Well, we started off in the round pen as usual. I did add sports medicine boots to Lindsay's front legs today. She was fine for me to put them on, but she thought they were awful funny looking...it was like she said "My legs are not supposed to be purple!" She stretched way back with both front legs sticking out in front of her and checked them out real good before deciding purple legs were ok.
We ground drove a little and sacked out w/ the noodle and flexed and up I went. We cantered again, she was great. No buck :) So out of the round pen we went.
She gets so happy when she realizes we are going out, I just love to see her enjoying herself. I rode her from the pen to the arena...which does have some fencing around it, but is not enclosed. We walked and trotted circles, doing lots of following our nose..especially tracking right...that was the way we were a little less soft at first. Lindsay's really "mouthy" w/ the bit (plays with it a lot) but she responds to it well and I'm going to let her keep playing with it for a while. I have all ideas she'll quite her mouth on her own in time. She loves being out in the open, especially in the tall weeds and really seems to enjoy every minute. I sure do.
After we rode I hopped of a let her hand graze a bit. I pulled her bridle off and just had her halter with a lead on it. I had attached the lead to a snap with a zip tie and the snap was hooked to the halter. She grazed for a bit and my husband Mike walked up. Well, she has been very cautious of him...as well as Anyone else for that matter. She picked her head up and was noticeably apprehensive at his arrival, but stood her ground. He quietly reached his hand out to touch her neck and she bolted away!!! Well, my trusty zip tie was not as strong as I thought. As soon as she reached the end of the line it popped!!! She did shy away hard, but she did not pull hard when she got to the end of the line. I honestly think had the zip tie not broken so easily she would have let me hold her. I've had many things frighten her in the round pen and she has not pulled away from me. Anyway, the zip tie popped and off she went! ...keep in mind this arena does have some fencing, but is NOT fenced in entirely, there are open spots in it all over! I remembered a FB friend whom also has a new Mustang talk of hers jumping the fence and how nervous she was that she would never catch him. But he came right to her!!! So I just said a prayer and reached out my hand and snapped my fingers like I have so many times. She stopped and turned to face me! I began to approach her and I could tell she was aware she was not in the round pen and was really loving this open space. She started to walk away and I snapped again and began to walk around her to encourage her to follow suit. Thankfully she did just that and I was able to walk right up to her and put the lead back on! Thank the good lord! I let her hand graze quite a while longer and basked in the thought that my "Wild" partner had actually made a conscious, willing decision to allow me back in..even though she was no doubtedly "Free" at that moment! What a wonderful feeling and what an Amazing Horse!
{You may be thinking... "What in the world was she thinking using a zip tie???" Well, I am now thinking that as well...but my reason was I wanted to be able to use my long cotton rope as reins hooked to her halter...It was to thick to slid through the halter lope, and I wanted to be able to remove it..so I thought.."I'll attach a snap to it, then I can snap it on and off" ... Well, my snap ring was also to small for my thick rope, so that's where my brilliant zip tie idea came into play... Thought those suckers were stronger than that!...Anyway..that was my not so brilliant reasoning... Thankfully my partner is much more intelligent!}
After we went back in the round pen we practiced walking over a piece of plywood, she hesitated at first, but before long was willingly crossing it from all angles. I then thought I really should see if she would let Mike touch her. It is inevitable that "people" will be around us at events..this is something we need to work on no doubt! So Mike walked in beside me, she immediately become tense and reminded me of when I tried to touch her the first time. Those big brown eyes got as large as they could and she stood rigid! Mike just stood there, very calm and non-invasive..she never really seemed to relax even with me rubbing her and comforting her, if he even started to reach out she tried to bolt away. So I thought of another plan. I had Mike walk away from us and Lindsay and I followed behind him. To show Lindsay that he was not trying to be aggressive, actually it was as if she was pushing him away, which considering her fear was helping her relax. We walked about 5 laps and she went from staying a good 8 foot behind him to being only a foot and even stretching her nose out a bit towards his back. Once he turned his head and that startled her again, but he kept walking and we kept walking and she gained some confidence back. I do believe we shall start adding this in to every lesson. Mike is a very calm, quite hand with a horse..I am certain if there is any man she would learn to trust it would be him. Hopefully as time progresses she will see that anyone I say is ok, is really ok. We are certainly going to need to be a bit more accustomed to other people though before we take of to a horse show! As intelligent as she is, I am certain if I explain it to her correctly she will understand quickly :)
She continues to teach me so much. I am so thankful for each moment of her time. It really is a gift the way she offers herself so openly. I treasure each connection.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day 21 ...and we're off!
We cantered today!!! Both ways, both leads and not even a "hump" in our back!!! We started w/ our normal process...ground driving first, sacking out, flexing..then up I went and after some practicing turning at the trot I thought I'd see if she was ready for a canter. At first she just kind of ran off her feet a bit, but she did not get tense like yesterday..so I egged her on a little more, swinging my body to the rhythm of the canter I hoped to get and off we went! She stepped into it beautifully. We cantered ~3 times each way and she grabbed her correct lead (front and back :) each time. I was sooo excited that there was not even a little hump in her back at all. Most green horses at this stage resist going forward at some point, but she has remained to be super responsive to my leg no matter what.
Well after our canter, I was thrilled, but felt like she was ready for more. However.."More" in the round pen was pushing it..there is only so much I can do in 40 foot diameter without asking for her to get bored and inevitably start answering questions with the wrong answer...even questions she had right before...ask them to many times and she's gonna answer differently to try and figure out what I want..so I hoped off and led her out of the round pen for the first time!
I wasn't sure if she'd be overly nervous or what, but honestly she seemed thrilled. She walked more forward beside me as we made our way to our small arena. It is the size of a small Dressage Show Arena, so bigger than the round pen, but not huge. I led her around it a few times and she seemed quite content..she didn't even spook at things on the rail that I thought she would. So up aboard I went. I rode her the same as I did in the round pen..lots of circles and stopping and backing to be sure I had her attention. She certainly was a bit preoccupied w/ her new surroundings and quite a few times wanted to go her way instead of mine. But each and every time she still let me help her and followed ended up following her nose where I pointed it. We even trotted a few 20 meter circles both ways. We then rode out of the small ring into our large, open arena. This is where my barrels are set and it's a show ring size pen w/ great footing (thanks to my husband!) But no fence at all surrounding it..totally open. We walked around out there a bit and Lindsay even walked over to a barrel on her own free will and sniffed it!! That was huge, she really had not taken interest in much of anything in the round pen on her own free will..I was Thrilled to see her have some curiosity to her. We walked a bit more until she felt like she was thinking of rolling in that good dirt LOL..I figured I better get out or put her to work..seeing as she'd really worked enough, getting out was next option.
I walked her out of the arena and through some tall grass. I remember thinking how interesting it was that she did not even flinch at the weeds rattling against her legs. Every green horse I've sat on at ride #4 would have been a bit startled. But she really seemed to take comfort in it. It just made me think about all of the previous experiences she has had and things she knows that I don't. She really is such an intelligent being with a spirit and mind all to herself.
I then hoped off and let her hand graze for quite a while admiring her serenity. She is gradually allowing me in this world of hers and it is simply amazing....these moments I get to share with her in her world.
Well after our canter, I was thrilled, but felt like she was ready for more. However.."More" in the round pen was pushing it..there is only so much I can do in 40 foot diameter without asking for her to get bored and inevitably start answering questions with the wrong answer...even questions she had right before...ask them to many times and she's gonna answer differently to try and figure out what I want..so I hoped off and led her out of the round pen for the first time!
I wasn't sure if she'd be overly nervous or what, but honestly she seemed thrilled. She walked more forward beside me as we made our way to our small arena. It is the size of a small Dressage Show Arena, so bigger than the round pen, but not huge. I led her around it a few times and she seemed quite content..she didn't even spook at things on the rail that I thought she would. So up aboard I went. I rode her the same as I did in the round pen..lots of circles and stopping and backing to be sure I had her attention. She certainly was a bit preoccupied w/ her new surroundings and quite a few times wanted to go her way instead of mine. But each and every time she still let me help her and followed ended up following her nose where I pointed it. We even trotted a few 20 meter circles both ways. We then rode out of the small ring into our large, open arena. This is where my barrels are set and it's a show ring size pen w/ great footing (thanks to my husband!) But no fence at all surrounding it..totally open. We walked around out there a bit and Lindsay even walked over to a barrel on her own free will and sniffed it!! That was huge, she really had not taken interest in much of anything in the round pen on her own free will..I was Thrilled to see her have some curiosity to her. We walked a bit more until she felt like she was thinking of rolling in that good dirt LOL..I figured I better get out or put her to work..seeing as she'd really worked enough, getting out was next option.
I walked her out of the arena and through some tall grass. I remember thinking how interesting it was that she did not even flinch at the weeds rattling against her legs. Every green horse I've sat on at ride #4 would have been a bit startled. But she really seemed to take comfort in it. It just made me think about all of the previous experiences she has had and things she knows that I don't. She really is such an intelligent being with a spirit and mind all to herself.
I then hoped off and let her hand graze for quite a while admiring her serenity. She is gradually allowing me in this world of hers and it is simply amazing....these moments I get to share with her in her world.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Day 19 and 20 ~ Forward & Impulsion Arrives :)
Oh how I am loving this :) We rode again yesterday. After we ground drove first and went through all the same preparatory things so that Lindsay was ready. We actually ground drove off the bit this time, before we'd used the halter..which she responds well to and seems to really like, but I really felt we needed to understand what the snaffle meant as well. There is a degree of lateral flexion that is so hard to attain with a halter and a snaffle really can make that cue more clear. She did exceptionally well with it. It is new and she understands the pressure points from her halter better, but she really transferred the information really quickly to the smooth snaffle.
So after driving and sacking out with the ole faithful "Noodle" up aboard I went :) She was a star! We mounted in the little paddock first and practiced forward and turning, as well as her giving me her face all the way to my foot. She was a bit confused at first, but figured it out quickly as well. This is the start of the "One Rein Stop" a useful tool to have in your toolbox when at this stage of the game. That went so well we ventured out into the round pen and rode like a dream. We even stepped into a little soft jog a time or two and it was super SOFT, she just floats along. She did so very well and really did not seem frightened when we jogged off. What a wonderful day!
So today we started back at square one, we ground drove w/ the snaffle...she was perfect this time, so I rather quickly moved on to mounting up. I mounted in the round pen and we flexed a bit a walked around the pen practicing changing direction and stopping and backing. Mike sat up on the rail about 12 feet from the round pen and Lindsay was certain he was a Tiger at first...she did not want to go anywhere near that side of the pen. But I was THRILLED to see that she really let me "help" her and with each passing we got closer. I made no big deal of it...ignored it really...just kept her focused on what I was asking of her and before long she was not as concerned about the half Tiger half man on the rail :)
We did LOTS of trotting today and it was much more forward and "free" Still very soft and relaxed, but I asked for a bit more today and she had no issues moving on off my leg. I even pushed her to almost the break of canter! At that point I did feel her tense just a hair so I let her remain there for a bit then come back down, rather than pushing harder. It is much more important to me for each day to offer progress, consistency and relaxation...that is much more important than rushing to the next step. We will be at it again tomorrow and I simply can not wait!
I was able to measure Lindsay's hooves for her soft ride boots and they are in the mail to us! I can not wait! It will be so comforting to have them when we start hauling...which at the rate she is going will be rather soon :)...
So after driving and sacking out with the ole faithful "Noodle" up aboard I went :) She was a star! We mounted in the little paddock first and practiced forward and turning, as well as her giving me her face all the way to my foot. She was a bit confused at first, but figured it out quickly as well. This is the start of the "One Rein Stop" a useful tool to have in your toolbox when at this stage of the game. That went so well we ventured out into the round pen and rode like a dream. We even stepped into a little soft jog a time or two and it was super SOFT, she just floats along. She did so very well and really did not seem frightened when we jogged off. What a wonderful day!
