Oh boy - I may not be up for that, but you and your friend are absolutely right about the power chair. Tosca leads beautifully beside it. We've also ground driven her from the chair. The other thing we've noticed is that all the dogs learn to heel quickly beside the wheel of a wheelchair. I wonder if it is less human and more mechanical, therefore concrete.
The power chair does not do well in the sand of the round pen and arena. We tried having Stephanie work her pony in the round pen - it was a no go. Tosca looked at her and said, "You want me to WHAT?" I had another thought about Tosca's stopped feet. She seeme to learn abnormally fast and then get stuck on what she has decided I am going to ask of her. For instance, it seems as if she was worked (in her other life) first in one direction in the round pen, then in the other direction, then stopped and put away. SO that's her choice. First we go in one direction, then we go in the other. I ask her to whoa, she does and she's all through. She has learned (with a furrowed brow) that now we will be mixing it up a little, but she's still acting like I am the one that's confused. With young horses, I normally have a goal for a day's session. When it's met, we quit, even if it was a 10 minute lesson, ESPECIALLY if it was a 10 minute session. Tosca has been doing really well, so she's had some very short rides. I think her clock timed out yesterday. You know the drill, "I've done my ten minutes, let's go back to the barn." Nancy
