Drive By's

Wednesday turned out to be a great day weather wise which in turn meant a good day to work the horses. Mom and my sister rode the four older horses and then Mom worked with Roscoe on the ground.
Since it was Rosemary's driving training day, Mom kept the horses in the sacrifice areas close to the barn after they all worked. This turned out to be a good decision because when she went to get Rosemary to load on the trailer, Rosemary decided to play "Catch Me." Who knows what got into the pony, but 15 min later she was caught huffing and puffing from her dramatic antics. Mom let her settle before loading her, which she did great, and heading to Peggy's.
When I arrived, Mom and Peggy were harnessing her up so I went to get the cart. The cart rolls nicely even with its weight. Most of the way to the arena is down hill so it was manageable by my self. I walked into the barn only to be told they were not using the cart today. Figures :( Peggy went and helped me put it back in the trailer, not as easy as taking it out.
Today's lesson was working on the road. Mom ground drove Rosemary while Peggy drove her John Deere green machine. The green machine makes lots of noise, but is not as big as a vehicle. Peggy started out driving towards Rosemary's front end and passed on the side. Rosemary looked but was not worried. After a few repeats, she moved onto coming up from behind. The first time Mom kept her halted on the side of the road, as Peggy came by. Then she got Rosemary walking, as Peggy came. At one point during this part Rosemary did stop and look. Certainly not a bad choice. Whoa is always better than go when driving. Peggy then traded the green machine for her little truck. Again they went through the same procedures and again Rosemary responded well. At the end, Peggy stopped the truck next to Mom and Rosemary. Then proceeded to have a conversation. Some competitions expect the horse and cart to remain still while a vehicle stops and people chat, so it was good practice. Rosemary stood still during the stop, then nabbed a bunch of leaves from near by trees as her personal reward.
Next Rosemary will have to deal with the drive by's while hooked to the cart. Peggy wants to take her further into the neighborhood to improve the chances of running into a vehicle. The more exposure Rosemary gets the better she will be.
That night we let all the horses graze without muzzles for a job well done.