RAC (Ride-A-Curly) Adventure Blog

My big farm rule is : When you go out your door in the morning and head to the horse barn.. remember to never start anything with your horse that you cannot finish.








Zoe and I were working with several horses and had enough time to squeeze one more in. We were working on obstacles with horses that have already done a few of them earlier in the year. Should be a piece of cake ! But when OYY Little "Z" 's turn came up, she was dazed and confused by the job being asked of her. As you can see -- now we are stuck here until we have some success of any kind. Admittedly, this was her first time at the teeter-totter. She walked over the bridge without too much fuss. As soon as she realized this "bridge" moved-- she refused to go down the other side. I ran the video function of the camera until I tired of holding the camera in her direction-- obviously, this was going to take a little time.

"Z" did finally walk over the teeter totter a couple of times in both directions, but it took longer than we anticipated. Fortunately we had that time to spare. I really strive to help each horse achieve accomplishment before we need to quit, even if it ends up just being something small and seemingly trivial. If we start it, we'll finish it.. all with a smile :)

Maybe we are never going to meet anything on the trail or in the show ring that resembles the action and motion of this obstacle -- and perhaps I am a bit evil to ask it of a horse.. but if a horse will trust the handler to lead it safely even though he/she is skeptical or frightened- that has to translate into lots of confidence, faith and bonding later under saddle.



And, introducing horses to obstacles is loads of fun for me, as is dreaming up new and inventive challenges for the horses and me. I am kind of thinking to construct a see-saw tht I can drive the cart over .... that will be an accomplishment.


Enjoy ~