MOMMY'S LITTLE HELPER!



My Mommy often has multiple horses to take care of or train (besides me) a week.

All these etc horses some times make it difficult for Mom to make enough time for me.
She's figuring out how to balance both my needs and those of the others.

What really helps, is that I get along with most horses, so having me out with a "client" isn't usually a problem.

One of us will be tied while the other is worked and then we switch.

Recently, Mommy has been pleasantly surprised to find that not only am I OK being out with a strange horse, but I actually seem to enjoy "helping" Mommy train.

For example, today Mommy worked with a newer "client" Joey.

Joey

He is a sweet and affectionate gelding. But he has some fear issues.

This afternoon, Mommy turned me loose in the roping arena to explore while she worked with Joey on over coming one of his fears: Our dummy steer.

Image result for smarty the steer
Smarty The Steer-Master Of Practice
(Photo found on Google)

He was snorty and tense and while Mommy was making progress on her own, she noticed (out of the corner of her eye) that I was quietly walking towards "Smarty".

Now, I LOVE Smarty! I nibble on him, lick on him, nap on him etc. I'm not afraid of him. 

First time napping on Smarty

 I really seemed to know what was going on. 

I nuzzled Smarty and looked back at Joey.
He had pricked his ears, I did it again, this time putting my head on Smarty's back. 

Joey seemed confused.

Why wasn't the scary cow monster eating me?

I began playing with Smarty, nibbling his horns and licking his face.

Joey still seemed concerned, but Mommy noticed that he was not quite as tense.

Joey spooked for a little while more, but he was not nearly as reactive as he had been originally.

Having successfully helped him, I took a few steps back and calmly watched the session continue.

Mommy steadily made progress, Joey made circles closer and closer to Smarty as his fear subsided but he would not touch him.

After a few minutes Mommy stretched her hand out to me

"You understand that he's afraid, I can see that you do. Come here Little One, help him learn to touch his nose to it."

I complied, I walked over to Joey, nuzzled his shoulder and than walked over to Smarty. 

I reached my muzzle out an touched his rump. 

I nickered to Joey. 

He nickered back nervously. I touched Smarty again.

Joey took a step forward, stretched out his neck and gingerly tapped the very tip of his lips to Smarty before jumping behind Mommy.

She rubbed his forehead, told him he was a good boy and asked him to do it again. 
He did, 1, 2, 3 more times and Mommy decided that that was enough progress for the day (Joey had started out unable to get closer that 20 feet to Smarty).

As they walked back to the arena gait, I followed them, Mommy kissed my muzzle.

"Thank you BabyGirl, you never cease to amaze me."



So, as you might image today helped bring out another of my hidden talents, Mommy's Little Helper.

Lots Of Kisses!
-TigerLily













Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!

Image
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!! YYYAAYYY! Me in my birthday crown! Today I turned 3!! I'm SUCH a big girl now omg! It has been such a busy weekend! On Friday Mommy decided that she should get on my back for the first time...I mean like what the heck dude! Getting on my back for the first time on FRIDAY Um....what is happening Mommy? It was really weird at first I was all like  "Momma what...the...heck are you doing..."  But (being the super adult and lady-like stang I am now) I didn't spook or bolt or buck, I just stood still and tried to figure out what was going on! Mommy pulled softly on my right rein, I remembered that cue from long lining and shuffled to the right. Then she used the left rein, I moved to the left. Moving to the right About to move to the left for the next 15 minutes we practiced this back and forth, the more we did it, the more Mommy started to cue me more with her legs and less...
Read more

BRIDGET THE BRINDLE!

Image
I not sure about the horses you guys know, but I LOVE COWS! And not just Smarty the dummy steer..but the real thing too! They are fascinating little guys. I enjoy hanging out with all the cows and steers here at the Ranch, but I do have a favorite. There is an old, red, brindle cow that lives in a "big apartment" with the young roping steers as a nanny. Mommy and I don't know if she has a name or what it is if she does. So we call her Bridget, Bridget The Brindle.    Bridget The Brindle Now, I get along with pretty much ever animal I come in contact with!  Birds, Lizards, Dogs, Rabbits, Goats, Fish, Mules, Squirrels, Butterflies, it doesn't matter, I LOVE EVERYONE!! It was obvious from the first time I met Bridget that we were going to be friends! Whenever she sees me she comes to the "front yard" and waits for me to walk over and say "Hi"   then she greets me with kissies! Kissies from Bridget Sometime...
Read more

SOMETHING NEW SATURDAY!

Image
Hello, As you may have guessed by the title of this post, today I experienced something new! But come to think of it...I have crossed a few other mile stones this week as well. For example, on Thursday I wore a big girl saddle pad for the first time ever! Which was a big deal! But today's mile stone trumps Thursday's! DRUM ROLL PLEASE......... Can you guess what it is?...............I WORE MY FIRST BIT! You see, Mommy bought me a raw sweet iron, 5", loose ring, snaffle bit by Weaver Leather off the Internet but since it has not arrived yet she asked a friend if they had a plain snaffle we could borrow. Would you believe our luck, they did!! Mommy's friend Kim, handed her an old headstall with the bit attached to it and asked if it would work. "I don't know let's find out" Mommy responded. She headed over to where I was standing patiently at the tie rail (like a little angel pony), with the headstall draped over her arm....
Read more