So today we started back at square one, we ground drove w/ the snaffle...she was perfect this time, so I rather quickly moved on to mounting up. I mounted in the round pen and we flexed a bit a walked around the pen practicing changing direction and stopping and backing. Mike sat up on the rail about 12 feet from the round pen and Lindsay was certain he was a Tiger at first...she did not want to go anywhere near that side of the pen. But I was THRILLED to see that she really let me "help" her and with each passing we got closer. I made no big deal of it...ignored it really...just kept her focused on what I was asking of her and before long she was not as concerned about the half Tiger half man on the rail :)
We did LOTS of trotting today and it was much more forward and "free" Still very soft and relaxed, but I asked for a bit more today and she had no issues moving on off my leg. I even pushed her to almost the break of canter! At that point I did feel her tense just a hair so I let her remain there for a bit then come back down, rather than pushing harder. It is much more important to me for each day to offer progress, consistency and relaxation...that is much more important than rushing to the next step. We will be at it again tomorrow and I simply can not wait!
I was able to measure Lindsay's hooves for her soft ride boots and they are in the mail to us! I can not wait! It will be so comforting to have them when we start hauling...which at the rate she is going will be rather soon :)...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Day 17 & 18 ~ Just Magical :)
Well yesterday was wonderful. We ground drove more, much more of the same...but Lindsay was even more responsive.
We added some "Showmanship" style leading...not just her following me, but walking beside me as if in a Showmanship class. I first tapped her with the dressage whip behind the stirrup (where my leg would go) and clucked...at first she didn't respond, but I just continued the same degree of tapping and as soon as she took a step I stopped... She caught on really quickly after that first move and we practiced a bit on both sides till she had it down pat. I figured this not only would be beneficial in her "Showmanship" practice, but also when I go to put my leg on her the first time. She would have some association with my leg meaning forward.
After she understood that the tap of the dressage whip at her side and my cluck meant forward I positioned myself between her shoulder and throat-latch. I had the lead line in my hand and I pushed my hand forward about 6 inches in front of her muzzle to ask her to "Catch up" to my hand...of course she didn't because she did not understand, so I tapped with the dressage whip lightly and clucked...she quickly moved forward and off we went. We practiced this cue for forward motion quite a while and she caught on well, even though she is a bit unsure of moving with me behind her eye a bit. She is much more comfortable with me out in front of her or well behind her shoulder sending her off, but she is becoming comfortable with me at her neck. It is amazing to me how sensitive she is and reactive to everything I do.
I also pulled out the good ole noodle again yesterday and "sacked" her out with it a bit more. She's really still not crazy about it, but tolerates it now. I even let it kind of "Slap" the saddle and she was fabulous with that. I leaned over her from standing on a tall step stool and swung my lead around over her head, she was just perfect and quiet. I tied my "Noodle" to her saddle making it stand up high like a rider and lounged her a bit. She did quite well, but my 16 yr old broodmare retired show horse started freaking out big time at that crazy noodle growing out of the back of Lindsay. I figured I probably had desensitized Lindsay enough for now if she, the wild Mustang, was not afraid of the scary noodle and the old show mare was! LOL So we called it a night.
Today was more of the same, she was great..took everything in stride. She was so quite with me leaning over the saddle, I really felt like she was ready for me to climb aboard. She was even starting to get a little bored with the same stuff we had been doing for a few days, so I knew it was time. I set up a 12 by 24 corral so that we were a bit more confined. (I usually mount for the first time in a 12 by 12 box stall, I have found it to be the safest way for me, but Lindsay is not accustomed to actually being stalled and I wanted her where she was comfortable, so the panels worked well) I did lots of leaning on her from both sides and asked her to soften her face each direction. She was just a doll, very relaxed..so I softly climbed aboard. I was thrilled to find that she was pretty relaxed with me up there. After sitting and rubbing her quite a while I softly asked for her to flex her face to each side. She did quite well and even sniffed my right toe a bit. Fortunately the sniff did not enlist a jump as I would have expected, she really did not seem to surprised at all by my foot hanging at her side :) I picked up both lines to ask for a step back and she shifted her weight immediately. I then lightly closed my legs on her sides and clucked softly. I felt her body tense at first, but I remained the pressure (Not actually total steady pressure, it had a "pulse" to it as I do, I would rhythmically squeeze and release, just as I tapped with the whip..) After a few tries she stepped forward! We did this quite a few times and were able to walk circles in both directions up and down our little area. Her step feels as amazing as it looked like it would. Very soft and fluid. I was ecstatic. She didn't jump when I dismounted and seemed totally relaxed about the whole deal :)
I will continue to go very slow and maintain the ground work. I can tell she is a horse that does not want to be caught off guard. She likes for things to make sense to her and when she understands my requests her response is as soft and fluid as I've ever felt. I am so thrilled she is allowing me so close into her space, she is truly an amazing individual. She has made me a forever Mustang fan!
...oh also, I have finally discovered what her unique color is...She is of course Bay and she does in fact have the Roan gene (She has "Corning" that on the actual Roan gene creates)But she also it a maximal Rabicano! She has an extensive "Coon Tail" as well as all the white throughout her mane. So, she is bay plus Roan plus Rabicano! Really unique combination, for any horse to have two separate white hair producing modifiers! This is an amazing girl, inside and out :)
We added some "Showmanship" style leading...not just her following me, but walking beside me as if in a Showmanship class. I first tapped her with the dressage whip behind the stirrup (where my leg would go) and clucked...at first she didn't respond, but I just continued the same degree of tapping and as soon as she took a step I stopped... She caught on really quickly after that first move and we practiced a bit on both sides till she had it down pat. I figured this not only would be beneficial in her "Showmanship" practice, but also when I go to put my leg on her the first time. She would have some association with my leg meaning forward.
After she understood that the tap of the dressage whip at her side and my cluck meant forward I positioned myself between her shoulder and throat-latch. I had the lead line in my hand and I pushed my hand forward about 6 inches in front of her muzzle to ask her to "Catch up" to my hand...of course she didn't because she did not understand, so I tapped with the dressage whip lightly and clucked...she quickly moved forward and off we went. We practiced this cue for forward motion quite a while and she caught on well, even though she is a bit unsure of moving with me behind her eye a bit. She is much more comfortable with me out in front of her or well behind her shoulder sending her off, but she is becoming comfortable with me at her neck. It is amazing to me how sensitive she is and reactive to everything I do.
I also pulled out the good ole noodle again yesterday and "sacked" her out with it a bit more. She's really still not crazy about it, but tolerates it now. I even let it kind of "Slap" the saddle and she was fabulous with that. I leaned over her from standing on a tall step stool and swung my lead around over her head, she was just perfect and quiet. I tied my "Noodle" to her saddle making it stand up high like a rider and lounged her a bit. She did quite well, but my 16 yr old broodmare retired show horse started freaking out big time at that crazy noodle growing out of the back of Lindsay. I figured I probably had desensitized Lindsay enough for now if she, the wild Mustang, was not afraid of the scary noodle and the old show mare was! LOL So we called it a night.
Today was more of the same, she was great..took everything in stride. She was so quite with me leaning over the saddle, I really felt like she was ready for me to climb aboard. She was even starting to get a little bored with the same stuff we had been doing for a few days, so I knew it was time. I set up a 12 by 24 corral so that we were a bit more confined. (I usually mount for the first time in a 12 by 12 box stall, I have found it to be the safest way for me, but Lindsay is not accustomed to actually being stalled and I wanted her where she was comfortable, so the panels worked well) I did lots of leaning on her from both sides and asked her to soften her face each direction. She was just a doll, very relaxed..so I softly climbed aboard. I was thrilled to find that she was pretty relaxed with me up there. After sitting and rubbing her quite a while I softly asked for her to flex her face to each side. She did quite well and even sniffed my right toe a bit. Fortunately the sniff did not enlist a jump as I would have expected, she really did not seem to surprised at all by my foot hanging at her side :) I picked up both lines to ask for a step back and she shifted her weight immediately. I then lightly closed my legs on her sides and clucked softly. I felt her body tense at first, but I remained the pressure (Not actually total steady pressure, it had a "pulse" to it as I do, I would rhythmically squeeze and release, just as I tapped with the whip..) After a few tries she stepped forward! We did this quite a few times and were able to walk circles in both directions up and down our little area. Her step feels as amazing as it looked like it would. Very soft and fluid. I was ecstatic. She didn't jump when I dismounted and seemed totally relaxed about the whole deal :)
I will continue to go very slow and maintain the ground work. I can tell she is a horse that does not want to be caught off guard. She likes for things to make sense to her and when she understands my requests her response is as soft and fluid as I've ever felt. I am so thrilled she is allowing me so close into her space, she is truly an amazing individual. She has made me a forever Mustang fan!
...oh also, I have finally discovered what her unique color is...She is of course Bay and she does in fact have the Roan gene (She has "Corning" that on the actual Roan gene creates)But she also it a maximal Rabicano! She has an extensive "Coon Tail" as well as all the white throughout her mane. So, she is bay plus Roan plus Rabicano! Really unique combination, for any horse to have two separate white hair producing modifiers! This is an amazing girl, inside and out :)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Day 16 ~ Love the Days that just "Click"!
What an awesome day! Lindsay has most definitely proved herself to be incredibly responsive and super smart. She really digested what we did yesterday and was ready for today. She was awesome joining up...awesome with the saddle...no buck at all :)
I even put a bridle on her today. She did think that was odd at first...can't blame her, It's not really natural to carry metal in your mouth. Honestly I'm not sure how much I'll even use a bit, I love how responsive she is over cues on her nose and jaw...we will see. But we do need to be accustomed to the bit. I used a smooth french link snaffle...my favorite bit because it curves around their mouth and does not pinch at all :) I started by sliding my fingers in the sides of her mouth which she thought tasted really nasty...they probably did..hehehe, but she dealt with it. After a few times she was opening her mouth easily and I quietly slid the snaffle in her mouth. She of course did her best to spit it out, but it wasn't going anywhere. She actually dropped a good bit of her Senior feed out of her mouth which just made me cringe...I've been desperately trying to get her to eat these concentrates and now she finally has and I go and make her drop it out of her mouth! Oh well, at least she is eating it now :) She really only chewed on the bit for a little while, maybe 15 minutes. I never touched it or pulled on it at all, just want her to be comfortable with it being there...and she appears to be!
We then ground drove a bit and Wow it was Awesome!!! She is so incredibly light and responsive as soon as she understand what I'm asking for. No kicks out at the line by her hocks at all today! I really was expecting at least a little kick, but she was perfect! She was even much more relaxed about me changing direction behind her, still got a bit tense as I would "Disappear" momentarily, but she seemed to now realize that as soon as I disappeared from one side I would quickly emerge on the other :) She even started turning her head to look for me to show up on the new side! We practiced stopping and changing speed and turning a bit. She has the most beautiful self carriage. She carries her body so round and "connected" Just looking at her stand there you'd think she looked a bit down hill, like a classic stock type QH, but as soon as she takes a step it is like her feet are magically lifted and her front end becomes very light. Goodness I'm so excited to sit on her!!!
After ground driving we worked on backing a bit more, she is picking up on that wonderfully. It is not something I've stressed thus far to much because most of the time I'm talking her into approaching me, not moving away from me. She is picking up on it really quickly though. I can tell she is going to have a very quality back to her, the way she naturally wants to round herself and drop her head...I love that kind of back in a horse, free and fluid...it's coming for sure.
I fly sprayed her today for the first time and she was a pro, a bit tense, but didn't move at all. She let me spray all under her belly and between her back legs...I had been dieing to do that, the sand gnats appear at dusk :( I then show sheened her tail and got it brushed out really really good. Up until now she's been nervous with me behind her like that, but the ground driving has really helped her with that a lot. That tail of hers is super thick! It really wasn't all that knotted up either...I don't know how, seeing as it's never been touched...must be good Mustang genes....
After all that primping I even picked up her feet! First time ever! I've been touching her legs, but not asked her to pick them up. She was exceptionally good. I didn't ask her to hold them up long. I did my best to pick them up and put them down before she tried to take a foot away from me. That is a Huge pet peeve of mine, when a horse just snatches their foot away when ever they feel like it...it's so hard, once they know they can, to ever convince them that they can't...because in all honesty...they can if they really want to. Their 1000 pounds can out "muscle" any human any day (be it a 100 or 300 pound human :) So I want to do my best to convince her that is not an option, so far so good. I even picked out her front feet and Wow is that neat to see how they looked untouched. Really Really Really good as a matter of fact! One thing that was definitely different is her toe callous. That portion of her sole between the point of frog and toe of her hoof wall was very thick and actually protrudes further than the rest of her hoof...ie it would make ground contact first if the foot was to land totally flat, which of course it lands heel first because she has such sound hooves :) I am sure all that added callous and thickness offers lots of protection that our domestic horses sometimes lack. I would love to see radiographs of her coffin bone, I bet there is plenty of sole depth there for sure. And hoof walls! Talk about THICK...all the way around too, her toe area all the way through her quarters and heel had relatively even thickness, a good 1/4" or more thick all the way around! Very rounded too, but not boxed off in the front. The only thing I plan to adjust ...when she's ready...is the lateral balance a bit. Her inside hoof wall is a hair taller than the outside... Similar to a sheared heel, but it is NOT sheared at all. The heels are even, just the hoof wall is a wee bit taller on the inside. I sure will not be doing anything drastic, I want to do all I can to retain the integrity of her fine tuned wheels! They have served her just fine as is, she is sound and even on her four corners as can be...she certainly doesn't need me making un-necessary modifications just to please my "eye" I'll just tweak a tiny bit :)
So it was just a good, good day...oh I even stood on the stool beside her and put weight in the saddle, again she was a star!!!
