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.