Day 8- I learned when to stop

Tonight I didn't get to work the mare until around 9:30 pm. I was sleepy and a little fuzzy in my thinking. I left her unsaddled and just lunged left and right at the walk, with some direction changes. Josh gave me a little feedback on my direction changing methods, which I was thankful for. He told me to get rid of the stick and just use my body, and he was right- it gave her clearer signals and gave me less to worry about in my hands. She really started watching my body language tonight, particularly my feet. Perhaps this is because horses may watch other horses' feet closely.

Speaking of other horses , one thing that I've been pretty happy with is how respectful this mare is of my space. At the Perkins ranch, they don't handle their horses much. They pull them out of the pasture as yearlings to halter-break them, and then put them back out to pasture, only handling enough to deworm and vaccinate them. This mare has been in a herd for four years, and I am appreciative of what healthy respect habits she has learned from the other horses in her herd. It's quite a bit different than Tex was. He was more of a spoiled pet when I got him at two years old, and it took a while to get him OFF of me.

Anyway, back to lunging. I was lunging along at a walk, in the (mostly) dark, asking her to change directions here and there, and she did it well. So, I added something- I asked her to trot and then change directions at the trot. It was a little soon for that, so I took it back down to the walk. Well, I got bored with that, so I kissed twice to ask her to come back up into the trot, holding my sending arm high. Then, I dropped my arm down and said "easy" to ask her to slow down. She did it nearly immediately, two or three times (which was amazing).

THIS IS WHEN I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED!
but no....

I let my fuzzy brain decide to do it both directions and "really solidify it." Well, in the next ten minutes I'm pretty sure both of us got nothing but more confused. It was around 9:45 by this time. I couldn't think clearly, I wasn't cueing correctly, and she was trying her hardest to please me but she just couldn't figure out what I wanted, and by then, neither could I. Josh then gently stepped in and helped me find a stopping place- I brought her back down to the walk, asked for one direction change, which she did well, and then left it at that.

I'm proud of myself for not getting totally frustrated and giving up, nor blaming my horse. It wasn't her fault, and really, I learned the lessons tonight. I hope I don't make too many of these mistakes. I'm also thankful to have a good assistant helping me stay on track- one who has gotten gentler and more encouraging with his instructions over the past few years.