Tri-zilla

 Tri-zilla

I took Trifecta out to the outdoor arena for a driving session. Ellen thought she would give me some extra challenges by setting up some poles and cones.  I led him around a bit, and we practiced a little on the poles.  When he first saw them, he got really excited and jumped up in the air.  I brought him over, and he immediately trotted over them.  He remembered all our pole sessions from earlier in the year.

I affixed the long reins and drove him around the perimeter for a bit.  He did very well.  When we got to the poles, he willingly walked across them, but when he got to the last one, he reached down to look at it--and then tried to pick it up.  The next time, he was satisfied with just pushing it around with his nose.  

We then tried the cones.  I wanted to weave in and out of them.  When he got to the first cone, he wanted to sniff it.  I let him, but then he picked it up and flopped it down on the ground.  Sigh.  Ellen fixed it, and we tried again.  We were able to do some weaving, but he kept grabbing at the cones--trying--and often succeeding in knocking them down.

As I glanced at the carnage, that is when Ellen called him Tri-zilla.

The rest of the session was even more challenging.  He kept trying to back up.  Sometimes, he stopped and refused to go forward, and for a while we were stuck at the gate.  That is when I realized I had been going at least a half hour, and I probably pushed him beyond his limit. I insisted that he drive nicely for a few minutes before quitting, and then we did.

The interesting thing is that the same thing happened to us when we were training in the indoor arena.  He had a few really good sessions--and then he had a troublesome session.  The following session there was perfect, and he has been consistently good ever since.  Maybe this is his learning pattern.  I will know the next time I try to drive him in the outdoor arena.

Our next goal, now that the weather has gotten so warm, is to start working on the street and the hill.

The Total Solar Eclipse

The Total Solar Eclipse

Words cannot describe the eclipse experience, but I will try.  My sister and boyfriend came over my house to view it. My yard is on a hill--above the street lights. The best spot was right in the middle of my currently vacant vegetable garden.  

View before totality from my Kindle camera

We watched the moon start to pass over the sun with our special glasses, and that looked cool.  The color of our surroundings started to look funny--and things seemed to look sharper.  When the moon was about a third of the way across, the spring peepers (tree frogs) in the swamp across the creek started to sing.  Oddly, when the moon was at the halfway point, they stopped singing. Maybe it was because it started to get a little chilly.  The wind picked up,too.  They said that was going to happen.

My yard before totality

It seemed to take forever to reach totality.  Actually, it was about an hour and a quarter.  As we watched the sun turn into a sliver, we couldn't take our eyes off it.  When it reached totality, we tore off our glasses to look.

It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Any pictures you see do not convey its beauty.  I think because it looked alive.  It is so hard to explain.

All around us, it was dark.  People started shooting off fireworks, but I could still hear the spring peepers--they started singing again.  It got very cold, and I wished I had brought a jacket.  We could see Venus and Jupiter.  Eventually, the horizon--360 degrees around us was yellow. That was another amazing sight. 

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Poor pictures from my Kindle

At the bottom of the sun, there was a pinkish red spot.  I now know that is called a solar prominance--and it just added to the beauty.

And then, we saw the flash of light indicating that totality was over,and we had to put our glasses back on.  It instantly became light again.  It was the fasted 4 minutes I have ever spent in my life.

I wish I could do it again, but then next time a solar eclipse comes to my yard is in 75 years.  One won't come back to the US until 2044.

If ever you can see a total solar eclipse, you will agree it is one of the greatest experiences in your life.

Baby Driver

 Baby Driver

Ellen, Kevin and I just watched the movie "Baby Driver."  Kevin and I had already seen it, but we thought Ellen would like it, too.  She did.

Anyway, I have my own "Baby Driver."  I have been ground driving Trifecta a couple times a week in the indoor arena, and he keeps getting better. Kevin and Ellen have also driven him.  I decided it was time to take him out to the large outdoor arena.

The outdoor arena at the stables where we keep our horses is very large, and there is lots of space for a baby to get in trouble.  There are 2 turnout areas close by, too, and on this day there were horses out in both.  I knew that could add distractions, but I have been trying to work him with distractions to teach him to pay attention to me.

I started out by lounging him a little inside, and he seemed like he was in a good mood for learning, so we took him out. He did tell me that he wanted to be turned out to play with the other horses, but I was able to lead him by without any big tantrums.  It is so nice that he is improving with that.

Once we got into the big arena, Ellen closed the gate and we hooked him up.  At first, I let him follow Ellen around to help him out, but soon Ellen stepped away and we were on our own.  He did really well.  In fact, the only difficulty I had was keeping him from going to see Ellen.  Trifecta really likes his people...

I didn't drive him long because I just wanted to leave the whole experience positive, so we unhooked him and turned him out to play for a while.  

I was just thrilled about how well he did.

I didn't drive him for a few more days.  We were in the indoor arena because it was a rainy day.  I was asking for figure eights and serpentines--and he was doing really well.  After about 15 minutes, Ellen and I both had the same idea at the same time--I should just drive him out the door.  So I did.

We have a very small loop that I drove him around and then we went over to the big arena again.  He was wonderful.  At no time did he get worried, rebellious, confused or unwilling.  He really seemed to be enjoying himself, too.

I love my "Baby Driver."