[RC] "different" training technique! - Marlene Moss
We have an arab that has been abandoned several times and
has some sensitivity issues. We are finally making progress in developing
a nice endurance or trail horse. One of the last issues is that he does not
back out of a 2 horse trailer. Just flat out refuses. My husband
once bodily forced him out, but now he just pushes back hard.
Today we tried just leaving him until he decided to figure
it out (rather than pulling the divider and letting him turn) and the clock was
still ticking after 2 hours. Then my mom came up with an idea –
this horse also does not tolerate fly spray, he gets pissed. He doesn’t
get bothered by flies so my husband hasn’t pushed this one because he’s
been trying to keep the riding enjoyable and not frustrating.
So we figured that either he’d learn to deal with fly
spray or he’d back out of the trailer! He chose backing out (actually
fairly calmly)and we gave him lots of praise and moved him away from the
trailer. I’m looking forward to the next time to see if there is
any improvement!
On the other hand we had a spectacular ride today in the
mountains, both of our horses dealing with technical footing and a pretty
serious 2.5 mile climb.
