Training Horse Profile: Luna

 Training Goals:

• Comfortable with basic handling
• Ground Work
• Picking up feet
• Started under saddle

Luna is a 5-year-old Saddlebred.  She is originally from Utah, where she was a broodmare, and was recently brought to IL with her foal at her side.  Since she hadn't had much handling, her owner's main priority it was to get her comfortable with basic handling and groundwork, while working towards riding.

One known issue she had was allowing her feet to be handled.  She stood well for the farrier as a two-year-old, but now could only be trimmed if she was sedated.  One of the goals was to help her overcome her nervousness about her feet being handled, so that she can be trimmed safely without sedatives.

Day 1: Luna is still settling in so today's training will be pretty basic.  She didn't want to be caught at first so I moved her around the round pen for a little while.  She was a bit jumpy but settled down once I caught her.  Worked on yields, lunging, and desensitizing with the whip.  She catches on fast.  She was quite scared of the whip at first, but stood well after awhile.

Day 2:  Reviewed yields, lunging, and desensitizing with the whip.  Added swinging the whip around her and over her back.  Introduced saddle pad.  Shied away/trembled at first but got fairly comfortable.  Attempted to put on the bridle but she raised her giraffe neck out of reach each time so we switched to working on lowering the head and neck from halter pressure.  Resistant at first, but caught on quickly.

Day 3:  It was a busy morning on our property and a lot of commotion.  With the tractor, weed eater, and skid loader all running at once, I was expecting Luna to be very distracted and jumpy.  Surprisingly, she was the most relaxed she has been thus far and I was able to quickly get through everything I had planned on doing, plus more.  She was fine with the whip touching her and swinging around her and much more comfortable with the saddle pad.  With the help of molasses rubbed on the mouthpiece of the bit, I was able to get the bridle in her mouth on the first attempt.  I worked with her on lunging over ground poles, forehand and hindquarter pivots, backing off halter pressure, and lowering head from halter pressure.

Desensitizing with the Flag

Day 4:  It was super windy today but Luna passed the reviews of yesterday's lessons.  Introduced her to the surcingle, which she didn't mind on her back but was uncomfortable with it tightening around her middle.  It took a little while to get on as she kept moving.  Began to teach her to ground drive, which she was not a fan of.  The slightest bit pressure caused her to panic and bolt, which made the lines move more, which made her run harder.  She did eventually settle down and would move around the circle calmly as long as I didn't ask her to change directions.

Day 5:  Worked on ground driving again.  She was more nervous about it than the previous training session.  At one point, she attempted to run through the round pen panel, so I called it quits on that and returned to other exercises that she was more comfortable with.

Day 6: Taking a break from ground driving to work on other areas.  I will revisit ground driving later and hopefully after more handling, she will be able stop and think instead of panicking immediately.  Worked on some more desensitizing using a plastic bag on a lunge whip (which caused her to momentarily think she was going to die), and a noisy jug with rocks.

The VERY SCARY Plastic Bag

Day 7:  Saddled her up for the first time.  She didn't mind the saddle on her back but was very uncomfortable with the cinching part.  I only had her on my short lead, which turned out to be a mistake, because when she took that first step after the saddle was secured, she flipped out!  I, for one, prefer not to be that close to a horse that is full-on bronc trying to get the saddle off.  I didn't dare let go of the lead as she had already tried once to go through the round pen panel.  After a few sketchy moments, I was able to get her to stop and quickly switched out my lead for the much longer lunge line.  I sent her out in the circle and she immediately began bolting and bucking.  After a few rounds, she realized that the saddle really wasn't going to hurt her and she settled down.  Once she was completely calm about the saddle while lunging, I did additional desensitizing exercises with the saddle.

Lunging with the Saddle

Day 8:  Continued to desensitize her using the bag.  Took the saddle on and off several times as she can be a little nervous about that.  Lunged her with the saddle on at the walk and trot.  She did much better and only had a short random bucking episode.

Day 9:  I was finally able to rub the plastic bag on her face and slap it underneath her legs without her panicking!  I again took the saddle on and off several times and lunged her at all three gaits.  She had a short bucking episode the first couple times I asked her to canter, but otherwise she lunged quietly.

Day 10:  While Luna was free in the round pen, she spooked at something and bolted straight for the side and attempted to jump the panel.  Thankfully, she did not injure herself, and the round pen mostly survived.  This horse definitely could have a jumping career in her future!

Days 11-15:  Last week was a lot of stimulation, so this week I am giving Luna a bit of a break and working more on basic groundwork.  She can be very resistant to moving her hindquarters away from pressure.  I like to teach horses to move away from both steady pressure (hand on hip) and intermittent pressure (tapping of a whip or swinging a rope).  She has a tendency to threaten to kick when asked to do this, so it was definitely something I wanted to address.  Also worked on getting her to lead into a stall to build trust.  Introduced her to the tarp, which she had no issues with.  Go figure!

Everything is scary...except this tarp.

Day 16:  Finally got her to follow me into the stall!  Saddled her again, put the bridle on, and lunged her.  Also began working on getting her comfortable with picking up her front feet.

