Manners don’t come easy…..

They have to be taught…..learned….and…..

…..repeatedly…..repeated…..

…..you know…..

…..rinse…..lather…..repeat…..

…..and again…..and again…..and again…..

Finley doesn’t want to learn manners…..

Finley doesn’t like manners…..

Finley doesn’t believe in boundaries…..

Finley likes the wind in his hair and wide open spaces…..

Manners are just too restrictive for Mister I-Wanna-Be-Free/I-Gotta-Be-Me…..

Well…..all I have to say to that is…..

…..HA…..!!!…..not in my pasture, Rocket Man!……

Like we’ve said before…..you just gotta get in there when they’re young to teach them manners…..

…..or else you have a really big…..temper-tantrum-throwing…..hooved-demon on your hands…..

And You Don’t Want That…..

*****Finley Is Now Learning Manners…..While Going Through Gates*****

…..there are stages to this…..

#1—Acknowledge that there is a special place in a fence line where you are supposed to go through…..it is called “the gate”…..

#2—Acknowledge that when “the gate” is closed…..you can NOT go through it…..it has to be opened…..preferably by a human with opposable thumbs…..(not a tricksy horse with dexterous lips)…..

#3—When going through “the gate”…..wait your turn (this is a real important one)…..

#4—While having been lead through the opening of “the gate”…..you MUST wait patiently on the other side of “the gate” (especially if you are attached to a lead rope)…..

I suppose those steps could be broken down into sub-categorizes…..but that’ll do for now…..

Finley is having a hard time with ALL of the steps…..

We’ve had to do some repairs and replacements where fence posts are concerned…..

…..there may have been some splintered boards that needed to be sawed smooth…..

But so far we haven’t had to replace any actual gates…..

We’re getting there…..

We’ll be persistent…..

We’ve had fifteen foals born here over the years…..

It’s inevitable…..

…………………Finley WILL eventually become a gentleman…………………