If At First You Don't Succeed

try, try again.  Zoe was back to being pushy last night when it was time to come in for her grain.  It didn't help that as soon as I led her out of the pasture our dog, Riggin, jumped behind her and scared her.  She immediately let out a huge kick in his direction and almost got him.  Probably would've killed him if she had connected that kick to his head like she planned!  Anyways, that got her all juiced and more pushy than before.  I also wonder if the new grain I put her on is giving her some fire.  I know Star has double the energy she had before so it's probably giving Zoe a little extra too.  I decided to change grain because the girls had lost weight through the winter and I wanted something with more fat and protein than what I was feeding.

So we worked on our in-hand stuff again.  Forwards, backwards, turning and standing.  Over and over again.  And then again and again.  Are you getting the picture?  She wasn't getting it this time.  I had to make sure she understood that her behavior was unacceptable.  There are times that middle daughter will lead Zoe in to her stall for me and I don't want Zoe to push my daughter around.  That mare needed to be reminded of her manners.  I don't hit my horses - ever.  Not my style at all.  I show my horses that they are being bad by my actions and my voice.  When she invades my space or gets pushy with me I will get big with my actions and my voice.  She is a sensitive horse and that's all it takes - usually.  Yesterday she still wasn't responding.  I admit, I gave her a pop with the halter and lead to get her attention back to me.  That surprised her and she *finally* started listening to me. 

Once we got to her stall she tried to rush past me so we had to repeat all of it again.  Didn't take as long that time.  At last we made it into her stall and she patiently waited for me to remove her halter before diving into her food.

Star behaved very well - as always.  Her only fault on leading is when we approach her stall she has the tendency to rush into her stall.  But a quick stop right before going in is all we need and she backs down again.  Only have to do that every once in a while, as a reminder, because most of the time shes' a good girl.

That's about all the horsey news I have for now.

Until next time!



Quote for the day:
"The things we know best are the things we haven't been taught."

-Luc de Clapiers