Scratch needs to work cows, so we headed to the sorting pen to try our hand. Trepidation is a good word to describe how I was feeling as we entered. There were horses and trailers everywhere. At this point in Scratch’s training, he was still spooking at objects and people he saw moving about. We still had the problem with going in and out of gates. Those pinch points had Scratch bolting to get through.
The Sorting Pen had its own problems with all the cows and another gate to squeeze them through.
Our partner in the sorting pen asked me to go into the herd on both runs. We were happy to do it. It gave us something to focus on. Videotaping the event is a great way to see where you are making mistakes. It also shows the holes in your horse’s training.
From this video, I could see that my reins would get a bit long and I was micro managing Scratch. Scratch was not moving quick enough, and, when asked to stop, he wasn’t stopping quick enough.
All-in-all it was a good effort for our first time in the sorting pen and I was real happy with the way Scratch handle the situation.
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