December 27, 2004

 Difficult track but guess it was a good learning experience.  My plan was to lay a multi-turn track with short legs and multiple articles at the Mashburn's place and then go to the elementary school to use their playing field for another short track.  I laid the track at the Mashburn's and walking back to the car I thought one of their horses might be dead.  But I found out later after talking to Charlotte that he likes to take a nap between 10 am and 2 pm out in the field and many people have thought he might be dead by the way he is laying down.  That wasn't the difficult part of the track today though.  

Vivi started out well on the first leg, overshot the left turn slightly (I think the fence was drawing her to it, but the turn was in opposite direction of the fence), and found the first article on the track (there was an article at the start, also). We restarted and then a loud, souped-up convertible came flying down the road and that made Vivi really nervous (like she gets when she hears gunshots).  Her back legs were quivering and I felt so bad for her.  I tried petting her, talking to her, and giving her water and food (which she wouldn't take).  I stayed at the spot for what seemed like forever.  Nothing really seemed to work to get her calm.  She peed twice while we were waiting.  I tried pointing to the track (which I think is a no-no) and telling her to "let's track" (which I also think is a no-no).  So I decided I would just walk her along that leg to the next article and then call it a day.  She pooped as we were walking to it.  However, when we got to the article, she did eat the piece of chicken I had left with the article which told me she was feeling better about the situation.  So I decided to see if she would continue with the track and she did, although she did seem to be more distracted by any noise she heard.  She stopped several times to look around.  

I called it a day with that track and we didn't go to the school for a 2nd track.  


Proof that the horse is alive: 



Comments

  1. Jack's JourneyDecember 28, 2024 at 6:00 AM

    I think walking her forward was a good idea. You could try tossing chicken in front of her, on the track, to see if that would restart her. And, tough as it may sound, I would have taken her to the school for a second track. But with the knowledge you had from track 1, I might have double laid a straight line with multiple articles, 50 yds. Sometimes we have to work through failure - your attitude means something to her. So at the school, I would have laughed and told her "well girlie, the first track was a disaster, but WE got this! On to this fun straight line and a good time". Also, I would not be putting food on top of the article for her to self reward with zero indication. Remind me what her article indication is?....

    ReplyDelete
  2. JudiDecember 28, 2024 at 11:10 AM

    Are you following the track rotation? I agree with Mary Ann on the second track…and her comments.

    ReplyDelete

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