Too much energy?

I have been communicating with GoatSong ever since she got a halter from me (and it has been a great conversation.) In a recent e-mail she asked:

"Heidi despises being still, and I have a really hard time getting her to do things simply because she wants to keep moving! Like when you want to work on rhythmic pressure and getting them to yield their hindquarters, there’s no time to try and get Heidi to do that, as she is already walking away before you can even start! Any suggestions on how to apply some brakes to this gal?"

I thought there might be someone out there who was interested in my response so here it is:

"Re: standing still.... goodness... Merry has that problem sometimes... but I think he is more nervous than bored. I think I'd just be a lot more energetic and faster. What one Parelli thing I have says about Left Brain Extroverts (LBEs) which is I think what Heidi is, is

DO

• teach her something new at least once a week (probable more)
• Keep sessions active interesting and playful. use obstacles, become more imaginative ad when he's really playful, increase the pace and get him to do more.
• Mischief is her middle name; so give him things to do with that busy mind and mouth. This horse loves to play trick on you, so why not teach her some tricks on purpose?
• Use long lines- Give her room to move.
• praise a lot, have fun, lots of scratches and smiles she likes to have fun.

Don't

• Bore her with endless, mindless repetition. She is smart! When you know she's got it (even just a little bit) move on. You can always come back to it and add polish little by little.
• Slow calm riding (or playing) is not really this goat's dream. She wants to be active, go somewhere.
• Punish her (I know you know this one though)

So being more specific..... with the hind-quarters maybe give her a better visual/feel-able about where you want her front feet to stay and break up working on that with jumping/running/weaving etc. something active.

For instance. Teach her to put her from feet on a pedestal (preferably round maybe an old tire with the center filled with dirt.) Then you can do something like jump a jump, run between two poles, and then put her front feet on the  pedestal and yield her hindquarters 1 step then stop doing that and go immediately on to something else. Don't let her drag you along. You go as fast/faster than she wants to go and for longer (but in a productive interesting way.).... if you see what I mean.

With the driving game (rhythmic pressure) I'd ask her to do more faster. Don't take as long for your phases. Of course it is a fine line between going fast enough to make it interesting and going to fast and dreadfully confusing her. Hopefully that helps you a bit.... gives you some ideas to try....let me know how it works! I've never personally had to deal with this so these are just ideas... :)"

hope you found that interesting/informative. Up next! Haltering and halter fitting.

M.