ugly ride, but a good ending

It was a windy day today and there was plenty to spook at.  I was determined to make some progress and change the spook ritual with Maddie.  When we got to the construction site and she balked, I just took her about 20' away and practiced trot circles and transitions for 10 minutes.  Then I offered her to walk past the tractor.  She got a little closer and then balked again.  I repeated this routine about 4 times before she would walk past the tractor.  I wanted to make walking down the path easy for her, and balking difficult.  Then I walked her past the tractor in both directions a few more times.  We went a little further and she balked at a hay bale on the ground.  Same thing, but it didn't take as long to fix.  In another 100', we really got stuck where a 4 wheeler was parked next to the barn.  The wind was causing the barn to make noise and she really pitched a fit when I pointed her down the gravel road, which required us to pass around the corner of the barn and close to the 4 wheeler.  By this time, her impulsion was gone at it was impossible to do trot circles anywhere.  I hopped off and lunged her for a few minutes before trying again.  She gave a bunch of rears at different times.  Quite a few times I repeated the whole gauntlet of spooky spots.  I really wanted to make walking forward look easy, and all the snorting look difficult.  By the end of the day, when we went home past this same area, she trotted past all this stuff without slowing down.  I hope she learned something, and I hope she felt good about it.  I'll find out tomorrow when we take the same route again!

We went over to Wendy's indoor arena for the first time, and I was really happy with her performance.  The trot work was solid, although I could not keep her in canter very well.  We were able to walk up and down the aisles when I was looking for a bedding fork to pick up her poop, which I was pleased with.  Overall, it was an ugly day of foundation work, but I think it will pay off in the long run.

PS  Maria & I stopped by shortly before dark to say hi to Maddie.  When I entered the mud lot, she trotted straight over to me and buried her head in my arms.  Thanks, Maddie!  I needed that.