say what?

Remember when Shyloh was driven all around the barn property? Remember when she was perfect?

Flashback to Sunday

So why, just a mere two days later does she act like she has never pulled a cart before? Why does pony torture me so?

I was told by the barn owner that Shy and I could drive in the big pasture. This part of their pasture has been closed down for the winter to protect the precious land. Currently, the barn workers are spreading the manure on there for pasture management (imagine that. . .).  So I dragged the cart to that pasture to work Shy. I had to go through part of the outdoor pasture to get to the big pasture. I figured the horses would leave me alone and be afraid of the cart. Wrong. They were so curious. Surprisingly, Shy was the first one to leave the herd and walk towards me. That is the second time she has done that! Shy doesn't run anymore, she usually stands and makes me walk to her. So this approaching me is something new. Anyway. . . as I was trying to open gates, maneuver the cart, not let horses escape, and so forth, I had a bunch of horses very interested in what I was doing. 

I got Shy from the pasture, put her harness on, then walked her through her pasture to the cart. I tied her to the gate and Lukas, Tony, and Rainy Day proceeded to watch us. Lukas must have figured out Shy was about to do work because he immediately began trying to untie her! Halfingers work together. . . 

Shy's posse

I put a stop to that and put the cart on Shy. She was perfect and I was having high hopes. . . which she almost immediately dashed.

Shy was listening pretty good, but randomly she would tuck her butt and scoot forward. For no apparent reason. It was frustrating. Each time she did that, I made her back up. We ran over a stick. . .tuck and scoot. Imaginary noise. . .tuck and scoot. Wind. . .tuck and scoot. None of this stuff had bothered her before. One time, over absolutely nothing, Shy tried to take off. I thought to myself hold on, no matter what you do, do not let go! If you let go, you will have to start all over again! Luckily, I was able to hang on and stop her. But what happened to my pony??

Eventually I was able to get a decent amount of work without any scoots out of her. Then we stopped. I was, still am, just so frustrated with her. She is always testing me. We have been working pretty hard core since November and I am still not confident in her ability to be able to drive alone. I see some people who drag a tire once, hook a cart to their horses, and off they go in a matter of a week or so.  This is just my little pity party and I'll get over it, but why does my horse have to be so damn willful?