The Saga of the Blue Tarp

I don't know what it is about ordinary tarps, but my 4 year old event prospect, Zahra, just can't stand them.

Proof that Zahra will jump things
that are NOT tarps!
(c) ShortHorse Studios

She has been so accommodating and wonderful about her training. She figured out how to do dressage and now has even the full time dressage riders oohing and aah-ing at her floaty movement. She learned how to jump and now tackles the 3' oxers like they're child's play. She's happy to go out on trails by herself, and will jump our little cross country jumps while we're out. She's been over small ditches, up and down small banks, and into water. It seems like she's on the path to be a great event horse!

And yet...

She has this overpowering irrational fear of tarps.

I like to do some ground work with all my horses, especially the young ones. Its a great way to establish a partnership, create boundaries, and introduce new concepts. So over the winter with my green-broke then-3 year old, I was doing groundwork once a week. Everything was going smoothly. We were establishing a connection, learning to move away from pressure, and trying new things. Until one day I thought it would be a good idea to bring out the big bad tarp. It's so versatile-- it can simulate water, a ditch, or be just a scary blue tarp!

Zahra completely wigged out. She adamantly refused to go over it, and I was completely flabbergasted. This is the horse that climbed up on the "elephant stand" on her first go, went on trail rides solo, and generally kept a good head on her shoulders-- and yet now she was acting like... a three year old!! I tried to get after her, and it just made her frantic, and LESS inclined to listen.

Keep in mind that this was December/January when all this was starting, so I began to panic a little bit. Sure she can do the dressage and the show jumping, but if she won't walk and/or jump over the tarp, how on earth will I get her into the water or over a ditch??

What I see

So we spent some more time working on the tarp. We slowed way down. I would let her watch other horses walk over it. We would stand in front of it until her blood pressure dropped. I could even pick up the tarp and put it ON her. But still, she would fight when I asked her to walk over it. Usually, if I had a cookie, she would oblige. Once she walked over it once, it became a non-issue and she would walk over it again and again.

As the weather got nicer and we started our introduction to cross country, the tarp work fell by the wayside. She had no problems with the REAL ditches and water I exposed her to, so the tarp fears faded.

What Zahra sees

Until April 1st, April Fool's Day, and Zahra decided to make a fool out of me! I was at a Leslie Law clinic and he had an inflatable Liverpool (aka, glorified tarp) that he was using to simulate the ditch in a coffin exercise. Gulp. We did all the exercises in the lead up to the coffin beautifully, including a big ol' corner jump! When our turn comes for the coffin, Leslie gave Zahra and I a break and invited us to walk around the tarp a few times, and then just trot the Liverpool by itself. And... she didn't. A guide rail was added. A lead horse came in to try to help us over it. Leslie got a lounge whip. Nothing. Well, lots of rearing and bolting, but certainly no jumping. Finally, he said (and I quote!) "Well, I'm not sure I can get her over it either, but I'll give it a go."

For about 10 minutes the rearing and bolting continued, but Leslie DID ultimately get her over it, and once she'd been forced over it twice, it was a non issue and she never looked at it cross eyed again. I got on, jumped through it, no problem.

About a week after that, on a Monday, I decided to revisit the issue. I took out my old faithful tarp and folded it down to a small rectangle, and then covered it in poles. At the other end of the ring, I also set up an unrelated trot pole exercise to complete the illusion. Over the trot poles we went, no problem. Over the pile of poles, no problem. Back and forth we did everything 5-6 times, never a foot wrong.

I was so happy! My plan was working! Now, to remove one pole from the pile and expose just a tiny bit of tarp... But as soon as we walked up to the poles for me to dismount, I felt Zahra tense up when she saw a little bit of blue tarp peeking out. No problem, I thought. She's already jumped it many times, we'll just go jump in once more before I move a pole, now that she knows the tarp is there. She trotted right up to it, and then bolted away at the last second. And so began again the bolting and the rearing. Eventually, I was able to get her to walk up calmly to the poles (but not over them), so I asked a friend to grab my rope halter, and  after a few minutes, got her over the poles.

That was the last straw. I sent my good friend Ruth, natural horseman extraordinaire, a message that night that said HELP! I may have just taught my horse to never trust me again!! We agreed on a game plan where she would do some ground work with her, and then at the end of the week, I'd take a lesson to learn how to fix the problem.

After the first day, I got a message from Ruth saying "She started out REALLY upset. After an hour she would follow me over stuff." I found out later that "really upset" meant she walked into the arena, saw all the tarp stuff set up, and took off running around the arena trying to escape.

Ruth working her across the tarp.
Photo (c) ShortHorse Studios

Throughout the rest of the week, Ruth worked with her a little bit during the day, and I would ride her a little bit after work. On Friday we met up for our lesson. She had several tarp obstacles set up, all of them intending to be jumped over. Since I really don't need her to be able to actually walk over a tarp, we zeroed in on making her comfortable with jumping the tarps, and who cares if she ever walks across one?? So, we started with her following me over a pole wrapped in a tarp. No problem. Then I walked across a piece of plywood with a tarp underneath. No problem. Next was a folded up tarp with barrels on either side, and a bit of wood across the middle of the tarp. She opted to jump the barrel the first time ("That's ok! She's following you into pressure") but then the second time hopped across the tarp. I was so impressed!

