Gia - session 162 - First time for hind shipping boots, and we venture into the dressage arena!
Gia has had three good trailering sessions with her front shipping boots, so today was the day to add hind shipping boots!
In the video I took today, you can see how dramatically she reacted, but also how quickly she recovered, and then loaded up on the trailer just fine.
However, about halfway through our trip, I felt the trailer shaking a bit for a few minutes. When I got to CDP Stables, I found both of Gia's hind boots about halfway down her hind legs, and several small cuts on her legs. Most likely, she tried to kick them off, en route. Hopefully, she learned that wasn't a good idea, but to be safe, I left them off on the way home. I think the boots might be a little too small for her, so I have another set, that won't put so much pressure on her hock, that I will try next time.
After her walk on the hot walker, she stood tied to the trailer absolutely perfectly! With it being so hot, and she seemed so relaxed, I decided to forgo the lunging warm up, and even the walking-around-in-the-arena-in-hand warm up, and I just hopped right on.
She was a little looky at a few things - the stone wall jump, the gazebo, the scary corner. So, at each of those spots, I made her stand, facing the scary thing, until she relaxed and then we moved on.
After corners and diagonal lines at the walk, we did the same at the trot. She felt super relaxed, and I only had to do a few circles in the scariest of corners.
Since she was doing so well, I decided to venture into the dressage arena, which is adjacent to the jumping arena, where I usually ride, but closer to the road, and of course, there were new things to look at. Namely, the scary white markers in each corner. But, we also had to check out what the other horses and riders were doing in the arena across the street. And then, there was the new gazebo, which she actually got brave enough to touch! We only walked in the new arena, but it was a very positive outing!
When I'm done, I usually hop off in the arena, pick up my lunging stuff and walk back to the trailer. Since I didn't have any lunging stuff, I decided to stay on as we walked out of the arena, past the big tractor and the Gator, and finally made it to the trailer!
I washed her off in the outside wash pit, which has a scarier hose. She was a little nervous, but not too fidgety, and did relax a bit by the end.
In the video I took today, you can see how dramatically she reacted, but also how quickly she recovered, and then loaded up on the trailer just fine.
However, about halfway through our trip, I felt the trailer shaking a bit for a few minutes. When I got to CDP Stables, I found both of Gia's hind boots about halfway down her hind legs, and several small cuts on her legs. Most likely, she tried to kick them off, en route. Hopefully, she learned that wasn't a good idea, but to be safe, I left them off on the way home. I think the boots might be a little too small for her, so I have another set, that won't put so much pressure on her hock, that I will try next time.
After her walk on the hot walker, she stood tied to the trailer absolutely perfectly! With it being so hot, and she seemed so relaxed, I decided to forgo the lunging warm up, and even the walking-around-in-the-arena-in-hand warm up, and I just hopped right on.
She was a little looky at a few things - the stone wall jump, the gazebo, the scary corner. So, at each of those spots, I made her stand, facing the scary thing, until she relaxed and then we moved on.
After corners and diagonal lines at the walk, we did the same at the trot. She felt super relaxed, and I only had to do a few circles in the scariest of corners.
Since she was doing so well, I decided to venture into the dressage arena, which is adjacent to the jumping arena, where I usually ride, but closer to the road, and of course, there were new things to look at. Namely, the scary white markers in each corner. But, we also had to check out what the other horses and riders were doing in the arena across the street. And then, there was the new gazebo, which she actually got brave enough to touch! We only walked in the new arena, but it was a very positive outing!
When I'm done, I usually hop off in the arena, pick up my lunging stuff and walk back to the trailer. Since I didn't have any lunging stuff, I decided to stay on as we walked out of the arena, past the big tractor and the Gator, and finally made it to the trailer!
I washed her off in the outside wash pit, which has a scarier hose. She was a little nervous, but not too fidgety, and did relax a bit by the end.
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