|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 6:11:16 GMT -6
Kika (Level 6 0/5, Loyalty 13) Task at Hand - Basic Obedience (Name, Come, Stay, Follow, No)
Standing with her arms rested crossed loose against her chest, Sevyrn remembered when the rainbow-maned mare beside had been but a foal, and how did she ever miss those days - there was something beautiful about having watched Kika grow from a stumbling foal in to a majestic, rambunctious and overall happy adult, though. She had grown both wild and tame - a personality to match the breed she had been born from, yet nonetheless always hers to love and be loved by. Animals bonded in a way that, to Sev, other people did not. Animals loved in a way that was altruistic and not about what they could stand to gain or lose - they simply knew they were cared for, and offered safety and affection and loyalty in return. A bond with an animal was nearly unbreakable, provided that the person who cared for them was deserving. As she faced the equillion that she raised from a baby, one on one for the first time in much too long, Sevyrn simply hoped that she still deserved the mare's bond. 1
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 6:11:31 GMT -6
Where was one to even start when they had spent much too long lacking in the departments in which they were needed most? Despite having reared that mare from a foal, she'd lacked the confidence to be able to properly train her back in the day. As an adult it would be much more difficult, the mare's natural behaviors and instincts and understandings solidified in a way that didn't quite yet exist in a baby yet to be melded in to anything.
Kika deserved that much from her, at the bare minimum though. In reality she deserved so much more, for the human she'd bonded with to go above and beyond for her. Sevyrn knew that, and she swore that she would be making things right from here on out.
As much as they were already away from home and settled in to a wide-open pen within the public parks, the day still needed to start with bonding. Clicking her tongue and holding out a carrot, Sevyrn called the equillion's attention towards herself.
2
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 6:34:48 GMT -6
Everything that mare did was graceful - a lithe body moving like water as she pranced towards the human who had raised her. Kika immediately nuzzled her head against Sevyrn's shoulder as the pair came face to face, and with her free hand the woman stroked the top of Kika's head. She didn't even have enough time to give the mare a good scratch before that carrot became more important, though, and for that Sevyrn had to let out a light laugh.
"You can't pretend that you're hungry, Kik. I watched you mow down all of your breakfast and part of Disceva's." One wouldn't think that a creature as lean as Kika would require nearly as much food as she did... apparantly her metabolism was through the roof, as the mare looked like she hadn't gained a single pound since reaching adulthood. "I think you're just being greedy. What do you think?"
The nicker that she got in response, and the way the equillion immediately tried to dip her head under Sevyrn's armpit to grab the bag that straddled her back, told the young woman that Kika knew just how much of a little suck up she really was.
3
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 13:19:18 GMT -6
There was no way that Kika didn't know her own name after spending years being called by it in Sevyrn's care, but Sevyrn knew that training wasn't quite perfect yet. She knew that she wanted a response one hundred percent of the time, not just eighty percent or after calling her a few times. The first step of the day was cementing that training in to reality, and helping the equillion reach that point.
It wasn't her first round at the rodeo, but she also knew that this was going to be the easiest part. Teaching an animal its own name was simply a task of repetition, and as long as they made a point to watch you upon being called then the task was successful. Getting Kika to do certain things on command would be another story, but she also imagined that the mare would be fairly easy to teach as a lot of stuff was simply lacking to a degree rather than nonexistent at all.
So, for those first couple hours at the park, Sevyrn focused simply on getting a response every time that she called Kika's name. It didn't have to be much, but the mare most definitely did have to acknowledge that her human wanted her attention in order to earn that treat. Luckily (as Kika seemed to notice earlier) there was a bag of carrots, sugar cubes, apples and other equine favourites tucked in to her backpack.
4 Name - 1
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 13:30:47 GMT -6
Within a couple hours there was definitely progress, though Kika seemed rather confused why her owner was repeatedly calling out towards her. Understandable, Sevyrn figured - as much as basic framework for 'huh I think that she's talking to me' could be laid out through daily life, it took focus to properly accustom a creature to respond to commands with obedience. This wasn't about calling for the mare several times from across the paddock, it was that from here out Sevyrn was going to be expecting a response from Kika on the very first call. This was something that was extremely overdue.