Following me across the pole wrapped in a tarp.
Photo (c) ShortHorse Studios

The next step was for her to go over these obstacles without me. So I walked next to her, encouraging her forward and out, on a 10m circle. She willingly walked over the pole, then the plywood, but at the tarp and barrels, she stopped. I calmly walked in front of her, hopped over the tarp, and she came too.

As soon as Zahra jumped over that tarp by herself, she got a big reward of treats, and she was done with work for the day!

That was Friday. Sunday, at a Ralph Hill clinic, we had a fake ditch (read: tarp) for our indoor cross country school. I explained the problem to him, and we took baby steps. First standing quietly next to it, then jumping rails on the ground next to it, then, towards the end of the lesson after she had jumped a few other things well, he said "Ok, now canter your liverpool!" I gritted my teeth, squared my shoulder, and put my leg on in a death grip. Zahra surged forward, and we jumped it!!

We're still on the road to recovery, but I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel!!

Wisconsin Winter Olympics

Ok, I know, this winter has been a breeze so far. I only rode in my new-for-this-winter Carhartt’s once, and there was only one week where I thought “Meh… horses are fine. I’m staying home and watching TV.” But in general, winter is a time of hibernation for those of us not fortunate enough to travel South for the winter. But even in this less-than-ferocious winter, it still takes dedication and a little creativity to keep ourselves and our horses engaged over the long winter. There are only so many 20-meter circles you can do before you're ready to become a new Marvel comics style Super Villain: The Dressage Queen!

Here at my barn in Southern Wisconsin, we have started an annual "Winter Olympics" as a fun way to break up the winter, give us all something to look forward too, and generally dispel some of the ill-will that comes when nearly 100 eventers, dressage riders, trail riders, and natural horse folk are forced to share two arenas for 4 months, a la Big Brother (Seriously, are there cameras in here? Is network TV making a profit on these hissy fits??).

Zahra and I in our pre-game huddle

So, our barn has 4 barns: Dry Barn, Dairy Barn, Main Barn, and Long Barn, plus rough board. So these are your 5 teams! Last year, the title went to the Dry Barn, so we were the defending champions. Of course, this year no one from our barn could make it, so it was me on my awesome 3 year old, and another eventer girl on her awesome Standardbred. Our team was by far the smallest, but we were determined to be a force to be reckoned with!

Our resident dressage trainer, showing us how its done in the Puissance!

First, for the eventers, was the jumping portion of the day. Two classes: Gambler's Choice and Puissance. The Gambler's Choice is an arena full of jumps... some are small, and some are tall, and they each have a different point value. You have 90 seconds to successfully jump as many jumps as possible to score your team the most points. So plan your route carefully to maximize those points! While that 3'9" triple bar might be worth the most points, that don't amount to a hill of beans if your green horse refuses to jump it!! The Long Barn dominated in this class, taking 1st, 2nd, and 4th! My Zahra girl jumped a 3' vertical, which is a full foot higher than we've jumped so far, so she definitely is a team player!

Next, the Puissance is two jumps, one is for "warm up"and the other is for points. The jumps start at 2'6", and get taller and taller every time they are successfully jumped. If your horse knocks the rail or refuses, you're out. Last rider jumping wins. Again, the Long Barn came in first and second here!

Egg and Spoon!

The next few classes were anybody's guess as to who would win!  These were more mounted games/gymkhana type events.  Egg n Spoon races, pole bending, and the bucket brigade (Filling up a bucket of water, one cup at a time).

Pole bending, bareback in a halter!

In our small indoor, we had a trail class set up: 3 minutes to accomplish as many obstacles as possible while staying mounted (because cowboys never walk!) This year's trail class had many wild and crazy suggestions, from jumping bonfires and snowmobiles, to releasing chickens and goats into the arena. Most of these were tongue in cheek suggestions, because this stuff actually happens at our barn! Everyone at shows wonders why my horses are so bombproof. Its because there's nothing a show can throw at them that they haven't already seen at home!! In the end, it was slightly more traditional with events like walking across tarps, climbing on top of a block, opening and closing a gate, and moving a coat from one place to another. Only 2 of the at least 12 riders who attempted were able to complete ALL the obstacles!

There was an equitation elimination that started easily enough, walk trot canter each way, but it took adding in flying lead changes to determine the winner! It was, of course, a dressage rider who ultimately took the title-- for the second year in a row!

For the dressage riders, there was a musical freestyle class judged by a real dressage judge, with a REAL great sense of humor! Most teams did a Pas de Deux. The winning pair, from rough board, paired a quarter horse and a half Friesian for a test. An unlikely combo, but don't let these two fool you, they LOVE dressage!

At the end of the day, the Long Barn had a decisive victory, receiving the perpetual trophy and bragging rights for a year. But the Dry Barn, with only two riders, hung onto 2nd place, and Rough Board came in 3rd. Hopefully all the good cheer will have diffused tensions enough to get us through the rest of this winter, when the outdoor arena and Hunt Field will once again be viable options to ignore each other!!

She who organizes the madness

About the Photographer: We are very blessed to count a professional photographer among our boarders. So if you ever need a photographer for anything with a horse, a dog, or anything at all, you should contact Heather at ShortHorse Studios. Seriously, amazing.