Does He Ever Spook?

I mentioned in my last post that my parents' house is going under construction. The way their property is laid out puts the house in the middle of the property, with the barn, paddocks, and pastures in the back (and the trails in the way back) and the arena in the front yard. I actually have to go through the front gate to get to the arena. 

I've been looking at other barns to move to that are closer to my house but am struggling to make that final decision. I know I can always move back but I don't want to burn bridges or barn hop too much. Plus without going into the office yet, I am able to arrange my drive to and from the ranch to avoid traffic and keep it to 40 minutes each way. I have three main reasons I'd like to find a barn before the end of summer and they are 1) reduce my drive when I'm in the office again 2) avoid the time of year where there is pigeon fever afoot and 3) avoid having to ride during construction. 

Not enthused about losing these
trails but one of the barns I'm considering
has AMAZING trails!

Well, I was too late for number 3 as they got permits a couple weeks ago and broke ground last week. I wasn't sure how TC would be as he used to be VERY SPOOKY: 

Things I Hate Because of TC

Outside Stimulus Control

Spooky

But also at the same time, he's also been weirdly not spooky: 

Bombproofing the Already Bombproof

Amidst Beach Ball Polo

And I've done a TON of work on his spookiness: 

Bombproofing Clinic

Bombproofing Clinic Take Two

2020 Bombproofing Clinic

But the construction... not necessarily something I'd expect any horse to not take a good look at. TC has never seen real construction. They were literally up on the roof, dismantling the front porch during my ride on Friday. This meant turning on and off an electric saw, turning on and off a drill (that would sometimes make horrific drill noises), yanking pieces of the roof and deck apart, and throwing them onto the ground, which more often than not made a loud clattering noise. 

The house is maybe 35 to 40 meters away from the arena across the creek where there are a lot of trees obstructing it. 

Look how sweet Ruby was last week

I rode past the house and TC didn't seem to care about what was going on. Granted, my mom told the guys that when they saw horses walking past the house, they shouldn't throw anything down or make any loud noises. But when we were out in the arena, it was a free for all. 

If TC is going to spook these days, it's going to be due to trigger stacking. So I didn't expect him to spook while we were just walking, but who knows what would happen in the arena when we started to work. 

Two completely bombproof horses who started out
less than bombproof

Nothing happened. My horse is insanely bombproof. Saws turned on and off, things got thrown off the roof, things got wrenched off of other things, drills made that horrible drill malfunction noise. At one point all this was going on and the neighbor had let her dogs loose to run down the road past the arena with her chasing them in her car, all of them going well above a normal speed limit on a dirt road. 

I can't emphasize how much he didn't do. Like he didn't even flinch, flip an ear, startle, or feel the slightest bit tense. He didn't acknowledge that anything was going on that was out of the ordinary.

Now, I, on the other hand, spooked a bit. When the dogs came running by, I gathered up my reins. When the guy turned on the drill, I looked over there. When the guy threw something down, I startled.

TC to me when I spook

I thought that was so funny. Obviously very early on there was no controlling TC's spooking/explosions. But then for a long time, he was manageable with a confident ride, if I could stay calm he would stay calm. But now it seems like anyone could ride him and be petrified and he'd be the one giving them confidence. I've felt like that for a while with him on the trail, but he's always been a pretty good trail horse. Now I feel like there's nothing he'd really spook at even in the arena during work. 

Except bird shadows of course. But that's less of a spook and more of a hilarious pouncing action. And I'm okay with it, it makes me laugh. I'll just have to fully disclose that to anyone else who is going to ride him. Beware the bird shadows.