So thankful to be on this journey and so thankful Lindsay is not going anywhere! The first thing that drew me to this "Supreme Extreme" over the other Extreme Makeovers was that we adopted our horses up front. (The others are adopted after the 100 days) I just don't know how I would handle 100 days with one and have to let them go in the end :(
Excited to see what Lindsay tells me tomorrow!
I even put a bridle on her today. She did think that was odd at first...can't blame her, It's not really natural to carry metal in your mouth. Honestly I'm not sure how much I'll even use a bit, I love how responsive she is over cues on her nose and jaw...we will see. But we do need to be accustomed to the bit. I used a smooth french link snaffle...my favorite bit because it curves around their mouth and does not pinch at all :) I started by sliding my fingers in the sides of her mouth which she thought tasted really nasty...they probably did..hehehe, but she dealt with it. After a few times she was opening her mouth easily and I quietly slid the snaffle in her mouth. She of course did her best to spit it out, but it wasn't going anywhere. She actually dropped a good bit of her Senior feed out of her mouth which just made me cringe...I've been desperately trying to get her to eat these concentrates and now she finally has and I go and make her drop it out of her mouth! Oh well, at least she is eating it now :) She really only chewed on the bit for a little while, maybe 15 minutes. I never touched it or pulled on it at all, just want her to be comfortable with it being there...and she appears to be!
We then ground drove a bit and Wow it was Awesome!!! She is so incredibly light and responsive as soon as she understand what I'm asking for. No kicks out at the line by her hocks at all today! I really was expecting at least a little kick, but she was perfect! She was even much more relaxed about me changing direction behind her, still got a bit tense as I would "Disappear" momentarily, but she seemed to now realize that as soon as I disappeared from one side I would quickly emerge on the other :) She even started turning her head to look for me to show up on the new side! We practiced stopping and changing speed and turning a bit. She has the most beautiful self carriage. She carries her body so round and "connected" Just looking at her stand there you'd think she looked a bit down hill, like a classic stock type QH, but as soon as she takes a step it is like her feet are magically lifted and her front end becomes very light. Goodness I'm so excited to sit on her!!!
After ground driving we worked on backing a bit more, she is picking up on that wonderfully. It is not something I've stressed thus far to much because most of the time I'm talking her into approaching me, not moving away from me. She is picking up on it really quickly though. I can tell she is going to have a very quality back to her, the way she naturally wants to round herself and drop her head...I love that kind of back in a horse, free and fluid...it's coming for sure.
I fly sprayed her today for the first time and she was a pro, a bit tense, but didn't move at all. She let me spray all under her belly and between her back legs...I had been dieing to do that, the sand gnats appear at dusk :( I then show sheened her tail and got it brushed out really really good. Up until now she's been nervous with me behind her like that, but the ground driving has really helped her with that a lot. That tail of hers is super thick! It really wasn't all that knotted up either...I don't know how, seeing as it's never been touched...must be good Mustang genes....
After all that primping I even picked up her feet! First time ever! I've been touching her legs, but not asked her to pick them up. She was exceptionally good. I didn't ask her to hold them up long. I did my best to pick them up and put them down before she tried to take a foot away from me. That is a Huge pet peeve of mine, when a horse just snatches their foot away when ever they feel like it...it's so hard, once they know they can, to ever convince them that they can't...because in all honesty...they can if they really want to. Their 1000 pounds can out "muscle" any human any day (be it a 100 or 300 pound human :) So I want to do my best to convince her that is not an option, so far so good. I even picked out her front feet and Wow is that neat to see how they looked untouched. Really Really Really good as a matter of fact! One thing that was definitely different is her toe callous. That portion of her sole between the point of frog and toe of her hoof wall was very thick and actually protrudes further than the rest of her hoof...ie it would make ground contact first if the foot was to land totally flat, which of course it lands heel first because she has such sound hooves :) I am sure all that added callous and thickness offers lots of protection that our domestic horses sometimes lack. I would love to see radiographs of her coffin bone, I bet there is plenty of sole depth there for sure. And hoof walls! Talk about THICK...all the way around too, her toe area all the way through her quarters and heel had relatively even thickness, a good 1/4" or more thick all the way around! Very rounded too, but not boxed off in the front. The only thing I plan to adjust ...when she's ready...is the lateral balance a bit. Her inside hoof wall is a hair taller than the outside... Similar to a sheared heel, but it is NOT sheared at all. The heels are even, just the hoof wall is a wee bit taller on the inside. I sure will not be doing anything drastic, I want to do all I can to retain the integrity of her fine tuned wheels! They have served her just fine as is, she is sound and even on her four corners as can be...she certainly doesn't need me making un-necessary modifications just to please my "eye" I'll just tweak a tiny bit :)
So it was just a good, good day...oh I even stood on the stool beside her and put weight in the saddle, again she was a star!!!
So thankful to be on this journey and so thankful Lindsay is not going anywhere! The first thing that drew me to this "Supreme Extreme" over the other Extreme Makeovers was that we adopted our horses up front. (The others are adopted after the 100 days) I just don't know how I would handle 100 days with one and have to let them go in the end :(
Excited to see what Lindsay tells me tomorrow!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Day 12, 13 & 15... Tigers Lions and Bears Oh My!
The past few days have been spent doing some crazy amounts of desensitizing and poor Lindsay has been convinced that each and every new object is surely a Tiger or a Snake. We have used tons of leg wraps, long foam noodles, blow up beach balls, saddle pads, cotton ropes and anything and everything else I could come up with that was safe, but a good desensitiser. I put the surcingle on Lindsay on day 12 and after a good bit of bucking she was settled in and good to go. So I took full use of all my rings on the surcingle and tied soft leg wraps and even foam noodles to the sides for Lindsay to become accustomed to. She thought this was quite crazy at first and as I would send her off around the pen she would try to magnet in back to me for me to save her from all the crazy stuff attached to her!...Poor girl didn't realize I was the one attaching all the crazy stuff to her! She did adjust though. She remains to be very self conscious not to hurt herself...even when frightened she never does anything to put herself in danger. I moved the noodles to different places on her back and hanging off her sides. She was especially bothered by the noodle bouncing on her back, but after realizing it wasn't going anywhere and wasn't going to harm her she decided it was ok. Her biggest concern was the rope behind her back legs...talk about some big time strong kicks and bucks out at that rope! But after quite a few trips around the pen she realized that even the snake rope would not hurt her back legs.
So Day 12 and 13 was LOTS of Desensitizing. Lindsay just about lived in her crazy outfit for those days...between her noodles and leg wraps tied to her surcingle and her beach ball and many more noodles on the floor of the round pen it really looked like quite the circus in there! Lindsay never really has developed a curiosity for any of this wacky stuff, but has become ok with it being around her. It really is as if it is beneath her to "play" with a beach ball or pull the leg wraps off the rail...she is just much to mature for all that silly stuff. But as long as she is ok with all this stuff then that is good by me, she doesn't have to want to play with it...I've never been much on playing with beach balls myself! lol
Day 14 Lindsay had her first day off since she arrived. Mike and I went to the barrel race and let Lindsay take a break and recoup from her bouts with all the noodle lions and beach ball bears...even though they were...and still are...living with her in her paddock :) I do think she realizes now they are simply in-animent objects that will do her no harm. It just ate me up all day to not be able to work her, but I'm sure one day of rest was much needed and certainly well deserved!
So today, Day 15 we were at it again. I started with re-introducing some of the scary objects and, even though she is not totally convinced they are harmless, she was much much better than a few days ago. When I put the surcingle on she was just a star and did not even buck as I sent her off! So, now that I felt we were pretty well desensitized I wanted to introduce ground driving. This involves a rope going behind her hip just above her hock, which is her least favorite place for a rope to be. That took a bit more adjusting to, but she came around. I just hooked my ground lines to her halter, no bit yet.. and after she adjusted to the feel of the rope behind her we started working on slowing down from the pressure of the ground lines on the halter. At first she'd speed up, because when I would put pressure on the lines it would not only pull on her halter, but also added pressure to her hip. After a few tries she figured it out and was slowing her speed when I picked up the reins.
I actually am really loving her degree of sensitivity and responsiveness...she is just aware of Everything that I do...I just love that :) I feel like any extra time it may take to get her thoroughly desensitized will be well worth it in the end. Also, I would Much rather her be reactive and responsive than dull and sluggish. After she is desensitized to the things that she needs to be, her degree of sensitivity and responsiveness is going to make for a fabulous ride!
So after she was pretty comfortable with the ground lines and slowing her speed with pressure I wanted to practice changing direction. This involved me stepping behind her to move to her other side. Well, that was a task. Lindsay was not at all comfortable with me moving from one eye to another especially with this going on behind her back. She kept doing her best to wheel around a face me...which up until now I wanted her to. Poor girl, as soon as she figures out one thing I change it all up! Fortunately she seems to be quite brilliant and as long as I explain clearly she catches on well. So I continued working my way to her hip and crossing behind her. She would watch me like a hawk and as soon as she thought I was about to leave view of the eye I was in she would wheel around yet again. After quite a few tries, and much time just standing behind her...just as far as she'd let me before turning I was able to jump into the view of the other eye on the other side! She was so funny..as soon as I arrived in that eye it seemed as if she took a sigh of relief, like wow you disappeared, glad your back. So I spent some time changing sides...right to left came easier, left to right was a bit tougher, she really really wanted to keep me in her left eye today...when I was at her hip anyway. Kind of ironic seeing as she typically wants me in her right eye when I'm facing her. I did introduce the ground driving on her left, so that could have been it..I got her more comfortable with it on that side initially. By the time we were done I could change sides quite well :)
We also wore bell boots today! Lindsay's stride is so big she's grabbed her heels a few times, so I was anxious to get them on her. She was quite concerned over the velcro at first though, so I was taking my time. She looked like quite the professional today in her boots!
After we ground drove and were just about done I figured I'd give the good ole work saddle a shot. She had become pretty comfortable with most everything else, so up it went. She was a bit tense, but was a star! Stood like a perfect lady and did not even buck! I must say she looks even better under tack than I thought...I am more in awe of her every day! She is becoming really fit, but holding her weight well too...Thanks to her Triple Crown diet :) We started on TC Safe Starch Forage the other day and she Loves it! She's still not gobbling grain down, so I am thrilled to have a way to get extra calories in her. I know she needs them. The TC Safe Starch is fortified hay, so it has as much fat and protein as a quality concentrate. I am also introducing TC Senior to her and she is starting to develop a taste for it too. She still loves her soaked alfalfa, so I mix her electrolytes, daily wormer and TC Fish Oil in there. That seems to be going well...she cleans it up pretty good each feeding.
Can Not Wait to step on her, but I am going to be sure I have done Everything I can from the ground first. She would probably let me up there now, but she is doing so wonderful learning and growing to trust me that I do not want to chance stepping aboard to soon and possibly regressing. We have lots more to do on the ground that will all transfer to our saddle work. I tell you though, watching her movement and responsiveness really makes me excited to climb aboard...I can just tell she is going to be an Awesome ride!
So Day 12 and 13 was LOTS of Desensitizing. Lindsay just about lived in her crazy outfit for those days...between her noodles and leg wraps tied to her surcingle and her beach ball and many more noodles on the floor of the round pen it really looked like quite the circus in there! Lindsay never really has developed a curiosity for any of this wacky stuff, but has become ok with it being around her. It really is as if it is beneath her to "play" with a beach ball or pull the leg wraps off the rail...she is just much to mature for all that silly stuff. But as long as she is ok with all this stuff then that is good by me, she doesn't have to want to play with it...I've never been much on playing with beach balls myself! lol
Day 14 Lindsay had her first day off since she arrived. Mike and I went to the barrel race and let Lindsay take a break and recoup from her bouts with all the noodle lions and beach ball bears...even though they were...and still are...living with her in her paddock :) I do think she realizes now they are simply in-animent objects that will do her no harm. It just ate me up all day to not be able to work her, but I'm sure one day of rest was much needed and certainly well deserved!
