When I buy a new horse whose training is different from what I would expect
in a mature horse, I just go back to the beginning and start over.

Remembering, of course, that I am now in my mid-sixties and wouldn't have
bought an outlaw in the first place.

Occassionally I get in trouble.  Hunter, my TWH, is primarily an endurance
horse, but he certainly could use some work in the arena.  One winter day
when it was icey on the trails, I friend and I decided to work in the arena
instead.  I asked Hunter to step over a cavaletti made from PVC pipe.  That
was my first mistake.  A cavaletti should be heavy enough that when bumped,
it doesn't move freely.

Hunter dropped his head, took a good look, stepped bravely over, touched the
cavaletti with the back of a front foot, whereupon it rolled backward into
his rear feet.  He leapt straight up and spun, still tangled in the
cavaletti, then  (now facing in the opposite direction) did two huge leaping
bucks.  He might have kept going, but at that point I had becone airborne.
Helpful hint to younger riders:  if you're 65, you should not land hard on
frozen sand.

Dumb DUMB mistake - sorry Hunter.

It was weeks before he stopped freaking out every time he bumped a twig or
branch on trail.

Nancy

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