Monday, November 24, 2008

Watching a skilled trainer with Cowboy

Today, I watched Kime Conkright, a new 2-star Parelli instructor, play with Jen's horse Cowboy. Jen wanted an evaluation of her horse as she's trying to sell him and she's seeking leads as well as insight into the horse. He's developed quite a defensive edge and it makes him a little dangerous.

Jen has tried to take a step back and rebuild him by playing with L1. That's helped him settle down and feel less attacked. Kime helped him realize that running away is not the answer. I loved watching her play with him. It was good for me to see that I'm not far off in how I've handled him and that I also have a long way to go to get more effective.

He broke away from her a couple times, but the other times he tried, she held fast and he stopped using that as a trick. He seemed to finally start to figure he could get along with her after about an hour. It was need to see him change and made me appreciate him even more than I already do.

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