Magic and I worked at the trailer again today. It took about an hour. He did load. Magic has worked hard to diminish the effectiveness of the rump rope as a persuasion to help him get into the trailer. He will just stand still and buck. I thought it was just wasted effort on his part but he has learned just how to buck in a way that unseats the rump rope. The rump rope was effective in the past but he has patiently learned how to evade that pressure. I guess you might say Magic and I progressed into a fight today. I even called him a name when he bumped me out of the way. Magic is the only one of us that can claim to have drawn blood but I claim victory. He did load. And we did it in a way that I think indicates progress. I would ask him to move forward, tap him with the lunge whip and he would push his way between me and the trailer rather than take a step towards the trailer. One of those times was when I called him a name. I think name calling is not effective and indicates a failure of character. I apologized. But something that happened during that time convinced Magic that he should not push me out of the way. So we made progress in that he would take a step, make a move, towards the trailer when I asked him to step forward. Then we would rest and regain our composure. I would ask him to step forward again. We just kept that up and finally he leaned back on his haunches and jumped up into the trailer. That was the first time he has loaded while I was still on the ground. I have hope that we have made progress and will get this loading problem behind us. We’ll work on it again in the morning.
A web log of Horses and Horse Activities