What a Difference a Day... Er, a Month Makes!

I know, it's been a while.

The last you heard about Madge was that she'd pulled away twice. Frustrated but determined to do what's best for our future, I put her in training the next day.

Needless to say, my trainer was ecstatic to begin working with Madge. On the first day of training, she lunged my girl near the barn. Her goal was to encourage Madge to attempt an escape so that she would learn that she could be controlled by humans. It was a success. Though she attempted to high-tail it to the barn, she was easily controlled and quickly learned the ropes. Pun intended!

My trainer worked with my girl frequently during the month. Madge got workouts on the lunge line and alongside the golf cart. It wasn't long before my trainer started working her with the long lines.

Travis and I headed out to the barn on her last day of training. I was so excited to long line Madge myself for the first time. The best part? Before the end of her lesson, my trainer and Emily fully hitched Madge to a cart! With Emily on the lines (walking behind the empty cart) and my trainer at Madge's head, they drove my girl for about ten minutes while I watched with a grin.

It's been more than a month since Madge's training ended, and I've been lunging her at the walk and trot during my weekly lessons. Once I get better at lunging, I'll start long lining her so she's ready to be hitched for cart work next spring when she's two. I'm really happy with the skills she learned during training. While she's still got spunk, she hasn't tried to escape once. *Knock on wood*

My trainer asked me to wait to canter Madge until we had use of a round pen. She didn't want Madge to get too excited and break away from me on the first attempts. This past weekend, I finally had access to a round pen in the warm-up ring at the Mule and Donkey show. I spent three days chasing her around the pen, giving the canter cue--to no avail. She was happy to canter on her own accord, but not on command. Finally, on the fourth day, Madge cantered on cue! She picked up the canter a few times on each side. Needless to say, I went home satisfied.

Photo: Long lining Madge for the first time. Well, my first time, that is!