Two days ago I had an instinct to go and play with the horses in the arena with the big ball. While doing that I found that I could ask Querida to walk forward from behind and allow the ball to roll into her back legs softly and stay there until she walked on. I had struggled with how to ask her to walk forward from behind and this has become the solution.
It is soft. She does not fear the ball in anyway. And if she kicks it she doesn’t hurt anybody or herself. She got what it was all about very quickly, and we were both rewarded.
After a first few seconds of fun with the ball and Timmy, the video shows our first serious go at learning whether this would work as a teaching aid, and the results. From this session I have figured out a fix for keeping the reins off the ground which we will try in our next session.
I often struggle between knowing that the ponies being exercised would be really good for them from the perspective of maintaining weight and health in spring and autumn when the grasses can give them issues, and actually ‘imposing’ a form of exercise on them. I am hoping that I have now found a first step to something here.
