I just finished a clinic in Canberra, Australia. We had lots of fun. One particular fun lesson was working with Shelley and her super smart and sensitive mare, Sarafina (FiFi).

Shelley mentioned that when riding FiFi the horse exhibits fear and scoots away when she tries to pick up an object from a fence or when somebody hands Shelley a jacket, etc. You know the sort of thing. You may even have a horse that does the same. It’s very common.

I helped Shelley help FiFi overcome some of her fear and accept objects being thrown at her and thrown from her, as well as, picking up from the fence.

In this photo, Shelley is throwing a t-shirt at me and you can see FiFi’s interest and acceptance. It won’t be long before the mare will feel okay to work with a flag and drag objects from either side while being ridden.