Day 8/Day 9

So, we're like a week behind in getting the fillies to canter through poles by June 1st. Homework comes before horses. And unfortunately there has been a lot of homework.
So I just want to let you guys know that a very important event is coming up in my near future.
SCHOOL GET OUT AND SUMMER VACATION ARRIVES!!!!!!
Can you tell I'm excited!?
Ok, back on topic.
Day eight.
Really it shouldn't even count. We just caught Toffy from the alfalfa field and put a little weight on her back.... Which was entertaining. She was very wary of the bags going over her back. We did get it on without a big major freak out though. So actually we just walked around in the back pen with two people on either side of her halter. You could just tell that if you did the slightest thing to alarm her, she would be bucking to China and back.
But let's back track a little bit.
I was doing research for homework that was on horses. And I was looking at something on youtube about it. And I got distracted by back pain in a horse. But I learned what the reactions to it would be, and I also learned how to get your horse to relax his back.
So I gave Toffy a little bit of a massage on her back before all this started. She was definitely tense in her back, but after a little while of doing that she was starting to relax. Also I don't think she has back pain. Honestly we are not really sure what is going on. But, we have another hypothesis.
Maybe she's just scared.
Think about it.
We haven't been doing a lot of regular desensitizing with the fillies.
Toffy was flinching whenever the saddle blanket and saddle was put on.
The first time she bucked me off we put on a new saddle, and also a back cinch.
So, maybe what happened is that the back cinch made it the final straw for Toffy. She was just getting scared.
She had all these things happen to her that she was minutely afraid of and they kept building until she finally exploded.
So we are going to do ground work for a while, pony her on trails, ect. Just do as much desensitizing and getting her broke before we get on again. So, we'll see.
Day 9
So it took me like half an hour to work with the fillies. I put the saddle on Dash and Terry went outside and lunged her with the back cinch on. I think she did fine.
The other three I did desensitizing to a plastic bag. I got the most reaction out of Coffie.
Terry also took Frosty and worked on leading. Terry's grandson is in 4-H and needs a horse for a showmanship class. Usually he would do Blacky, but she can barely get out of the barn, because her arthritis is so bad. So he asked Aleythia and I which one of the fillies would be the best, and we told him anyone would be good. Then we remedied it and told him to use Frosty because she was the smallest and Terry's grandson would be the most comfortable around her.
That day I also went trail riding with H at 5 and we took Santana and Ana. But I'll tell you about that tomorrow. It's like 9:30 and I am tired. I have not been getting enough sleep. Seriously! Who goes to bed at 9:30?