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This weekend I worked with both Red and Twilight to assess just how much work they were going to need to get them ridable.
Red is terrified of everything, the blanket, lunge whip, saddle, being touched everywhere, weight on his back sends him into an absolute panic. So quess who is gonna be the hard one? Yep, Red.
However, in two days he has come a long way. I have gotten him to let me halter him both days, takes awhile, just have to keep him running until he gets tired of it and lets you come up and put it on. It took less time today than it did yesterday…progress!
Then I attacked him with the saddle blanket, literally. I flapped it, slapped him all over with it, threw it on, yanked it off, waved it, hung it on his head, he stood for just about all of it, except the head thing, didn’t like that one bit. But he was solid as a rock for the rest of the theatrics, again, much better than yesterday.
Then I put the saddle on him and cinched it up, he didn’t even flinch…yay, yesterday he threw his head up and side stepped.
Then we got out the lunge whip and just wiggled it all over him, wrapped it around his torso and legs, hung it over his ears and dragged it, again steady, much better than yesterday. Then I stood in front of him and cracked it from side to side really making it swoosh and slap the ground, he just stood and flicked his ears…yay! Yesterday he was pulling back, showing the whites of his eyes and just showing general panic…he settled after awhile and he realized it wasn’t gonna hurt him, but it took a while. Today, he just stood there and watched me.
Then we practiced lunging…he gets it for his off side, but keeps wheeling and facing me for the on side…silly boy. So I worked with him to get him to stand without turning while I moved into the lunge position. Tomorrow we will work on it again, but at least he will stand in position and doesn’t turn towards me when I have my hand up indicating he is to stay.
Yesterday while Amber was working with Red, I had Twilight haltered so she would quit “helping” with Red’s lessons. Since we were just standing there anyway, I decided to start sacking her out with a saddle blanket too. Mind you she is 3 years old, we have no idea what she knows and figured she was pretty much without much if any training.
So sacking out…stood there solid as a brick and only flinched a little when I touched her belly with it, but no signs of fear, nervousness or anything, completely calm. So next step, Red didn’t have the saddle on yet, so I put it on Twilight, and cinched it. Didn’t even budge when the weight of the saddle settled on her. Still calm, still relaxed. I was amazed, but also very happy.
My son asked to sit on her, I was a bit concerned, but since she was being so very relaxed and calm, I decided to try it, keeping a hold of him just in case she panicked or something. Put him up there…flicked her ears but just stood there. Didn’t bother her a bit! Pulled kiddo off right away anyway, didn’t want to push my luck, but that was awesome!
So it looks like she is going to be the easy one as long as I don’t make any mistakes and spook her. Ground training will continue, then Amber will ride her for awhile to build her up, then I’ll start riding her. I can’t wait!
Red should come along quickly as well, we just have to get him over his fears.
I think by winter I should have three nice riding horses!
Kyrin
Awesome! Love to hear updates!
Sacking out means to get the horse used to unusual object flapping around him. Basically it means to teach him not to spook at crap around him.
Today we had a thunderstorm rolling in, but it’s gone now, but I did go out there and catch everyone.
Today Red only avoided me two times, then stood and let me halter him! I had him haltered up in less than 10 minutes! This is a first folks!
Twilight also surprised me and let me halter her will very little fuss and no dodging or trying to get away. Progress again, she’s been a big pain, but is worst when Red is being a butt. It’s like they feed off each other.
Anyway, since there was a lot of wind, thunder and sudden rain bursts, I just brushed everyone, touched them all over pestered them to let me handle their ears, they hate that, then loved on them a little and let them loose.
Dancer got scraped up by the other two on Sunday and today when I was checking his leg I noticed it was really swollen. So I wrapped it up to give him a little support on it, since it is obviously sore. They bruised him up pretty good on that leg, so I imagine he’s gonna be sore for a few more days, much to Alex’s disappointment.
Kyrin
darjeb wrote:Sounds like you do a great job with all the horses
I try. I’m 38 and I’ve been riding horses since I was 12, with a stint of about 6 months when I was 17 of actually retraining problem horses. That is fun, take a horse with bad vices and fix them!
I’m glad I took the time to get the training from Vivian when I had the chance though, my first horse was a problem child, but I had her all fixed up within a month. It really makes you feel good when you take a horse that will not allow anyone to catch her, halting under saddle is unheard of, and just in general does not trust people. And in only a few weeks have her meeting you at the gate and placing her own head into the halter impatiently when you show up, clearing saying, “Come on, let’s get saddled up and GO!”
I miss her still.
Anyway, she taught me a lot that mare. Patience is really your best tool when dealing with horses, and if you find yourself getting angry, walk away and try again later when you are calm.
Today after I take a much needed nap, I am going to see if I can convince Red to lunge in both directions.
Kyrin
The only problem I seemed to run into with problem horses was the problem owner that created the problem horses to begin with. A good majority of the owners really had no clue that they indeed were the root of the cause, not the animal.
It used to be a frustrating subject for me.
I got over it. 😎
~Hoofer
Hoofer wrote:The only problem I seemed to run into with problem horses was the problem owner that created the problem horses to begin with. A good majority of the owners really had no clue that they indeed were the root of the cause, not the animal.
It used to be a frustrating subject for me.
I got over it. 😎
~Hoofer
Yeah, most of the horses I re-trained were from somewhere else, with the new owner needing help to correct the bad habits. I never had to work with the guilty party involved.
Kyrin
Hay Happenings!
Across the street from us is an alfalfa field, today we stopped and talked to the guy tending it, turns out he’s the owner.
What this means…he can sell the hay to us directly…no middle man! We also negociated to do some labor helping him haul the hay we don’t purchase to his place 2 mi away in trade for taking off some of the cost of the hay!
So in three weeks we get to work pretty hard hauling a bunch of hay bales, but if I can get the bales for $7 a bale instead of $10, I will be a happy camper! Also, we see it growing, we know its quality, and he’s agreed to sell to us for as long as we wish, and he plans to cultivate that field for the next 4 to 5 years! So I’m gonna have good quality fresh hay for years! I’m so pleased!
Kyrin
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