Saturday morning we loaded up and headed down the road a ways and across the river to a bomb-proofing clinic at one of the local arenas.bomb
Contrary to how it sounds, this is not an event where we endeavor to get our horses to calmly stand still during explosions by subjecting them to hand grenades and cannons, although from the reactions of some of the participants it might as well have been.
You can quote me on this: There is no such thing as a bombproof horse. Unless he's blind, deaf and cemented in place, most horses have at least one thing they will spook at or at the very least react to. There are horses that accept most everything you throw at 'em, who you could trust to carry a toddler around on them safely - but they are all capable of getting frightened by something new, even the most level-headed of them. If they weren't born like calm, cool cats, the best way to get them there is - you guessed it - to throw everything at 'em. Rinse, wash, repeat.
When we got to where the clinic was being held the fun had already started. Right behind the fence line where the trailers lined up there was a pen with a great big black and white sow in it. More than one horse decided to break loose and head south when they got a gander at her. Unlike cows, who tend to be more curious than frightened of new things, horses tend to react with a great deal of self-preservation. Until they've determined (or been convinced) that something isn't going to kill and eat them, they'll just assume otherwise and vacate the premises with haste. Also? (And this is anecdotal so feel free to Snopes me on it) Pigs supposedly smell very similar to bears.
Fortunately Bugsy Boy wasn'tt all too concerned about the pig. The llama and the sheep, on the other hand, had him snorting and jumping around until the llama was kind enough to touch noses with him through the field wire. After that, Bugs was all, hey, I don't know how to get in there with you but would you mind sharing some of that hay?
The entire facility was covered with various obstacles - bridges, gates, tarps, water obstacles. There were obstacles set up inside the covered arena, and obstacles set out on the grounds as well. Did you know that a water obstacle inside the barn is not the same as a water obstacle outside in the daylight? No? Just ask Bugs, who successfully (after a lot of coaxing and the help of a buddy horse) walked through the water inside the barn but not once set foot in the outside water. Those plastic ducks looked pretty threatening to me too, come to think of it. Sometimes you measure success by your proximity to the desired result.
He did great on the tilty bridge and the "car wash" (a frame made of PVC pipes with streamers and pool noodles hanging off it). Once he figured out he could put his head down and the streamers wouldn't touch his ears he didn't mind it a bit. He did not like going through the obstacle where a whole bunch of plastic bottles and jugs were strewn on the ground inside of a square made of wooden poles. The first time his foot crunched on one I thought I was going to have to pull my hat out of the rafters. By the sixth or seventh time through it, though, he was a lot calmer.
We also successfully negotiated the Black Tarp of Death, which a couple of years ago was what I referred to as his "kryptonite." When he put his head down, sniffed it and walked right over it I had to turn around and do it a few more times just to convince myself I hadn't dreamed it or maybe was on the wrong horse. I was sure the tilting bridge would unnerve him but he handled it like a pro.
By afternoon we had put in a good three or four hours and both of us were ready to go home, Bugs to have a nice roll and me to have a nice hot shower. It was a really good day, seeing old friends and making new ones.
A lot about improving your riding and helping your horse learn is about the miles you put into them. Except for rare cases, the spookiest of horses can be gotten used to a variety of things. I like to expose my horse to everything I can, it just makes him safer for me on the trail - and that makes the trail a lot more fun for both of us.
