05/30/2026
Fritz, a 5yo connemara came to me for training and to be started over fences 2 weeks ago. This guy seems to have a good mind and be pretty willing but occasionally puts on the brakes about something and can escalate the situation. Last week when I took him on the trail course he was a little unsure of the bridge, but very willing when I got off and introduced it to him on foot first. A day or two later when I introduced him to the tarp it was a hard no for him and even produced some anxiety. I spent what time I could getting him to inch closer and think about touching with his nose. I made a mental note to come back to the tarp at a later date when I had more time as well as developed more of a relationship. With the weather; today seemed like the perfect day to work on this. Despite LOTS (thanks to Bunny and Kitty and my mom's dogs) of outside distraction, we were able to achieve calmly and confidently walking across the tarp in both directions without a lot of push from me (besides leaving the grass alone). I feel these things are important not only to give a horse self confidence but also confidence in all things we ask of them... from a jumping standpoint down the line this could be a liverpool. Maybe next time I will remember to set up my new pivo to record the whole process! 🤣
