For some reason, Zum decides he no longer wants to get into the two horse trailer. He stops 6 feet from the trailer and won’t move forward. This is the spot that Zum feels safe. I show Zum that there is nothing to be afraid of by loading both Kamar and Huszar into the trailer. They love being loaded into the trailer as they both love going out for trail rides. But Zum isn’t convinced. I let Zum wait in his ‘feel-safe’ zone and I allow him to calm down. I don’t want to fight him or force him to do something he refuses to do. I am telling him that I am not going to pick on him and that he is going to be just fine. I have read that once a horse knows the gist of what I want, he will go through learning cycles. His performance may start off bad, then get good, then get worse while he tries every option he knows. Then he will get better for a short time, then bad again but not very bad or for very long. Finally, he will be good consistently. Then I can say he has learned. So I cannot be discouraged that Zum got into a horse trailer easily to get from Santa Fe to Phoenix and now acts like he doesn’t have a clue. I just will keep working with Zum, getting him consistent at every baby step I ask of him and soon he will know this lesson for life. For now, I will pony Zum from Huszar from my house!