So today, Day 15 we were at it again. I started with re-introducing some of the scary objects and, even though she is not totally convinced they are harmless, she was much much better than a few days ago. When I put the surcingle on she was just a star and did not even buck as I sent her off! So, now that I felt we were pretty well desensitized I wanted to introduce ground driving. This involves a rope going behind her hip just above her hock, which is her least favorite place for a rope to be. That took a bit more adjusting to, but she came around. I just hooked my ground lines to her halter, no bit yet.. and after she adjusted to the feel of the rope behind her we started working on slowing down from the pressure of the ground lines on the halter. At first she'd speed up, because when I would put pressure on the lines it would not only pull on her halter, but also added pressure to her hip. After a few tries she figured it out and was slowing her speed when I picked up the reins.
I actually am really loving her degree of sensitivity and responsiveness...she is just aware of Everything that I do...I just love that :) I feel like any extra time it may take to get her thoroughly desensitized will be well worth it in the end. Also, I would Much rather her be reactive and responsive than dull and sluggish. After she is desensitized to the things that she needs to be, her degree of sensitivity and responsiveness is going to make for a fabulous ride!
So after she was pretty comfortable with the ground lines and slowing her speed with pressure I wanted to practice changing direction. This involved me stepping behind her to move to her other side. Well, that was a task. Lindsay was not at all comfortable with me moving from one eye to another especially with this going on behind her back. She kept doing her best to wheel around a face me...which up until now I wanted her to. Poor girl, as soon as she figures out one thing I change it all up! Fortunately she seems to be quite brilliant and as long as I explain clearly she catches on well. So I continued working my way to her hip and crossing behind her. She would watch me like a hawk and as soon as she thought I was about to leave view of the eye I was in she would wheel around yet again. After quite a few tries, and much time just standing behind her...just as far as she'd let me before turning I was able to jump into the view of the other eye on the other side! She was so funny..as soon as I arrived in that eye it seemed as if she took a sigh of relief, like wow you disappeared, glad your back. So I spent some time changing sides...right to left came easier, left to right was a bit tougher, she really really wanted to keep me in her left eye today...when I was at her hip anyway. Kind of ironic seeing as she typically wants me in her right eye when I'm facing her. I did introduce the ground driving on her left, so that could have been it..I got her more comfortable with it on that side initially. By the time we were done I could change sides quite well :)
We also wore bell boots today! Lindsay's stride is so big she's grabbed her heels a few times, so I was anxious to get them on her. She was quite concerned over the velcro at first though, so I was taking my time. She looked like quite the professional today in her boots!
After we ground drove and were just about done I figured I'd give the good ole work saddle a shot. She had become pretty comfortable with most everything else, so up it went. She was a bit tense, but was a star! Stood like a perfect lady and did not even buck! I must say she looks even better under tack than I thought...I am more in awe of her every day! She is becoming really fit, but holding her weight well too...Thanks to her Triple Crown diet :) We started on TC Safe Starch Forage the other day and she Loves it! She's still not gobbling grain down, so I am thrilled to have a way to get extra calories in her. I know she needs them. The TC Safe Starch is fortified hay, so it has as much fat and protein as a quality concentrate. I am also introducing TC Senior to her and she is starting to develop a taste for it too. She still loves her soaked alfalfa, so I mix her electrolytes, daily wormer and TC Fish Oil in there. That seems to be going well...she cleans it up pretty good each feeding.
Can Not Wait to step on her, but I am going to be sure I have done Everything I can from the ground first. She would probably let me up there now, but she is doing so wonderful learning and growing to trust me that I do not want to chance stepping aboard to soon and possibly regressing. We have lots more to do on the ground that will all transfer to our saddle work. I tell you though, watching her movement and responsiveness really makes me excited to climb aboard...I can just tell she is going to be an Awesome ride!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Day 10 & 11 All Cleaned up :)
Well after Lindsay became comfortable in her new hat (halter) we starting doing more fun things that are much easier with a halter and lead...like a Bath! Of course Lindsay wasn't crazy about it at first, but she adjusted really quickly and by the time we were done she stood perfectly still for me to scrub both sides of her down. Her white flecks through her coat and salt n pepper mane never shined so bright! She is just gorgeous! I am tempted to think she has some additional color gene going on, she is not doubt a roan, but the way her mane and tail is so salt and pepper colored just amazes me...I've personally never seen a roan like that. I love it though!
After Lindsay's bath we worked on leading and her following the pressure of the rope not only to turn, but also to follow me in a straight line. She caught on rather quickly to that so we went on to work on desensitizing around her legs. I tossed the rope all under and around her legs. She was upset at first, but never offered to kick and realized after a while the snake rope was not going to bite her around her legs either.
I went back in later and did some more joining up work. I was so pleased to see that now Lindsay was more comfortable with me all around her face she would join up coming much closer to me than ever...within 2 feet! She also allowed me to approach her from her face dead on, rather than at her shoulder as she did before. She let me rub all over her head and ears and body with the rope and even seemed to take a nap while I was doing so!
Today, Wednesday we did some more joining up which she again took to well, coming all the way to me a few times and consistently following me around the round pen.
I decided as good as she was progressing it was time for the surcingle! She was a bit nervous about me putting it on her so I sacked her out with it first. It's interesting how "aware" she is of everything. I can toss the rope all over her, but with a new object it's as if we have to start all over, but she relaxes quicker each time. After she relaxed a bit I gently snugged up the cinch. I sent her off to the rail and the rodeo was on for a few laps! That girl has got some moves! She only bucked a few laps around though and desperately asked me to come back in to the center. It's as if she has decided I'm the safe spot all of a sudden and she was certain I would save her from the crazy thing stuck to her back! Well I guess I kinda saved her, I comforted her, but then added some leg wraps and ropes to the rings of the surcingle and sent her off again. Not as much bucking this time...but even more begging to come back to me. Just to think only a few days ago I was desperate for her to come all the way to me...it seemed as if she never would...and now I have become such the safe spot that she wants to crawl in my lap when something frightens her LOL!... Well I had to remind her that even though I was flattered by her faith in me there are still some rules of mutual respect and boundaries we need to follow.
So far I have been desperately trying to convince her to come towards me into my space...we have had no opportunity to work on her moving out of my space. It wasn't an issue at first because all she wanted to do was get out of my space, but now that she is so comfortable with me it is time to add some more tools to my tool belt so to speak.
So we starting working on her moving out of my space. To explain this to her I stepped towards her to ask her to step back, out of my space I just created, but she didn't budge...I tossed my hand and the rope at her a bit to encourage her to step back...still didn't budge. She just looked at me like I was some fool, saying "lady you have lost it...for a week you've been convincing me Not to move when you toss that thing at me, what are you thinking now?" It kind of made me chuckle, but I continued a little more aggressively until she shifted her weight back...at that move I immediately backed of to reward her and then asked again. She caught on pretty well after the first try and we backed across the round pen a few times. I then sacked her out again w/ the rope to be certain I had not made her afraid of it and asked her to follow me to the gate. I was thrilled to see her follow me so willingly just after I had pushed her off of me. I do believe this is one smart cookie and I am just ecstatic at the confidence she is putting in me!
After Lindsay's bath we worked on leading and her following the pressure of the rope not only to turn, but also to follow me in a straight line. She caught on rather quickly to that so we went on to work on desensitizing around her legs. I tossed the rope all under and around her legs. She was upset at first, but never offered to kick and realized after a while the snake rope was not going to bite her around her legs either.
I went back in later and did some more joining up work. I was so pleased to see that now Lindsay was more comfortable with me all around her face she would join up coming much closer to me than ever...within 2 feet! She also allowed me to approach her from her face dead on, rather than at her shoulder as she did before. She let me rub all over her head and ears and body with the rope and even seemed to take a nap while I was doing so!
Today, Wednesday we did some more joining up which she again took to well, coming all the way to me a few times and consistently following me around the round pen.
I decided as good as she was progressing it was time for the surcingle! She was a bit nervous about me putting it on her so I sacked her out with it first. It's interesting how "aware" she is of everything. I can toss the rope all over her, but with a new object it's as if we have to start all over, but she relaxes quicker each time. After she relaxed a bit I gently snugged up the cinch. I sent her off to the rail and the rodeo was on for a few laps! That girl has got some moves! She only bucked a few laps around though and desperately asked me to come back in to the center. It's as if she has decided I'm the safe spot all of a sudden and she was certain I would save her from the crazy thing stuck to her back! Well I guess I kinda saved her, I comforted her, but then added some leg wraps and ropes to the rings of the surcingle and sent her off again. Not as much bucking this time...but even more begging to come back to me. Just to think only a few days ago I was desperate for her to come all the way to me...it seemed as if she never would...and now I have become such the safe spot that she wants to crawl in my lap when something frightens her LOL!... Well I had to remind her that even though I was flattered by her faith in me there are still some rules of mutual respect and boundaries we need to follow.
So far I have been desperately trying to convince her to come towards me into my space...we have had no opportunity to work on her moving out of my space. It wasn't an issue at first because all she wanted to do was get out of my space, but now that she is so comfortable with me it is time to add some more tools to my tool belt so to speak.
So we starting working on her moving out of my space. To explain this to her I stepped towards her to ask her to step back, out of my space I just created, but she didn't budge...I tossed my hand and the rope at her a bit to encourage her to step back...still didn't budge. She just looked at me like I was some fool, saying "lady you have lost it...for a week you've been convincing me Not to move when you toss that thing at me, what are you thinking now?" It kind of made me chuckle, but I continued a little more aggressively until she shifted her weight back...at that move I immediately backed of to reward her and then asked again. She caught on pretty well after the first try and we backed across the round pen a few times. I then sacked her out again w/ the rope to be certain I had not made her afraid of it and asked her to follow me to the gate. I was thrilled to see her follow me so willingly just after I had pushed her off of me. I do believe this is one smart cookie and I am just ecstatic at the confidence she is putting in me!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Day 7 8 & 9 "You can leave your hat on"
Well through my crouching down and walking around looking like some hunched over turtle...Lindsay has begun to realize I am not so scary after all :)
Saturday night, late after the barrel race, I went in to rub on her and walk around her using my most non-invasive body language. For the first time she let me rub up the left side of her neck!... Now, she was by no means comfortable with me actually on her left side, but did allow me to touch her there. After some neck rubbing I was even able to rub on the side of her jaws, both at the same time! She has been extremely cautious of my hands anywhere near her face, so this step was huge in my book :) We left on that note and she followed me a few steps when I walked away.
The next day, Sunday, I went back in to do the same thing...and after a little while to work ourselves up to where we left off I was even able to let my hand pass over her muzzle and even over her right eye, how excited I was! I know from our babies that covering a horse's muzzle is a very uncomfortable request for any horse. Instinct tells them they need their muzzle and nostrils free to breath...and instinct is right, they certainly do. It even takes the babies a little while to become comfortable with my hand over their muzzles...of course I am careful not to restrict their breathing, but until they realize that, they are a bit tense...I am not the least bit surprised that a 6 year old Mustang whom has been surviving just fine without my new found TLC, much due to her perfectly good muzzle free from human hands, would have some reservations about my hands over such a vulnerable place. But she allowed them their! At first I would just lightly pass by that area with my hand and she would slightly pick her head up, but not flee entirely, after a few repetitions she was comfortable with the feel of my hand passing over the front of her face and muzzle! As I left her this time she followed me a bit closer to the gate.
Sunday night I could not help but ponder the possibility of haltering her soon. After all, being able to touch her over her muzzle and the front of her face was a necessity in even attempting the halter and she appeared comfortable with that. She still however was quite uncomfortable with anything hanging or swinging around her face, as any halter inevitably would, plus I was still only able to touch her on her right...most halters buckle on the left...so I thought and thought...
