Bonita - Week 5

Monday – Today was a simple, boring lunge session as planned.

Saturday – My left knee has been bothering me today, so I wasn’t up for a full lunging session. Instead, I gave Bonita some time tied in the indoor. Then I worked on her standing while being saddled. This was followed by some simple ground work, yielding, ground tying, etc. I have a flag, about three foot square. I brought that out and worked on some desensitizing with clicker rewards. Bonita was wide eyed, but stood well after a few tries. I flapped the flag on her neck, over the saddle and her rump. I had her walk with it on her, letting it fall off a few times. She was fine with that. It is always the anticipation of being touched that bothered her the most. Once the flag was touching her, she didn’t think that it was too bad. I’ll continue this until she’s really okay with the whole thing.

Sunday – I came to the conclusion that Bonita didn’t really need more boring lunging sessions. What she really needs is to trust me and get more of a bond going. I think that will help her in all other areas. I started on that yesterday. Today, I spent a long time grooming her slowly, working out as much loose, winter coat as possible. She’s not too crazy about being groomed. Lily and Vinnie enjoy vigorous grooming, so I’ve had to adjust my style with Bonita. I work more slowly and gently. She does have spots that she likes me working on, but is more sensitive to being curried or brushed hard and fast. I’ll continue to work slowly and thoroughly on her, as it’s fun to see the darker grulla coat starting to show!

Once saddled, we went to the indoor. I had watered it earlier, so the dust was somewhat controlled. I brought Vinnie in and tied him to give Bonita some companionship and reassurance. This was good for Vinnie too, as he took about 20 minutes before settling down to stand quietly. I’ll have to continue to include him in our sessions.

I worked with Bonita on backing in hand. She’s been pretty dull to my aids with this, so I wanted to clarify to her what I meant and sharpen her responses. We worked forward and back, until there was improvement and she consistently stayed out of my space. Then the flag/tarp came out with more repetition from yesterday, but no treats today. She was wide eyed again, but would lower her head when asked with some good sighs.

Next the cavesson with reins on the side rings went on. I practiced flexing her head to the side both ways with me standing on both sides. This has improved, with less foot movement. Then we moved on to the mounting block. I don’t want to get stuck on groundwork, so I’m starting to lay over the saddle. Today, she accepted my full weight from both sides. I pat her everywhere I can reach, focusing mostly on where my leg will fall. She only walked off a couple of times, but was fine with it the next time. I moved around and bounced a bit too, which she was fine with.

I’m going to hold off sitting on her, until I have a helper or two lined up. This was a good week for me, as I am resolved to continue to move forward with her. I guess I had a bit of a crisis of confidence last week. Riding Lily made me realize that I need to develop more of a bond with Bonita and win her trust. I had been holding back on that…

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