Last week I decided to scare the crap out of entertain my horse with some challenges in her paddock. She’s been acting spooky and jumpy recently, mostly due to the wind, I’m sure. But I want to help desensitize my mare as much as possible. So, I recycled a bunch of plastic grocery bags by tying them on trees, bushes, and the fence.
At first she played the avoidance game. If I don’t see the horse-eating bags, then they don’t exist.
Then she got a little braver and turned around to face her fears.
She had a peek around to locate where all the plastic predators plastic bags were waiting to pounce blowing in the fierce winds.
I’m sure she was thinking, “Why are humans always messing with my personal space?”
But she cow-girled up and walked into the horrors of Bagtown.
Even seeking a little solace with 6 yr old Jenna.
Baby Doll says, “Why are you punishing me? If it’s about that little teleporting of mine that caused you to fall, I promise to never do that again…if only you’ll remove these horse eating plastic horrors, please?”
“Ok fine. Since you won’t help, I’ll just stand here and pout”
“Come on now. You might as well lock me up in a padded stall, if you’re thinking of leaving me out here with these plastic horse killers!” “Don’t you even care?” “Don’t you even love me anymore?”
“I think those horrible horse-devouring plastic creatures are watching me…..waiting to pounce……waiting to taste my delicious, succulent, horse flesh…..waiting to blow onto my head and tear my eyes out…….waiting to……….
“AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”
From the Tower of,
40 comments :
Ooou COOL, I am never first here!
Great goings on! That is a good idea for the teleporter!
I can do anything with a bag around Wa...but if it hits the ground..it mysteriously changes into ...It's ALIVE!!!
That is so funny! But if it gets her to be a bit less jumpy then its gotta be good!
WOW THAT was a horse moth full. Love the last photo. it matches the words. lol.
Great photos and story!!! Love the last picture the most. :-) Smart idea to tie the bags out there, hopefully she gets used to them!
When I first saw all those plastic bags I thought, "Geez, we musta had some stong winds! I sure hope someone cleans this up." lol.
I think it's a great idea and definitely a little entertainment for the horses, mine included.
Baby Doll is so pretty! I love her profile head shot.
i too loved the last shot of her...and she does look like she is pouting in the other shots ^..^
hey the sound of those bags rustling about is well...annoying!
have a great day.
Cute story! I need to do that with my mustangs! Hehehehehe....torture!
Good idea to desensitize with the bags. I would have to watch Gilly and Pokey around them, they would eat the plastic bags! Pokey is more skiddish than Gilly, he doesn't seem to care about anything like that. I have done all kinds of things to him, tarps over him, had him pull a garbage bag full of pop cans, even put them on his back and made him jump over a jump, they fell off but he didn't even look at them, opened an umbrella under him, held it over his head, tied a jacket over his head and lead him around, he could care less. I guess you could say he is very trusting of me. All in all it was good practice for him. I probably should do it again and to Pokey too.
Love the last picture!!!
Jane and Gilly
This was a great read. I really needed it this morning. Good idea too!
I had a great time catching up on my reading Lisa! Loved the llama in the house, and I love this post. The plastic bags are a great idea, and I hope they work.
I'm glad the knee is getting better:)
Good for you and my Baby Doll...I need her to adjust to all of her surroundings....you know, in case she wants to come visit her Godmother this summer....
LOL, thanks for the chuckle! I can imagine Kola's reaction!Much the same!
Chuckle! It reminds me of sharing a tent with my sister, her German Shepherd and very large Rottweiler several years ago on a hike. A stray, tiny, sandwich baggie woke up Jack, the manly rottie, who was terrified! We were lucky to keep the tent standing when it was all over.
Very good! Reminds me of the time I decided to feed my yearling his grain on a laid out tarp.
For a week to get his grain he had to cowboy up and walk across the tarp to the center to eat it. Ha! That fixed him!
But then after he was no longer afraid of it - it quickly became a toy and I had to remove it before he destroyed it.
What fun and a great post! I need to do more of that sort of thing.
Way to go! What a great thing to do! Even if Baby Doll doesn't agree. ;o)
Just don't forget that it becomes a different monster altogether when the bag is in your hand or blowing by loose on the ground, as opposed to on a tree or fence. Be sure to desensitize her to these things too, in case you encounter a loose bag on the trail.
Really, what horses must think of us! She is such a beautiful horse!!
Hope she becomes spook-free in no time.
I laughed so hard I had tears running. I did this to my arabian when I still had him. I remember how much those horse eating plastic bags used to get him but even worse for him were carnivorous boxes and horse eating tarps. OH, and NEVER ever forget the horrible equine devouring ducks (we almost had a few spills like yours from those evil creatures!!!!) I can look back and laugh because I don't own a horse any more but I sure do miss those trail rides (even with danger lurking around every corner!) ARABIANS - GAH! I sure do miss those two boys!!!!
D.,
I have an Arab cross and I know just what you mean. He has surprised me by walking by a plastic bag tied to a post on the trail without even flinching, yet he is deathly afraid of manhole covers. I wish I could find a way to desensitize him to one of those. Maybe I should steal one and bury it in his pasture... ;o)
Very funny! I had a Quarter Pony that would freak out about everything. We did lots of desensitizing with him. He would just about jump out of his skin. Really fun when you were in the saddle.
