Hi, you have identifed that your body language was not quite right and that will certainly explain why she was stopping - you were probably "getting in her way" by being in front of her path rather than at a 45 degree angle - it's easy to get in their way when you are learning to do this :-) The other thing to think about is, what is the relationship like with your mare? If you already have a strong bond with her and she is 'with you' she may wonder why on earth you are making her go away. For those who hear me say this all the time I'm sorry I'll say it again ;-) Join Up is a process by which we build trust and a relationship, it is not a task to 'practice' on a horse just because we want to - we must think about whether the horse needs it or not. Just because she is unbroken does not automatically mean she needs Join Up, it all depends on your existing relationship. However, if you feel she does then by all means try again bearing in mind the points made if they are helpful to you. It's great that you finished on a positive note :-) An important question, how long were you doing this? Join Up should never ever leave you both exhausted! I suggest you watch the Join Up videos again and again and get someone to film you so that you can compare your positioning with Montys. I am a huge fan of longlining, it is a fabulous way to get them fitter. Good luck and keep us posted.

Thank you so much for your response! maybe you are right that she doesn't need join up right now. I just wanted so badly to try it with her. We were exhausted because I put too much energy to keep her moving and I was little bit frustrated when it didn't work. She wasn't happy about what I was doing with her because she couldn't understand my signals. The whole session was pretty short around 4 -5 min. I know this horse since she was born, and from that moment I see her every day, so I think we have a strong bond but also sometimes I have feelings that she might be bored of my presence. I am the only person who started any ground training with her and from the beginning she was MINE teacher not vice versa. Now I will be working on to put a first surcingle and start longlining her. I hope we are going to make a progress. :-)

well done, you have a sensible attitude & you will learn a lot because you can see that the horse is the teacher & you are very willing to examine your position & actions & what her reactions are to your position etc.
Keep it up, you will make progress, don't forget to have fun, it's not the end of the world if things don't go perfectly at first, you are both learning together.
best of luck

thanks a lot beryl for kind words. its very nice to hear that someone has something positive to say about your attitude and how you treat and work with horses. Nowadays people have tendency to trying to prove their right over to be gentle.

Tell me about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

enjoy your horse, be friends, it's your horse that matters, not other people, your not responsible for them.

Frisian horses are not easy to keep in motion. My proposals: a lot of patience, short duration of exercises ending with a big "PIC". Avoid asking too much at a time and desensitization regarding to your body language (if you continue to push her hard she won't react any more).
Rudi

very good advise Rudi

hi everyone!
Just want to share with you and ask for a few advises about my horse first long lining. I started with Bella's first surcingle and it was a piece of cake for her (a few bucks but kinda funny)The worst thing were the long lines, especially the outside one which in my opinion was pretty scarry for her. She did a few laps than stopped and faced towards me. I tried be on driving position to push her forward but Miss Bella started spinning so I decided its going to be better when I dropped the lines and untangle her. We started again and the same thing happened. After she did it three times in a row (spinning, tangling) I stopped what I was doing because I realized that I didn't know what to do and in a certain way just taught my horse this trick... unconsciously. I need to add that I had a huge problem to change the direction of her movements. When I pushed a pressure on outside line and stepped in a front of her she was more scared. Even without long lines I am not able to cause to turn her outward or inward facing the fence. Maybe I just desensitized her to my wrong body language so maybe she is not reacting any more as Rudi says. Me and Bella will be very appreciate for any hints! I recorded the session and I wish you could see it..

hi Sunifasa,
Please try to find an older, ridden horse you can try these techniques with.
Learn how to change direction, without longlines, then add the lines and get confortable with
the domesticated horse, before starting with a undomesticated one.
When a horse has the tendency to turn in on you, when on the lines, use your inside hand to block that direction. A very good example of this you can see in the lesson with Maya Horsey, "Join-up witg the Instructors". Watch it over and over again, and find what you do differently!
In the meantime you could do other groundwork with Bella.
If something doesn't work: change it....
Hope this brings you some steps in the desired direction!

Miriam

thanks Miriam for good advises!