Training Bonnie!

Instructions

Bonnie is a young mare eager to impress, so while @potterheadbook is away she asked me to help train her! ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿ (Each paragraph is a slide) Please note while the ways I train her are typical, please do not use this as reference while training an irl horse. The info on how to train was found from Google. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 1-3 While Bonnie was nervous, with a little bit of time, she would relax and come towards you. After several days of little interaction, I began to get slowly closer to her, for the purpose of desensitization. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 4 I learned from an article I read that when horses smell their tack, they get more used to it and are less nervous when being tacked. So for the first few practices I let her smell her bridle for a couple of minutes before continuing. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 5-6 I slowly put her bridle on, and she felt nervous but I petted her, letting her know everything was okay and there was no reason to react. After this, I put on the rest of her tack gently. I made sure everything felt comfortable. The girth was the hardiest bit, because I could tell she was slightly more sensitive than other horses. After little bit after little bit, we managed to get it on. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 7 I patted her body and put some weight in the saddle to help her get used to wearing it. I wanted to make sure it would look snug, but comfortable. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 8-9 Once tacked, I lunged her around and around to get her used to having the weight of her tack on. Day by day, she seemed to get stronger and more confident that she could do it. I was very happy of her improvement, and was excited to finally ride her! ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 10 After quite awhile of training I thought she was ready! As normal I put some weight on the saddle, to get her again used to it. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 11. After several minutes of gently pushing pressure to her saddle, I fully got in it. She was a bit scared, but a few gentle pats calmed her down. Now I could feel that she was excited to try something new! ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 12. I rode her for quite awhile, mostly focusing on very limited exercises,like the serpentine and circles. It's not a good idea to let a horse wander around! I really overemphasized my movements and controls, so she could understand what I was trying to do. She seemed to understand and did very well! ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 13. After I finished riding, I quickly got on her halter to slowly untack. She was quite happy to get rid of the girth! She quickly ambled up the hill after to get back to her home! ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° 14-15Once I got back, I gave her more pets just to practice more! She was such a good girl and I enjoyed riding her a lot! She has made so much improvement In a pretty short time! She will be an amazing horse! I gave her a mint, which she very happily crunched on. ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿✿°•∘ɷ∘•°✿ … ✿° Thanks so much for stopping by! Expect more updates soon!