There is no such thing as tame trash to my horse, Lola. It’s all guerilla warfare garbage goblins to her. Lola has never liked artificial plasticy types of things. I always made excuses for her and chalked it up to bad training from when she was “started” by her original owner. Normally I just avoided the issue by riding in back of a braver horse when fate brought us face to face with the dreaded plastic bag on the trail. I wasn’t riding alone much those days and didn’t see the need to fix anything. After all nothing was broken.

Suzanne and Priness Lola

But fate has a way of catching up with us. My good friend, Sheri, had volunteered to set up a Trail Challenge Day at the Country Lane Bed and Breakfast located just outside of Amite, La. The B and B is a favorite place of mine and I eagerly agreed to help her set up the obstacles on the trails. Things were going well. We set up go around type obstacles, weave through and step over tasks and then…she slowly started to pull it out of her saddle bag….the tarp to hang from the trees for the go-through obstacle. Sheri had neglected to inform me of this one. I questioned the decision to use an artificial tarp as an obstacle. After all, what is the likelihood of encountering one in the middle of the woods? People do throw junk out. “Could happen”, she responded.

Sheri’s horse, Speedy, is immune to floppy plastic things so he just stood there with an excuse to catch a quick nap. Lola, on the other hand, couldn’t believe her eyes! Slowly emerging and getting much bigger and noisier was the Dreaded Tarp Monster! Before I could say “Desensitization “or even “Whoa, darn it!” we were off! No Tarp Monster was going to get Lola. That other horse could be Tarp Lunch but not her, and not me if I could manage to stay on…which I didn’t.

Several yards later and far away from The Tarp Monster, Lola did the tuck and run towards the trailer. I did the fly through the air sideways hitting the ground and sliding to a stop. Thank goodness I was wearing a helmet. It was the ventilated style and I could pull the mud out – from the inside! To her credit, once she realized she was rider less, Lola had stopped and returned to see if I had managed to avoid being Tarp Treat. By the time I was dusting the dirt off she was by my side. It was obvious we had work to do. I could not blame her for my mistake of disregarding her training.

Sheri had several suggestions. I took them seriously. After all, it was her horse that stood there like a statue when mine vaporized. I swore a vow; The Tarp Monster wasn’t going to get us again. My barn yard began to look like a Halloween Haunted House with tattered and shredded tarp over the round pen, over fences. My horseless neighbor thought I had “lost it” and was hoping that this was a passing phase. But it wasn’t, I was serious. I realized that it was not just what I did but how I did it. I selected an organized and thoughtful approach to desensitization. We made progress and Lola can get along with plastic now.

Lola and I have evolved to the point we can ride alone. I no longer fear the isolated plastic bag that might waft in front of us. But I still wear a helmet and keep a sharp eye out for a potential Tarp Monster, because… it could happen.

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