Training Goals:
- Start under saddle
- Continue to build confidence and trust
With a horse that has limited exposure to humans and is more wary of interacting with them, I slow down the training process as much as needed. Slower is always better in the long run, and more foundational work is always beneficial! Had his owner not put in all the time before bringing him to me, he would likely have been with me much longer. Since she had put in so much work, I was able to get him going in about 30 days.
He was pretty suspicious of strangers, so my first challenge was actually being able to get close to him!
Day 1: Wrigley was not interested in letting me get anywhere near him for quite awhile. We got acquainted after bribing with a few treats and he let me pet his face. That was a much as he was comfortable with and any attempt to get closer resulted in him retreating.
Day 2: His teen owner visited today and helped me out by catching him for me. Her mom says she is the only person Wrigley likes 😂 Once he was haltered, we were able to move to the round pen. Worked on lunging, desensitizing to the saddle pad, and attempted to desensitize him to the saddle. Despite being saddled several times before, he acted like he had never seen one before! We decided to move on to working on yields, lowering the head, flexing- not super cooperative.
Day 4: Used the mini saddle today to help desensitize him-- way easier on my shoulder when I take it on and off a million times in a row. Continued to work on desensitizing him to the whip and he was much more relaxed. Added the plastic bag, which he was ok with it touching him and very not ok with it waving in the air. He was a little better with the fly spray. Lunged him with the surcingle.
Day 5: Desensitized with the mini saddle, whip, and bag. Some spooking today but better than yesterday. Saddled him up with the real saddle, which he was a little shy about but we got it done. Desensitized him to flopping stirrups while lunging. This spooked him a lot but he eventually got used to it. Took the bridle pretty well.
Day 10: Practiced saddling with the mini saddle. He backed away the first time I brought out the big saddle, but once it was on his back he stood pretty well for saddling. Reviewed the flopping stirrups on the lunge line with no significant spooking. Introduced him to the rock jug. He was scared of it when I was holding it, but once it was tied to the saddle he handled it pretty well-- only speeding up a little in the beginning. Reviewed whip and stick bag. Some spooking in the beginning when twirling the whip in the air. He took the bit quickly, eager for the treat, and we introduced the side reins.
Day 11: Practiced saddling with the mini saddle first and then the regular saddle. He backed up only one time with each one. Reviewed noisy jug at shoulder, then tied it farther back with no further reaction. The plastic bag, however, was terrifying when it was tied on and he bolted around the ring several times at full speed before settling down. Worked with the bit, side reins, and flexing off of the bit pressure. He must have tweaked something when he bolted because by the end of the training session he seemed to come up a bit lame.
Day 12: Saddled with both the mini saddle and the regular saddle but only backed away the regular saddle. Lunged with the plastic bag on both sides with very little spooking. Introduced ground driving. He ran off at the when bit pressure was applied but started to get the hang of it towards the end. Off a bit.
Day 13: Continued to work on ground driving while using the surcingle. He did better than yesterday but he really doesn't like anyone directly behind him. When changing directions, he makes the fastest turn possible so that he can keep me along side of him. Backed up once when saddling. Desensitized him to saddle noises/movement: slapped the stirrups, jumped next to him, and hopped in the stirrup. He handled it pretty well on the left side, but was more nervous on the right side (as he is with most things). Lameness a little better today.
Day 14: Ground driving went pretty well today. He is flexing better as well. Desensitized him by slapping the saddle with the whip and plastic bag. Stood in both stirrups, but he was better on the left side.
Day 15: Continued to work on improving flexion to bit pressure. Reviewed bag desensitizing on the saddle. Stood in the stirrups.
Day 16: Reviewed bit flexing and bag desensitizing. Increased the difficulty by tying the bag near his hip. He bolted numerous times until finally settling down. Repeated on the opposite time and thankfully it took less time for him to get used to it. He was good with me standing in the stirrups. Practiced fly spraying.
(3 weeks later)
Day 17: Wrigley is back after a break for a few weeks so me and my family could recover from illness. Reviewed ground driving and lunging with the plastic bag on the saddle. He remembered everything and did really well!
Day 18: More review with saddle desensitizing and bit pressure.
Day 19: Owners stopped by to watch. Saddle and bit exercises review, stood in stirrups.
Day 20: Review continued. He is about as ready as he can be. Time to challenge him with the next big step.
Day 21: First Ride! Things seemed to be going well at first. He stood calmly while I mounted, swung my leg over him, and eased onto his back. After I had been sitting in the saddle for a few seconds, he suddenly panicked and launched me off over his head. Unfortunately, it was not caught on video, but his owners said I did a very nice front flip over his head 😂 The second attempt went more smoothly and he remained relatively calm, although we mostly did small left circles.
Day 22: Oof, I am sore today! I am hobbling pretty good and my calf is too swollen to attempt a second ride.
Day 23: 2nd ride! Got him to move forward a little more and he only thought about spooking once. His teen owner helped encourage him forward with the whip to make it easier on my sore body.
Day 24: 3rd ride! He is doing better moving forward but still very slow. He was a little more challenging to saddle today.
Day 25: His teen owner helped my today by encouraging him forward with the whip. He spooked and bolted once. We even managed to do some trotting!
Day 26: Wrigley came out of the pasture pretty stocked up in the hind legs. I hopped in the saddle very briefly. He walked around slowly and at one point decided to lay down 😂 After the short session, we gave him some anti-inflammatories and coated his hind legs with lineament.
Day 27: Letting Wrigley rest today. Hand walked him a bit and applied new lineament.
Day 28: Repeat of yesterday.
Day 29: After a few days off of work, plus the weekend, Wrigley is a back to normal. We took it easy and did a light ride at the walk. He thought about bolting once. 10/4 legs mostly better. Light ride at the walk. Thought about bolting once. Kept stopping and stretching out.
Day 30: His legs are looking good. Improvement on riding today. No spooking and he walked around at a slow but steady pace. Less stopping attempts than yesterday.
Day 31: Good ride today. He still is walking pretty slow, but keeps a steady pace and does not need as much encouragement to keep going.
Now that Wrigley had several rides on him and was no longer looking to bolt, his owner was ready to take him home and continue his training herself. They have sent me multiple updates over the next few months of his progress. He has continued to grow in confidence under saddle and now goes out on the trails and fields like a seasoned trail horse. While he may have been a little slower to catch on to a rider, he is a fabulous trail partner now. His teen owner commented that he was one of the calmest horses she had ever ridden. We would not have said that at the beginning of his training!
In Training August 9-24 and September 15- October 6, 2021
