Day 12: Happy Hour

Friday’s wind precluded riding again, so instead of a lesson for me, Sean and I decided instead to spend the time working with Ollie. I think in total we worked for about an hour, but in that time we were able to accomplish a great deal (and by “we” I mean Sean and Oliver in that for this session I really more of a camerawoman and cheerleader).

First up was obstacles and Oliver obliged as Sean set up barrels, a cavalletti, a wood bridge, a tarp “river,” and the dreaded hanging shredded tarp. He was most aware of the tarp as Sean carried and unfolded it, but he followed along closely regardless as Sean lay it flat and then carried poles over to hold down the sides.

Clearly, Oliver has a great deal of trust (which Sean noted we have worked hard to build and maintain), and this was evident as Sean lead him over and through a first run of the obstacles. First, he followed Sean over the barrels with not even momentary hesitation. The cavalletti was nothing. As they approached the bridge it was clear that a little more explanation was in order; the first time through, Oliver tried to go around the barrels that made up the sides, but once Sean moved him back and sent him forward, Oliver appeared to prance in slow motion his first steps across.

Some of our work with Oliver simply requires patience and moving through the hanging shredded tarp was a great example of this. While Oliver didn’t panic as Sean walked through it, he was hesitant; actually, his body language at first pretty clearly said “nope.” Sean waited on the other side of the tarp, alternating between applying a little pressure forward and gentle coaxing. Oliver was entirely uninterested in walking through, though he was aware that to get to Sean he would have to move through it eventually. So, we waited. After a little while Sean was able to get him to push his nose through, and then we waited some more. After a while, again with some coaxing, he walked through. Surprisingly, he didn’t spook or rush through as the flaps moved over his back. After that success, Sean moved him back through it a few times and Oliver seemed resigned to the fact that drama wasn’t called for.

We spent only a few minutes on each element, which seems to work for Oliver, whose attention span is, as noted, extremely short. To finish off the circuit, Sean brought him back to the barrels, this time asking him to approach at the trot and jump instead of walking over. He did beautifully and seemed quite pleased with himself after. 

For the second half of our time together, Sean brought Oliver into the round pen, worked on side passes from both directions, and then reintroduced the saddle pad. As before, Sean put the saddle pad on over and over again first from one side and then the other. This time, though, once the saddle pad was on instead of the surcingle, Sean walked over and grabbed a saddle, which Oliver eyed with interest (and apparently hunger as he tried to nibble on it). After following Sean around as he held the saddle, Oliver stood quietly as Sean put the saddle on his back. As with much of what we have done, Oliver was aware of the saddle and shifted a little under its weight, but he didn’t protest and he certainly didn’t blow up. Sean nodded and smiled at this (and I was glad I wasn’t the only one pleasantly surprised) and then he lead Oliver around to see how he would do carrying the saddle. Once it was clear we weren’t going to have any excitement, Sean buckled both cinches (leaving the back cinch very loose) and again moved Oliver around. Carefully. At first, Oliver paused to nose the stirrups as if to ask “What is THAT?"

As Sean noted when Oliver first tried walking with the surcingle on, points of transition (e.g. walk-trot) are where horses generally blow up or panic when first using new equipment. While we didn’t see much of anything with the surcingle, Oliver did seem uncertain as he started to trot with the saddle on and Sean quickly brought him down, changed direction and got him walking again. Honestly, I think it may have been the combination of the saddle and the wind, which by this point was shaking the metal doors on either side of the arena. But, whatever it was, Sean didn’t push it in the round pen, and after getting him to walk and trot briefly in both directions he took Oliver out to move him through the obstacles again, this time with the saddle. He did beautifully.

I’d say Day 12 was a real success: Oliver was certainly pleased with himself and honestly I couldn’t be prouder. The possibilities are going to be endless with this one.

Getting to Work

Our first day of real training was full of surprises (even the training was a surprise--I was supposed to have a conference call, but unfortunately it was canceled). “Junior” (still no name!--from here on in I will sub some in to try them out) has really settled in nicely. When I walked up to his pen he had his eyes closed in the afternoon sunlight and he was listening calmly to Sean talk to another gentleman about the trip up to the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. I caught the tail end; Sean was mentioning that a BLM mustang would be arriving at the farm this coming weekend and that we may see a big difference in temperament between him and Rumor (Rumi for short?).

First and foremost, Doc (Holiday of course) is super curious. He came right over to say hello when I arrived and seemed intent on getting to know all of our smells, especially the apple Sean was eating which he tasted surprisingly gracefully. He seemed surprised by the taste. Everything is new!

I had no idea where we would start, but Sean suggested we go into the arena; there was a lot going on outside (painting, dogs barking, etc.), so he went and got a halter and went in to get him. If this horse is fearful of people, he hides it well and Sean was able to walk right up and halter him and then lead him out and into the barn with the arena. Buddy made a few skittish steps: first when he encountered a hose (clearly a snake!) on the floor and then walking through the door (a dangerous cave!) into the indoor space, but nothing of note. Just like yesterday’s coyote run-in, he recovered from these moments remarkably quickly. We toured the whole of the arena and Dakotah followed along needing only a few reminders to give Sean his space. With that out of the way, we moved to the round pen.

Sean started off as he does (and has taught me to do) with all horses...he got him moving in a direction of Sean’s choosing. Sean noted that it wasn’t beautiful, but it was way more than I expected. Though he clearly had no idea what some of Sean’s cues meant, Amos was striving to please. He is not a super reactive horse and may need some encouragement to get moving, but he catches on quickly. Sean was able to get him to walk, trot and canter and even to let Sean picked up all four of his feet with mostly no real panic.

At each literal and figurative turn, I just smiled. I don’t think we could have picked a better horse for me. This little one (and Sean, too, of course) is going to teach me a great deal. I look forward to every minute.