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Posted by Marianne Williams, Nov 24 2008, 10:35 AM
My blog has had 1554 views. I can’t imagine how many people have read my entries and thought, “What a fool. This woman has no business trying to train a mustang. She’s probably going to get herself killed.”
I’ve already had several opportunities to do just that, but not with Bella. I accidentally shot myself one time (in the hand) and I did run myself over with my own truck and even got tangled up with a bagful of urchins after running out of air while diving. However, the most memorable incident was after I shot a 45 pound cobia during a spear-fishing tournament only to have it swim circles around me while tangling the stainless steel lead-line around my fool neck. Now that was scary. But these were all foolhardy things that only involved me.
I am much more mindful of how careful I must be with Bella. She depends on me to act in a thoughtful manner and to be someone that she can trust and depend on. Writing a blog adds an additional dimension to our training as it allows me (or forces me) to assess our work with a critical eye. I am honest with my readers about my feelings, my frustrations, and my doubts about my own ability to train this horse. I make mistakes and some days are better than other days. Today was a good day. It went like this:
1. Whistle for Bella and reward her with an apple (placed on the ground) when she comes.
2. Affix her rope halter and lead and begin moving her feet. She backs with just wag of my finger, disengages her hindquarters when I cock my head, and leads with a slack rope.
3. We do a bit of driving at the walk and trot. I have her change directions several times by doing inside turns.
4. We head for the gate. She stands quietly with the lead at her feet as I open the gate. She waits for my cue, then we step outside the gate and walk down the dirt road.
5. As I lead her, I abruptly stop. She stops. I back, she backs. I zig-zag along the road and she watches and follows my every step.
6. Back up the drive we go to the round pen. I lead her in, drop the rope, and then take my time getting her brushes and toys from outside the gate. She stands quietly.
7. I begin to brush her. She starts to move her feet. I stop brushing and practice the one-rein stop and disengage her hindquarters. When she becomes still, I praise her and begin brushing again. Every time she moves, I put her back in a tight circle and quit brushing. Eventually, she gets it. She sighs and stands still. I brush her.
8. I move in front of her head to brush her forelock. She raises her head. I pull gently on the lead and tell her “head down”. She lowers her head. I begin brushing. She pops her head back up. I quit brushing. “Head down”, I tell her. And on it goes…Eventually, she keeps her head down.
9. Out comes her saddle. She isn’t cinchy at all and stands quietly. I drive her gently and then check the tightness of her girth. I cinch it up a bit and then load a couple of sandbags on her back. No problem there. I have her make a few circles around the pen with just hand signals from me. She isn’t exactly enthusiastic but she does as she is asked.
10. I move on to desensitizing her. She has a problem with me touching her flank which interferes with our porcupine game. More than once she has swished her tail and cocked her leg. I use my carrot stick for this so I can stay out of kick range. I wield the stick like a violin bow and saw it across her back. I move it down her back legs and under her stomach and quickly dart in to her flank and then dart back out. I do this for nearly 20 minutes. She appears to be less sensitive by the time I finish.
11. I ask her for a front foot by gently squeezing her chestnut. She lifts her hoof at my slightest touch. I inspect it for rocks and then place it gently on the ground. I move to her other side and do the same. I still use the rope to assist me in lifting her back feet. I don’t trust her completely in this area. She willingly lifts her hooves, but also tries to back at the same time. I make a mental note to ask Debbie about this.
12. Yesterday she freaked out when I brought out some orange survey tape ribbon. Today I take a 6 foot section and ball it up and then begin rubbing her all over with it. I slowly let it unravel to its full length then tie it to my carrot stick for further desensitization. She is unsure about all of this so I take my time in showing her that it won’t hurt her. I play the friendly game and toss it across her withers, her back, around her feet and over her ears. By the end of the session, I’m snapping it around the pen and over her head and body like we’re in a circus and it’s a big flag. I add in some circus music singing just for good measure and then bring out the lobster pot and top to use as a cymbal. I make a fearsome racket. My husband says that it is good that we have no close neighbors.
13. We end our training session by tying her lead to the rail for 5- 10 minutes. I have found that I cannot use a safety knot as she can untie one of these in 5 seconds flat. I sit atop the rail and just hang out while she tries to untie my granny knot. She finally gives up and sighs and just rests.
14. It’s getting dark now. I untie her from the rail, lead her to the center of the pen, and then drop the lead. I unfasten the gate and then return to stand in front of her while I relax my posture and pretend to look out to sea while secretly watching her with my peripheral vision. If she even starts to move, I straighten up and look hard at her. When she stills, I relax my posture again. This exercise lasts just 5-6 minutes, but it is important. She needs to stand when I stand and not move off. Like everything else we do, she gets this almost immediately.
15. Back down to the pasture we go. I remove her halter but still keep it around her neck. She attempts to shake it off. I keep a hold on her until she stands quietly. Then I let her go. Good girl, I tell her. You’re a good girl, Bella.
NEXT: THE FIRST RIDE (AND IT WAS A SHORT ONE!)
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Melissa Lakin, Dec 17 2008, 01:19 PM