And it all goes wrong

Not last night. Last night BG was perfect. I caught her, she had her tea and usual checks etc. and then I lunged her. She moved nicely on her bad rein, she is up to twenty minutes of lunging now, I was just doing ten or fifteen minutes when I was first getting her back into it. The line on her side, must be the bottom of her rib cage, is now visible in trot again so she must be dropping a bit of weight.

We put out a pole which BG wasn't too keen on the look of originally, since she had seen it being carried out. Once I got her going over it happily we put a tyre under the outside end to lift it up, she moved beautifully. She really picked her trot up over it. I could see where the saying poetry in motion comes from. I had such a big smile on my face last night. She'd also let me take her head collar off and put the new one on with no issues.

Then came this morning. BG saw us arrive and started to make her way down for her breakfast. I went to meet her half way carrying both the head collar and lead rope, which I had done the other night with no issues. Her nose went in the head collar just as the lead rope catch chinked against my boot. BG flew backwards, taking the head collar part of the way with her before it feel off, and she trotted back up the field to join P1 and P2.

I feel so guilty, she was coming down as good as gold and I spoilt it by letting the lead rope catch chink. Still, I didn't think it would cause as much of an issue as it did. We couldn't catch her, and had an appointment to make, so she went without her breakfast and we went back up after our appointment.

She still didn't like the look of the head collar in the field, but in trying to catch her I herded her into her field shelter. Even when in there it took half an hour to get the head collar on her.

Tonight was similar. Couldn't get it on her in the field, she did poke her nose towards it a couple of times, then turn and walk away. Eventually I got her herded down to the field shelter, but in there she wasn't having any of it. Whenever she caught sight of it she would swing her hind legs round to face me. A couple of times she edged her nose towards it, then her ears pinned back and she'd swing round.

So what do you do in this situation? Turn her away without her tea, but then she won't see the benefit of coming to us and into her shelter. Give her her tea and then she will learn she can have it without having had her head collar on.

The strange thing was she let me put fly repellent on her, even up round her ears which she doesn't normally like, with no problems, it was just the head collar she had a problem with.

My husband said he is sure she is just being stubborn because she is in season (we took her for a walk along the lanes in the morning and she was squirting on the way home). I always knew she would revert at some point rather than keep being a dream to catch, but I am very annoyed that I created the issue by letting the lead rope chink.

Still, a fortnight of being able to catch her isn't bad, and I have a video of catching her one night so I know it wasn't a dream and I have something to work towards again. Typical she is being a pain now I have the farrier booked in though.