Tough Lessons....

When training a horse, any horse, there are those lessons that if you have one, will tear out your heart... Last night we had one of those. Last night, she learned to tie....

I walked up to her as I do, clipped the lead rope on her and slipped a rope over her head. Why a rope?? Well, if she learns to break a halter and a lead rope she will do it again and again.... So I rigged up the rope so it wouldn't get tight on her, it's just an enforcer that all. And I tied her to a huge pole with the lead rope a hair tighter than the rope. Now she has about a good two and half feet of slack, I don't want her nose mashed up on the pole, I just want her to feel a little bit of that tension when she backs up. Again the rope around her neck is my second line of defense, not my first, I want her to get used to the lead rope and halter.

Well to my surprise she did VERY well, she only had a few times where she tried to pull back and all you can do is watch them kick and paw and pull their hardest. That's the part that kills me... I want so bad to tell her it'll be OK, that it's just a lesson, but she has to figure it out on her own... Once she learned she couldn't go anywhere she stood and looked around to say "Hey lady! Where's my chow???" So I brought her over some hay and then proceeded to pet her all over her face, chin, and cheeks... Damn she is a smart girl. Being tied didn't bother her one bit after she had some comfort food LOL. She let me walk up to her and away and back and forth and rub her darling head. I still go slow and easy with the petting, I don't want her to get scared and think I'm trapping her...

So far she likes the rubs!! I keep telling her, "It's only going to get better from here!"