Trailering, part 2

Ever since I introduced Sage to the trailer again yesterday, it's been hard to keep her out. Granted, I've been making sure there's always something tasty in there, but this morning she got in and refused to get out over some day-old hay. She really is a pig.

Brandy, on the other hand, has been having a mild nervous breakdown over the whole thing. I loaded her just for practice yesterday and this made her really antsy. I tried to leave her in the arena and leave her hay in the trailer, but for hours she just fretted and paced and finally I sent Sage in there to clean up the feed. Brandy was so confused as to why anyone would want to spend any time in the tin can of hell that she's been kind of worried all night. Not worried enough not to eat, of course, but just worried.

This morning while Sage was chowing down on her grain in the trailer I closed the divider on her and opened it back up several times. Being the star that she is, she didn't mind at all. So this afternoon I moved the trailer to a different spot (just to make sure she was paying attention), loaded her up ("step up" is all the cue she needs), closed the door and took her on a 15 minute drive up the road.

When we got back she was a bit nervous and unloaded a bit fast. But I asked her to step back in and unload again and she did it easily. What a good girl!! After a little rest and a roll, I saddled her up and worked on leaning over her back, and of course all the basics in review.

The basics are super important when you are in a small space, such as a trailer, with a mustang. The fact that she is very good at backing up and yielding her hindquarters meant I could maneuver her to the exact spot I needed when I loaded her. You can never go over that stuff too much!

Don't have any pictures from today, but here are some "long lost" photos from back at the corrals in August: