today after a bit of round penning we went up to the barn so I could put spray Reece some with a hose. I was almost to the hose when I noticed an old tarp a little ways away and thought it was a good chance. I drug it out and put in on the ground in the middle of a small clearing then led Reece towards it. Needless to say it she spotted it right away and wanted nothing to do with it. I let her back away from it then set her up so she was facing it. She looked at it for a moment then decided it was far enough away so she could relax and ignore it. I figured trying to lead her up to it hadn’t worked so I would try sending her towards it (by ‘lounging’ her, or having her walk in circles around me and periodically switching directions). She was fine at first but eventually she caught on to the fact that for every circle she did I took a step towards the tarp which in turn made her go closed to it. She soon would try to change directions on her own and as soon as she found out I wouldn’t let her she began trotting past it then walking as slow as she could when she was far from it. After a while she would stop and look at it before trying to move away. Soon after that she was touching it with her nose and not moving away from it as much.
I then changed my position so I was almost on top of the tarp and Reece had to go in circles around it. Once she accepted that I had her stop and face it then I shorted the lead some before sending her forward and hopefully over the tarp. It took a few tries but she soon started to step on it fairly willingly going both ways. We are now to the point that I can send her over the tarp and get an immediate response. She is improving quickly and I am really proud of her.
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