Intro

In my quest to discover as safe a trail mate as possible to join us on our toddler-inhabited homestead, I stumbled across an interesting bag-o-parts hailing from Saskatchewan. Certainly, he tickled my yearn for colour and that sweet face drew me right in. I quickly realised, upon speaking to the seller, that not only did he fit my desire for the unusual aesthetics but he was also exactly what I was looking for in regards to temperament!

Max was only 4 years old and with a mere 5 rides on him, but this steady boy had just the right lack of sensitivity and tendancy toward sweetness and laziness for building upon. I felt no hesitation what-so-ever when it came to climbing on his back to try him out, before purchase. I was able to get a good feel for personality and was delighted that this almost-blank canvas was rapidly checking off all the little boxes in my mind. He was quiet, curious, engaging and trying.

Of course, with that lack of sensitivity comes a heavy invasion of personal space but a few groundwork sessions quickly established that I don't want him to stand on me and that I'd like him to move off without a freight train pushing him. I'm delighted to have him already picking up his feeet with a reasonable amount of persuasion and moving out on the lunge with the lightest suggestion. I'm also relieved to note that this increased awareness of working together hasn't elevated his reaction/response to overall stimuli.

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We had our first trailer outing on Wednesday of last week. I presented his open side of the trailer once I'd loaded our herd leader, my hubby's gelding. It took Max all of 2 minutes to decide the sardine-can of a straight-load wouldn't be detrimental to his health. In fact, that handful of complete feed was downright distracting!! He didn't even notice we were moving until I had to break at the cusp of the driveway. And the promise of another handful upon loading to come home had me holding him back so I could secure his lead rope around his neck! Learning to back out took a few minutes, but he's learning where/how to place his hind feet coming out.

His behaviour in a new place with new (mares!) was unbelievable! He playfully and rowdily inspected every obstacle in the arena and politely stood tied while not being worked with. We even brought him into his first standing stall to see what he thought of that... he licked the floor and cocked a hind foot. Again, learning to back out smoothly is going to take some practice, but he's not bothered at all by his own clumsiness.

I did climb on him for my first true ride. For 30 minutes, I worked on simply establishing good forward movement, some direct reining reinforced by light taps on the neck with the end of my long reins in order to reduce pressure on his mouth, a lighter whoa and a few backward steps. In this short time, he really became SO much lighter! I certainly am a long way from a one-rein-stop... something I won't trail ride without, but we're going in the right direction! I hope to send him to a trainer within the next two months in order to put a balanced walk/trot/canter and some solid trail miles on him.

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Tonight Max and I made our first venture off the property on foot. I took him on a lunge line to give us room to work with each other and carried a carrot stick for effect*. I carried the excess line over my shoulder and just casually held him on a loose line. He eagerly stepped out, almost marching ahead of me. I wanted to encourage a brave and independent mindset, so I left the lessons of following MY leadership for another time. He wasn't rowdy or pushy, just eager. He scooted a tad when a mini van crawled by us, but we were in a slight squeeze zone with livestock making noises behind bushes on both sides of the road, so I have to accept it as a case of excess-stimulus. Overall, his reaction at this point was totally acceptable and he easily came back to me with simple verbal reassurance. Next came a herd of about 20 horses. He perked right up as they came trotting over to investigate and politely introduced himself. Within 4 minutes he was utterly bored of them and wanted to move on. As we did so, they struck up a thundering chase and he responded by stopping and looking back. Again, I waited until he was bored and we moved on (who wouldn't take an opportunity to watch horses run!). As we came to the herd of cattle in the bushes on the way back home, he hesitated, calling out to them a few times. He gradually moved on when met with their disintered silence, and my determination that he not stay with those two herds and return home to his own. Gentle requests on my part were all that were ever required to get his feet moving.

Every time I work with this boy, I'm absolutely delighted with his mind! And that's caught us up to this point.

*I am using the carrot stick rather than dressage whip right now for the sturdy strength of the fiberglass shaft for times I need to match his brute ignorance, but also for the ultra-light influence of the string. I find the almost-menacing motion of the string can tap into their prey instinct and affect response with much less weight/pressure from me. Once he's truly light and responsive to me, I'll revert back to my oh-so-light-for-my-own-wrists dressage whip. I should add that I've simply gotten into the habit of using this kind of tool while working on the ground and have enjoyed success in getting and keeping my horses light. It's simply an extension of my arm. Tiny taps and pokes are much more effective than leaning in with a heavy hand, losing the influence of my body language up front as I'd have to move back without the stick to say, move the hinds over and my stubby fingers aren't nearly as annoying as a crop handle!