Confounded Fourth Day

Whisper had her third session with trainer, Erin Beach. Her leg is still a little sore when handled (like a bruise) but the vet assured us she had no trouble working or carrying a rider at this stage.

There is a trainer of Spanish horses, Klaus Hempflig, who specifically cites the "confounded fourth day", or as he elaborates, "whatever day it is that the horse fails to progress, seems to fall completely backwards in training, and frustrates his trainer to no end".

It's common in working with dogs and other animals too, a sort of learning curve where progress is seen, then suddenly lost as the brain imprints it to come back again at a later time. Whisper found that day under saddle today. Nothing terrible, just no visible progress forward towards change. Completely normal, but also completely frustrating.

I did a little ground driving with her first to warm her up. I have never used ground driving before and I am hooked. I can feel her mouth and even her impulsion through my hands. Erin rode her with complete consistency and gave her chances to earn what she wanted. Whisper's head simply was not in the game today. Period. There was nothing to do to that would change her today.

It's interesting to watch someone else ride her, as a bystander it almost looks like the rider is all in Whisper's mouth, pulling, trying to turn. In reality, that's all Whisper. She does all the head throwing, cocking, craning, and jerking by herself. Maybe it's pure entertainment value to her, who knows.

Quote of the day: God made little girls so His ponies would be taken care of.