Grounded

Have a wicked head cold, so made some lemonade. Took our trusty little 16 month old pony gelding out for some play time. I've worked with him a total of 4 times, maybe 20 minutes each time. He's getting better about standing for grooming and gainng general patience about standing tied for no reason at all.

The the first session, I simply took him with me everywhere I went... between parked horse trailers, between fences and stacked bales, over massive logs, up onto patio slabs and driveway ledges, down into ditches and up the other side.

The second session, I took him into the arena with my Parelli stick.... don't run away and stop the eye rolls. In the right hands, the thing is a good tool for both desensitising and sensitising. I swung it and draped it over every square inch of his body, including his legs. Once he stood still for all that, I whapped the rope end on the ground, increasingly closer to him. We moved to the helicopter move once he stood still for that. We also explored various obstacles in the arena and introduced the idea of moving out on the line his own circle. Then I put him away for another couple of months.

The third time, we re-hashed what we'd done the time before, and he yawned at me. Literally. Alrighty. Down the road for a little walk and back. Then he was dallied to the horn on the saddle of his favourite buddy and our herd leader, Bill. Again over numerous obstacles through the yard. Oh, and I loaded him into the Sardine Can in 30 seconds, flat, with one ask. That was totally boring for him.

Cue the fourth session, today. Again, it's been something like 3 weeks since I've touched him. Today was tarp day. Scout became a pack pony. After carting our toddler around patiently (27lbs) on the lead line, I introduced him to our 20 foot brown tarp, wadding it up and piling it up on his back. Seriously, not one scoot from this little trooper. He carted that thing around like a pro.

How awesome!