Training Horse Profile: Whiskey the Mustang (Part 1)

 

Training Goals:

• Start under saddle
• Think before reacting

Whiskey is somewhere between 15-18 years old, American Mustang.  It was obvious that someone had put some some solid training into him, but the extent was unknown.  He had been bounced around to several homes before his current owner took him in.

She had started working with him again and had even saddled him and sat on his back once before, but decided she needed a little help to make sure his start into the riding world was done right.

*Note: This is not an exhaustive list of everything that I did each day but an overview of the main things worked on and his response.

Day 1: As always, I started with ground work.  Whiskey was pretty responsive and definitely had done a lot of the exercises before.

Day 2: Reviewed the groundwork exercises.  Introduced my favorite training tool: the plastic bag on the whip.  He was not so much a fan of that.  Desensitized to the saddle pad.

Day 3:  Brought out the surcingle.  He stood nicely while I put it on and adjusted it so it was snug.  Then, all of the sudden, he exploded and bolted off, bucking like a bronc for quite some time.  As quickly as the episode began, it stopped and he lunged nicely for the reminder of the session.

Day 4: Today I was prepared for the bucking and it occurred exactly the same as yesterday.  Once he was done bucking though he was quite the stinker to catch.

Day 5: Suited him up in the surcingle, but no bucking today!  He lunged nicely.

Day 6: Whiskey's owner visited today to see her favorite guy.  Of course, today he decided to be impossible to catch.  Once caught, we reviewed the groundwork exercises so his owner could see them. Worked again with the plastic bag and he did so much better.  Accepted the surcingle without an issue.  Introduced him to the noisy plastic jug.

"When I arrived, he was alone in a pasture, quietly enjoying his own company.  No pacing the fence line or calling to other horses.  This was one of the first times I've ever seen him comfortable alone.  His separation anxiety has been the most difficult challenge to overcome. and here he was minding his own business.  This was a big step in the right direction.

"His desensitization work is coming along beautifully and he is facing new and scary things everyday.  Its easy to forget that horses don't come preconditioned.  They aren't born with the desire to have something wrapped around their head, waved in their face, or strapped to their backs.  Someone had to put in the time and work.  It's not easy and often it's not safe.  I am so grateful for the work @sandycreekhorsetraining has put into my little trash pony so far.  The foundation she's helping him build will open a world of opportunities for him and I."

Day 7:  Lunged, accepted surcingle, reviewed plastic bag, desensitized to whip and worked on standing still.  Placed saddle on back and desensitized to pulling girth underneath.

Day 8: Saddled him up and lunged him with no bucking!

Day 9: Saddled and lunged.  He had a short bucking episode in the middle for no apparent reason.  Tied the plastic jug to the saddle and surprisingly he did very well with it.

Lunging with the Noisy Rock Jug

Day 10: Crossed the step bridge.  Saddled him up and he had a few bucking episodes.  Feeling a little spritely after the weekend, I guess.  Lunged him with noisy jug and fitted him with the bit.

Day 11: Using the surcingle today so that I can easily attach the side reins.  He was not into standing still for some reason.  Once the surcingle was secure, I lunged him with the side reins and bit.

Day 12: Started with the surcingle again and he stood better than yesterday but not great.  He was resistant to putting the bridle on, despite molasses rubbed on the mouthpiece.  He stood well for the saddle.

Day 13: Moving around a lot again today.  Took the surcingle on and off several times until he stopped reacting to it and relaxed.  Very difficult to bridle today and would toss his head up and back away anytime the bridle came near his nose.  Stood nicely for saddling.

Day 14: Saddled, bridle, practiced standing still while weight was applied in the stirrup

Crossing the Step Bridge

Day 15: Lunge, surcingle, saddle, weight in stirrup.  Practiced putting on the bridle several times.  Got him to canter with the saddle on, which takes serious work on my part.  He will literally keep trotting faster and faster unless you chase after him.  He bucked for a couple of laps when he first broke into the canter.  Stood well for saddling.

Day 16: Surcingle, saddle, stood well, lunge. No bucking!!  Tied noisy jug at shoulder while lunging.  Stood briefly in the stirrup.  Practiced bridling several times and was much better than yesterday.

Day 17: Saddle, again stood well. lunge, took the bit pretty well, stood in stirrup briefly on both sides.

Day 18: It was very windy today and Whiskey was feeling a bit edgy.  Saddled him up like usual and he took off bucking before I had even finished securing it.  Once he calmed down and I finished securing the saddle, I lunged him and he did not buck.  Tied the jug at his flank which caused a big spook and sent him bolting and bucking around the round pen, even when it was no longer attached to him.  After he again calmed down, I re-attached it and he lunged without issue.  He took the bridle the best he has so far.

