bag of scare

I do not know what has gotten into Shyloh lately, but she is being hard to catch again. And to top it off, Shy is being super sassy about it with that head toss!

Once I finally caught her (peppermints are less and less effective), I put her to work. I had a plan.  I had a bag. 

bag of scares

In my bag, I had items that make lots of noises. 

Items of doom : 1. tub of candy from the movies 2. horn 3. paper bag of taffy 4. jingle bell 5. plastic bag 6. chain

I want Shy to be comfortable with noises coming out of nowhere that she cannot see. So I hooked her up in the indoor arena (did I ever mention is she amazingly still when being hooked?) and I took her around the arena. Her commands where spot on. 

Then I started with my noise makers. First I crinkled the paper bag with the salt water taffy in it. Shy acted like she didn't even hear it. So I shook the bag. Still nothing.

Next I took out the horn. I gave it a gentle honk, I really didn't want to flat out scare her. But the biggest reaction I got was a flick of the ears back on the noise. 

I took out the tub of candy and shook it. It was loud. Shy kept moving so I kept shaking. She finally stopped. She was probably wondering what the crazy person behind her was doing. With a "walk on", she continued on. 

I got the jingle bells out. I knew Shy wasn't afraid of these, she had worn them before. And I was right, jingle bells jingling behind her were not a problem. But then I got an idea. . .I remembered what had happened with a barn cat ran out in front of Shy one day when we were line driving. Shy got startled. So I tossed the jingle bell in front of Shy.

I knew she was going to be startled, but I was not expecting her reaction. . .let's just say that she stopped so hard that if I would have been riding in the cart I would have been launched forward, probably onto Shy's back and landed on one of those silver things (technical term) on her harness saddle. I don't want that. Sounds painful.

Instead, I was walking behind the cart and I ran into it. I wish I would have got that on video.

That was a big reaction, but not the worst reaction that I can think of. So what was the most logical thing to do next? Yup, get Shy moving and do it all over again. Hey, I had four jingle bells! Each time I tossed one (I threw them on both sides of her, too), her reaction was better and better. Plus, she was not scared of the actual bells and had no problem walking up to them as I steered her to pick them up and do it all over again. Just the sudden appearance of the bells in her line of vision was startling. I wouldn't even call it scary. 

To continue my session with Shy, I got out the chain and tapped it on the wood and metal parts of the cart. She didn't care. Plastic bag flapping? No worries. Jingle bells tossed ahead of her again? Super stop! I tossed all the jingle bells again and when Shy showed the slightest reaction, I ended the lesson. Each time she did stop, but the stop was less and less abrupt. So, now I know what we need to work on, mainly objects coming into her range of vision when she is not expecting it. I am thankful that she never tried to bolt!