Day 22: October 24 - A Changed Horse

Carlee and I went and played with our horses for a couple of hours today. It was a really good day! I learned a lot. I started out by going from one spot in the arena to another about ten feet away. At each of these spots I would let him stop and have his release. We started at a walk, and at first he really didn't like it. But, eventually it got to where he was ok with it. So then I turned him at that spot and took him back the where we started before he got his reward, and it worked really well! Once he was doing good with that. I asked him to pick up a trot. That made him mad, so after a few steps I let him stop and get his reward. Then I asked him to trot a few steps again. It's weird for me to have to reward every step he takes, but I think it's working, because eventually he got to where he could trot the whole ten feet without stopping, and he was alright with it. I wouldn't say he was happy to do it, but at least he wasn't completely mad.

We worked on a few other things, just trying to get his attitude better, and teach him about rewards and releases, and then I decided to ride him. It was just bare back, but it went pretty good. I just walked him around on a loose rein for quite a while. And I would let him just sit, which he seemed to really like. There was one time after he was walking, I rewarded it, and when he stopped, he let out a HUGE breath. It made me so happy! Even Carlee could see it from across the arena. That was by far his best release so far. I did try to trot him, but he would pin his ears back, toss his head, and then he would just plant his feet. I didn't want to push it too hard, mostly because I wasn't sure what he was going to do, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to stay on if he decided to buck. I probably shouldn't have let him get away with it, but I did, so next time I ride I'm going to have to get after him even more to get that trot. But, I'll be in a saddle, so I'll be ok with doing it I think. I really need to work on my bare back riding...

He was not happy with me.

By this time, Carlee and Cowboy were ready to cool down, so we let the horses loose in the arena. Neither of them are really the type go out and be the leader, so they weren't moving around much. So Carlee and I stepped in and just started working with them at liberty. It was so cool! Poncho trotted, stopped, turned, and did everything that I asked him to do without putting his ears back at all! It's like he just doesn't like being forced to do something. It's not like he's a bad horse, or hates doing things, he just doesn't like being told what to do. He was a completely different horse today, it was great!