Death by tarp

I never have the camera when I need it the most. Such a bummer! Today I have fantastic news to share....

Some of you know that my Hub has been bed ridden with a bum leg that required surgery. Therefore, I have been on post in the house taking care of everyone and doing everything to insure we all survived the havoc. It got a little nasty, so I called in the backups, meaning my Mom, and I think I have recovered.

Thanks to my Horse. (And my mom, but we'll just talk about the horse)

Mom was able to watch the kids so I could go out and relieve some stress, and by that I mean play with my horses. Henry had developed a bit of a bad attitude, he is definately one of those horses that requires lots of face time to stay in line. I ventured out to lunge him a bit and just have some meaningful conversation with a horse that can't argue back. Ahhh, anyway....it turned into a lesson with the tarp which was marvelous!! I had it draped over his body, wrapped around his legs, the wind was blowing so that was cool, and at the end I covered his face with it and he just stood there like "Seriously Mom, this is silly" His guy will trust me with anything from the ground....nothing seems to get to him.

Until you get in the saddle.

I did have an A ha moment while working with the tarp and with a separate incident with him getting stuck in the fence. When Henry gets nervous or scared he plants his feet. This is a good thing when it involves being stuck in the fencing, but a bad thing when you want him to move while in the saddle. So, this all tells me that right before he bolts on the trainer, he is scared, scared still so to speak, and bolts as a fear for his life thing. That's manageable, I think, so we will be more creative from the ground or on lead line for a few lessons and see if that makes a difference.

After working with Henry and Sara, (who is deathly afraid of tarps) I came back inside so relieved. I had relieved stress and actually taught my horses something. It's such a great feeling!!