I have been struggling with a very herd bound RBE. She has been getting herself so worked up it feels like our relationship is non-existent. Today I did the circle game last since that is our hardest game when she wants to go fast unconfidently. Everything checked out, I was confident it was going to be good - and I was on my 45ft. I started her on a small circle to start and it was almost an immediate blow up. Then any little noise made her jumpy and sprinting forward (I haven't experienced this with her until today). Keeping myself calm and collected is always the hardest thing. Because I take it as a reflection on myself and since I am natural unconfident - that makes it harder for me to stay a confident leader. I was able to calm her down using touch it and approach and retreat. I saddled her and started the warm up in our indoor arena since there is less distractions. This is where the creativity comes in - I had a hula hoop that was given to me (thanks Mrs. Mary) so I wanted to try it riding around her neck like a savvy string and see if it could help me with my shoulder placement. It didn't really help too much so I was able to use it as a point to point. I held it with my arm out next to her while I was riding and kept my focus on the hula hoop and until she touched it with her nose I kept it there and kept my pressure there. Trying to help her understand 'put your nose where my focus is hoping the next and feet will follow' giving her a reason to focus with me and making it a game. I was (and still am) so proud of myself for coming up with this little game! I was also able to backup into a gate so that Annabelle's but was actually pushing the gate open - HUGE trust improvement especially with gates! When I was done riding and let her back out with her friends she opened the gate with her nose and closed it! It was so adorable :) here's the video
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