Sevyrn was gaining more confidence in how the progress was going. The treats most definitely seemed to be the motivator though, and Sev had played this games enough times to know that she was going to have to take those out of the equation. The first time that she called to the mare without actually having something to offer her, Sevyrn kept her fist closed over empty air, giving the impression that a sweet, sweet sugar cube was hidden in her palm.
Kika's eyes opened wide and her lips twisted in betrayal the moment that she realized Sevyrn's hand was empty, but the girl let out a sweet laugh. "No, not this time, but you are doing amazing my sweet girl. You're doing so good, Kika - keep it up. There will be more treats later on as long as you keep it up!" Sevyrn ran her fingers through her equine's mane as she more of many sung sweet praises today.
5 (Kika - 7) Name - 2
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 13:35:54 GMT -6
Sevyrn focused on this for a decent part of the afternoon, rather than trying to jumble things up and mix responding to her name in with the rest of the training she had planned for Kika. The atmosphere became rather relaxed and turned in to more of a bonding session with intermittent attempts and seeing how the mare was progressing. For quite some time, every time that Kika heard her name she went looking for that treat buried in Sevyrn's palm. The girl's soft tone, sweet praise, and gentle touch seemed to be a motivator as well, though.
Despite the fact that Sevyrn knew that this wouldn't be a very difficult task, she was still impressed with how quickly Kika had improved her response rates. Prior to this when they were back at home or in the paddocks, getting the mare to pay attention to her could be quite the task when Kika wanted to be stubborn - and she often did. Not wanting to call it quits too soon and risk the training as not being as successful as she figured it to be, Sevyrn was going to return to the park with Kika the next day and see how things went then. With all luck, the mare would be responding as she was supposed to and ready for the next step in her training.
6 Name - 3
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 8, 2020 13:41:24 GMT -6
She had done as she planned and come back the next day, with the same feisty equillion in tow once more. As she had hoped the mare had been easy to call to attention that morning, and the pair had begun their adventure back towards the park rather contently. If all had gone well, the next thing that Sevyrn was looking to do was to teach the mare to come to her on command. When it came to responding to her name, Sev had been happy to simply have the mare look at her and not look away. This was when they were going to start getting in to true obedience training.
"Kika," the girl called after about an hour of settling down, as the equillion stood grazing in the shade. At first the equillion's eyes simply looked up towards her girl, and as she finished the bite that she was chewing Kika raised her head to see what was going on. Perfect - that was the response that Sev had wanted. After taking a break from the training and seeing that the mare was still acting in the expected way, Sevyrn felt more confident moving forth with the rest of the commands.
7 Name - 4
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 10, 2020 16:19:22 GMT -6
"Come here," As Kika stood and watched, Sevyrn beckoned with a wave of her arm, gesturing for the mutihued equillion to join her where she stood. Like many thing, coming to her owner on command was a skill that Kika currently lacked. There were times when it seemed to work, when that day-by-day repetition gave her a basic understanding oh what was expected of her, but often times the mare didn't tend to take notice to it.
Today seemed to be one of those days, where she stood away from Sevyrn with that fire in her eyes that just screamed I don't feel like it right now, which is what Sevyrn wished to train out of her.
"Kika, come here." She repeated in a loud voice, this time with a carrot out to entice the mare in to behaving. Unsurprisingly, a good snack made the rquillion much more willing. As Kika reached her she handed off the treat with grace, and whispered praise as she stoked her fingers through Kika's mane.
8 Come - 1
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:05:54 GMT -6
"Come here," she tried again after a few moments, long enough for the equillion to become distracted from the girl and run off to start to graze. Sevyrn had another carrot ready and waiting for when the mare finally approached, and it seemed that she was going to need it - Kika didn't want to leave the grass alone. She was a high-spirited girl, that one - stubborn as a mule and yet still one of the most affectionate creatures that Sevyrn had the pleasure of knowing. Seeing as Kika didn't seem to want to be distracted at the moment, Sevyrn called out her name, and once she had Kika's attention she summoned the equillion over to her once again. This time she made a point to flash the treat so that Kika would be able to see it, and the mare made her return to the human with ease knowing that there was a good snack waiting for her.