Day 19: On the chilly side for late May.  Put the surcingle on and he proceeded to buck quite a bit.  Once saddled, he did not buck at all.  This guy is a conundrum! Tied the plastic bag onto the saddle.  He was fine with it on his left side but was less sure about it on his right side.  He bolted on and off for awhile before learning that it was harmless on that side too.

Day 20: Lunge, surcingle, saddle, stood pretty well and no bucking,  took the bridle well after very brief resistance.  Stood in the stirrup on both sides.  At one point, he spooked a little when I stepped up in the stirrup and reared up briefly.

Day 21: Surcingle, saddle, lunge, no bucking, plastic bag on both sides, practiced with the bit.

Day 22: Surcingle, saddle (stood well!), lunge, no bucking, plastic bag on each side and off horn, wanted to walk and only spooked briefly a couple times, stood all the way in stirrup on both sides several seconds without him getting nervous.

Day 23: Vet visit.  Whiskey got his vaccinations and his teeth floated.  Since he's been a little challenging with the bit I wanted to rule out any possible issues in his mouth. Vet said his teeth looked healthy and there were no issues.  Vet aged him at 18.

The vet was very concerned about me getting injured when trying to ride Whiskey, due to his age and being a Mustang.  I was thinking that he was just about ready for his first ride and then the vet totally made me rethink that 😂

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Whiskey's journey!

Training Horse Profile: Lyra

 

Training Goals:

• Improve ground manners
• Tune-up under saddle
• Trail miles

Lyra is a 3-year-old Quarter Horse mare. Her owner purchased her last year and was unable to work with her regularly over the winter, so she brought Lyra for some consistent training to get a head start on the summer. 

Week 1

For the first few days, Lyra was quite upset about being on her own.  She kept things interesting for me as she would run up and down the fence neighing when I was working with another horse in the round pen (just 30 yards away!).  When it was her turn to work, she was pretty distracted and pushy.   She was nippy when I was in close contact with her and was CONVINCED I had treats to give her.  We worked on standing for saddling, yielding the forehand and hindquarters, standing for mounting and, towards the end of the week, standing patiently with a rider.  On Friday, the vet was out to do routine work for several horses.  Lyra stood perfectly for her vaccinations and coggins test.

Week 2

She is improving in her ground manners-- more responsive and less pushy and nippy.  Under saddle, she behaves nicely--just needs a little refining.  We worked on moving off leg, side passing, pivots.  She struggles most with getting impatient while saddling. Side passing took a little while for her to figure out and she wanted to push back against the pressure instead of moving away from it, especially when moving off the left leg.

Week 3

She stood for saddling much better this week and was very respectful on the ground.  She still struggled with side passing on one side, but otherwise is a very pleasant ride.  Now that she is moving off leg well and very responsive to the bit, it is time to put some miles on the trails.  At the beginning of the week, I led her over the bridge so she could check it out first.  She was pleasantly calm on the trail with very little spooking.  Since she was so calm, I tried to ride her into the creek, but she was not in favor of that.  The footing is a little tricky, so I didn't want to push her too much from the saddle.  I decided I would try again later on foot. Towards the end of the week, her owner visited, so we headed down to the creek to see if we could get her into the water.  She followed be right in, no extra encouragement needed!  She enjoyed splashing in the cool water.  Next trail ride, she rode right into the water.

The deer flies swarmed her terribly, so 
this helped keep her more comfortable!

Week 4

She had an off day at the beginning of the week where she was not respectful of my space and kept trying to run my leg into the fence while riding.  On the trails, she did not want to go through the puddles, even though she loves the creek 😂  The rest of the week she was fabulous!

Practicing patience while I work other horses.

Over the 30 days, Lyra improved immensely in her ground manners as well as her responsiveness under saddle.  By the end of the month, she was truly a pleasure to ride, both in the ring and out on the trails.

"She is wonderful working with horses and very patient with them. She trained my young horse for 30 days and did an excellent job. I highly recommend her." -Sara P. (Owner)

Training Horse Profile: Nico the Friesian

Nico is a 4-year-old Friesian Sport Horse gelding.  He had 90 days of training put on him last year, before his current owner purchased him.  His owner had brought Luna to me for training last fall and I was pleased to have them as clients once more!  They had only been able to ride him a couple of times before the weather turned cold and icy, so, after sitting over the winter he was giving them some trouble under saddle.

He even had a mustache!

For the first week, Nico was definitely testing the boundaries and was pushy and nippy.  After a week of consistent ground work, he quit most of his bad behaviors and showed me his sweet personality. My boys loved petting 'Mico' at chore time.

A funny story: 

Nico has two angus calves in the stall next to him. One evening, my 4-year-old son was helping me with the chores. After feeding the calves and watching them eat, he asked:

“Are we going to eat them?”

I explained that once they were big enough, we would butcher them for hamburger. He nodded enthusiastically and then walked over by the big black Friesian. After thinking for a moment, he asked:

“When he gets big are we going to eat him too?”

