Clicker training!

This is what I have been doing with my horsie! W caught on right away. I had bought him the ball and had gotten him to touch it with his nose but was stuck there. How to give him the idea of pushing it? I asked RI about clicker training and the book by A. Kurland and she said that she had the book and had done some ct!! She lent me the book, which I ate whole, and helped me with a couple of sessions.

Once the horse gets the targeting the ball part, withhold the click a bit. So that's what we did and W the proceeded to poke, prod and try to bite the ball. The ball moved - Click!!! Now we have progressed to not clicking until he walks up to it and pushes it twice. I wanted to go work with him and ride yesterday but that slimy contractor was supposed to come and never did.

Speaking of whom, he is supposed to finish the bathroom THIS WEEK. Only 8 weeks later than projected. Eleven weeks instead of three. There has been one fuck up after another and I can't even write about it because it is too long and aggrevating. Now at the end, they are being sloppy and only painting the new woodwork instead of the whole bathroom the way the other contractor was going to do as a matter of course. I'm so incredibly pissed off. OH is adamant that he will never have another remodel of ANYTHING!!!! I kind of agree but there goes my wood floor in the front hallway.

New carpeting for the whole house has been ordered yesterday!! All the books have been packed (almost) and I've been working steadily at packing the rest of the stuff. Now I have run out of newspaper - oh, why why why did I not save all the professional packing paper from cleaning out the attic last month????? And you would think we were a couple of boozers if you saw the amount of liquor boxes stacked up in the family room!!!!

Sunday was a dressage show at the Spring barn. I volunteered to scribe in the morning and it was very educational. Dressage people: enter on the C line, make your circles round and not square, have your horse show some energy and show a difference in the working and extended trot and the regular and free walk! OH volunteered to add up scores in the morning but was given a 15 minute tutorial and then left there ALL DAY!!! He actually enjoyed himself immensely, sitting in an air conditioned office with a calculator, doing what he does best. I think he has found his horsey niche. hehe

J says that my mother has been asking when I am coming back! She barely even looked at me when I was there as opposed to all the other times when she has seemed really glad to have me. Now I feel like I should go back but first I must get the bathroom finished, paint the bedroom and get the carpet installed. Then all the unpacking!!! J is going at the beginning of June so I guess I could go later in June. I was going to go the week of July 21st but now I am going to the BlogHer conference (hehe) and dont' want to take two back-to-back trips.

And oh, I wish wish wish I could go to RI this summer. Why can't I ever have a fucking Day At The Beach????