shafted

I have completed homework assignment #4. I stopped at the Home Depot and got some PVC pipes to make shafts. I think the guy thought I was nuts when I asked for two 70 inch pieces and one 32 inch piece. Then he thought I was more nuts when he asked what I was building and I told him shafts for a horse. He was puzzled and I did not feel like explaining. 

I got to the barn, put my shafts together, and let Shyloh play around with them. I had to use the clicker to get her to touch them, but after a few clicks and treats, Shy was walking in and out of them and biting them. She was totally fine. 

Jaime and Kyle came up to the barn to help me head Shy. I out her harness on and started line driving. I had Jaime at the head and Kyle behind us, just dragging the tire. After I felt Shy was comfortable, we hooked the tire up and got to work.

After a few rough starts, Shy was awesome! After really analyzing her step offs, I realized they are the same when she is being ridden. . .they are scoots! She tucks her butt and scoots forward. We worked on stopping and walking on, until we got zero reaction from Shy. I think it took about four times for her to get comfortable and step off without issue. Even when we changed from sand to gravel to grass, there was no issue. I kept Becky's words in my mind the whole time and praised Shy a ton to let her know she was doing good. Kyle even stepped on branches and made other noises, which startled Shy, but she regained her composure quickly and just kept walking. 

We decided to put on the shafts. The point of the shafts is to get Shy used to cart shafts and not have her bend when turning. I let Shy know what we were doing and she had no problem with us putting the shafts through the tugs, duct taking the corners, and using bungee cord to hold the back end up. Hey. . .only the best for Shy! Haha!

The best part of the day. . .after attaching the shafts and asking Shy to step off, it was perfect! No scooting, no freaking out, just a nice smooth step off. Yay! We worked on sharp turns, having Shy turn by stepping her legs over each other instead of bending. She did good! We parked her having ended on good note. No, a great note! Jaime gave Shy some tasty treats called Stud Muffins. Shy loved them!

Kyle said "No texting and driving!"

I think my next step will be having the header stand away from Shy because I think she gets comfort from that person right next to her head. Kyle says we should attach a radio to her that plays that spooky, creaky Halloween music. . .I am not sure about that!

Next, we went to Jaime's barn to introduce her newly gelded 2 year old Percheron to Clutch. I guess Notch looks too much like a Percheron the Isaac (the baby) mated with. 

Aside from some squealing and striking, a few kicks, and a couple rears, the first meeting went really well.

Clutch striking out with both feet. He is the boss!

Isaac doing some sort of defensive rear.

It feels good to be making progress all around!