Saturday, June 5, 2010

Training Piper and Working through Obstacles

Piper has been home from her 30 days of training for a week now.  It's so nice to have her home, I missed her so much!  I'm really enjoying working with her, even though it is a ton of work (not to mention getting up and outside by 6am to work her in the round pen before the heat sets in).

On Wednesday Piper and I went with Colt to a facility on the other side of town that has an obstacle course (like those you see in the Extreme Cowboy Races).  EVERYTHING was new for Piper.  She was very alert and curious.  Some things were easier for her than others, but the goal was that once you committed to an obstacle, you had to get through it, no matter how long it took.

The water obstacle ended up being Piper's problem.  We walked up to it, sniffed the water, backed up, went back...over and over.  She even watched and "almost" tried to follow the little filly that Colt was riding go through.  I wasn't going to give up, but it did seem like she might not go through it.
And then she took one big leap into it!  And stopped part way through to taste the muddy water ~  yuck!

She made her way through the rest of the trench and up and out -- see Piper, I told you, NO CROCODILES! 
Overall, little Piperoni did awesome!  She was so proud of herself after coming out of the water that she let out a big whinny. 
More adventures to come!

11 comments:

Annette Tait said...

Well done to Piper!! and you too Bridget for encouraging her :)
I can just hear her whinny!
(I'm rather afraid of crocodiles in all places bigger than baths :)

Maria said...

That sounds fun and so exciting she is doing so well, the early morning workouts not so much.

Mikey said...

You guys did great!!! Piper has turned into the cutest horse!! I love watching this :)

Gypsy Heart said...

Wonderful accomplishment! With the heat, she might decide to stay in water for awhile. :-)

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Great job!

jane augenstein said...

Wow, way to go Piper!!! That's one big step for her, she did great, give her a hug for me! :-D

Sandra said...

Being a girl, she might not have wanted to get dirty because of the muddy water:) "And why go through there when I can easily walk around it?"

Judy said...

Oh how awesome! I am so glad you had pictures to go with that! Here is a peppermint for Piper.

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Awesome, Piper, just awesome.

Anonymous said...

Wow, not the little girl throwing a fit at the arena last fall uh?

Gaina said...

Ah, bless her - what a brave girl! :)