We Got Mail!

Sometimes after work I’m just really not in the mood to do much of anything. But, with such a young little filly, I know I need to do something with Gracie most days. So, today we improvised and went for a short walk… to the mailbox! I figured if I had to get the mail anyway, I might as well take Gracie with me. I realized as we walked to the front yard that she had never really been through it before. The arena that we spend so much time in is next to my front yard, but she’s never actually walked through my front yard.

The farther we walked away from the field, the more nervous I could tell Gracie was becoming. She started picking up her pace a bit, lifted her head higher than normal, and her eyes were wide. Luckily, she seems to have a high trust level with me, and she stayed by my side with no issues. We waited for a few loud trucks to go by and then stepped on to the road to get the mail. I live on a road that doesn’t see a whole lot of traffic, with a good view of any oncoming traffic, so I knew we would be safe to step on to the road.

Gracie didn’t like the mailbox! She took a step back and raised her head high when I opened it. She then stepped back up next to me, and waited for me to grab the mail. She walked calmly with me to my front porch where I dropped off the box and then followed my lead to the arena.

It was nice to see Gracie react to new things. Although she wasn’t thrilled with the situation, she stayed calm and looked to me for guidance. She acted just the same when we trailered out for the first time.

I’ve said before that anything can be used as a training tool. Today, my mail was the tool! One issue we’ve had in the past is Gracie wanting to eat grass instead of paying attention to walking forward. I figured taking her across my yard and asking her to keep walking forward would be a good opportunity. I was happy to see she didn’t even bother trying to eat the grass.

We walked around in the arena afterwards to help her calm down a little more and, of course, grab a couple sunset pictures.

I’m so happy with Gracie. Today was another great day – short, sweet, to the point. Even when I’m tired after working all day, she is willing to work well for me. I’m so looking forward to her getting a little older!