Poor BD! jk, it's good for her. But I think you should buy all those giant Xmas inflated things and put them all around her pasture...
I was a bit checker this past Saturday at an eventing trial for the dressage and there was a plastic bag high up in the tree by two of the rings that I made sure not to mention to the riders...I think it was high enough that no horse saw it, but I kept my eye on it:-)
Lisa, you crack me up! "But she cow-girled up and walked into the horrors of Bagtown." :) That is so funny!
We have one hanging on the arena fence, but it's full of cans. I'm thinking it'd be good to have a few lightweight, fluffy horse-eating ones around, too!
There is just something mysterious and uncontrollable about a plastic bag lifted by the wind. It is completely out of control!
Are those current pictures? I can't believe all your snow is gone already! Spring weather is crazy!
A friend and I are planning a "play day" tomorrow in my arena. She is very good with groundwork, where I usually go straight to the saddle. My kid's horses lack softness, so we are going to work on them with that & then play in the arena. May have to bring out some plastic bags & stuff, toO!
Had another "challenging" group ride last night. We peeled off from the group & did some groundwork to get her wits about herself & then got going again. It wasn't an A ride, but I won't give myself an F. Maybe a sturdy "C" grade.
Nice story and very funny I must admit. It make me lough so much.
Mark
I think that was a great thing to do! And I also think you should go the next step and get helium and mylar baloons to tie in her pasture! They are great cause they move very "ghostly" especially after they have lost some of their fullness.
I feed treats to all the stable horses out of those scrary bags. At fist they spook, jump,snort and even bolt. But before long they will even get their own treat from the bag. This may take several weeks and one horse took a month before she would get her own treat from the monster bag!!! Mares do tend to be a bit more spookey!
I'm torn: it'd be great to de-sensitize my mare to the terrors of white plastic grocery bags.
OTOH, if she lost her fear of them, I'd lose a valuable tool for keeping her away from stuff I want her to avoid (i.e. weak parts of the fence I can't fix until the snow/tree/whatever is removed...)
Such a dilemma. Thanks for the great photos!
Awww, come one. Baby Doll looks totally relaxed and bored with it all. I'll bet she was sniffing those bags for carrots after a short while. Maybe you should have drawn eyes and sharp teeth on them to add to the horror.
Too true and what a great idea; think I'll use it on my big babies.
Your mare is beautiful.
NM,
You, my friend, are very observant. She was never really afraid of the plastic bags, but that would have made for a boring blog photo story! lol!
She's never spooked yet at plastic bags on the trail, nor even a loose tarp we ran across one day.
Baby Doll, if anything was very annoyed with the bags. They made a ton of noise. She really wanted them gone. I'm so mean. :D
lol!
~Lisa
Oooh! Desert Rose,
I love your devious plot for horse torture! Oh yes, helium balloons would be perfect for my mare. She will love it!
(evil grin: Bwahahahaha!!!)
I'll ket you all know how it goes.
~Lisa
Stephanie,
I've got to try that with BD, too. I currently carry her hay out in a blue Ikea tarp bag....and she is used to it....but a tarp to step on. That should be good!
~Lisa
Mom L,
You made me snort just thinking about a huge rottie trying to escape through a tent afraid of a ziplock baggie. Oh Gosh! What a night, eh?
Hey Tammy,
Good idea! I've ben wanting to do some ground work with my mare, too. It's been so long. It's just been so windy and with me still being off balance I've worried about her getting spooked and me losing my balance and falling.
I'm getting stronger, though! :)
Hey Meggy! Baby Doll and I would both love that. She knows you'd spoil her rotten, too! hehe
That's a different idea, hope it works on desensitizing her to monsters!
Oh, that poor horse! What awful torture.
Fabulous idea! I hope she gets used to it soon. Then you can move on to tarps, umbrellas, kids on bicycles--all stuff you have laying around the house.
Great idea Lisa! The more you do that can desenstize BD the better! She should be an ole pro by the time you get back up on her!
My sis and I do that up in the arena, plastic bags, tarps, cans with rocks anything that may seem scary to the horse and we use them quite a bit! Doesn't even phase my jumpy Arab! Oh but a dandelion will!
lmao
One year Kimfer's dad got sick of his gelding Ty being such a FREAK about stuff like that.
He tied plastic bags and feed bags all around the bale feeder. Ty either had to starve or learn to deal.
(Ty is fat and healthy to this day)
LOL! I love it! The ways you torture that lovely mare...hehehe
Have an awesome weekend there Miss Lisa!!
Yep...I was going to say that Baby Doll seemed rather unimpressed with those horse eating bags too...lol!!! Great idea though Lisa, and don't worry...she'll be good as gold for you when the time comes to ride again. (Just have Val take her out a time or two...lol!!)
Oh....I forgot to answer your question about Stretch!
You know me so well!!! I would love to buy that gelding from Steph, and honestly, at this point, I would probably buy him sight unseen. My darn school tuition just has a habit of getting in the way of large horsey purchases...lol!!! Saty tuned, I will explain that post soon. :)
You are so funny! I loved the last photo...that one cracked me up!
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