Side-passing.... the adventure!

My first lesson was on a Saturday and my next one was scheduled for the following Sunday. By the next Saturday, I still hadn't ridden to practice anything we had worked on. My farrier was coming to I decided that I would only do ground work while I waited for him to show up because I didn't want him to get there and then have to wait while I untacked.

I lunged her for a bit doing some "natural horsemanship" techniques... alot of directional changes, transitioning between all three gaits, sending her between me and a scary object (a nippy austrailian shepherd), etc. Then I decided it was time we learned something new. It was no coincidence that I had watched Clinton Anderson on RFD-TV the day before as he was demonstrating teaching a horse to side-pass. I had paid close attention and was really to follow his instructions properly.

I brought her up so that she was right up against and facing the fence. Then I used my hands to move her front end over, then I used the stick to ask her to move her back end over. Now, this didn't exactly come out of nowhere! We've done alot of yeilding of the hind quarters with the stick and she does it beautifully. But, this time she kept sitting down on her haunches and popping her front end up. The more pressure I put on with the stick, the deeper she'd sit. Well, now I'm scratching my head thinking, "Why is she acting stupid?" and she's staring at me like, "I'm trying! Stop hitting me!" Then it hits me! She's gonna jump this fence! Well, she was gonna try... but she is too close and the fence is too tall and I've got her on a short lead so it's gonna be a disaster!

So, I take the coward's way out. I back her off the fence and I find an actual WALL that she couldn't jump if she had wings. Then, instead of giving her indirect pressure by waving the stick, I laid the stick against her girth-line and the lead rope on her neck like a rein and clucked to her. That heffer side passed down that wall like she'd been doing it her whole life! Not exactly Clinton's method... but I've been a scientist long enough to know if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I did, however, take Clinton's advice to stop when you feel like you want to do more. So, I ended right there on a good note (I did do both sides though).