The next morning (today) I had a plan. I would put a halter on her in segments. First the section around her neck and throat latch area...then the part around her nose. I would tie them together and viola... makeshift halter is created. I had some sections of rope, similar to that in which a rope halter is made. I balled the section of rope up in my hand and put it around her neck, careful not to let it drop and startle her...I then put the other rope curled up in my hand around her nose and tied it back to the neck rope. It went quite well and she never really knew the rope was even there. I let her walk around a bit to adjust to the new feel of the rope over her nose and other than tossing her head up and down a bit she adjusting rather quickly.
Then to my next plan... hooking the lounge line to my new makeshift halter. Once it was snapped and I prepared to send her off to move around me I wasn't sure what to expect. I had all ideas she would bolt in fear of the snake attached to her, but she really did quite well and appeared to lounge like a pro. After a few times around I begin to introduce pressure to her. I simply would pull gently, but steadily on the lounge line towards my body as I also used my voice to bring her momentum down. She recognized my voice and began to settle, but when she felt the pressure of the rope on her nose she pulled back harder and sped back up. I did my best to maintain my cues, no stronger, but no lighter as well. I continued with my voice, using the same, rhythmic tone to encourage slower rhythm and maintained the same even pressure on the line. As soon as I felt the smallest hint of give I released the pressure on the line and continued my verbal encouragement. Lindsay quickly began to catch on and after some practice we were lounging and slowing speed by slight pressure on the line. As she become more confident I limited my verbal cues and asked Lindsay to rely on the cues from the pressure of the line. She learned quickly and continued to slow her speed and stop at pressure on the line alone.
I would have been pleased with simply the above, but her mind still seemed absorbent and ready for more so we continued. After her becoming much more comfortable with the pressure of the halter on her face and how to respond to it. I introduced a rope halter and began rubbing it over her face and her muzzle. She did try to shoot away a few times, but with our new tool of pressure and more importantly release of pressure, she realized the rope was not such a bad thing. Before long I was able to put the rope halter on her as well!...Still from the right, but still progress!
Now that the rope halter was on we continued to work on giving to pressure. As she became more and more at ease with my hands around her face and the rope around her face I began making my way into her left eye. I had to hold her face over at first in order to stay in her left eye, and she shoot away quite a few times, but I brought her right back in and asked again for her to allow me to stay there.
As if she had been thinking it over and came to the conclusion that I was not so bad she simply began to stand quietly. She let me not only rub her face and side with my hands on her left, but allowed me to toss the scary snake rope all over her as well. I practiced switching sides, and other than a little encouragement by my hand on her face to allow me to step over from her right to left, she simply stood there and let me toss the lounge rope all around including all over her ears and face! She even seemed to get into it a bit and encouraged me to scratch her around the ears and side of her head under the halter where her sweat was making her itchy.
What excitement to see her actually appearing to somewhat enjoy my company, not only begin to accept me into her "Safe place" but seem to enjoy that I was there! Each day and each session I witness her trust building, but today was truly a red letter day for me. So many pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place for her...and she seems to be very content with the way things are progressing. I am now even more thankful we opted to not have a halter put on her in the shoot and that we have done our joining up in the open round pen. I feel like it has really enabled us to develop a relationship before any "artificial aids" were involved. Her trust in me is the most important asset to our partnership. There is no doubt she is confident in herself, for her to gradually be allowing me within that circle of security is a wonderful feeling!
Saturday night, late after the barrel race, I went in to rub on her and walk around her using my most non-invasive body language. For the first time she let me rub up the left side of her neck!... Now, she was by no means comfortable with me actually on her left side, but did allow me to touch her there. After some neck rubbing I was even able to rub on the side of her jaws, both at the same time! She has been extremely cautious of my hands anywhere near her face, so this step was huge in my book :) We left on that note and she followed me a few steps when I walked away.
The next day, Sunday, I went back in to do the same thing...and after a little while to work ourselves up to where we left off I was even able to let my hand pass over her muzzle and even over her right eye, how excited I was! I know from our babies that covering a horse's muzzle is a very uncomfortable request for any horse. Instinct tells them they need their muzzle and nostrils free to breath...and instinct is right, they certainly do. It even takes the babies a little while to become comfortable with my hand over their muzzles...of course I am careful not to restrict their breathing, but until they realize that, they are a bit tense...I am not the least bit surprised that a 6 year old Mustang whom has been surviving just fine without my new found TLC, much due to her perfectly good muzzle free from human hands, would have some reservations about my hands over such a vulnerable place. But she allowed them their! At first I would just lightly pass by that area with my hand and she would slightly pick her head up, but not flee entirely, after a few repetitions she was comfortable with the feel of my hand passing over the front of her face and muzzle! As I left her this time she followed me a bit closer to the gate.
Sunday night I could not help but ponder the possibility of haltering her soon. After all, being able to touch her over her muzzle and the front of her face was a necessity in even attempting the halter and she appeared comfortable with that. She still however was quite uncomfortable with anything hanging or swinging around her face, as any halter inevitably would, plus I was still only able to touch her on her right...most halters buckle on the left...so I thought and thought...
The next morning (today) I had a plan. I would put a halter on her in segments. First the section around her neck and throat latch area...then the part around her nose. I would tie them together and viola... makeshift halter is created. I had some sections of rope, similar to that in which a rope halter is made. I balled the section of rope up in my hand and put it around her neck, careful not to let it drop and startle her...I then put the other rope curled up in my hand around her nose and tied it back to the neck rope. It went quite well and she never really knew the rope was even there. I let her walk around a bit to adjust to the new feel of the rope over her nose and other than tossing her head up and down a bit she adjusting rather quickly.
Then to my next plan... hooking the lounge line to my new makeshift halter. Once it was snapped and I prepared to send her off to move around me I wasn't sure what to expect. I had all ideas she would bolt in fear of the snake attached to her, but she really did quite well and appeared to lounge like a pro. After a few times around I begin to introduce pressure to her. I simply would pull gently, but steadily on the lounge line towards my body as I also used my voice to bring her momentum down. She recognized my voice and began to settle, but when she felt the pressure of the rope on her nose she pulled back harder and sped back up. I did my best to maintain my cues, no stronger, but no lighter as well. I continued with my voice, using the same, rhythmic tone to encourage slower rhythm and maintained the same even pressure on the line. As soon as I felt the smallest hint of give I released the pressure on the line and continued my verbal encouragement. Lindsay quickly began to catch on and after some practice we were lounging and slowing speed by slight pressure on the line. As she become more confident I limited my verbal cues and asked Lindsay to rely on the cues from the pressure of the line. She learned quickly and continued to slow her speed and stop at pressure on the line alone.
I would have been pleased with simply the above, but her mind still seemed absorbent and ready for more so we continued. After her becoming much more comfortable with the pressure of the halter on her face and how to respond to it. I introduced a rope halter and began rubbing it over her face and her muzzle. She did try to shoot away a few times, but with our new tool of pressure and more importantly release of pressure, she realized the rope was not such a bad thing. Before long I was able to put the rope halter on her as well!...Still from the right, but still progress!
Now that the rope halter was on we continued to work on giving to pressure. As she became more and more at ease with my hands around her face and the rope around her face I began making my way into her left eye. I had to hold her face over at first in order to stay in her left eye, and she shoot away quite a few times, but I brought her right back in and asked again for her to allow me to stay there.
As if she had been thinking it over and came to the conclusion that I was not so bad she simply began to stand quietly. She let me not only rub her face and side with my hands on her left, but allowed me to toss the scary snake rope all over her as well. I practiced switching sides, and other than a little encouragement by my hand on her face to allow me to step over from her right to left, she simply stood there and let me toss the lounge rope all around including all over her ears and face! She even seemed to get into it a bit and encouraged me to scratch her around the ears and side of her head under the halter where her sweat was making her itchy.
What excitement to see her actually appearing to somewhat enjoy my company, not only begin to accept me into her "Safe place" but seem to enjoy that I was there! Each day and each session I witness her trust building, but today was truly a red letter day for me. So many pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place for her...and she seems to be very content with the way things are progressing. I am now even more thankful we opted to not have a halter put on her in the shoot and that we have done our joining up in the open round pen. I feel like it has really enabled us to develop a relationship before any "artificial aids" were involved. Her trust in me is the most important asset to our partnership. There is no doubt she is confident in herself, for her to gradually be allowing me within that circle of security is a wonderful feeling!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Day 6 ~ First Smells
"You've got to give something you never gave to have something you never had" ~ Ray Hunt
I have pondered the above all day and I believe what you "Give" is unique to everyone...for me I think it is my "all". Every bit of my emotions and feel, I think I need to dig down deeper than ever before to connect the way I so desperately want to.. and will .. with this amazing individual. It is said that we humans give only 5% of ourselves whereas our horse counterparts make up for the other 95%. Horses many times learn and become successful in spite of us, not because of us. I want to give 100%.. not 5 % .. I want our Mustang to become successful Because of me .. not in spite of me. It was reading an article on the late, great Ray Hunt early this morning that these thoughts entered my mind. I shall do my best to use more than a grain of sand to at least attempt to equal her pea.
I approached today with a deeper attempt to really read Lindsay. She tells me everything I need to hear, it is right there in front of me.. it is my job to allow myself to read her.. listen and hear her before she reacts and it becomes obvious what she was trying to say. I must hear her when she whispers.
She has become so consistent in facing me and following me, no matter where I turn she is there...but she remains a good few feet behind. I can still approach her, but she is still not ready to walk directly to me. Most all babies and even older horses (problem horses included) would have walked right up to me by now...and reached out to smell me..but Lindsay remains reserved. I desperately want her to reach out on her own accord and smell me, I know it is a necessity in building her comfort level with me. I decided this morning that my focus would be on reading her body language as accurately and efficiently as possible. In return to her for always being so clear, I should do everything in my power to use my body language to speak to her as well. I know she will gladly read my body language, that is her primary form of communication and 6 years running with a herd has given her plenty of time to master it. So as I approached her this time I did even thing in my power to sink my body and energy down low. I did not squat, I just rounded my shoulders and lowered my head. Similar as you would when riding a horse and asking for full relaxation from the horse by using your body language. I also directed my eyes down low at her feet and attempted to melt beside her. I rested my hand on her side and even leaned my head into her a bit. To my surprise she curled her neck around me and finally took a sniff of my back! What a relief! I had wanted her to reach out to me so badly I could hardly stand it, but it is sure not something I could force, nor would want to. Her sniff of me was brief and it almost seemed to startle her as she brought her head back around quickly and became a little tense again, but she did not scoot away. She actually sniffed me quite a few times, each with a similar reaction, but I was still thrilled she was reaching a point where she actually felt comfortable checking me out a bit. As I walked away from her after her smelling me, she stayed closer behind me as she followed than ever before!
I am so thankful I did not opt to have the halter put on her in the shoot at the pick-up facility. I am taking longer than is probably necessary to get her "Started" so to speak, but it is so very worth it. Each step in this process leaves me in awe of her intelligence and "try" If it takes 30 days for her to become totally confident in me and ready to allow me on her back I will be entirely ok with that. The relationship we will have built along the way will carry through everything else we do.
As in everything worth doing in life.. Every step is worth it.
I have pondered the above all day and I believe what you "Give" is unique to everyone...for me I think it is my "all". Every bit of my emotions and feel, I think I need to dig down deeper than ever before to connect the way I so desperately want to.. and will .. with this amazing individual. It is said that we humans give only 5% of ourselves whereas our horse counterparts make up for the other 95%. Horses many times learn and become successful in spite of us, not because of us. I want to give 100%.. not 5 % .. I want our Mustang to become successful Because of me .. not in spite of me. It was reading an article on the late, great Ray Hunt early this morning that these thoughts entered my mind. I shall do my best to use more than a grain of sand to at least attempt to equal her pea.
I approached today with a deeper attempt to really read Lindsay. She tells me everything I need to hear, it is right there in front of me.. it is my job to allow myself to read her.. listen and hear her before she reacts and it becomes obvious what she was trying to say. I must hear her when she whispers.
