It’s been a bit of a slow news week for Tybee and me (with a youngster, no news is often GOOD news!).
Last Sunday, David and I relocated my horse trailer to the farm where we board Tybee. Before parking the trailer, I decided it would be a good idea to let Tybee practice loading so that I wouldn’t be surprised by his loading skills (or lack thereof) the first time we actually need to get on the trailer to go somewhere. We brought Tybee up from his pasture, and I asked David to follow along behind us and be ready to get out of the way, if needed, as I was just going to walk from the pasture directly up the ramp into my straight load trailer as if it were no big deal.
So I did.
And Tybee just followed me.
And that was that.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. So far, this horse has done whatever I have asked of him, so why would the trailer be any different?
After standing on the trailer for a short while, I asked Tybee to back off and he did so quietly. Then I wanted to see if he would self-load, since knowing I can load my horse by myself when traveling solo would be a huge relief. I tossed the lead rope up over his neck, started walking toward the trailer, and asked him to walk on alone. He calmly loaded and stood quietly while I secured the butt bar.
I’ve been fortunate to always have good loaders, with the exception of Fizzi’s early days after coming off the track. I was thrilled that Tybee was so nonchalant about it!
After our trailer practice, I had a nice ride in the jump arena, and was thrilled that David agreed to take some photos for me.
The rest of the week has been more w/t/c in the arena, mixed with days off (tough work schedule this week). I plan to have lots of fun with Tybee this weekend before heading to Colorado for most of the next workweek.
Theforgottenone 