Training Horse Profile: Highlife

 Training Goals:

• Start under saddle
• Trail riding

Highlife is a 4 year old gelding (believed to be a Quarter Horse/Arabian cross).  He is super cute with a sweet personality.  He came to his owner with another horse that they had purchased and they had decided that it was time to get him broke to ride.  They plan to use him for trail riding for their family.  He has basically no prior training other than basic halter training. His owners planned on 90 days of training as they are more novice riders and wanted him to have a solid foundation and some miles under saddle.

Day 1: Taught Highlife to lunge.  He was pretty nervous being in a new place without his buddies from home.

Day 2: He remembered the lunging lesson from yesterday! Taught him how to yield his forehand and hindquarters, which he learned quickly.  Desensitized with the plastic bag.  He found that a little scary on each side but got used to it pretty quickly.

Day 3: Reviewed yields and lunging.  Some bucking at the canter but it looked like he was just having some fun.  He was better with the plastic bag.  I introduced him to the surcingle and he handled that well.

Day 4: Reviewed ground work and taught him to cross the step bridge.  Tied the plastic bag to the surcingle while lunging and he did not spook.  Introduced him to the saddle pad.

Day 5: Lunged him with the rock jug and no spooking.

Crossing the Step Bridge

Day 6: Introduced him to the saddle.  Some mild bucking at the canter.  Desensitized him using the stirrups.

Day 7: Still mild bucking at the canter.  Introduced him to the bit.

Day 8: Lunged him with the side reins to introduce him to bit pressure.  Worked on giving to the bit from the ground.  Very resistant to the bit pressure.

Day 9: Stood perfectly for saddling.  Better with the side reins.  Tied the plastic rock jug at his flank on both sides.  Totally cool with with the plastic bag on the whip.  Desensitized to me hopping the stirrup, which he was a little unsure about.

Day 10: He was a bit concerned about the running tractor, so he had to race around a bit on the lunge line before he settled down.  Worked on giving to the bit.  Continued to desensitize to hopping in the stirrup.

Day 11: Lunged in the side reins.  Tied plastic bag to saddle wile lunging.  Continued bit work.  Stood in stirrup.

Day 12: Side reins while lunging.  Worked on getting him to stay at each gait until asked to change instead of immediately charging into the canter.

Day 13: Better at staying in gait.  Reviewed bit work.  Stood in stirrup on each side for several seconds.

Day 14: 1st ride!  It took a little while to start moving forward but overall it was a very uneventful ride.

Day 15: 2nd ride.  Rode at the walk and trot!  He got a little spooked at the first trot and tried to run off.  The one-rein stop brought him back under control.  Fast-paced walking today.

Day 16: Worked on riding in circles at the walk, stopping, and backing.

Day 17: Worked on trying to trot without running off.  He was able to trot without bolting a few times but he is definitely nervous about it.

Day 18: Rode at the walk and trot.  Was able to go a full circle at the trot without bolting.

Day 19: Rode at the walk and trot and was much better at the trot.

Day 20: Highlife was a little excitable today.  He just wanted to canter and it took him quite awhile to decide to slow down.  Worked with side reins.

Day 21: Ground driving to work on better turning response.  Rode at the walk and trot and he was much better.

Day 22: Reviewed ground exercises.  Practiced switching directions on the lunge line.

Over the weekend, he was anxious about the thunderstorm and decided to join Annie in the adjoining pasture, amazingly with no damage to the fence.  I only had to reattach one wire.

Ground Driving

Day 23: Rode at the walk and trot.  He trotted much better and maintained a nice steady pace for the most part.  Started working on pivots which he did decently.  Stopping and backing he did well.

Day 24: Some bucking at the canter today on the lunge line but he was good under saddle.  Maintained a nice, steady trot.  Started working on trotting small circles and figure 8's but he has a hard time turning.

Day 25: Better at turning while trotting today.

Day 26: The little stinker managed to go through the lower wire of the fence without breaking the upper wire and was happily hanging out in the adjoining pasture with Annie.  He was a little sad to be separated after I had finished fixing the fence.

Grabbing a snack after a roll.

Day 27: Highlife was extra spritely on the lunge line.  He spooked a few times under saddle but he was better at trotting through the figure 8's.  Started working on the side pass.

Day 28: Calmer today.  He's been a little spooky about the saddle pad recently, so did some desensitizing with the pad.  Rode at the walk and trot.  Worked on the side pass.  He did well moving off the right leg but struggled to figure out how to move off the left leg.

Day 29: Switched up his bit to see if it would help him give a little better.  He did not pull as much but definitely was a different feel for him.  He spooked a few times by the manure pile but I was able to get him to trot slower and more relaxed.

