Lessons Learned

Today was an interesting day none the less.  With the arrival of an inch of snow on the valley floor and weather well below freezing it wasn't one of those jump out of bed and spring into the middle of the chaos.  Especially to encounter a mustang that with the slightest amount of pressure would attempt to jump the fence out of the round pen as she did on Sunday.  Luckily she rounded the hay stack and placed herself into an empty pen that was accidentally not closed from the night before. 
     Since Serendipity had accomplished the escape from the round pen, I figured she may want to attempt the same procedure when we came back to it on Monday.  Later on in the day, when the sun came out and brought the temperature up to near freezing, I figured that I would attempt to load her from the pen into the trailer and relocate her into the round pen for a hopefully more successful lesson (for me this time).  When the trailer was backed up to the gate, Shane pointed out that it would be nicer if the trailer gate swung from the opposite side of the trailer.  So after some thought, I decided that it may be easier if I just opened the gate on the pen and let her out to walk and down the fence into a pen next to the arena.  Then from the arena, I would be able to run her back into the round pen since the round pen and the arena are connected.  With a little help from Shane and Val, we got the job done.  This tedious procedure normally is not one that is in my day to day training, but with a known successful jumper we had to take our precautions.
     Once she was in the round pen, her thoughts went immediately to how she escaped on Sunday.  She was preparing herself for another launch over the top rail.  I figured that I would have to get a rope on her, and that if I put too much pressure on her she wouldn't hesitate with her attempt.  Then during this event we had a semi back in and drop off some trusses right by the corrals, a neighbor stop by, and also my little girl trying to stay warm in the pickup during all this commotion. 
     I was able to rope her after a few attempts and then Shane jumped into the round pen to help me hold her from jumping over the fence.  I think it was more like help so we could both ski around the pen for a few minutes before she stopped.   At that point, I took a wrap around one of the fence posts and desensitized her with a long stick, rubbing her head and neck with it.  With a lot of rub then retreat, I was able to work myself up to her and eventually pet her with my hand.  With a little creativity I was able to get a halter on her and then I decided to give Serendipity a break for a while.  At this point I brought some water and a flake of hay to her.  The rest of us chose hot chocolate.
     Before calling it a night, I decided to check on her and I went out to the round pen and untied her in the round pen.  I was able to circle her from a distance with some halter pressure. She yielded her forequarters to me and within 5 or so minutes she was making forward motion toward me and showing signs of actually leading.  It was a far cry from the start of the session.  Every horse has some lesson that they can teach you.  This filly threw me a curve because I have never had one so persistent to want to jump at the sign of the slightest pressure.