Hey Steemit! I'm excited to bring you the latest in our current project. Many of you will know that we are breaking in our mare, Nayyerah. She has an adorable nature but has a strength of spirit that you don't want to be on the bad side of! Her name means "full of light" and it's certainly fitting.
This morning we walked her down to the sand arena in order to try her lunging again. She's only done this once before. For those who don't know, lunging is where a horse moves around a person and responds to their commands. It's a good way to practice attentiveness, control over the gait, transitions of speed and general harmony.
Nayyerah has always struggled to keep distance between her and the person, wanting to always come to the inside of the circle. We've recently had to use a little force which doesn't sit well with me. I wrote about that here. She respects us now for it however and just look at the progress we've made together.
We've managed to teach her that we're asking her to do is walk around us in a circle and not stop until we ask. By making the walking easier than protesting or playing up, she's quite happy to do so when she understands what we're asking her to do. Horses are intelligent, especial Arabians, and she seems to have figured it out. This morning we lunged her for only the second time.
You'll note that in the start of the video she was again trying to come into the centre of the circle. My wife tells her off for this and she yields. There is a point where she turns her rump in. This is to be discouraged. It's dangerous as it usually is an indication of the horse wanting to kick. I've seen it many times.
When this happens, more pressure is applied, the whip it raised as a visual deterrent (just raising arms is interpreted as pressure) and the volume and tone of sound is elevated. In this case, she again responds well by yielding. She'll learn that unacceptable behaviour such as showing the rump is met with pressure where respectful cooperation is met with pleasure. I know that 