Day 17:  Followed me into the stall with only slight hesitation.  Saddled, bridle and lunged her- only a few bucks.  Manually began working with her to give to bit pressure.  Most horses do not need this exercise and learn quickly from ground driving, but Luna was in too much of a panic for that to work well.  For manual flexing, I stand at the shoulder apply light pressure on the bit to ask the horse to flex toward me.  I do this on both sides.  I can also apply pressure on both sides to ask the horse to back up.  She panicked a little at first, but with well-timed releases, she quickly caught on and started giving to the pressure much more quickly.  Continued to work on handling her front feet and more saddle desensitizing.

Day 18:  Luna is completely comfortable leading in and out of the stall.  Today, for some reason, she was moving all over the place for saddling, but once she was saddled she lunged quietly at all gaits.  Continued to work on saddle desensitizing.  Worked with her front feet.  She also showed improvement with the bit exercises.

Day 19:  Worked on front feet.  Saddled, bridle and lunge all three gaits.  Introduced indirect bit pressure-- instead of turning her towards me like I have been, now I reached over her neck and asked her to flex away from me.  This was much more challenging for her.

Day 20:  Started working on her hind feet.  Since she has already kicked at me once, I started by using a rope to lift her hind feet, so I could stay by her shoulder.  Continued to work on the other groundwork exercises.

Day 21:  Luna's owner visited today.  I showed her everything we've been working on so far and we discussed the training plan moving forward.

Day 22:  My new side reins finally showed up so I introduced Luna to those today.  I am starting by using each side rein separately.  This way she can feel a little tension and weight on the bit on each side, while it gives her a little more freedom to move her head.  My goal is to continue to increase pressure gradually so she can learn to give into the bit, while hopefully avoiding a panic.  Continued to desensitize her to saddle noises and introduced her to some weight in the stirrup.  Also worked on hind feet.

Day 23:  Worked on applying weight in the stirrup with my foot and introduced her to a little one-legged hopping.  She actually didn't mind that too much.  Used the side reins together and worked on her hind feet.

Day 24:  Introduced Luna to the bridge.  She quickly stepped on with her front feet, but it took awhile to get her back feet on and to walk all the way across.  Used the side reins again with a little more pressure.  Put my weight on her back by laying over her.  I was also able to stand briefly in the stirrup and I was able to pick up both hind feet!

Luna on the Bridge

Day 25:  Luna is doing much better with picking up her hind feet when asked without kicking or moving away.  Now that she typically picks them up each time she is asked, I am working on increasing the duration I expect her to keep the foot up.  The other task we focused on was desensitizing her to a rider stepping up and down in the stirrup.

Day 26: Continued to build on yesterday's progress on picking up her hind feet and stepping up and down in the stirrup.  Also worked on some saddle desensitizing to get her used to the variety of noises that can occur with a rider in the saddle.  Some exercises I like to do with spookier horses before the first ride are: flopping the stirrups against the sides, smacking the saddle seat, wiggling the saddle, jerking down on the stirrups in quick succession, etc.

Day 27:  More repetition of picking up the hind feet and standing in stirrup.  Tested Luna's spook threshold by lunging her with plastic bags tied to the saddle.  She did better than I expected and it didn't take her long to get used to the noise.  With most horses, I just tie the noisemakers to the saddle with a piece of twine, but because Luna has demonstrated a knack for panicking, I did it a little differently.  I used a quick-release type knot to attach the bag to the saddle with a long lunge line.  If necessary, I could pull on the line, and the noisemaker would release from the saddle.

Day 28:  Worked on standing in the stirrup for longer periods of time.  She is doing great with that and will stand quietly most of the time.  Continued to desensitize her with noisemakers on the lunge line.  Tied the plastic bag to the saddle horn so the noise was behind her head and difficult to see.  Introduced her to the bottle of rocks and lunged her with it hung on both sides.

Plastic bottle of rocks
with the panic release line.

Day 29: Attempted ground driving again and she did so much better!  She gave to the bit and turned when I asked her, without bolting or fighting it.  I stood in the stirrup several times for several seconds and she stood quietly.  She has finally passed all of the tests, and tomorrow it's time to get in the saddle for the first ride!

Day 30:  First ride went really well.  When I first got on, she backed up and it took a little while to get her to just stand still.  I was able to get her to walk around and surprisingly she didn't spook or bolt.

Day 31:  Second ride.  Worked on turning, stopping, and backing.  She refused to go on the east side of the round pen for some reason and kept looking very attentively into the alfalfa field.

Day 32:  Today's ride went better with turning and with using the whole round pen.

Day 33:  First trot!  She did great and didn't attempt to buck.  

Day 34:  Continued to work her at the walk and trot and improved bit response for turning, backing, and stopping.

Barrels are great to make
flat work more interesting.

Day 35:  Last night we moved our geldings from the home pasture to the dry lot near the round pen.  Luna was obviously more distracted today with keeping an eye on their movements.  She was also spooked by something in the alfalfa field and again wouldn't go on the east side of the round pen (closest to the field).  Even with these difficulties, she cantered 3 strides!

