Second day

I got out to the barn by 8:30 and divided my work into two sessions of 30 minutes or so. I felt that yesterday I pushed a little too hard and lost some ground overall. I left the 14' lead rope on the ground overnight and just walked in and picked it up with my stick. She was standoff-ish but remembered what she had learned. I could rub her on both sides and neck (with my hands), but the face is strangely sensitive. I went from the chin to the front of the nose once and she struck out good with her left front hoof. Unbelievably fast! Fortunately those Clinton Anderson tapes had drilled into me "always stand at a 45 degree angle" and I was safely out of reach.

The approach zone around her is very electric. At about 3-5' away she gets really tricky, and once I'm inside that with my hands on her, it's OK.

From here I alternated sending with the stick and string a few times in both directions and then rubbing with the stick in the center of the pen. I worked up to swinging the string over her back, belly, front legs, and haunches, which I felt really good about. Towards the end I was getting into a better synch with her by watching her eye and ears directly, and retreating immediately when I got licking. I think yesterday I was approaching for too long and not retreating quickly enough.

By the end of the day I had the plastic bag (on a stick) on both sides well, and also on her face. It's still difficult to get hands on her and the face will have to wait for another session. On the lunge I was sending her for a maximum of 1.5 turns before yielding. When I was focusing well I could send her with just a point and no click. There were many times with prolonged licking and she put her nose well to the ground also. I'll go back later today and keep building on this.