More Monster Lessons

Yesterday we finally worked on walking across the dreaded tarp. I've been meaning to do this little task for, oh, about a year. I finally found the moon and stars in a row and remembered to take a tarp out to the barn along with the other important tool, the handy lunge line.

First I put the bundled up tarp in the arena with her loose so she had the opportunity to smell and taste it. Don't you love it when they cock their head to get a good look at any monster lurking under the object? Then, just holding the end of the lunge line loosely I drug the tarp to the position in which to work. Since it was breezy I needed to find a few small rocks to weigh it down on the corners. With all systems 'go' we petted and relaxed and discussed what I had on my mind. I stood next to the tarp and sent her off on a little circle. She locked her brakes as soon as she realized there was no place to go other than over the monster. Stop and think. Then, back the other way. Screeching brakes again. Slowly and softly we did this several times before I got her head and neck across in the left direction. A few more slow semi-circles and she gritted her teeth and barely stepped on the demon. We stood and contemplated whether she might lose that hoof or not and then she walked directly onto the middle of it and took a mouthful to be sure it was dead. Her very best human friend, Larry, had walked up to the rail in the middle of all this torture so after she bit the beast a few times and then let out her long held breath we walked over to receive a treat from him. A brief recess then we went back to work a little more on the right side but she was much more cautious that way. Her Ying and Yang weren't in agreement that this monster should be trusted. We went back to Ying and finished on a high note. Another day we will deal with Yang.