As I went for a walk through the herd this evening, I realize that I havent posted very much about the horses I have in training right now as I have been busy posting to find someone for the trail rides so, here it goes..... Cannelle - one of our own - came to us after my neighbour had me work with her for a couple of months in 2012. I found her to be fairly nervous at that time but, well trained underneath it all. After she sat for a year, she moved in with our herd and I started working with her in the spring. I spent a few days just working on catching as she does not like being caught and after that I was able to start working with her. She was making progress in her training and had been getting better at being saddled, mounted and touched while being ridden however, something spooked her (there were a few different factors so, not sure exactly what it was) and she went back to the start of not wanting to be caught. I since then I spent the last while gaining her trust again and just showing her that being around people are a good thing. There have been slow progresses made but, tonight, she made a big jump and I was able to pet her on both sides of her neck at the same time today, the next step would be putting the lead rope around her neck. I am very proud of her. Crackers - the first training horse to arrive this year - came after her owner adopted her from My Little Pony Horse Rescue and while she loves Crackers, she was having a few issues that she was finding to be a bit too much for her and Crackers was not making a whole lot of progress. Since being here, I have found that she has an inability to stand for any length of time and she was very easily distracted. We spent the first week of her training working on her respecting my space and standing still when tied as well as focusing on what I was asking her to do. She now stands for tacking up and is almost standing perfectly for mounting and dismounting, mind you there is still room for improvement. Once I started riding her I found that her nose would go in one direction, her neck in another, and her body in yet another direction, her body did not seem to work as one. I worked with her to get her nose to soften rather than poke out as she was trained when racing and get her body to move together as one unit. Crackers has been doing very well and her mom was even able to ride her on her last visit out. Last week, I was able to take her out on a trail ride and she did well. While she was hesitant to cross over the creeks, she did it. She continued to soften when I asked and relaxed everytime her nose dropped back down. I will be able to spend more time out on the trail with her now. Cupid - the second horse to arrive for training - came with minimal halter training and next to zero ground manners. Once he settled in, I began taking him out to work with him on leading and he picked things up pretty quickly. I then moved the horses off of the hay field and into the middle pasture and I found with the change I was working with a different horse and as such started again with leading nicely. The past few sessions have been on a lunge line as he is getting pretty big for his britches with the various mares coming into heat and sticking right by him. Today was our most recent session and I worked him near the other horses on the lunge line. He did not want to move out in both directions so, we kept at it until he did and then went to quit but, I wanted him to walk a couple steps forward, when he didnt I asked him to back away. He would not budge and as such, I sent him back around on the lunge line and asked him again. This time he took a couple steps in both direction (forwards and backwards) and so, we ended there on a positive note. Tonight, while walking through the horses, when I came up to Cupid, I asked him to take a couple steps back and instead of either not moving or invading my space (which he normally would have tried), he actually moved away! Yay for Cupid starting to make some progress. Hopefully next week the progress will continue as I think he starting to understand what I expect of him. Molly - the last horse to arrive and begin her training - came from My Little Pony Horse Rescue so that we can work through some of her fear and anxiety to improve her chances of finding the perfect match. We believe that Molly flipped in the trailer and broke her withers, the associated pain as made her afraid of the trailer, saddle, riding, and more. I have found that Mollys first reaction when stressed is to go backwards and then upwards. I have been working with her on moving forward and changing her first instinct to move forward. After her second day in training, when she ended up working a lit harder than she wanted as she continued to run backwards, Molly did not want me to come anywhere near her so, I spent a couple days on approaching her and she will now allow me to walk up to her and give her some scratches despite the continued work. Molly is very good when I am leading her and has been improving on when I take her away from the herd. Each day I work with her, there has been a little less backing up and a little more forward movement. I am hoping that next week I can add the saddle into our training sessions with Molly. Pirate - another of our own - who spent last year off due to injuries and is now being restarted. I havent been able to spend the time with Pirate that I had intended too due to spending my time conducting interviews and what not however, when I was working with him, I was having a hard time with picking up his feet. On Cyndis last visit out she noticed that he needed his feet trimmed and I explained the problems I was having with picking up his feet and she did a minor adjustment on Pirate before she left and I went into trim his feet and he was way better, actually the best I have seen him stand for trimming. Cyndi will be doing a full adjustment/massage on Pirate her next trip out and so, he can wait until after that time to continue his training, giving him the best chance for his training knowing that his reaction is not being caused by soreness. Lilly - Emilys new baby - has become super friendly! She absolutely loves her scratches and has become very active. Last week, a few rotten fence posts were knocked over resulting in the fence between the small pasture (where Lilly, Trick, & Emily are) and the middle pasture (where the rest of the herd, minus Little Leo & Junior, are) was laying on the ground. A few of the horses walked across into the small pasture and everyone but, Emily walked back. Neither Emily nor Lilly would cross the fallen fence (even though Lilly had crossed already) so, I grabbed Lillys halter and was able to walk up to her and put it on her. I then was able to use it to guide her while moving her by pushing on her rump. She did so well and was successfully moved back in with Emily. The search is still on for a wrangler though. We have met a few really nice people but, they either are unable to commit for personal reasons or are lacking in the necessary skills. We are looking for someone to work three to four days per week. We need a minimum of three years riding experience and the ability to work unsupervised. Required days are Thursday to Saturday with the possibility of Sundays. Please contact for more information. Sorry for such a long post everyone!
Posted on: Mon, 23 Jun 2014 05:10:01 +0000
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