Satin was free roaming the barn this morning, munching on scraps of hay, visiting the other horses in the stalls, and just searching, searching, searching for her next score in the form of food or cribbing. She started cribbing on a stall and usually I will quietly go to her and put on her cribbing collar. I don't mind the damage to the barn, but her front teeth are almost gone! So I try to crib her cribbing, pun intended.
As usual, I picked up the collar and started to approach. She pinned her ears and skipped away with that "Teehee, you can't catch me" look on her face. No big deal. I put her collar on a stall door and went back to what I was doing.
She sneaked back over to a stall, ears forward and watching my every move, and slooowly she started to put her lip on the stall... criiiib, then looked at me. I smiled, picked up the collar and approached. She swished her tail and skidaddled.
So I thought that maybe I should play with her a bit and get her mind off cribbing. I grabbed her halter and asked her to come to me from the other side of the barn.
She came to me, was haltered, and off we went doing sideways out the barn.
Okay, so I'm trying to think of something creative that will get her interested and distract her from thinking about cribbing. How about "put your nose on it"? So we yo-yo'd a bit, then send gently to the fence.
She was a little wired because she was annoyed that I kept her from windsucking and so she kept running her chest into the fence that I would send her to. I attempted to stop her 2,3, and 4 feet before the fence but she was being unengaged and then frustrated. She didn't want to try. She kept trotting back and forth, fence to fence, without me asking, threatening to jump each fence. And she wasn't thinking. I wouldn't say she was right-brained, but she was unconfident.
I didn't stop her soon enough and she decided that she wanted to go AWAY. And she did. Pulled the 12' line until I couldn't hold her anymore (she knows how to pivot her body just right until she has all the leverage and can pull the rope from me). Off she went at a full-on gallop.
I made myself smile and said out loud "How interesting."
About 10 minutes of crazy LBE naughty galloping around the farm playing "hide your hiney" and she finally turned to look at me. "Well hello, Beautiful!" I said with a smile, 15 feet from her. She stood, head high, somewhat RB but blinking, licking, and chewing as she was coming off the adrenaline. I invited her to come to me and she took one step forward as if to say "I'm done playing! Please let me stop running!"
I allowed her to come in, did some friendly, then did a little sideways and yo-yo.
I'm still chuckling about the whole episode because I'm thrilled that I responded positively instead of getting angry.
I need more savvy arrows to deal with this girl!
1 comment:
I am glad you can laugh. having a sense of humor is important around horses. Bodhi did that once so far and it was actually during a'circle game' in the pasture at the old barn. I think that is the only time he has decided to leave (on a line that is). I am happy for it since once their mind is made up there really is not any stopping them. No rope burn I hope?
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