Some pig

After taking two horses through the obstacle course - one successfully, one not - at my barn's summer potluck and desensitizing fun day, I was pretty tired. I made myself a plate of food, and sat down in the shade to eat. Reece was near me, and I overheard him say, "I wonder how Nutmeg would do with all of this."

Immediately, I came back to life.

"Do it," I said.

"Do it," I repeated.

"You said it now you have to do it."

I think he could tell I wasn't going to stop badgering him until he did it, so he finished up his pizza and went to get Nutmeg.

The first obstacle they tackled was the water bucket with the apple slices.

That was no problem for Nutmeg.

Neither was the cowboy curtain,

the pool noodle walk through,

the umbrella,

the other walk through...

or the tarp.

Basically, Nutmeg owned this course in a way that none of the horses could match.

Watching Nutmeg's not-so-quiet confidence gave me an idea. I went back to Olive's run, haltered her and brought her out to the ring. Even though there were still a lot of flappy, scary things out there, Olive had eyes for only Nutmeg.

Reece led Nutmeg through the obstacles Olive would not do that morning.

Olive followed like her pig was the most natural thing in the world.

She didn't walk over the tarp  - I'm pretty sure she's never going to walk over the tarp - but she did everything else, both with, and eventually without the pig. That's a big win in my book!

Thank you, Reece and Nutmeg! Who knew that all Olive needed was a little help from her porcine friend?