The Unexpected Cow Obstacle

Yesterday was a little crazy. Went out to work with Tweed and mid-way through, the cows from the day before made their return, running up to the fence to watch. 

The head cow, a big black one, even had a bag in her mouth. Last year she jumped the north fence and got in with the neighbor’s herd of cattle and made quite a show of it. My horses witnessed the whole thing and now find that herd quite unpredictable. When they come running to the fence, Tumbleweed thinks they’re coming through it, too. 

A crazy cow WITH A SCARY BAG in her mouth!

Tweed was loose in the round pen doing trot to lope transitions, so his energy was slightly up. He went into flight mode and banged a panel, cutting his leg. I calmed him down and got him haltered, then did the groundwork we did from the last post. 

Afterward, I texted my trainer the videos to see if I should do something different. This was her reply:

You did a fantastic job of claiming the space tweed wanted to be. That alone gave him a new job. 

I don’t think you could have done more. As he learns to put his focus back on you for a few seconds you can give him those jobs. One of these days you will see him looking for guidance when he gets worried. You’re right on doing the exercises to ask for his brain. It slows his anxious energy and tunes him in to you even if he struggles to relax. The cows are great practice. Like deer coming to see what your about or geese that stand up and won’t move off the trail.

In other words, yay, cows!

But I do think, knowing these cows love to run up on us like that, I will keep him on a long line for this work. He’s comforted by contact. 

After we were done, I released him in the arena with Foxy, hoping the cows would come back. They did. 

Tweed didn’t seem to care, but once Foxy saw the cows, she wanted out. 

*****

I had tended to his cut and scrape with SWAT, but one of them needed more. 

Time to put on the vet hat. 

Good luck wrapping a bandage near a hock! It took me three tries, and not wanting to get it too tight, it still came off by morning. 

Try one. 

Try 2

This one probably would have stayed on, but it cast the hock. 

Third time is a charm. 

I didn’t have any help until my 3rd try, and Tweed let me climb all around him to get it wrapped. He stood stock still and wouldn’t budge one inch, even when I asked him to. He wasn’t frightened, but I’m positive that he did not want to hurt me. 

I saw this graph later that night. Remember the book, The Compound Effect? Well, I have been working with Tweed every day. Most days are uneventful, and don’t get a post, but because we are working and training together so much more, I am seeing more. 

In the short run, it can look like slow progress or even going backwards somedays, but the consistency will pay off big down the road. It’s all about learning to be a team and trusting each other.