> >
> I have found that once the horse has enough confidence in him/herself and
> trust in you, that horse will never refuse you anything.
>
> Time, patience, consistency.
One way that really helped me to get Gabe to walk through any type of
water, instead of a huge leap over it, was to walk him into a meadow I
have near the house. In the spring, water will flow over the ground, but
below the level of the grass. It looks like grass, smells like grass,
and even tastes like grass, but water flows under it. Making Gabe walk
through this meadow and have him realize that the ground is firm
underneath, (be sure the ground is firm, not boggy!), has really helped
his confidence around water. Plus the grass cover fools him into
thinking all is okay, instead of him freaking out at just the sight of
water.
He's great about crossing creeks and streams and rivers, now, anything
he can see the other side of....but he HATES the little waves we get
lapping at the shores of Lake Tahoe and some of our big lakes. He tries
to jump over them!
By the way, he also loves to swim and splash and roll in the water. I
take him swimming a lot in the river behind my house. This from a horse
who HATED all water when I first got him.
Good luck, and have patience. (and maybe get a little wet yourself in
the process)
-- Deanne Del Vecchio & Gabe /\ /\ Living and Loving in Lake Tahoe / \ /\ / \ delvecchio@geocities.com / \/ \/ \/\/\ Visit My Home Page: Trail Riding in the High Sierra http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/5157