I have a feeling that Nico’s owner would not be on board with that

The previous trainer carried flags and shot pistols off of his back,
so the plastic bag wasn't much of a concern for Nico.

When I started riding him, if you asked him to trot, he immediately wanted to canter. He was constantly rushing his trot and had difficulty maintaining a steady rhythm. It was apparent that he hadn't worked much on turning or smaller circles. His turns had no bend and were more like angles than fluent turns. His circles had no roundness to them and he rushed so much that he was stumbling over his feet. I placed barrels in the round pen to help him learn to circle and turn and did a lot of figure-8s and small circles.

Once he was trotting steadily and was no longer pushing to canter, I started working on his transition into the canter. He tended to jump into the canter and often would throw a buck or two during the transition. Entering the canter in a smaller circle helped him to not rush into it as much. The first few days, he liked to race around the round pen. I worked on slowing him down and brought his canter to a more manageable speed. Getting into the canter was still a little rough some days, especially the right lead, but it sure was pleasant once you were into it!

We got quite a bit of rain one night and the round pen was super sloppy. You can see how wet it was and Nico's hooves have pretty much disappeared into the slop. Thankfully, the weather this spring was dry and mild overall. While not ideal for the farmer's newly planted crops, it was perfect horse training weather!

The tastiest reward for crossing the wooden bridge is the lush clover that grows on the other side! I take all of the horses across on foot first, so that I can stay safely out of the way in case of a spook on the bridge. Plus, it gives them confidence to follow me across. Their hooves are fairly loud on the planks, so many of the horses are a little nervous with their first step. After crossing it a couple of times on foot, they usually have no issues crossing it under saddle.

To give him some variety and to give his brain a break from circles, I started taking Nico out on the trails. He did exceptionally well and went everywhere I pointed him to. He wasn't bothered by the neighing of the other horses as we disappeared out of sight either. He did spook jump a few times at a squirrel or a bird, but as soon as I picked up the rein, he would come to a stop. It was nice to go out on the trails for once with a horse that wasn't super nervous!

Views From the Trails

He is a lot of horse with big gaits, but soo much fun to ride. I wish I could have kept him! I appreciate his owner's business once again and can't wait to see what he's up to in the future.

Training Horse Profile: Dozer the Percheron

 Training Goals:

• Desensitizing
• Standing for saddling, mounting
• Riding tune-up

Dozer is approximately 18 years old and has been intermittently ridden the last few years due to lack of time on his owner's part.  A former Amish plow horse, he was retired from field work at the age of 8 because of lack of stamina due to laryngeal hemiplegia (roaring). He was treated for this condition through tie- back surgery and was used frequently by his current owners for a variety of activities.  Since sitting for the past few years, he had developed some annoying behaviors that were making it difficult to use him for trail riding.  Behaviors like walking off while trying to mount, not standing still, prancing around, and getting spooked at noises or when seeing things out of the corner of his eye.  The goal was to work through these issues so that they can get back to enjoying trail riding.

One of the neatest things about this guy, is that he lives with camels and goes trail riding with them!  The funny part is that he is afraid of the camels when they have their saddles on.  He shares a pasture with them but once the saddle is on, they become a VERY SCARY CREATURE.

The Big Handsome Guy

For the first week, Dozer was pretty anxious and had difficulty standing still for more than a few seconds. When asked to stand still, he got frustrated and irritated which he exhibited with nipping and pawing.  Even just standing in the round pen for grooming was a challenge and I spent most of the week lunging, asking him to stand quietly, and then lunging again. It took him a week to stop snorting and prancing whenever we walked by the two angus calves near the round pen.

Once he settled in, Dozer was much more relaxed and I was able to start desensitizing him.  I exposed him to a bunch of different things on the ground and then again from the saddle.  When it came time to start riding him, I didn't have any problems with him standing for mounting.  Perhaps he learned his lesson from all of the previous exercises on standing still!

I couldn't quite get my foot into the stirrup and I don't currently have a mounting block.  A bucket was the perfect height and was easily moveable.  It required a bit of careful balancing so that it didn't tip.  One of the days it did tip and I ended up falling back and sort of knocking the bucket underneath of Dozer.  He just gave me a funny look 😂

When you can't quite reach the stirrup,
a bucket is a cheap mounting block!

He wasn't able to get his feet trimmed before he arrived and they were overdue, so my farrier got him trimmed up.  Dozer used to only be trimmed in stocks and can sometimes still be difficult for the farrier.  I was expecting it to be a little bit of a struggle since he had never met my farrier before, but he stood like a perfect gentleman.  He was the most cooperative horse of the day!

