In the days leading up to our move to the new barn, I’ve focused our training sessions on preparing Xena for trailer loading. We don’t have a trailer to practice with, so we’ve been doing simulations with stepping onto wooden pedestal and Squeeze Game℠ in the corner of the arena.
This was so that Xena would experience stepping onto a wooden surface (wooden pedestal=trailer ramp), and become comfortable in a small, confined space — fortunately we’ve been working on both of these skills for several months.
Our new barn owner offered to trailer Xena, using their large ’2 & 1′ trailer, which had a rubber-lined box stall. When the ramp was put in place, Xena took a brief sniff and then quietly walked with me onto the trailer on our very first attempt. There was an open man-door on the opposite side, so she and I just stood looking out the door while the ramp was being closed.
After all the doors were closed I could hear her moving around inside, but she didn’t call out or panic. They began to drive away immediately, so I guess she quickly became preoccupied with keeping her balance. At our new barn, Xena and I walked down the ramp without a problem. I was really expecting her to be more nervous/spooky, but I guess having me there helped her to be less frightened. And, 15 month’s of Parelli training didn’t hurt either!
We spent the first 90 minutes slowly exploring the new property, hand grazing and playing different Parelli games in interesting locations. She remained calm the entire time. As we walked into the barn for the first time, she automatically turned to the right, and walked into her new stall — it’s in exactly the same location as at our old barn.
Counting the Minutes — 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. = 4 hours, 15 minutes
I’d return 3 hours later and spend another 2 hours with her.
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