JJ - test at end of fourth trailer loading-unloading training session - 17 Sept 2022

JJ had just stood wonderfully to be shod all around. So on the way back to the small lot where he currently resides I loaded him in the trailer and he went in well but then ran out backwards as if he totally forgot the past three sessions OR was simply not yet convinced that unloading calmly was his best option. I had thought he was going to do it well two or three times in a row - that we would be done in two minutes. But he actually fought harder this fourth session than he did in any of the previous three sessions - and he fought pretty hard on occasion in some of them. By the end he was dripping wet with sweat but he had hitched back on to me so that he would go the direction I was moving instantly - even if I switched direction. He again is driving home the point that "You don't practice until you get it right - you practice until you can't get it wrong." Obviously we have a ways to go yet before he can't get it wrong.

Typically it takes only one or two sessions - so JJ is being a hard case. And that leaves me wondering what precipitated this bad behavior of blowing back out of the trailer. That mystery will likely remain a mystery I suspect but we just have to keep looking for yet burning embers/coals and make sure they are all cold out - so we know this bad behavior is extinguished.

Remember to read, study, and ponder upon God's word each day and also pray each day to find out what God needs you to do today and then do it. And have a blessed day!!

Jack Griffes
Certified Farrier - Colt Starting Trainer https://griffes.tripod.com/farrier.html
Be part of the solution - Learn Founding Principles https://griffes.tripod.com/Learn-Founding-Principles.html