Back to Work, Lilly!

This past Sunday, it was back to work in the ring with Lilly. Getty watched us, ringside. She's only being so still here because she had just been zapped by the electric fence and was afraid to move a muscle for 15 minutes. Poor little dog!

I started with one of Lilly's most dreaded enemies, the grocery bag on a stick! This bag was flapping ever-so-slightly in the tiny breeze and this made Lilly snort! I was able to get the bag touching her head, neck and shoulder by the time we finished. But it took some patience. There were more panics mixed with yawning.

Good, good brumby. You get many rewrds for making an honest effort. It is hard to try scary things.

But once one enemy was sort of vanquished, another emerged: the terrible scrub/tarp! SCRARP! But that too got better with some time and effort.

I know that sometimes after much stressing out over these scary enemies, a horse's productivity level goes down, and her annoyance level go up. We mixed it up by adding a little bit of ring work. When the crop is down at the ground she should walk. When it is up at hip level she should trot. When it is high in the air, she should canter. Lilly is very good at doing all of these things. But that is not to say she does not register a tiny complaint here and there.

It is always fun to watch Bill working with her. That way I get to see what a beautiful rocking horse canter she has.
I am not as good as Bill at getting her to change direction. And sometimes at the canter, she'll throw her head around like the act of cantering is so annoying she is not interested in doing it at all. I said to Bill, What's the problem? She's got a belly full of hay, good buddies around her every day, and wants for nothing! But alas, I guess a brumby would always rather be nibbling that hay and hanging out with her friends than cantering in a circle in the ring with the two-leggers.

This is the parting shot from Outside magazine this month. Hah! Isn't it awesome?