Progress!

Stella finally trotted with me! I have been trying and trying to get her to do someone other than walk (or dance and try to bolt), but no matter how fast I have gone, she always just walks. Sometimes she walks really fast, but she hasn't trotted with me before.

The speed at which Stella normally leads. Yes, I know, I'm waddling, but the dirt in the arena is REALLY thick and loose! If I take her to the beach we should both be fine on the soft sand.

We did not get any video of her trotting, but I am sure we will get it again before long. True, I only got her to do it once so far, and since then we have been back to me trotting and her walking, but it should be easier to get her to do it the second time now that she knows that trotting is what I want her to do.

Normal leading, nice and relaxed, but slow and steady.

This week Stella has also been learning "Gee" and "Haw" for "turn right" and "turn left." She is already pretty good at it, and if she is in a good mood she responds to the voice command without me having to pull or push on her at all.

Stella in search of a good place to roll.

I have also learned that if there is not hay in Stella's bin when I take her out, she is going to be distracted by weeds and a bit of a brat. She is not at all bad, but if she is hungry (meaning she was not actively eating within the past half hour or so) she gets stubborn and tries to insist on going to the nearest patch of weeds to eat. She has gotten more insistent this week about trying to get her own way. This is not working for her, but I fear my little filly is beginning to enter her teenage you-can't-tell-me-what-to-do phase. If this is as bad as it gets, I'm fine with that, because even when she is being a brat she is not aggressive or purposefully mean.

"You called? Whatcha want?"

The look she gives in this picture is the most I have gotten from her in responding to me whistling. If she is not trying to eat weeds through the arena fence she might stop and look at me. I haven't gotten her to come to me yet. In a normal horse I would be tempted to have a treat in my pocket to reward (and bribe) her for coming to me. I have read that Mustangs shouldn't get treats because their digestive systems aren't set up to handle it, so her reward for good behavior has been getting scratched and pet. Not that she complains, since she stretches her neck out and makes happy faces when she gets scratched most anywhere at all. Besides, it is good that Stella views contact with and love from her people as her reward, not treats and bribes.