She has become so consistent in facing me and following me, no matter where I turn she is there...but she remains a good few feet behind. I can still approach her, but she is still not ready to walk directly to me. Most all babies and even older horses (problem horses included) would have walked right up to me by now...and reached out to smell me..but Lindsay remains reserved. I desperately want her to reach out on her own accord and smell me, I know it is a necessity in building her comfort level with me. I decided this morning that my focus would be on reading her body language as accurately and efficiently as possible. In return to her for always being so clear, I should do everything in my power to use my body language to speak to her as well. I know she will gladly read my body language, that is her primary form of communication and 6 years running with a herd has given her plenty of time to master it. So as I approached her this time I did even thing in my power to sink my body and energy down low. I did not squat, I just rounded my shoulders and lowered my head. Similar as you would when riding a horse and asking for full relaxation from the horse by using your body language. I also directed my eyes down low at her feet and attempted to melt beside her. I rested my hand on her side and even leaned my head into her a bit. To my surprise she curled her neck around me and finally took a sniff of my back! What a relief! I had wanted her to reach out to me so badly I could hardly stand it, but it is sure not something I could force, nor would want to. Her sniff of me was brief and it almost seemed to startle her as she brought her head back around quickly and became a little tense again, but she did not scoot away. She actually sniffed me quite a few times, each with a similar reaction, but I was still thrilled she was reaching a point where she actually felt comfortable checking me out a bit. As I walked away from her after her smelling me, she stayed closer behind me as she followed than ever before!
I am so thankful I did not opt to have the halter put on her in the shoot at the pick-up facility. I am taking longer than is probably necessary to get her "Started" so to speak, but it is so very worth it. Each step in this process leaves me in awe of her intelligence and "try" If it takes 30 days for her to become totally confident in me and ready to allow me on her back I will be entirely ok with that. The relationship we will have built along the way will carry through everything else we do.
As in everything worth doing in life.. Every step is worth it.
Day 5 ~ No More Mustang Dread Locks!
It was a good day yesterday. Much more of the same, but Lindsay is gradually becoming more comfortable with me close to her. I was even able to curry her right side down her barrel and over her hip a bit. She is not crazy about me approaching her face quite yet, nor her left side at all...but I can tell she is trusting me more with each touch. She has become quite the pro at turning and facing me and we continue to work on her allowing me to remain in that left eye, she still much prefers the right, but is becoming more comfortable with the left. Each day she takes more steps towards me :) I was even able to pull her mane over her neck and work through her dreads with my fingers! I did cheat a bit and pull her mane to her right side...it hangs on her left naturally. She was not sure about the feel of me touching it at first, but relaxed the more I did. It is really interesting how it is not only how I approach her...or where I approach her, but also what I do with my fingers once they are on her that she is very reactive to. She is most comfortable with my hand simply resting on her... then I would say gently rubbing her with my fingers... actually stroking her bothers her much more...and any change in my actions she is aware of...even picking my hand up to scratch my ear (MY own ear lol) enlists a quick reaction. She is becoming less startled by those movements though.
Something I've really noticed about her is her level of self-sufficiency. I am a bit more accustomed to a horse that has a little more curiosity and inquisitive nature. It is not that she is not curious, but she is not going to explore something simply because it's there... ie me! I have to learn to make myself interesting and inviting yet secure and trustworthy. She just is much more "Mature" in disposition than most... especially a horse that has not been handled, you don't usually think of them being "Mature" .. but her maturity has nothing to do with me or people.. it has to do with her experiences and who she has been up until now ... I wonder if it has anything to do with her being a Mother. She was brought in of the range in 2007 and she was in foal! She had her baby in early summer of 2008. I do not know how long her foal stayed by her side, but her bags are huge and.. comparing her with others mares with one foal... they are much more sagged and stretched than usual. Maybe that is just her, or maybe the foal stayed by her a long time... or she very likely could have foaled another time before she was brought to the holding facilities. I am not certain that it has anything to do with that or not, but it seems likely... No doubt she is secure in her own skin and was a fabulous Mother! She is quite good at being the confident individual she is and was ... and me stepping in asking her to change who she is is not something she plans to just hand over. Fortunately, I do not want to change who she is, I would just like for the two of us to blend what we are together into an even more confident pair ... I feel that she will be ok with that, as she realizes what my true agenda is .... she gradually seems to understand I am by no means trying to change her, I am just trying to become a part of that world that she is so confident in. I look forward to the day when she lets me all the way into that secure world she inhabits, it appears to be a wonderful place to be...
Something I've really noticed about her is her level of self-sufficiency. I am a bit more accustomed to a horse that has a little more curiosity and inquisitive nature. It is not that she is not curious, but she is not going to explore something simply because it's there... ie me! I have to learn to make myself interesting and inviting yet secure and trustworthy. She just is much more "Mature" in disposition than most... especially a horse that has not been handled, you don't usually think of them being "Mature" .. but her maturity has nothing to do with me or people.. it has to do with her experiences and who she has been up until now ... I wonder if it has anything to do with her being a Mother. She was brought in of the range in 2007 and she was in foal! She had her baby in early summer of 2008. I do not know how long her foal stayed by her side, but her bags are huge and.. comparing her with others mares with one foal... they are much more sagged and stretched than usual. Maybe that is just her, or maybe the foal stayed by her a long time... or she very likely could have foaled another time before she was brought to the holding facilities. I am not certain that it has anything to do with that or not, but it seems likely... No doubt she is secure in her own skin and was a fabulous Mother! She is quite good at being the confident individual she is and was ... and me stepping in asking her to change who she is is not something she plans to just hand over. Fortunately, I do not want to change who she is, I would just like for the two of us to blend what we are together into an even more confident pair ... I feel that she will be ok with that, as she realizes what my true agenda is .... she gradually seems to understand I am by no means trying to change her, I am just trying to become a part of that world that she is so confident in. I look forward to the day when she lets me all the way into that secure world she inhabits, it appears to be a wonderful place to be...
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 3 & 4
Well Lindsay has taught me to lounge..I expected she'd teach me lots, but I wasn't really expecting her to teach me to run around in circles like a horse on the lounge line! I just know my other guys are Lovin' this :) They are probably all cheering Lindsay on from their pastures.... saying make her go faster, faster .. hehehe..
By the end of day 2 Lindsay was allowing me to approach her and touch her somewhat still, but she had not really joined all the way up with me. She had not walked all the way up to me with confidence. Now she would face me no matter what, I could send her off around the pen then ask her to come back in towards me and she would turn and face me stepping towards me a few steps, but come no closer than 6 feet or so of me on her own accord. She would tolerate me approaching her, but I really wanted her to come to me.. all the way...so that's how she began teaching me to lounge!
I decided instead of continually trying to touch her I would really focus on her following me everywhere around the pen and focus on seeing what all I could get her to do in the meantime. She seems to love this game and is quite good at it...she is determined to face me, so where-ever I put my body, she follows. If I run really fast in a circle around her she will even do gorgeous turns on the forehand super fast....if I run around her and move away a little at the same time pulling her a bit towards me she pivots on her hind end and crosses over in the front in doing a beautiful roll back! This is quite excited to watch, but hilarious as well because somehow our Mustang has me doing all the work! I am ok with that, if running in circles makes her more comfortable trusting me I'll gladly do it all day long.
It does seem to be making since to her and gradually she is becoming less cautious of me and as I step side to side in front of her she gradually begins to take steps closer and closer in. During our last session today I took the soft rope and coiled it up in my hand and as I was asking her to turn on the haunches (by stepping into her shoulder as you would in a Showmanship pattern) as she was turning I would gently touch her shoulder with the rope...at first she would speed up, but I would attempt to keep the rope on her shoulder until she began to slow, as soon as she did I would take the rope away and change direction which asked her to change direction as well and come back towards me. We did this quite a bit until she would actually stop and let me rub her shoulder and barrel with the rope. I was careful that each time I felt she was more accepting of the rope than the last I would step back away from her and have her walk towards me again. With each time her steps towards me became more confident.
She is still not totally comfortable walking all the way up to me, but is getting more confident each session and we are doing some fun dancing in the meantime! I even asked her to step over a pole as I asked her to come towards me and she wasn't bothered by it at all. I am so very ready for her to fully "Join up" and walk confidently all the way to me, but I am willing to let her take her time and do it as she truly trusts me. In my book there is no other way.
By the end of day 2 Lindsay was allowing me to approach her and touch her somewhat still, but she had not really joined all the way up with me. She had not walked all the way up to me with confidence. Now she would face me no matter what, I could send her off around the pen then ask her to come back in towards me and she would turn and face me stepping towards me a few steps, but come no closer than 6 feet or so of me on her own accord. She would tolerate me approaching her, but I really wanted her to come to me.. all the way...so that's how she began teaching me to lounge!
I decided instead of continually trying to touch her I would really focus on her following me everywhere around the pen and focus on seeing what all I could get her to do in the meantime. She seems to love this game and is quite good at it...she is determined to face me, so where-ever I put my body, she follows. If I run really fast in a circle around her she will even do gorgeous turns on the forehand super fast....if I run around her and move away a little at the same time pulling her a bit towards me she pivots on her hind end and crosses over in the front in doing a beautiful roll back! This is quite excited to watch, but hilarious as well because somehow our Mustang has me doing all the work! I am ok with that, if running in circles makes her more comfortable trusting me I'll gladly do it all day long.
It does seem to be making since to her and gradually she is becoming less cautious of me and as I step side to side in front of her she gradually begins to take steps closer and closer in. During our last session today I took the soft rope and coiled it up in my hand and as I was asking her to turn on the haunches (by stepping into her shoulder as you would in a Showmanship pattern) as she was turning I would gently touch her shoulder with the rope...at first she would speed up, but I would attempt to keep the rope on her shoulder until she began to slow, as soon as she did I would take the rope away and change direction which asked her to change direction as well and come back towards me. We did this quite a bit until she would actually stop and let me rub her shoulder and barrel with the rope. I was careful that each time I felt she was more accepting of the rope than the last I would step back away from her and have her walk towards me again. With each time her steps towards me became more confident.
She is still not totally comfortable walking all the way up to me, but is getting more confident each session and we are doing some fun dancing in the meantime! I even asked her to step over a pole as I asked her to come towards me and she wasn't bothered by it at all. I am so very ready for her to fully "Join up" and walk confidently all the way to me, but I am willing to let her take her time and do it as she truly trusts me. In my book there is no other way.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Day Two
Well, I had to go to town today and could only work Lindsay this evening...wish I could be home all the time and have 2 to 3 sessions every day :) But there are other life duties that call, outside of my Mustang obsession!...
So today we starting talking around 5 pm. I started by assuming we would be where we were last night when we finished...I doubted we were, but thought it only fair I ask and let her tell me. ... Well, we weren't... She did turn and face me, but when I approached her to touch her again (in the same manner we did yesterday) she took off...That was ok though, no big deal. So I went back to the same techniques I was using before...changes of direction, asking her to come towards me and stand. Within ~20 minutes I felt like we were close to the point we were at last night and I approached her again. This time she was better, she reacted much like last night. She did back away, but slowly and allowed me to touch her for brief periods of time. Still primarily around the right neck and shoulder though, if I ventured much further she was very much out of her comfort zone. I attempted to gradually stroke closer to the edge of that comfort zone, but it just did not seem that I was going to be able to "broaden" it in the manner I was doing. So, back to the drawing board.
I had noticed yesterday that she was developing a very strong desire to keep me in her right eye. This was not apparent at first, but had built throughout the day yesterday. I really did not attempt to correct it at that point. I was so desperate to touch her, I felt like I would make the process take longer if I insisted she be equally adapt to me on both sides. They all have a preference and so far hers is right. That is actually very interesting to me, because most domesticated horses prefer their left. They tend to be more flexible that way and communicate better with us on that side. I've always felt we as humans are the culprit, we constantly do everything on the left. From the time they are born we are leading them on the left which not only makes them more accustomed to us there, but also more flexible and stronger when tracking in that direction. I love to barrel race and if you'll notice, most horses run to the right...meaning the first barrel is a right hand turn and the 2nd and 3rd are left...this is because these horses typically have stronger left hand turns thus it makes perfect since to give them 2 turns their good way. It is legal to run to the left, meaning the first barrel is a left hand turn, then 2nd and 3rd are 2 rights...and every so often you will see a horse that is stronger that way, but typically there is a reason. I also have always noticed that when I have dealt with so called "problem" horses, they typically become stronger to the right than the left. It's as if the left side contains all their negative human experiences and their right side is still a clean slate! The more I think about it, the more I feel like we create the horses "Strong" side as much as they do, if not more.
