With every great horse is a dedicated trainer. Long hard hours making a horse move its feet, getting it to pay attention to only you and getting down right dirty. At the end of each day it is rewarding to see the progress your furry friend is making. Now, I cannot say that I am a perfect trainer, to be truly honest I've never trained a horse in my life. The only horses I was around while growing up were the two my parents got my senior year of High School, they were mainly pasture pets. So, this trainer is getting trained on training Horses. Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law Mindy.
This has given me a learning experience that I never had before. Being firm and hard on the horse yet still being kind and loving. Almost like being a parent. Hard, because you want them to learn life long lessons from the hard things in life. Firm, because they need to know that you are the one in charge and that they are to respect and listen to the things you want them to do. Kind and Loving, because they need to know that they can trust you and know that you are there and that you love them.
With this week being Spring Break, I have the time and opportunity to spend time with Whiskey. We have been working on basic ground work, because you literally have to work from the ground up. Normally we would have a round pen for this kind of work but our panels are currently being used for other purposes. So its just me, Whiskey and an open pasture. I have Whiskey on a 10 ft lunge line, and I start working on desensitization.
What is desensitization?
Horses are easily spooked animals, they practically jump at everything. With having a spooked horse all the time it is not safe to be on its back, because you or the horse can be seriously hurt. So as a way to make sure that you and the horse are safe, you introduce things to the horse that would typically spook a it like plastic bags, tarps, hats, flags, etc. You work them until those items no longer spook them.
So, for Whiskey its tarp day. I've watched a lot of videos on introducing tarps to a horse, each video were a little different but essentially the same. A lot of them had the horse on a lead rope in a round pen or not, and the tarp folded up on the ground. The trainers make the horse run in circles making them stop from a certain distance from the tarp and slowly worked it to the tarp. Eventually the horse will hesitantly either steps over the tarp or go around it. The end goal is to have the horse stop or walk directly on the tarp. This, for me was the longest route possible. Aint nobody got time,for that.
So I decided to introduce Whiskey directly to the tarp. I laid the tarp on the ground, led him over to it and let him check it out. Immediately walked right on it, no hesitation at all. He the started pawing it and crumpled the tarp into a ball. He's showing the tarp who's boss.
I led him over it several times just to make sure it wasnt a fluke. Each time across was a success, each time Whiskey was rewarded with pats and treats. Next, it was time to get him used to the tarp touching him.
Captain Whiskey Pants!
With the tarp on him, it lets him get used to it being around him and being something he will see a lot of in his life. Don't worry about him overheating though, it's,still quite cold out and it wasnt on him long enough to hurt him. What i like to do with it then is rub him all over so that he could,get,used to the sound and feel.
After tarps we worked on our lunging. This is where we,make them go in circles around us in one direction without stopping then we switch directions. Whiskey is dominately right handed. So making him go right is easier, than the other direction. But we still have to work him moving his feet. It is a work in progress, there is always roo for improvement. Even when a certain colt moves too fast and slips and falls in the mud making a mess of everyone, you always get back on your feet and keep going.
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