This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In a message dated 8/14/2005 4:41:23 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I also rode at the Hazard clinic with Shawna. Her mare did great. I hadnt drug a bag of cans before on my Fjord, but had drug a small christmas tree and a large branch at previous clinics. Thanks Pam and all who responded. We've been practicing and Knute is doing great. I'm dragging a burlap sack full of cans from a long lead rope, while I lead him. I'm using the clicker to reinforce good behaviors like walking calmly, looking at the object, sniffing it etc. He'd rather not do this, but he's tolerating it. First I hold the rope in my hand then, when he gets used to the idea, I put the rope over the horn of the saddle and hold the other end, so I could let go if he spooked. He's tolerating it well, but definitely sees no sense in being attached to noisy objects ;-). The walk-through obstacles seem like they won't be too hard for a Fjord, but another one I need to practice is putting on a rain coat, from horseback.
Today I was really glad I have Fjords, and that we have great relationships. I went for a trail ride with several people including my boss Millard, who rode Knute while I rode Rafael. We exited the ranch property, rode in the park for a while, then returned through a different access point, where someone years ago cut away the barbed wire of the old perimeter fence ... or so we thought. The wire, cut away from the T posts, was actually lying in coils on the ground, which Knute stepped right into. It tightened around his hind leg like a noose, at which point I told Millard to back him up. That didn't help, in fact he then got his other hind leg and his tail stuck in the wire. Knute tried to pull his feet free then, seeing this was futile, stood still and waited for us to rescue him. It took several minutes of us moving him a few inches in each direction, unwinding the wore, and asking him to lift each hind foot, before he was free. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing if this had been another horse it could have torn its leg off in panic. / )_~ /L/L Brigid Wasson SF Bay Area, CA www.Brigid.Clickryder.com www.MillwoodRanch.com
