Best will be to send you out to the links of particular ponies' photo albums, I have a couple hundred of various pics of tarp work.
What they don't show is how far away and exactly how you introduce a tarp... Usually we start w/ the tarp folded up - like it's just come out of a package. Show it to the horse from both sides, touch him with it, rub him with it etc. Then it gets dropped to the ground as we start opening it up. I've done both intro from the ground at that point (I usually have bags/tarps on the ground in the round pen or around their feed spots when I'm working them). I've even filled their holes when they dig while eating w/ boxes and plastic bottles - figure if they are gonna' dig, then they better get used to things around their legs (it doesn't prevent the digging
).
Here's a couple where the tarp is on the ground and they are being worked over it. This tarp stayed on the ground for months - just got moved around and every time I took ponies out of their pasture and brought them into the barn they either had to lead over it or lounge over it... Sometimes we'd "ridge it up" so that it looked like it had logs under it - if a pony didn't pick up their hooves, the ridges would "fall" against their legs - took a while for them to get used to that before it got to be "ho-hum"...
Cupid's reaction (O - I can JUMP!)...
and Vicki's pony's "resting spot" became the tarp w/ the water on it. That worked great!! (once she got the pony on it) and yes, her leg is over the left side driving line. During these sessions, if the pony was stopped and given a break, she had to drive on/into that tarp/water and stand there - otherwise she went back out to walk, trot and canter on the lines (this is in a pseudo round pen - kinda oblong w/ 2 fences being their regular fence line).
Different angle showing more of that set up.
And ground driving thru the walk thru gate w/ the tarp next to the gate (it's covering equipment and when harnessed she acted like she'd never seen the tarp)...
here's links to actual "tarp work"...
I put the most current pics at the beginning. For Cupid's 1st day of "real" tarp work - go down to the tab that says "Pampered Pets Pharm - Broadway, NC - 1 March 2013" - you can't miss it - the tarp itself is bright blue! Or you can go all the way to the bottom of the album, and start from when he was born (hehehehe) there are about 500 photos total in this album. As you can see, there is a lot of time between some of the photos - but we were lucky - from 2009 to 2013 - Vicki and I swapped out doing photos at each others' properties. AND sometimes we took pictures w/ each others' cameras...
CUPID
FLOWER - Most of her work photos taken by Vicki's grand daughter and in one of Vicki's albums. I've been given permission to share! Again, it's about 1/2 way down - w/ the blue tarps. Flower is the pony here. looks chestnut minimal tobiano (she's silver bay). Vicki has lots of pics of our other ponies in this album and they aren't all in date order...
GG shows umbrella work - again down a little ways. Umbrella is pink.
AMI - shows tarp AND umbrella work.
We've also both done "bag work" with our ponies - but seems I have mostly no pictures of that with any of them. To do "bag work" - put a shopping bag (we both have mostly Wal-Mart ones) in your hand all scrunched down and intro it to the the horse - let him sniff your hand and touch the scrunched up bag. Then let more of it out of your hand as you use it as a grooming tool (like a curry comb). Work on opening it up until you can "scrub" them with it fully open and waving around while you are grooming them. Then step away and start waving it around until they stand still and ignore it. Then go to putting it on a stick (carrot stick, wand, whip etc) - and wave it around until they ignore it and you can walk right up and touch them with it. Then lead them walking around with it waving back and forth and also drag it towards them (careful - that's a real attention getter!!). We've done this with the bag on a rope and here's some pics of that... This time, I'm the one in blue and the bag is a "burlap" plastic bag from oats or wheat bran. Sami has actually been saddled and ridden a handful of times by one of our farriers' sons... But it's now been long enough that if you went out and put a saddle on him and lounged him, you'd probably have a real rodeo!! Sami is a very reactive pony and is one who "forgets" things. With our new location and all the low helicopter and plane work lately (we are in line with several of Ft Bragg's Drop Zones and runways), he's been real jumpy. He's also the colt that "got silly" in January and smashed my arm against the trailer while loading... I SWEAR you'd never know that this pony is 7, soon to be 8, yrs old now (Bday is Oct 17, 2008). He needs a regular job!
SAMI
If these albums don't load for you (too many pics), let me know and I'll do another thread w/ pics in various posts...
