Maverick – 6/22/10

Today was all about getting Maverick out of the round pen.  This is only his third ride so we didn’t ask too much of him.  After a few minutes in the round pen, and Renee announcing that he had the steering thing down pat, I opened the gate and she took him out into the pasture.  The other horses were still locked in their standing stalls eating breakfast, so he was out there all by his lonesome. 

No, of course he didn’t care.  Need you ask?

 

 

He did manage to pull one of his brand new shoes, though.  I’ll be sure not to let Brannon live that one down any time soon.  

Next time, I’ll hop on a horse and we’ll take the happy little guy out on a real trail ride!

Maverick – 06/04/10

Are you tired of reading how amazing this pony is?  If so, you may want to go to another website now. 

Today was Maverick’s second ride, and his first ride with a bit and saddle.  The bit was a rubber-coated full-cheek snaffle and the saddle was a leather 15” seat western.  The girl, Renee, who rode him had brought her own saddle and breast collar, and even though the breast collar was too large, we put it on him anyway.  Might as well get him used to something like that… not that he even noticed it.

Mav took a few minutes to chew on the bit and wonder what it was in his mouth, then he got over it.  He learned to steer within minutes and WHOA was not a problem.

Renee said he moved away from her leg like he should, but sometimes getting him going took some mild kicking or some encouragement from me.  He acted like he’d been ridden 20 times before.  At one point, Renee looked over at me and said “I wonder if he backs”.  She was joking, but she tried it anyway…

It wasn’t just a fluke.  He backed for her three or four times.  Just a couple of steps, but still better than half the horses on this place that came to me already “trained”!

When we were done, Renee decided to get a little funky and see if anything could get Mav riled up.  He’s going to be a kid’s pony, and kids do some silly stuff sometimes, so it’s best that he’s prepared for that.

Is it just me, or does he look bored?  She did a 360 on the saddle and he never moved a muscle.  She slid off the right side, then remounted on the right side.  She leaned forward and rubbed her legs all over his sides and stomach.  He never moved. 

We ended with that, after only about 15 minutes of saddle time.  Renee is coming out again, and I think this time we’ll go for a short “trail ride” just over into the neighbor’s pasture.  I can’t wait!!!

Maverick – 5/20/10

Maggie came up today to get on Maverick for me since she’s a very good rider and also very thin (I hate her).  She brought her bareback pad and bitless bridle with her, and her really sexy leopard print hard hat.  Maverick thought it was a big edible cookie.

We didn’t even longe Maverick first.  He was his typical easy going, laid back self and Maggie felt confident just hopping on.  Since my mounting block has gone missing (I’m wondering which horse was smart enough to cart it off and hide it in the woods), I just put Maverick next to the fence and Maggie slid on from there.  Maverick had about 5 seconds of fast walking while the “my goodness, there’s something on my back” surprise wore off.  Then, it was business as usual.

It was difficult for me to get pictures of him because he really just wanted to follow me (and the cookies) around the round pen.

Today was just about having someone on his back.  Maggie didn’t use her leg at all and the reins stayed slack the whole time.  

He did trot a few steps while I ran ahead and Maggie said he has a nice comfortable trot. 

She could also feel him trying to keep her centered and balanced up there.  He quickly figured out that it was more comfortable for him if she were comfortable. 

I really can’t tell you how proud I am of my baby boy!  I knew he’d be easy, but I am amazed daily at how willing to please he’s become.  I am really going to miss him!

Maverick – 04/03/10

I have to admit, I have been impatiently waiting to start this pony’s training.  He’s proven himself to be incredibly smart and willing to please, so I knew he’d be super easy to train.  

He never screamed or got nervous when I took him away from the herd.  He remained calm and curious throughout, only wanting to know what the next step was.  Walk on a circle?  Got it.  Trot when you cluck?  Got that too.  It took him two tries to figure out Whoa.

I had the saddle at the pen from when I had Molly up there earlier, so I thought, why the heck not?  Let’s see how it fits…

I slung it up there without even holding on to him.  He just stood there, of course.  That’s a 17” seat and it’s just a bit too large.  Chunky Butt is also still growing!  His butt is taller than his withers again.  All the youngsters are going through growth spurts right now, but I didn’t think Maverick had another big spurt in him. 

I cinched the girth up, but not too tight.  Just tight enough to keep the saddle on if he decided to go crazy.  He walked and trotted, stirrups clunking him in the side, and the saddle didn’t even phase him.  After only a few minutes I had him stop, took off the saddle, brushed him down, then let him go back to the herd. 

Next time we’ll see how he does with the bit in his mouth and maybe do some long lining.

General – 09/19/09

I must apologize profusely for the lack of updates to the training blog.  I guess I feel woefully inadequate next to the great training bloggers, like Mugwump, that I’ve just been quietly doing my thing and hoping no one asks for details.  :)

To catch everyone up, here’s a summary of what little training has been going on this summer.  I’m hoping to get a lot more done now that I’ve got a round pen for ground work.  I can’t wait to get going with Miles and Jasmine, but Jasmine’s training has to wait until Sky is weaned in a couple of weeks.

Miles is the unhandled 9yo BLM mustang that arrived with Beauty and TMan.  I have done no work with him yet, and he still only allows me within 10 feet of him before he gets nervous and moves away.  Once Jasmine and Jewel are going well under saddle, I’ll start with getting Miles lured into the round pen for dinner and get him comfortable in there, then get him halter broke and go from there.  That should be fun!

Cheyenne is just about ready to go to her new home.  I spent a few weeks just ground driving her and getting her used to the rubber full cheek snaffle, and understanding whoa.  I’ve gotten on her twice this week and she’s done very well.  I’ve stayed in the round pen since I was alone at the time, but hopefully one of my volunteers will come out tomorrow and I can get her out for a short trail ride.  I’d like to get her out at least a few times with success before I give the adopters a call to come and get her.  She’s such a sweet mare, and so willing to please, that I doubt I’ll have much trouble with her out on trail.  Especially if she has the wise and unspookable Willow to follow!

Kisses has been doing really well!  Her only problem is that she’s incredibly lazy in the round pen.  She just doesn’t see the need to do any work, when snuggling up with me and being scratched behind the ears is way more fun.  I just started doing ground work with her last weekend and would like to put a bit in her mouth and start ground driving her tomorrow.  I should be on her next weekend and headed out on trail with her shortly after. 

Jewel and Classy have been put on the back burner this year due to all the new unhandled horses coming in and needing work.  I’m hoping with my new volunteer that comes out weekly, we can start taking Classy out on trail rides and get more mileage on her and teach her that the bit is not something to fear.  Oh, how I would love to train all these greenies with a bitless bridle, but how many adopters do I really think will buy and use a bitless?  So I have to be realistic and train them all to a snaffle, whether we like it or not.

Maverick… oh how I love that pony.  He’s going to be three years old soon, so I guess it’s time I started his training.  He’ll be learning to drive first, so it looks like I need to start shopping around for a training cart!