Day 30: Pretty relaxed today.  Used the same bit as yesterday.  Worked on side pass, pivots, and figure 8's.  First canter on the left lead!

Day 31: Same bit.  Fabulous canter and picked up both leads.  Very good boy today!

Day 32: Switched to an O-ring snaffle but he didn't do super great with that.  Rode in the small pasture and spooked at a frog but otherwise he was pretty good.

Day 33: Very nervous about the new dirt piles and trees outside of the round pen.  Worked on side passing.  Rode in the small pasture and he tried to move sideways away from the new piles of stuff but eventually went up to investigate everything and stepped over a log.  Lead him around by the pond and over the bridge.

Day 34: His side passes were good today and he rode well in the small pasture.  Rode by the pond and stack of tires and he jumped a few times at a fish splash but otherwise was pretty good.  He was not a fan of the big puddle and it took awhile to get him to ride through it.

Day 35: Rode at the walk, trot, and canter and nice side pass. Trail ride through the pasture, by the pond, bridge and flat.  A few spooks but better than Annie.

Crossing the Bridge

Day 36: Rode at the walk, trot, and canter.  Trail ride through the flat and out to the west field.  He did fabulous with only a few minor spooks.  Practiced stalling as well while I worked with another horse.

Day 37: A little distracted in the beginning of the ride but rode at the walk, trot, and canter.  Trail ride by pond.

Day 38: Rode at the walk, trot, and canter.  Long trail ride.  Spooked at a couple of rabbits and was nervous about the hunting shack.

Day 39: Rode at the walk, trot, and canter.  Reviewed side passing and pivots.  Good ride!

Investigating the Tire Stack

Day 40: He was pretty spooky today, but only on the east side of the round pen.  Reviewed side passing and pivots.  Stopping better today.  Had a minor bucking episode when I asked for the right lead canter.

Day 41: Brief ride in the round pen before heading out on the trails.  A Blue Heron flew out of the creek as we were riding by and Highlife hardly flinched!  He was such a good boy that when we were almost back from the ride I reached back to pat him on the butt (something I do frequently while stopped in the round pen).  Apparently, he was not expecting that and all four feet left the ground.  Desensitized him to that afterwards so hopefully that won't happen again!

Day 42: Arena day.  Rode at the walk and trot.

Day 43: Rode at the walk, trot, and canter before heading out on the trails.  No spooks!

Day 44: Arena day.  Rode at the walk, trot, and canter.

Day 45: Arena day.  Threw a little fit when asked to canter so we had to work through that.

Day 46: Reviewed moving off leg.  He was having difficulty walking nicely on the rail without either running my leg into the fence or veering off towards the middle.  On the trail, I rode him into the creek.  He wasn't so thrilled about going in at first, but once he did it the first time it was a piece of cake.  He was scared of the big tube crossing and the old trailer parked in the weeds and tried to bolt off, but thankfully he was pretty easy to stop.

Day 47: Starting to ride without lunging first.  Still struggling to ride nicely along the rail, especially counter-clockwise.  On the trail, he went right in to the creek the first time I asked.  And he spooked when a walnut fell out of the tree 😂

Day 48: Seemed a little cranky today.  Rode at the walk, trot, and canter.  And he ran my leg into the fence twice.

Day 49: Ground work day.  Also worked on getting his man untangled from the little sticky weeds because he's been exploring and his mane was MATTED with them.

Exploring the Creek

Day 50: I was planning on heading out on the trails again today, but a thunderstorm was coming in and Highlife was ANXIOUS (He seems to have storm-induced anxiety).  He raced around on the lunge line with an unusual amount of bucking, so I decided that today was just not a good day to ride.

Day 51: Back to his normal self today.  Arena was a little slippery from the storm so we stuck to exercises at the walk and trot and fine-tuned the side passing and pivots.

This guy took to trail riding like a champ!  He was one of the easiest horses to start at the walk and canter that I've worked with.  He was also one of the easiest ones to put trail miles on, right from the beginning.  It's nice to get a horse in for training once in awhile that doesn't make you wonder if you're going to make it back from the trail ride in once piece 😂  He was a blast to ride and was a horse I would have loved to own as a teen!  He is going to make a great trail partner for his owners and has the potential to go in many different directions in the future if they desire!

In training from June 6 - August 24, 2021.

Update 11/18/21: I sent his owner an email to see how things were going with Highlife.  She emailed back:

"We love him!!!  He is absolutely for adult riders but no hesitation when we lead him, saddle him and he takes commands like a pro!!!  Thank you so much!"