Back to Lindsay, I felt that it was ok yesterday to allow her to keep me in her right eye the majority of the time for the sake of being able to touch her, but I needed to now focus on her left as well. So I began practicing changes of direction asking her to turn towards me when she switched right to left, (this was when I was in her left eye). The first few times she did not understand and continued to turn into the fence, but after encouraging her to move towards me by moving my energy away inviting hers in, she quickly got the idea and began turning towards me, after she understood that request I began asking her to stop and face me either dead on or with me in a bit more of her left eye. .. Up until now when she would turn to face me she would automatically turn so as to keep me in her right eye. Well, it was a bit of a struggle at first...and I must say she still prefers me in her right eye, but she did begin to grasp the concept. There for a while I thought we had regressed a bit, because I had to send her away when she tried to put me in her right eye...I hated to, because I so appreciated her attempts to join up with me, but it's better to give her the chance now to become as trusting of me on both sides rather than ignoring the left. She did figure it out and was content facing me with her body square after about 30 minutes.
Another thing I noticed yesterday, but did not address was the fact that Lindsay was highly reactive to the rope...any movement of it what-so-ever sent her off around the pen. I decided it was time to begin some desensitizing today, so after we had accomplished the facing me dead on I began dropping the rope at my feet and picking it back up...the first 30 or so times it pure sent Lindsay up out of her skin! She would bounce straight up in the air and spin around...as she did, I quickly asked her to face me again, she would quickly oblige and stand at attention ready for the giant snake to strike yet again. Well, after #30 snake drop, her leaps become more like jumps in place..and after another 30 they became only slight twitches...I then began to toss the rope/snake up into the air letting it drop on either side of her. I thought this would surely set her off again, but to my surprise she seemed ok with it. Well, we went back to some more work turning and following my energy and I thought to myself... "I wonder how she differentiates between the rope that she is expected to ignore and the rope she is expected to move away from" The same rope I was tossing to desensitize her is the same rope I use to send her energy where I want it to go. So in one case she is to ignore it being throw at her, in the other she is to react. Well, apparently she is much smarter than myself, because she has already made this connection. After I used the rope to send her energy back and forth around the pen I asked her again to face me square and I tossed the rope up and let it fall. She held her ground as if she understood that I was not sending any energy through the rope directed at her. The energy was being sent through the rope and landing all around her, but not at her. When I went back to sending the energy through the rope back directly towards her to enlist the desired response of her moving her feet, she quickly obliged. So thankful her herd skills are so strong...she is teaching me so much about body language and "talking" through invisible energy sent in specific directions.
So after the facing me square and turning towards me right to left and accepting the snake/rope being tossed into the air I figured I should try to touch her again. I put her back in the position she is most comfortable with me as I know at this point it's the only way I can touch her. This is with me approaching her right shoulder and neck and fully in her right eye. At first approach she shot away, but after a few tries she seemed to remember the deal. But she continued to do as she did yesterday, she would slowly back up as I approached and even though she allowed me to touch her she was still pulling her space away from mine. I decided my last feat of the night was to approach her shoulder until she would stand still and not back as I approached her. Well, this took longer than expected...I must have walked up to her and away 50 times...each time she would back a step or two as I approached, but allow me to stroke her, then follow me a few steps forward as I walked away...just to back up again as I approached the next time. I just continued to do the exact same move over and over again...the same spot on her neck where she was most comfortable and the exact same angle of approach each time...after countless back and forth dances she began to plant her feet every so often, it wasn't every time. But every 3rd or 4th...then it become more consistent and I finally got about 3 approaches in where she remained relaxed and did not shift her space away from mine. I was so thankful for the seemingly small feat, that I feel most have been far from small considering it took so long to accomplish. The things that require the most patience seem to reward the biggest dividends in the end... I hope that she is thinking tonight about how it was not so scary to allow me so close into her personal space.
Our session ended up lasting quite a while, but I never seemed to loose her focus or reach a point where she stopped trying...She was willing to make every attempt to answer every question I asked, no matter how many and no matter for how long.
Anxious to see what her answers will be tomorrow after she has had a chance to digest today's questions.
~ there is more than one way to ask the same question
mmj
So today we starting talking around 5 pm. I started by assuming we would be where we were last night when we finished...I doubted we were, but thought it only fair I ask and let her tell me. ... Well, we weren't... She did turn and face me, but when I approached her to touch her again (in the same manner we did yesterday) she took off...That was ok though, no big deal. So I went back to the same techniques I was using before...changes of direction, asking her to come towards me and stand. Within ~20 minutes I felt like we were close to the point we were at last night and I approached her again. This time she was better, she reacted much like last night. She did back away, but slowly and allowed me to touch her for brief periods of time. Still primarily around the right neck and shoulder though, if I ventured much further she was very much out of her comfort zone. I attempted to gradually stroke closer to the edge of that comfort zone, but it just did not seem that I was going to be able to "broaden" it in the manner I was doing. So, back to the drawing board.
I had noticed yesterday that she was developing a very strong desire to keep me in her right eye. This was not apparent at first, but had built throughout the day yesterday. I really did not attempt to correct it at that point. I was so desperate to touch her, I felt like I would make the process take longer if I insisted she be equally adapt to me on both sides. They all have a preference and so far hers is right. That is actually very interesting to me, because most domesticated horses prefer their left. They tend to be more flexible that way and communicate better with us on that side. I've always felt we as humans are the culprit, we constantly do everything on the left. From the time they are born we are leading them on the left which not only makes them more accustomed to us there, but also more flexible and stronger when tracking in that direction. I love to barrel race and if you'll notice, most horses run to the right...meaning the first barrel is a right hand turn and the 2nd and 3rd are left...this is because these horses typically have stronger left hand turns thus it makes perfect since to give them 2 turns their good way. It is legal to run to the left, meaning the first barrel is a left hand turn, then 2nd and 3rd are 2 rights...and every so often you will see a horse that is stronger that way, but typically there is a reason. I also have always noticed that when I have dealt with so called "problem" horses, they typically become stronger to the right than the left. It's as if the left side contains all their negative human experiences and their right side is still a clean slate! The more I think about it, the more I feel like we create the horses "Strong" side as much as they do, if not more.
Back to Lindsay, I felt that it was ok yesterday to allow her to keep me in her right eye the majority of the time for the sake of being able to touch her, but I needed to now focus on her left as well. So I began practicing changes of direction asking her to turn towards me when she switched right to left, (this was when I was in her left eye). The first few times she did not understand and continued to turn into the fence, but after encouraging her to move towards me by moving my energy away inviting hers in, she quickly got the idea and began turning towards me, after she understood that request I began asking her to stop and face me either dead on or with me in a bit more of her left eye. .. Up until now when she would turn to face me she would automatically turn so as to keep me in her right eye. Well, it was a bit of a struggle at first...and I must say she still prefers me in her right eye, but she did begin to grasp the concept. There for a while I thought we had regressed a bit, because I had to send her away when she tried to put me in her right eye...I hated to, because I so appreciated her attempts to join up with me, but it's better to give her the chance now to become as trusting of me on both sides rather than ignoring the left. She did figure it out and was content facing me with her body square after about 30 minutes.
Another thing I noticed yesterday, but did not address was the fact that Lindsay was highly reactive to the rope...any movement of it what-so-ever sent her off around the pen. I decided it was time to begin some desensitizing today, so after we had accomplished the facing me dead on I began dropping the rope at my feet and picking it back up...the first 30 or so times it pure sent Lindsay up out of her skin! She would bounce straight up in the air and spin around...as she did, I quickly asked her to face me again, she would quickly oblige and stand at attention ready for the giant snake to strike yet again. Well, after #30 snake drop, her leaps become more like jumps in place..and after another 30 they became only slight twitches...I then began to toss the rope/snake up into the air letting it drop on either side of her. I thought this would surely set her off again, but to my surprise she seemed ok with it. Well, we went back to some more work turning and following my energy and I thought to myself... "I wonder how she differentiates between the rope that she is expected to ignore and the rope she is expected to move away from" The same rope I was tossing to desensitize her is the same rope I use to send her energy where I want it to go. So in one case she is to ignore it being throw at her, in the other she is to react. Well, apparently she is much smarter than myself, because she has already made this connection. After I used the rope to send her energy back and forth around the pen I asked her again to face me square and I tossed the rope up and let it fall. She held her ground as if she understood that I was not sending any energy through the rope directed at her. The energy was being sent through the rope and landing all around her, but not at her. When I went back to sending the energy through the rope back directly towards her to enlist the desired response of her moving her feet, she quickly obliged. So thankful her herd skills are so strong...she is teaching me so much about body language and "talking" through invisible energy sent in specific directions.
So after the facing me square and turning towards me right to left and accepting the snake/rope being tossed into the air I figured I should try to touch her again. I put her back in the position she is most comfortable with me as I know at this point it's the only way I can touch her. This is with me approaching her right shoulder and neck and fully in her right eye. At first approach she shot away, but after a few tries she seemed to remember the deal. But she continued to do as she did yesterday, she would slowly back up as I approached and even though she allowed me to touch her she was still pulling her space away from mine. I decided my last feat of the night was to approach her shoulder until she would stand still and not back as I approached her. Well, this took longer than expected...I must have walked up to her and away 50 times...each time she would back a step or two as I approached, but allow me to stroke her, then follow me a few steps forward as I walked away...just to back up again as I approached the next time. I just continued to do the exact same move over and over again...the same spot on her neck where she was most comfortable and the exact same angle of approach each time...after countless back and forth dances she began to plant her feet every so often, it wasn't every time. But every 3rd or 4th...then it become more consistent and I finally got about 3 approaches in where she remained relaxed and did not shift her space away from mine. I was so thankful for the seemingly small feat, that I feel most have been far from small considering it took so long to accomplish. The things that require the most patience seem to reward the biggest dividends in the end... I hope that she is thinking tonight about how it was not so scary to allow me so close into her personal space.
Our session ended up lasting quite a while, but I never seemed to loose her focus or reach a point where she stopped trying...She was willing to make every attempt to answer every question I asked, no matter how many and no matter for how long.
Anxious to see what her answers will be tomorrow after she has had a chance to digest today's questions.
~ there is more than one way to ask the same question
mmj
Sunday, May 9, 2010
First Touch
After we arrived Sat. morning I let Lindsay settle and made sure she was plenty hydrated and rejuvenated from our trip before we went to work...I must admit I did sit in the round pen and stare at her lots :) After her day of rest Sat. we started to work today, the 9th. My first session I went in the round pen with a soft rope and myself. I began to send her around the 40' pen at a trot and then at a canter. Her degree of strength, coordination and stride amazed me...I love a horse that covers ground and that she does. We practiced changing direction and even practiced turning into the rail as well as away from the rail (towards me) She picked up on that rather quickly. I then asked from her to stop mid-turn towards me, she obliged and licked and chewed which made me want to jump up and down...but I held back...After reiterating the turn towards me and stop I began to walk side to side requesting that her eyes follow mine, when they did not I would encourage them by a snap of my fingers....her first turn of the head to follow my energy made me want to jump again! Her intelligence astounded me. Before long her feet followed her gaze and she was actually mirroring my image with hers, turning her body to follow mine. Now, keep in mind this occurred in stages and when I would lose her focus I sent her back to the rail and ask her to face me again. She was very reactive in a positive way and she did everything in her power to understand my request. By the end of a 45 minute session she was rather consistently moving her feet with mine. As much as I craved to reach out and stroke her face I knew she was not ready, so I left her to digest our conversation.
After a few hours I went back in and asked her to turn to face me. I fully expected her to shot away and have to refresh her mind, but to my surprise she appeared to have analyzed my request and understood it even better as she not only turned to face me, but added a few steps in my direction! Again I wanted to jump up and down, but held in my joy and simply whispered "thank you" to her...after all, her real reward was the rest, the fact that when she sent her energy towards mine she was allowed to stop and relax....it is amazing how something as simple as that enlists such feats, if only people were so easy to reward...... After a bit more practice turning and facing and walking a bit towards me I felt Lindsay had become pretty relaxed with our dialog so I began to step further into her space closely watching her reaction and only going to the edge of her comfort zone. Once there I would remain until the edge moved continually closer in. After an hour or so I was literally 6 inches from her face, yet each time I actually stretched my fingers to make contact she wove tense and begin to flee...When she did I would quickly move my space back and invite her to face me again, which she would quickly. For quite a while we looked more like we were danced than training, with my step towards her, her step away, my step back, then her step towards me! We did this until I felt she was beginning to think I was a little boring and started to become less reactive, but still was not comfortable with me closer than 6 inches. I thought of giving her another break, but then thought if I could only make myself appear more interesting maybe she would explore me...so I stretched out on the ground in the round pen, like I would lay a saddle out for a baby to explore. ... I do also remember babies pawing and tumbling the play saddle around, so I was cautious as to continue to read Lindsay's body language. Well, apparently I was a bit more interesting, because she did make her way up to me and with an arched neck she stretched down to sniff me...I felt her muzzle make soft contact, then she shot away...I asked my husband if that counted as first touch and he said why not hehe.... After that I did give her another break...actually was planning to be finished till tomorrow.
