Josie and I Go For a Trail Walk

So, WHS and Josie and I went for a walk down the 'new woods road' today.

 It was fun, in a challenging kind of way, in that I haven't felt so like a small child attached to a determined pony in forty years!

  Josie was pretty good, over all, we just need to work on manners a little.  I have a real dislike of being dragged around and used to have my horses under chain shank until whenever they learned to be polite. (before I learned about rope halters)  This doesn't mean I actually used the chain, though it was over their nose, it just means we  both knew it was there and if they forgot they'd get a quick reminder until such times as they became pretty unfailingly polite. Now, Willow's rope halter doesn't fit Josie, and I no longer own a chain shank so I made shift by using a nylon hay string under a regular nylon halter, running it through the rings and behind her ears, and back down under her chin, and snapping the  cotton shank to it.

 Mostly, Josie just wanted to  bull along past me, and I spent a lot of time working on the word "slowly" accompanied by sharp enough tugs to get her attention.  Still, she made me really work at it, using most of my arm strength to stop her.  She also tried quite a few times to just do a u-ey and head for home, trying to get her way by pulling straight away from me, after spinning me 180 degrees.  I had pretty good success controlling that move by stepping into her and digging my elbow into her little ribs to turn her back toward me, where I had enough leverage to stop her. 

In my head I did see myself possibly waterskiing along  behind her, though it never actually happened, and I thanked my stars the ground was dry!  So after turning her back toward me, I administered a small but stinging slap to her side as I asked her to work around me a time or two.  I didn't want to over-discipline her,  but I needed her to understand quickly that this dangerous move was definitely not allowed.  I can flex a bit on leading at this point.  Eventually I want a horse to lead  with his head by my side, not passing me with it,  but to begin with I'll settle for a small reduction in speed at my insistence.   
All in all it was a good, if exhausting walk, although I couldn't shake the image of a fat, hairy little Thelwell pony dragging around a small plump Thelwell child!