With the winter rains approaching, local trainer Alan Hight offered to donate some time working with Pequiño for a week. We all felt that Pequiño's main problem was processing things that he couldn't see and that would suddenly "appear." Alan felt that a combination of saddle work and ground driving would help his confidence. We trailered Pequiño to the stable where Alan trained. Pequiño preformed nicely during his initial tryout.
Getting underway	Alan's daughter Katiejane tries him out
Of course the main issue with Pequiño involved his spooking and bolting. The strategy here was to desensitize him to unexpected stimulus and let him interact with scary objects. While a number of objects were used, one of the more interesting items was a 55 gallon plastic barrel. The way the barrel was used could apply to a number of different objects. The first step was to set Pequiño up for ground driving. Since the horse would be ridden later in the session, he was ground driven using a saddle. Note that the lines pass through the stirrups and that the stirrups are tied together under the horse's belly so that they stay in alignment as the horse is asked to turn. Also the reins are tied off to the saddle horn similar in fashion to the overcheck for a driving horse. The reins should be slack enough for the horse to have an easy head set and be able to bend, but be tight enough to prevent him from stretching his neck down and hauling on the bit.
The stirrups tied with bailing twine	The reins tied to make an overcheck
First the horse is driven up to and around the barrel. Then he is backed up to the barrel. Then he is asked to move forward and Alan rolls the barrel forward with his boot, increasing the intensity as the horse gets used to the motion.
Walking up and inspecting the barrel	Kicking the barrel along

When Pequiño is confident enough, Alan kicks the barrel around him and even underneath him. When he can handle all of this on the ground, then Alan will attempt similar activities from the saddle. The object here is not to scare the horse but to establish a comfortable behavior in the horse where he feels confident to remain calm when the unexpected happens.

Rolling the barrel underneath

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