Re: RC: To Look or Not?

[Farafix@aol.com]

I let mine look.  However, when he wants to keep looking at the same darn log 
he's been by for years, I encourage him to go forward and he does.
We encountered a coup (those jumps within a fence that the fox hunters use) 
on a brand new trail the other day.  I could feel his heart pounding under my 
leg, so I stopped, tried to make my body telegraph RELAX, and sat back for a 
long look.  After a  minute or 2 we were around it.  When encountering 
something he's relunctant to approach, I've always stopped and used the 
wait-em-out-until-he's-bored method. I've refined it a bit now in that I will 
verbally ask for One Step --- he recognizes that all he has to do is take one 
step & I will let him stop.  That way we gradually approach the scary thing 
--- once he gets close enough he starts one-stepping closer all by himself.
About a week ago we were trotting down an old familiar trail, when Tempo 
whirled around, took me several steps to get him stopped --- very unlike him 
as usually he just stops if he sees something he's not sure about.  Would not 
go forward.  Since I was rushing to meet a friend further up the trail, I 
didn't have time for our 1 step routine & he was really being stubborn, so I 
got off to lead him, thinking it was all the tree limbs strewn along the 
trail that usually got his attention were really making him ditzy that day.  
Muttering stupid horse, what a jerk you are, I hopped off to lead him.  He 
didn't even want to follow me, which was REALLY unusual, but he relunctantly 
followed, jumpy as a cat.  Since I was off, I started throwing the suspect 
tree limbs off the trail.  About 30 feet down the trail was a black snake 
(harmless) about 4 feet off the side of the trail.  If I lived out west where 
folks contend with rattlers, I would have been real glad my horse was so 
stubborn about proceeding!!!
Sometimes the horse DOES know best!

Nancy & Tempo (TOLD you)
Md