After feeding and dusk was approached I stepped in one more time...I soooo wanted to touch her. I know I was asking a lot, but she seemed so close to being ready. So I stepped in and asked her to approach me again, she obliged getting pretty used to this routine now and I began moving into her space as close as she would allow. This time when she backed away I slowed walked with her...instead of me backing off when she backed away I continued to remain in her space until she stopped, then I stopped....This, of course, she would not have allowed earlier...at that point had I continued to push when she was backing she would have spun off, but again, it appeared she had studied our previous lesson and was now ready. I finally was able to let my fingers slide down a few inches of her neck. She initially jumped back at the touch, but as she jumped away I asked her to come back to me and face me. It was almost as if you could witness her energy being grabbed in mid-air from shying away to sending it back towards me. I am truly in awe that a 1000 pound animal with a brain the size of a pea can comprehend basically how to be lead, w/o any lead within one day...I am convinced they utilize every bit of their pea and we use about a sand-grain of ours...anyway, After the initial touch she still had the same reflex to jump away at the next and the next, but with each one the jump away became lessened and her magnet back to me became stronger...After 5 or 6 touches she allowed me to let my hand rest on her neck, then stroke her! (You said it...again I wanted to jump up and down, but did not) She allowed me to stroke her neck and barrel as well as the side of her face, but beyond those perimeters she lost comfort. That was more than fine by me, I was so thrilled to have made contact.
What a brilliant horse, she is truly unique from any other I have touched. It is as if her mind is wired differently, she has a degree of self-preservation and trust that is un-equaled. We certainly have a long way to go, but I must say I Know I will LOVE this ride :)
After a few hours I went back in and asked her to turn to face me. I fully expected her to shot away and have to refresh her mind, but to my surprise she appeared to have analyzed my request and understood it even better as she not only turned to face me, but added a few steps in my direction! Again I wanted to jump up and down, but held in my joy and simply whispered "thank you" to her...after all, her real reward was the rest, the fact that when she sent her energy towards mine she was allowed to stop and relax....it is amazing how something as simple as that enlists such feats, if only people were so easy to reward...... After a bit more practice turning and facing and walking a bit towards me I felt Lindsay had become pretty relaxed with our dialog so I began to step further into her space closely watching her reaction and only going to the edge of her comfort zone. Once there I would remain until the edge moved continually closer in. After an hour or so I was literally 6 inches from her face, yet each time I actually stretched my fingers to make contact she wove tense and begin to flee...When she did I would quickly move my space back and invite her to face me again, which she would quickly. For quite a while we looked more like we were danced than training, with my step towards her, her step away, my step back, then her step towards me! We did this until I felt she was beginning to think I was a little boring and started to become less reactive, but still was not comfortable with me closer than 6 inches. I thought of giving her another break, but then thought if I could only make myself appear more interesting maybe she would explore me...so I stretched out on the ground in the round pen, like I would lay a saddle out for a baby to explore. ... I do also remember babies pawing and tumbling the play saddle around, so I was cautious as to continue to read Lindsay's body language. Well, apparently I was a bit more interesting, because she did make her way up to me and with an arched neck she stretched down to sniff me...I felt her muzzle make soft contact, then she shot away...I asked my husband if that counted as first touch and he said why not hehe.... After that I did give her another break...actually was planning to be finished till tomorrow.
After feeding and dusk was approached I stepped in one more time...I soooo wanted to touch her. I know I was asking a lot, but she seemed so close to being ready. So I stepped in and asked her to approach me again, she obliged getting pretty used to this routine now and I began moving into her space as close as she would allow. This time when she backed away I slowed walked with her...instead of me backing off when she backed away I continued to remain in her space until she stopped, then I stopped....This, of course, she would not have allowed earlier...at that point had I continued to push when she was backing she would have spun off, but again, it appeared she had studied our previous lesson and was now ready. I finally was able to let my fingers slide down a few inches of her neck. She initially jumped back at the touch, but as she jumped away I asked her to come back to me and face me. It was almost as if you could witness her energy being grabbed in mid-air from shying away to sending it back towards me. I am truly in awe that a 1000 pound animal with a brain the size of a pea can comprehend basically how to be lead, w/o any lead within one day...I am convinced they utilize every bit of their pea and we use about a sand-grain of ours...anyway, After the initial touch she still had the same reflex to jump away at the next and the next, but with each one the jump away became lessened and her magnet back to me became stronger...After 5 or 6 touches she allowed me to let my hand rest on her neck, then stroke her! (You said it...again I wanted to jump up and down, but did not) She allowed me to stroke her neck and barrel as well as the side of her face, but beyond those perimeters she lost comfort. That was more than fine by me, I was so thrilled to have made contact.
What a brilliant horse, she is truly unique from any other I have touched. It is as if her mind is wired differently, she has a degree of self-preservation and trust that is un-equaled. We certainly have a long way to go, but I must say I Know I will LOVE this ride :)
The Big Day
Well, Thursday am we loaded up and took off to Jackson, MS! We arrived at 2 am Friday morning and the night watchman let us in the gate to the pasture right with the Mustangs! I of course had to stumble off in the dark to lay my eyes on this amazing girl before I could sleep. She was 4 paddocks down and was very quiet..just calmly eating her hay. I had been so worried about her getting hurt on her 22 hr haul in from Canon City, CO I was so very relieved to see she was sound and healthy. As a matter of fact All the Mustangs were in wonderful flesh, did not appear tucked up and dehydrated at all. Kudos to the BLM, they sure know what they are doing :)
My husband and I slept in our trailer and I awoke as soon as the sky began to lighten. I jumped out and went to see her in the light and I was simply awestruck. I was in love in the video, but now..I mean she is even nicer than I expected. She stands ~15 hh, I bet every bit of 1100 pounds, very clean legs, HUGE bone, a very nice big step and a level topline...and her eye is the kindest I think I have witnessed yet. She humbles me.
We met quite a few of the Supreme adopters and I must say, they were a fabulous group of positive, encourages folks. And very diverse as well. From Dressage enthusiasts to trick horse trainers and everything in between. One really nice gentleman's signature move was "Sitting" his horse on a bale of hay! It was so wonderful to meet such diverse, talented folks..I can not wait to see everyone's progress in August!
When it came time to load Lindsay the wrangler herded her into a small shoot, similar to a bucking shoot and shut her in there. I expected her to be upset, but no, she just dropped her head and stood her ground. They then opened the front gate and she trotted the most beautiful, ground covering extended trot right up into the trailer and off we went! She was as quiet and still on the entire ride as any horse I've hauled, quieter than most actually. We stopped often to offer her water, hay and soaked alfalfa, but otherwise drove straight through to NC...~13 hrs! We arrived home at 3 am Sat. morning. Well, I really was not comfortable letting her off the trailer in the dark and I was afraid if I went in the house to sleep I would over-sleep b/c I was so sleep deprived, so I sleep in the goose-neck again. Lindsay was very quiet all night and drank and ate well. But, as soon as the sun began to peak up she woke me by spinning circles and pawing as if to say "Alright, you told me at daybreak you'd let me out"...Well I stumbled my way out and backed the trailer to the round pen. She stepped of like an old pro and went to rolling side to side in our black Kelly dirt! She was nervous a bit at our pack of 7 dogs, but quickly realized they were ok...but our pot-bellied pig...we are still working on that! Lindsay is still not so sure why there is a free range pig on her farm that likes to share her water tub!
My husband and I slept in our trailer and I awoke as soon as the sky began to lighten. I jumped out and went to see her in the light and I was simply awestruck. I was in love in the video, but now..I mean she is even nicer than I expected. She stands ~15 hh, I bet every bit of 1100 pounds, very clean legs, HUGE bone, a very nice big step and a level topline...and her eye is the kindest I think I have witnessed yet. She humbles me.
We met quite a few of the Supreme adopters and I must say, they were a fabulous group of positive, encourages folks. And very diverse as well. From Dressage enthusiasts to trick horse trainers and everything in between. One really nice gentleman's signature move was "Sitting" his horse on a bale of hay! It was so wonderful to meet such diverse, talented folks..I can not wait to see everyone's progress in August!
When it came time to load Lindsay the wrangler herded her into a small shoot, similar to a bucking shoot and shut her in there. I expected her to be upset, but no, she just dropped her head and stood her ground. They then opened the front gate and she trotted the most beautiful, ground covering extended trot right up into the trailer and off we went! She was as quiet and still on the entire ride as any horse I've hauled, quieter than most actually. We stopped often to offer her water, hay and soaked alfalfa, but otherwise drove straight through to NC...~13 hrs! We arrived home at 3 am Sat. morning. Well, I really was not comfortable letting her off the trailer in the dark and I was afraid if I went in the house to sleep I would over-sleep b/c I was so sleep deprived, so I sleep in the goose-neck again. Lindsay was very quiet all night and drank and ate well. But, as soon as the sun began to peak up she woke me by spinning circles and pawing as if to say "Alright, you told me at daybreak you'd let me out"...Well I stumbled my way out and backed the trailer to the round pen. She stepped of like an old pro and went to rolling side to side in our black Kelly dirt! She was nervous a bit at our pack of 7 dogs, but quickly realized they were ok...but our pot-bellied pig...we are still working on that! Lindsay is still not so sure why there is a free range pig on her farm that likes to share her water tub!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Welcome!!!
We welcome you to our blog! My name is Mary Miller-Jordan and my husband and I run High Cotton Horse Farm in eastern NC. We have ventured on an amazing journey this year by entering the inaugural Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover! The competition is the Richest Wild Horse Competition in history and awarding $100,000 in prizes at the finals in Aug! Each trainer has roughly 120 days to gentle and train their own Wild Mustang and will all join together Aug 14th in TX to compete for the title and awards. We were able to see short videos of the Mustangs up for adoption and we bid through a live TV broadcast April 24th. We are so very excited to say that we adopted "Lindsay". Lindsay is lot # 34 and is a beautiful bay roan mare. She has QH type conformation with lots of substance and a very balanced build. In her video clip she quietly walks up and down her paddock leading her pasture-mate exuding confidence and security. I love a horse that is "Comfortable in their own skin" and Lindsay really seems to be just that. We will pick her up at the Miss BLM holding facility May 7th and I just can not wait to meet her in person!
We are currently accepting Sponsors from businesses and individuals to aid Lindsay and myself on this amazing journey. Soft Ride Equine boots was one of our first Sponsors and we are so very excited to say Lindsay will be riding in comfort, style and safety. Please visit www.soft-ride.com to view this amazing product. It's like tennis shoes for your horse! The family of Alex Hartner have also sponsored Lindsay in Alex's memory. Alex was an amazing equestrian whom truly lived every moment of life and this is a journey she would have loved! We would love for you to become a part of this unique adventure as well. If you are interested in Sponsoring Lindsay please contact us at 910-471-2658 or visit us at www.highcottonhorsefarm.com
Lindsay also has a Facebook page! We would love for you to become her friend on FB. Just search "Lindsay~ Roan Mustang Mare competing in the Supreme Extreme Makeover"
We will be adding updates very often as we begin this exciting journey!
mmj
~follow your heart, it knows what it's talking about :)
We are currently accepting Sponsors from businesses and individuals to aid Lindsay and myself on this amazing journey. Soft Ride Equine boots was one of our first Sponsors and we are so very excited to say Lindsay will be riding in comfort, style and safety. Please visit www.soft-ride.com to view this amazing product. It's like tennis shoes for your horse! The family of Alex Hartner have also sponsored Lindsay in Alex's memory. Alex was an amazing equestrian whom truly lived every moment of life and this is a journey she would have loved! We would love for you to become a part of this unique adventure as well. If you are interested in Sponsoring Lindsay please contact us at 910-471-2658 or visit us at www.highcottonhorsefarm.com
Lindsay also has a Facebook page! We would love for you to become her friend on FB. Just search "Lindsay~ Roan Mustang Mare competing in the Supreme Extreme Makeover"
We will be adding updates very often as we begin this exciting journey!
mmj
~follow your heart, it knows what it's talking about :)
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