A tired but always stunning Bold Glitter showing off the sweet #OTTB swag (bonnet and bridle charm) we picked up from the #RetiredRacehorseProject online store!
Today I fell into a classic trainer trap - I got greedy. We were doing a pretty challenging transitions exercise, and to my surprise Glitter executed it nearly perfectly three times in each direction. You should always quit while you’re ahead, stop on a good note and make it clear to the horse that they have succeeded. But her attitude and work ethic have just been so fantastic lately that it was too easy to tell myself “we can do just ooooone more...”
Glitter doesn’t really indicate when her limits are being pressed on, but she sure tells me when we’ve passed them and she’s done. That last go around she tossed her head and squealed in protest, planting her feet and announcing her displeasure. Which is doubly unfortunate, because we can’t end on that note, so now we HAVE to do it one more time even though frankly neither of us wants to.
A little argument ensued, and we got through the exercise successfully one more time (albeit more messy than the first few). But we should not have gotten to that point, and that’s on me. Luckily she is a very forgiving and enthusiastic baby and I know she’ll come out tomorrow ready to give it her all again, and I’ve been reminded that it’s my job to only ask for what she can easily give.
