Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Best Laid Plans

Stupid Tropical Storm Colin scared away our instructor, so I just went to the farm Monday morning and loaded the boys back up. Grayson took longer to load but was less theatrical about it. When we arrived home he took 5-10 minutes to decide he wanted to get OFF the trailer. Obviously we have some work to do with loading.

Overall it was a very positive outing for them since they literally had to do nothing but meet new horses and eat grass, but I am bummed I missed a learning opportunity. I don't get many, and I feel pretty isolated most the time.

I spent the rest of the day picking cactus out of our infested pasture. So productive, but not really how I wanted to spend my vacation day. Oh well.

Next time!

Grayson looking around at Kathy's

Training Log

Oak

Date: 6/4/2016
Duration: 40 mins
Location: roundpen
Activity: ground poles, mounting block, standing on a mat, desensitization to me
Observations: He seemed more reactive to me than usual so we spent a good deal of time working on mounting block desensitization. He spooked at one point and I ended up lunging him around me on the block which was challenging :). He rocked his first time trotting over three ground poles.


Date: 6/5/2016-6/6/2016
Duration: 60 minutes with two 45 min trailer rides and an over night stay (not really sure how much time to give this... technically two days, but I was probably asking him to do stuff for like an hour total)
Location: Kathy's farm
Activity: loading and unloading, walking around a new place
Observations: Horse loads like a rock star. Nervous and looky at the farm but stayed safe and respectful. His face when her donkeys brayed was priceless.

Grayson

Date: 6/5/2016-6/6/2016
Duration: 60 minutes with two 45 min trailer rides and an over night stay (not really sure how much time to give this... technically two days, but I was probably asking him to do stuff for like an hour total)
Location: Kathy's farm
Activity: loading and unloading, walking around a new place
Observations: Was not a fan of my step-up (it was his first time in my trailer). We need to spend more time with loading and unloading. He was a good boy at Kathy's though he did live there for two weeks when I first purchased him. He was even okay when one of her pigs walked right by him.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great experience for the horses even if you didn't get to work with the trainer. It's never bad for them to have a nice, relaxed, easy trailer away from home :)

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    1. True enough! I bet they are much more likely to get on again if they think we just go to other places and eat grass. :)

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