Playing for Janeen!

Well Janeen, I had planned on taking you for a ride around the place today but the majority of our snow has melted and it was pretty chilly this morning! Everything was a rough and frozen mess so we just stayed in the paddock and worked on some ground games. Last winter I started doing a little bit of trick training with Linus and then we kind of drifted away from it with other training things. 

I got out my book again the other day that has some ideas and techniques in it and today put them to practice with Linus! He did awesome! I am not sure if it is because he is a year older but he grasped things quicker this time around. 

I think he was having some sympathy pains for Janeen. Do you like his "cast" Janeen? 

Ouch, ouch, Oh what a time of year to have a broken "wrist"....at least I don't have to shovel!

Here Linus, hold my gloves for me....good way of keeping them warm too! He kept them there for the entire length of our session : )

I think Allie wanted to hold my gloves....

In these pictures, Linus is doing a "stay" trick. We did this last year too and he did better with this one than he did with our next trick...It was nice to see that he remembered the gestures. It is impressive when they do this because he knows I have treats in my pockets. I should mention the first lesson in my book is to not let you horse near your pockets. To teach him that even though he knows you have them he must not search you for them! You start by setting him square and tell him "whoa" then proceed to back away. You can use your hands up, palms out, to show him to whoa or whatever command your horse already knows for stop. I had to remind him a few times and back him up to our starting point. Then he gave a cheeky sigh and stayed. Like he was saying "oh fine, I remember this. I will appease you...but don't forget my treat"

Linus is coming forward here when I "kissed/clucked" (our forward signal) and he got his reward!

Then on to our next trick, which he somewhat did last year but really nailed it today! Linus bowed for a treat! It was so much fun and I was laughing and praising him. The book suggests carrots because when the horse has his head between his forelegs he can't see your hands but I managed it just fine with apple chunks. You start by saying "bow" and feeding a treat between the forelegs. Then gradually the horse catches on that "bow" means my head has to go there for the treat and he should start putting his head between his legs before your hand goes there! And that's exactly what Linus did today! He did WAY better than when we tried it last year. It was so much fun.

Very hard to get a picture of this but if you look carefully his nose is between his forelegs. It was deeper than this but this was the best I could do on my own! I am going to try to get it on video. 

I think he was bowing to Janeen and saying "Thank you for all of the encouragement and kind words you always give to us"

It sure does stink that you're temporarily laid up Janeen. I hope you heal fast. I have broken each arm twice and I know how frustrating it is! But hang in there and keep smiling! I think it is so fantastic and really shows your awesome character that even with a cast on you have still been commenting on our posts!

Take care of yourself and we'll see you back on your horses in no time!

Donna & Linus

Lunenburg, ON