the "Zig Zag" Pen

Dear Reader,

Lyle and I continue to work together. Today I was very tired and weak because of my chronic encephalitis. Yet even so, Lyle did well for me. I caught him, wiped off some of the dust, picked out his hooves and got on! No ground work except to ask him to stand for a few minutes on his "security blanket" p;atform! That was all.

Lye and I rode in his "zig-zag" pen. He had been badly abused in a round pen. For that reason, I had to come up with a different kind of pen. A pen with zig zag sides was a reasonalble solution.

I got on using Tom Dorrance's method of mounting from a fence and asking Lyle to move towards me based on pressuse that I applied by reaching over his body. This is because Lyle used to flee away as he was being mounted in the traditional way. But the way that Mr. Dorrance suggested has worked very well for Lyle. Lyle allowed me to mount him easily and safely from the fence.

After mounting, Lyle obeyed my rein cues very well. There were several times when I had to discipline him for trying to sieze the bit. He accepted my discipline very kindly and very sweetly. But here is what is so interesting about giving proper discipline to a horse. They accept that discipline when there is no difference between a cue, a correction or the offering of comfort. (There is really something to think about here.)

Please enjoy the pictures. I attached them in reverse order. But even so I hpe that they make sence. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Penny Johnson

Kootenai Curly Horses

Bonners Ferry, Idho