SO Angry - Xmas Lights - Sorry Long

[I don't think I'm being mean particularly - what if she happened to be in the bath, or fall asleep? She might as well not bother having the Christmas lights up at all.
Don't get me wrong, I fully sympathise with the OP. I just think it is a little unfair asking the light house owner to be on call at 6 and 7 pm to turn her lights off and on - she might as well not bother having them. I'd work on desensitising the horse instead.

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Well, the OP offered to install timed switch for her, so can't see a problem with the above?
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I'd use a chifney and a lunge line

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Why not just pop a bridle on?

I always think that putting a lunge line on anything (for leading) is almost inviting problems.

The closer it is to you - the more chance you have of controlling it.
 
Some good ideas everyone so thanks. Don't really want to keep him in till the weekend, but am going to try some of the other ideas to desensitize him. I appreciate he has to get used to them but just wanted a bit of help from her temporarily until I could do it safely.
 
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I don't think I'm being mean particularly - what if she happened to be in the bath, or fall asleep? She might as well not bother having the Christmas lights up at all.
Don't get me wrong, I fully sympathise with the OP. I just think it is a little unfair asking the light house owner to be on call at 6 and 7 pm to turn her lights off and on - she might as well not bother having them. I'd work on desensitising the horse instead.

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Well, the OP offered to install timed switch for her, so can't see a problem with the above?
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Sorry, I must be in a particularly miserly mood today! I still think she might as well not bother having them if they need to be off between 6 and 7 every night. That's just when the children are out and about and the kind of time people turn up if you are having friends over etc.

Oh dear I am a miserable old cow, aren't I? Never mind - I'm starting to get into it a bit now.....*trots off to find some more Christmassy posts to darken*
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AmyMay, he is in a bridle already as I always think if walking on a road, no matter how short a distance, you should use one, that's just my opinion but feels right for me.
 
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Some good ideas everyone so thanks. Don't really want to keep him in till the weekend, but am going to try some of the other ideas to desensitize him. I appreciate he has to get used to them but just wanted a bit of help from her temporarily until I could do it safely.

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If I was her, and you had asked me if I could turn lights off 6-7 until the weekend and you were going to work on desensitizing him, I would have no problem doing that. It's only a few days and fair enough
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(see, I'm not so horrid
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How about when your on your way, you knock and ask if they could go off for ten mins while you walk your horse past? I think you should be flexible to her, rather than her to you.

You could bake her some gingerbread / take some chocolates / buy some flowers? People can be bribed as much as horses! I do think that an hour is a bit excessive to expect them to be off.

If you asked when you were in a bad mood with cars / horses / people / cold weather, you might have come over a little funny?
 
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How about when your on your way, you knock and ask if they could go off for ten mins while you walk your horse past? I think you should be flexible to her, rather than her to you.



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I think I would go bonkers if somebody was knocking on my bl@@dy door everyday to switch the lights off
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I'd use a chifney and a lunge line

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Why not just pop a bridle on?

I always think that putting a lunge line on anything (for leading) is almost inviting problems.

The closer it is to you - the more chance you have of controlling it.

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but the longer the rope, the more chance you have of holding onto it!

I have literally been launched off the ground by a horse whose trick when being bought in in the middle of the day is to turn on a sixpense and begger off up the field. With a normal lead rope no one has managed to keep hold of him, with a lungerope however, they have. I have used this method with my filly too and it really does work.

As for the original problem, I would ditto what has already been said and plug in some lights at the yard and alow your horse time to look at them and realise that they aren't going to eat him! giving him a treat or two when he makes a positive move will also help. I've found that gently encouraging my filly forward with pressure and release and lots of praise has been highly successful in every scenario... to the point where she now marches up to tractors and eats their tyres!

good luck xx
 
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I wouldn't. It's only once a day, for two weeks-ish and if i'd agreed to it, why would it drive me bonkers?!

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because that actually means you have to be in, make sure you are not in an embarrassing situation, not on the loo, not in the bath etc, etc, and I don't like people, because I'm a miserable cow
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Other than the desensitising solutions offered which seem to be the way forward, can I just say please don't put blinkers on him. If he gets away from you on a road wearing blinkers it could prove a disaster.
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Can you go with a bottle of wine/chocolates and ask if you could maybe give her a knock and have them off for just a few moments whilst you get him in? Beg even if it means gritting your teeth?

Can see both sides and understand her POV, but even in a controlled environment, it may take longer than a few days to desensitise him, and it is putting you, the horse and other road users in danger (which is your responsibility really)

On the bright side, they should come down soon, so the other option is to get someone to bring him in during daylight for the next couple of weeks.

Good luck, hope things work out in the end.
 
I think you perhaps need to get really firm with the youngster, IMO if you are havving problems with things like this now its only going to get worse. Can you get someone else to help get him in from the field? Avoiding the lights by having them switched off is not an option really he's going to have to get used to a lot worse.
 
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