Riding Lessons in a Tutu

On the first weekend in July our barn goes to Estes Park for the Arabian horse show held there every year.  One of our favorite parts of the show is the Saturday afternoon costume class.  Each year we go all out, intending to outdo ourselves every time.  Part of this season's preparations included getting Rain the paint mare acclimated to a gigantic tutu.  She was introduced to the pink tulle fabric last night and gave it the stink eye.

This morning I decided to wear the horse tutu while teaching my riding lessons.  I stuffed my jeans pocket with horse cookies, so every time a horse would touch the tutu I would give them a small cookie.  This type of positive reinforcement works incredibly well, especially with food motivated horses, to create a happy association with a scary stimulus.

I began with letting the horse look at me wearing the tutu.  Then I proceeded to walk around in the arena, wagging my bottom so the fabric would swing and move.  Rain was curious enough to come over and take a closer look, which earned her a treat.  I walked away from her, and when she followed me and proceeded to touch the fabric with her nose she got another treat.  This is a great way to introduce a new scary stimulus, so that it is immediately related in the horse's mind with something super attractive, like cookies.  Plus, it's hard to be afraid of a tutu when you're chasing it for goodies.  It took a whopping two minutes until Rain was eager to touch the tutu and get her treat, with no anxiety.  

Just for the sake of experience I wore the tutu for all the lessons this morning, and now my horses are tutu-proof.  Because you never know when a ballerina might show up at Bit of Honey Training.