>>>>I had thought once you sacked a horse out you > didnt have to do it again...
I think many people think the same thing, but I don't believe that it's true. Sacking out is sort of like intense desensitization, which may not be consistently reliable in the future, compared to a horse learning about an object. The difference is that, in sacking out, something is "put upon" the horse, and he is supposed to stand there and take it; versus when a horse learns about an item, he has the chance to approach it, paw it, kick it, step on it, smell it, lick it, bite it, turn away from it, and inspect (and learn about) it in any way he chooses or needs to. This puts the control in the horse's hands, whereas he doesn't have control in the sacking out process. So, when a horse meets a tarp sometime in the future, he may have different reactions to it, depending on how he "knew" it previously. He may close his mind to it because that's what he's supposed to do, or it may scare him, or he may say "oh, that's one of those things that makes crinkly noises, that I can step on, drag, or wear as a blanket.... ho-hum." Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
