Day 12: Adventures Out of Pen and Desensatizing

Today was a big day for Aztec.  This morning was her first adventure outside in the big pasture.  I decided she was okay to take out (in hand, of course) because she is doing pretty much anything I request of her.  She was a little rusty on leading before we went out, but once we were in the pasture and she discovered that I knew my way around this new scary place, she led right beside me.  Occasionally, once she got up the nerve to venture out behind me, she got a little full of herself and wanted to trot.  No biggie.  All I had to do was ask her to disengage and she regained her focus on me.

On a funny, she was scared of the pond.  We walked up the levi and the pond was hidden behind some brush.  Once we cleared the brush, she saw it and stopped.  Then she snorted and raised her head, extending her neck to get bigger.  She put on a show for the demon-pond, and then asked to leave.  So I allowed her to walk away from it, even though she would have liked to run away from it.

I also took her over to a small log that I use to mount bareback.  She snorted at it, but she didn't shy away.  She walked right up and plopped her nose on it.  Once she nosed it all over, she was ready to move on. I let her munch on some grass, then we headed in for a lesson in standing while tied.  She wasn't a fan.  she never pulled back or had a come apart, she just paced and chewed hay string.  Which was fine for her first time.

When we moved to the round pen, I lunged her around to get her focused, then I got out the plastic bag on the end of the extension stick.  She was a bit skeptical about the bag, so I held it out to let her sniff it.  When she rammed her nose into it, it made a noise, and she popped her head up.  She did go immediately back down to smell it some more, and she even chewed on it.  Once she was satisfied that it wouldn't eat her, I rubbed it all over her body, even under her belly near her flank and on her legs.  She was perfectly cool with it.

Tomorrow I'm going to tie up a tarp on one section of their pen.  I want them to know that they can get away from scary objects if they feel they need to.  Putting the tarp (scary, right?) on the fence gives them the chance to investigate for themselves.  It allows them to think about it, more so than me holding them still while I toss it on them.