doing this. This year, I’m keeping it real simple. I’m adding bells to the saddle pad and tying a scarf around the horse’s necks.
The saddle pad also has a secondary purpose. For obstacle six, which is free choice, I’m going to have Shadow hop on Hrimmi’s back. The saddle pad will keep her claws from digging into Hrimmi’s back.
I got out at noon and finished working on the course at 2 p.m. By then it was starting to get cold. This time of year, we have a really small window of time in which to get outside things done.
Done, I took all three horses through the course individually, having chunked it down first. For instance, I didn’t fill the walk through the plastic bottles obstacle with plastic bottles because I knew that they will do this. I also didn’t have Shadow get on Hrimmi’s back. And I held off on putting on the costume.
I have to say that, this time around, going through the course was near magical. I spent more time putting it together than I did any other course, and I wasn’t sure how the horses were going to take to it.
It was heavily target laden, which they liked (more treats), and it mainly consisted of walking through things, like the bottles. They all did really well, so they only had to go through the course once. A good thing for me because I was by then getting cold. And a good thing for them because they were wanting to get back to eating their hay. Hay fuels the furnace. In cold weather like this, I have to just keep shoving it in their direction.
And to summarize, doing all this was a lot of fun. So yes, we are having fun yet.
Next: 341. 12/12/20: The Dog and Pony Show: At a Crossroads
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