Curiosity and Confidence

For the last few weeks I’ve been dealing, unsuccessfully, with having Tweed step over a tarp. Turns out, I was operating under a false paradigm. 

I thought Tumbleweed was confident, but being stubborn and unhappy about work at home. I based that upon the fact that he did so well working at the equestrian park compared to here.

But when we started asking him to walk over the tarp during a lesson, I hit a brick wall of resistance that led me to a new, and better, understanding.

It took me a long time to change my thinking, but the final piece of evidence was this:

Frustrated with our lack of progress, and at my wit’s end for solutions to move forward, I placed the tarp under a poll that Tumbleweed is confident going over, and then in front of the exit from the arena. 

Food and friends awaited him on the other side of the gate, but Tweed absolutely refused to go. 

That’s all the evidence I needed to know that it was a confidence issue. It made my heart soften and the frustration instantly evaporate. My baby needed me to think outside of the box and help him, not keep pushing him beyond his ability and making him feel like a failure. 

I took the tarp out of the picture, left the poll in front of the gate, and asked for him to walk in and out a few times over the poll. 

He did it. 

We went for a walk in-hand, exploring the property together and rebuilding our bond, then I released him with the others.

Back to the drawing board.

How do I build Tweed’s confidence with the tarp? 

I searched the internet and found a great video by Mastery Horsemanship, “Horse Is Afraid of Tarp,” which outlines the steps from 1 to 7. Spoiler alert: walking over the tarp is step 6! 😳 And yes, he has done steps 1-4 in previous years, but that doesn’t mean squat this year.

Today I went out to get Tweed again and, lo and behold, he left the others and walked right up to me, ready to go to work. (Further evidence that horses are very forgiving and everyday is a new day.)

My only goal was for him to follow the tarp, be curious, and touch it with his nose, follow it again, and let me rub it all over him, steps 1 and 2. He did awesome!

Tomorrow we will work on Steps 3 and 4, putting it on his back and letting it drop next to him.

It should always be fun, and Tweed should feel good about our work, successful and confident. I have all the time in the world. 

Epona comes home on Saturday.

It will be nice to have her home and she can benefit from the same work Tweed is doing. We will add her to the lessons with my trainer up here as a follow up.

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Let’s talk growing our own food. 

My barn tomatoes were coming along beautifully…and I was ever so proud of myself…

Until something found them & took the first bites of the garden bounty. 

When I realized I share my garden with critters, I went searching for protection and found these on Amazon. 

These bags have zippers, which make it easier to get into them and harvest tomatoes. 

So far so good, but with all the rain we had, I appear to have overwatered them. At first, I thought it was the bags blocking out light, but then I did some research and realized they can have too much of a good thing. 

They were also a little big for my plants, and flopping over, so I put a few stakes into them for support. 

They’re not the most attractive solution, but what do you do?

The other plants (except the apples) are doing well and don’t seem to be bothered by creatures. 

Did I mention that I’m buying an e-bike? We rented e-bikes in Coeur D’Alene and drove them 20 miles around the lake and back, pulling our grandson in a bike trailer. It was so much fun! Like being a kid again! 

I’ve always loved biking, but the hills around here are killers. The e-bike allowed me to go back and forth, sometimes with assist, sometimes without. 

My new bike should be here next week, but then temperatures will be 100+ for a few days. 😒 blah. 

But oh, the fun I will have on this bike when the temperatures go back to normal! 

E-bikes can be dangerous, or so I am told, but I have a healthy fear of going too fast.