Looking for a Balance

I guess this is where I am supposed to stand back and say "Hmmmm, how interesting." My sessions with Iona seem to be really hard for both of us at the moment. She isn't a very willing partner lately, and I am really struggling to figure out how to fix it. I'm not sure whether we are stuck at Rapport or at Respect, and if we lack both (which we do) is this maybe one of those times when respect needs to be improved to actually gain rapport?

That's what I tried today. I had no draw and also had a horse who didn't even want to be led from A to B. Even in the round pen she didn't want to follow me, so we played the Catching Game, and I ended up repeating it a few times before she really stuck to me. I don't think that this really improved the rest of our session that much, however.

We have had various sessions and rides recently where not much has gone "right". I believe that some of the sour faces and refusals to do things are her version of play, and I can happily laugh about that, but I feel there are deeper disharmonies that I don't know how to remedy. My experiments with asking less or asking more, asking for more obedience or using reverse psychology, offering a purpose or just hanging out, all seem to end up in much the same place. Not much progress. 

I did have one little interesting moment on Sunday. Linda and I were going to go out for a ride. I went to saddle up, and asked her to look at or sniff her saddle. She looked away. I decided to do things right and wait. It took ages with me just standing there holding the saddle, but eventually she did sniff it and I put it on. She stood there licking and licking for absolutely ages. I don't think she has an issue with the saddle, but she might have an issue with being rushed into things. Although the play session that followed wasn't all that brilliant, she was great on the ride, even though it was along a route that she has been complaining about recently. I don't know whether this is just coincidence, but I'm thinking perhaps I need to slow everything way down and wait. I know that I'm impatient. I've noticed that in my interactons with people lately, too. I think this is going to be a hard lesson for me, but if I need to learn it then I will try! 

Our friend Denise took a bunch of great photos on Sunday. This picture is typical of many that she took of me playing with Iona. My energy is way up while hers is low. I'm not playing with the horse that shows up. Guess it's time to study up on Horsenality strategies, too.