Horse-themed

• So yesterday I worked with Horse again for the first time in several months in the round pen, using a kind of "natural horsemanship" system I've been trained in. The attractive part is that the horse is completely free within the ring or area you're using (not on a long line) and he/she is not wearing a halster or anything else. The horse can therefore choose its response to what you're doing. And what you're doing: it's body language, asking the horse to change gait and/or direction. This video shows the general idea, although the woman in the video (not me!) is using a much larger area than usual. As you see, she's not shouting directions or using a whip; she's using body language to ask the horse to do different things. (The rope is to emphasize her arm movements, not to hit the horse with.) Anyway, I enjoy doing this and Horse is very good at it. She kind of exploded with fun/excitement at the beginning, since she's full of energy and hadn't done this for a while, but she finally settled down.
• She's been coughing some recently, probably some kind of dust allergy. The vet is going to check her tomorrow. Luckily money grows on trees....