The Soldier Dances

Not much was done today on the Sammie front today. The ground's so blimmin' hard and it's so, so cold. However I did take him for a quick walk and then went in the school to try out some of this Klaus Hemperwotsit stuff (author of "Dances with Horses"). I must admit I was quite surprised to find a lot of it worked.

It's all about exaggerating your body movements. Like bending at the hips (sort of semi crouching) to get them to move off immediately on a line with a huge loop in it (you're not allowed to use pressure at all) Then you do the same again but more exaggerated to get them to trot immediately etc. The idea is to get them to engage their back end, so they see you doing the equivalent and have to do the same to move off as soon as you do. His theory is that if you get them doing this on the ground, they're more likely to do it when you're on their back - it's all about total collection on a loose rein. The body movements become less and less as they get the hang of it and just move off with a subtle signal.

I also took some really mincy little shuffle type steps and Sammie matched the speed - not sure if that's in the book but it just came into my head. Then we did turns and circles and Sammie was so with me we got in a bit of a tangle at one point! I did get an idea of why this Klaus chap calls it "dancing". Sammie was really bending his body around me and seemed to be mirroring most things I did - even though his muzzle was practically in my ear at one stage! He also threw in some Spanish Stamp as well. It's all to do with the way you hold and use the lead rope as well. I did some sudden starting and stopping and he was with me the whole way. Interesting stuff. It reminded me how much I love doing groundwork as well and it's a long time since we've tried anything new.