June 24, 2013 (Monday)
It has become clear that Daisy knows she weighs a whole lot more than any human does, and when takes a notion to do something other than what I want her to do, she knows that she's holding "all the cards" as they say. I made her fuzzy pieces to fit over the noseband and crown piece of her nylon web halter. So when she went one way and I pulled the other way, guess who won those battles!
It was becoming clear that the Right Brain Introverts I'd known and loved had very little in common with Daisy. Now I was starting to understand why a natural horsemanship rope halter made such good sense.
Okay, it would have been very nice to have been able to have purchased a Parelli rope halter, carrot stick and so on, but the budget at this point in time cannot take such a hit. So I had to get creative.
Fortunately, there are many sites online which show you how to make different kinds of fiadors (fancy knots). I found one that was easier than the others, purchased some purple and white nylon rope and made a purple rope halter with white trim on the noseband and crown piece.
I made a lightweight longe line from more nylon rope and a swivel snap.
The other necessary item was a lead rope longer than the six footer I had been using. Daisy found it child's play to jerk that shortish rope out of my hands. A half inch in diameter soft nylon rope was the answer. It's about 15 feet long, so if she is dancing around, I've got more rope before I lose her.
Finding a substitute for the carrot stick has remained a problem. I tried a woode dowel with wrapped ends, with misgivings, and sure enough, it is not a good idea, as it can snap too easily and become a spear, is not strong enough, nor sufficiently flexible. Drat!
It took a bit of playing with the halter's knots before the halter was balanced, even, and fit her. This evening it fit well, and she went into the round pen to try the new halter and longe line with swivel snap.
Well, well! Daisy can feel the pressure of this halter and she is responding well to it. She also likes the very light weight nylon "longe line" much better than the traditional 25' nylon strap. The nylon line doesn't pull on her head at all. Daisy seemed more confident as she went around and around me, and she watched me out of the corner of her eye all the time.
I'm still rewarding specific responses with horse treats, which she is very fond of. I think the real pay off for her isn't the good taste of the treats, but the tangible assurance that she did something successfully; proof positive that she is understanding human communication with her.
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