To work on desensitizing his peripheral vision, I hung various things on the round pen panels that I could reach for.  At first, even leaning to reach out would cause him to spook away.  As I continued to work with him, I was able to reach out and touch the objects but he would still spook if I tried to pick them up. After lots of repetition and exposure, he gradually was less reactive to me reaching for things and eventually no longer spooked.

He makes my stirrups look really short!

After I desensitized him to everything I could come up with inside the round pen, I started taking him out to explore new territory.  He discovered a few scary things (a wood bench LOL), but after a few minutes he was able to overcome each thing and they were no longer scary after that.

How do you help a horse overcome their fear of a scary object? Let the horse stop and look.  Praise them for standing still.  Keep them turned toward it and circle back if they spook away. Ask for steps towards the object and allow them to pause after each step forward. Be patient!

At the end of the month, all of the spooking issues had resolved and he was much more relaxed overall.  I was able to pull leaves off of trees as we were passing by, snap twigs off, take off my jacket, reach for things and bring them towards him.  I don't have any camels, so his owners are on their own with that 😜 

Training Horse Profile: Dakota

Training Goals:

• Ground work & exercise
• Standing for saddling and mounting
• Riding tune-up

Dakota is a 9 year old Quarter Horse gelding.  He had mostly been sitting around eating, so he was out of shape and his manners were a little lacking.  His owners brought him for a 30 days of training to work on his ground manners and to tune-up under saddle.

Ground Work Exercises:

• Forehand and Hindquarter Yields: After a short refresher, he did these quite well, especially on the left side. He was more resistant with the shoulder on the right side, but once he started the yield he did it well.
• Backing: He would lean back on his hocks away from the pressure but he often wouldn't actually move his feet. It looked a bit like a yoga pose! Over time, his backing response improved.
• Lowering the Head: This is one exercise that he really struggled with. He improved some and allowed his head to be lowered down, but he never really 'gave' in response to the pressure.
• Bridges: After a short hesitation, he crossed the two-level bridge with all four feet. Probably one of the fastest  to do so. He also crossed the creek bridge and got to enjoy the tasty clover on the other side.
• Lunge: This was an exercise that he knew how to do.  He was easy to send out and trotted and cantered on que. He also stopped when asked. He struggled to pick up the correct lead in the beginning, but the improved as he got into better shape.  One thing that I worked on with lunging was his tendency to run out when I went to send him out.  Sometimes, I had barely picked up the lunge line and he was already running out to the circle.  I worked with him on waiting until I actually asked him to go and to go out calmly.  One of his amusing quirks: he liked to buck on the lunge line for a couple laps when I would first ask him to canter.  As soon as I would pull out my phone for a video, he would quit.  The days that I started lunging with my phone ready, he never bucked 😂
• Surcingle with Side Reins: Helped him learn to give to the bit instead of pushing his nose up in the air.
• Standing for Saddling/Mounting: A lot of the desensitizing exercises listed helped him practice standing still. It helped him learn to stand still for saddling and by the time I started riding him, he stood great for mounting.

A tasty clover reward
after crossing the bridge.

Desensitizing Exercises:

• Plastic Bag on Whip: He was very concerned about the bag coming near him until it touched his shoulder.  It was like then he realized, "Oh, this is harmless!" and he was never bothered by it again.  I could shake it over his head, all over his body, wave it in the air, whatever, he was cool with it.
• Plastic Bottle with Rocks: He was spooked for about a half a circle, and then settled down and trotted calmly with it on both sides.
• Empty Water Bottle: This was the thing he was the most afraid of.  That took the longest time for him to be okay with it crinkling near him.
• Whip:  He was pretty leery of the whip and tried to start lunging whenever the whip came near him.  I think someone had used the whip pretty heavily with him for lunging, because as soon as he saw me pick it up, he was ON THE MOVE.  

Desensitizing with Plastic Bottle of Rocks

Riding Tune-up:

Dakota walked nice and quietly. He definitely had the makings for a relaxing trail ride. He had a lovely sitting trot and a comfortable canter, although it took some convincing to get him there (and keep him going!). Although his owner had issues with him not standing for mounting, after all of the ground work it was no longer a problem once I started riding him.

Gotta love the horse booty! 

It was kind of amusing that the day that I went to record some videos for his owner was the (only) day that he was feeling a little bucky.  As soon as I stepped into the stirrup, I felt him round his back and pop his rump.  He thought about throwing some bucks for a couple of small circles and then apparently decided it wasn't worth the effort.  He was a perfect little horse the rest of the ride!

Dakota modeling for his sale photos.

Although he preferred to walk and was quiet 98% of the time, due to his occasional big spooks and his tendency to buck, I didn't feel that he was the right horse for his owners at their riding experience level.  Dakota has a lot of great qualities, but really wasn't going to be the right match for what they needed, and they agreed.  Dakota will make an excellent mount for a confident intermediate+ rider and will be headed to his new home soon!

Dakota modeling for his sale photos.

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!