I had a successful go-round with Bootsie this morning, possibly thanks in part to the awesome power of treats. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner, but it appears that Bootsie is willing to overlook certain concerns she might have about the scariness of an area if it seems there are treats to be had. I don’t want to abuse this new power such that she becomes single minded in her pursuit of tasty tidbits, but I’m planning on keeping a bag of carrots in my jeep to dole out when the time is right.
The weather was absolutely beautiful today–perfect temperature, clear skies, billowy clouds–and I realized how much I enjoy grooming her. It’s so peaceful and meditative, and a time when I’m not asking anything of her or trying to learn new skills. I performed my assigned bodywork from Dee amd then we wandered around the back and front yard. She was very responsive and less spooky than the previous days. We went on a little treasure hunt, whereby she got half an apple when we visited areas that she has tensed up around in the past. Amazing how relaxed she felt when munching on an apple! She was very eager to visit the next spooky place.
After wandering around practicing leading, starts and stops, and backing up for 45 minutes or so I got out my riding saddle and threw that on her. She seemed content to have it on, and had I any idea how the bridle and bit were supposed to go on I’d have put that on too. I’m sure I could have figured it out with some experimentation but I’ve decided that I don’t want to give her any more reason to think I’m a complete novice than I already have. Seeing the saddle on her, I wanted to mount up and ride around so badly. It took some reserves of restraint not to give it a shot, but in keeping with the aforementioned philosophy, the more ignorant she is of my ignorance, the better. I’ll wait until the woman who boards her horses with Bootsie is there to walk me through everything. I feel like every error I make takes an exponetially greater amount of effort to repair.