9 Come - 2
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:09:50 GMT -6
The quillion was greeted with praise before she got the chance to nibble on the carrot - something her mouth eagerly searched for while Sevyrn held it just out of reach. After a moment of loving on the mare, Kika did get the reward that she was promised, though. From there it was just a matter of continuing to repeat the process. There were times when Kika would come to Sevyrn on her own over the next little while, the pair having known each other for ages already, but often times she did need the promise of a reward to get her butt in gear. That was okay, though. Progress came with time, and if the mare needed motivation then that was simply how it was. After a while Sevyrn was able to start saving the treat for after the mare had already come over to her, though. Baby steps - they would get there.
10 (Kika - 8) Come - 3
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:15:56 GMT -6
The afternoon went well - Kika went from needing a treat just to move when called, to being happy getting the treat after. Sevyrn worked with that for quite some time before she felt ready to take the next step, moving on to take the treats away entirely. There was always the chance that Kika wouldn't want to keep going without the reward but Sevyrn felt confident that the mare trusted her well enough to not regress just because there were no more carrots for now. With how much work was left to be done, there would be more carrots available to her later on. It was a good day to be an equillion, after all! Unsurprisingly, things seemed to go okay. Kika wasn't impressed when there was no treat offered to her, but she still did what she was supposed to a few times. Content with that, Sevyrn figured that they were ready to move on. After they finished the basics today, she would come back the next day and see what was sticking and what needed a bit more work.
11 Come - 4
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:19:29 GMT -6
What should Sevyrn teach the girl next, she wondered while she let Kika take a break and run around the pen. The mare would eventually tire, and until then she got to take a break as well. Sitting down at the picnic table, Sev stopped to have a snack and a drink herself - a little water and some strawberries never hurt anyone, and the strawberries were freshly pick from her garden.
It was after Kika seemed to be done getting her energy out that Sevyrn called her over to her. Once the equillion was in front of her, Sevyrn raised her hand with spread fingers and repeated the word stay a few times as she took a few steps backwards. She had obviously decided what she was going to train next, and it was another important basic command. When she was able to get about six feet away from the equillion, repeating the command with her hand up as she did so, she tossed Kika a sugar cube.
12 Stay - 1
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:26:21 GMT -6
There was work to be done. The second thing Sevyrn did after that first attempt was test the limits, and it seemed that she had stopped at the right point because Kika began to wander towards Sevyrn just a little farther than she had first walked, no matter whether she was being asked to stay where she was or not. As soon as Kika had started to walk, Sevyrn repeated the command firmly but gently, urging her to stay where she was. Kika ended up just a couple feet away from her before she finally stopped, but that was okay. Once Kika was still, Sevyrn started to back away once more while repeating the command. Kika got a sugar cube as a reward at the half-way point, and another when Sevyrn stopped moving. "Come here!" She called at that point, and gave the equillion some good pats and praise for behaving well.
13 Stay - 2
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:43:07 GMT -6
After a good round of praise - and a couple more sugarcubes because Sevyrn was weak to Kika's pleas for more - it was time to get back to work. Luckily the basics were pretty easy, especially with a creature who had been pre-conditioned to at least have heard the commands before even if they were never properly drilled in to her. It would be the harder stuff that would be more work, but... Sevyrn didn't really know much more that she would want to do with Kika. She wasn't a heavy woman but the wild breed was rather small compared to the other equillion breeds, and she might have a better time trying to train Disceva or one of the new members of the herd if she wished to have a mount. They would have to see where things went, though - for now Sevyrn was focused on getting the equillion to stay where she was on command, and then a couple more basics.
14 Stay - 3
|
|
|
Post by Sevyrn on Aug 25, 2020 6:50:59 GMT -6
The routine was familiar, at this point. Sevyrn would call out the command, offer treats to the equillion to urge her to listen, and then they would test out Kika's capabilities. After a while Sevyrn stopped handing out the sugar cubes and pushed the limits of what Kika would be able to do without them, repeating the command and signal before taking a few more steps away, repeat. After a few rounds of it she would toss another treat, encouraging the behavior that she was looking for, and then it was time to try again. Sevyrn continued to push the distance between them farther and farther with more and more time between snacks. Everything seemed okay - not perfect, of course, but Kika was reliably reacting as hoped. After a while she let the mare have a break, and then it was time for a few final treatless tests. Kika was able to listen without difficulty, and as a reward for doing so well with this task, she got many head rubs.
15 (Kika - 9) Stay - 4
|
|