Day 36:  Luna is improving so much.  She cantered a few strides in each direction and only had one small buck once when getting into the stride.  She was a bit peppy this morning and it took awhile to settle into a nice trot rhythm.

Day 37:  The morning started out well.  Luna lunged responsively, picked up all her feet well, and stood fairly well for saddling.  Once we were riding, she walked nicely and started trotting until suddenly getting very agitated and not wanting to move forward.  She offered to buck when pressed to move and did not want to flex to the right.  I worked on small circles and moving her forehand off of leg.  Eventually, we worked through her issue and we were able to trot around.

Day 38:  Luna is cantering so much better on the left lead but is really struggling with the right lead.

Day 39:  A friend helped me today by taking some videos of me riding Luna to try and assess some issues under saddle.  Video can be extremely helpful with seeing things that are more difficult to see when you are on the horse.  Luna cantered well on the left lead but really struggled with the right.  When asked to canter on a clock-wise circle, she is pinning her ears, swishing her tail, and swinging her hip into the inside.  She does not exhibit these behaviors on the lunge line.  She did well with hindquarter and forehand pivots.

Day 40:  Luna was feeling a little sluggish and it took a lot of encouragement to get her cantering.  She was able to maintain a longer left lead canter, but she was about the same for the right lead.  Worked on forehand and hindquarter pivots, trotted nicely.  Started working on side passing.

Luna, ready for a ride.

Day 41:  Picked up all four feet, all well except right hind she's a little less comfortable with.  Worked on pivots and side passing and walk/trot.  She cantered her best so far!  She picked up the left lead quickly and sustained it longer.  The right lead was a bit sideways, but she picked it up more easily and sustained it longer.

Day 42:  Got quite a bit of rain over the weekend, so the ring was too sloppy to work on the canter.  Lunged her first and then worked at the walk and trot.  Continued to work on pivots, side passing.  Her head position is improving as she is giving more to the bit, lowering her head and not pushing against my hands.  Took her for her first pasture ride and she did great!

Day 43:  Temperature got colder last night so the ring was a little crusty this morning.  It was hard enough that it wasn't safe to canter as it was difficult for her to get a good grip.  Lunged her and then worked her at a walk and trot.  Reviewed pivots and side passing, which was much better.  Worked on getting her to lower her head off the bit.  Rode again in the pasture.

Day 44:  I dislike when it is super windy, but it did help dry out the arena footing and it was safe to work her at all gaits.  We reviewed pivots and side passing (which she did great!).  She was feeling a little spritely and had a few small bucks at the canter.

Day 45: It was windy again and not surprisingly, Luna was a stinker to catch.  Thankfully, that was her only issue.  She stood well for saddling, lunged well, warmed up perfectly at the trot.  She showed more progress at the right lead canter and was great on the left lead.  We headed out to the pastures and then headed out for a trail ride.  She was nervous about going someplace new and did plenty of looking around, but overall she did very well.

Day 46: She was a little challenging to catch again, but it didn't take quite as long as yesterday.  I warmed her up on the lunge line and then picked up all four feet.  She has come such a long way on these and picked them all up nicely and allowed me to pick them out.  She also stood well for saddling.  Under saddle, we worked on side passing, pivots, transitions, sitting trot and posting trot.  She cantered great on the left lead and good on the right lead.  Worked on side pass, pivots, transitions, sitting trot, posting.  We even had a brief moment of excitement.  While moving around the circle, she spooked/bucked, causing me to bump the back of her neck with my hands quite suddenly.  Immediately, she became a rodeo bronc and for a moment I wasn't so sure how I was going to end up.  Thankfully, she was easy to get back under control, and we continued on our circle like nothing had happened.  After some experimentation, I confirmed that she did indeed have a very sensitive neck and patting it firmly produced a very strong reaction. We spent the rest of the session desensitizing her to pats on the neck until she no longer reacted to it.

Day 47:  Luna goes home today!  I saddled Luna up and when her owners arrived I ran through all of the things we'd been working on.  Luna cantered gorgeously on the left lead, and even had a pretty decent right lead.  She showed off really well and I am so pleased with how far she came.  Her last task of the day had arrived: the trailer.  She had only been in a trailer a couple of times and it had taken awhile to get her loaded to bring her to me.  We decided to prioritize the other training areas, so I had not worked with her on trailering either.  She was hesitant of the trailer but got halfway in several times.  Her owner was very patient and worked on coaxing her with grain but Luna refused to go in any further.  At the owner's offer, I took over, and after about 5 minutes, Luna followed me into the trailer.  This is an example of the bond of trust that can form between a horse and trainer when training is done kindly and patiently.

The weather is getting colder, so the arena footing is starting to get hard and slick.  This November has been extremely mild and dry, which gave me the opportunity to work with her much longer than most years.  We even had a week of 60+ degrees.  I think that was probably the first time I have ridden in short sleeves AND still broke a sweat in NOVEMBER.  It was crazy, but I was so grateful for it!  

Luna had a few hiccups in the beginning but she really came a long way.  It was evident that she learned best when I took things extra slow, and I appreciate that her owner prioritized Luna's comfort and readiness over fast results.  I look forward to hearing Luna and her owners accomplish in the years to come!