Day 1 of tackling the saddle trauma so I don't have to ride bareback on my personal horse for the rest of our days together.
I spent a year not bothering with the saddle and got her rideable without it. A year ago, she would have surely bucked as she got quite fresh and spring-feverish today. Even when she got tight a couple of times, she didn't resort to the deeply engrained bucking. Instead, she moved out and forward just as I've been trying to rewire her to be able to do.
What a month (even spread out) of groundwork does to instill calm and confidence in an older horse! This guy was given to us by the last person he was given to, because he was hard to catch and he did buck saddled (last time, before me). Now, he's good to catch and progressing quickly because, in part, I took my time early on.
Not many want to start an older horse. The ideal time is much younger to start a horse, but the older horses are usually ok as long as you give them time to really think things through. For me, initial training is all about building the horse's confidence and "learning how to learn", not just getting it done.
So happy it's warm again so we can get busy continuing on. Now that I've got her rideable, we'll be tackling the saddle again in a few days. This saddle is probably her biggest trigger from the past. As much as I don't mind riding her bareback, I'm curious if she'll turn a corner with the saddle too, now that she's come this far.
You never forget the horses that raised you.
I've trained a lot more slightly older horse than younger horses. I really like this gelding, Storm. I first had to get him easier to catch and then his teeth floated because his month was a bit scary for hooks and ramps. Going to make some videos of Storm's training. He doesn't appear to have any trauma or issues that I can see. He's actually smart and catches on rather quickly. Training these horses gives them a chance at a better life. A broke and rideable horse typically gets more attention, care, maintenance and TLC than a pasture ornament.
Voodoo would make one stellar liberty horse! She focuses in like none other.
My phone finally turned on again late last night. Took a quick video of Serenity learning the piaffe. She is excited to learn new things now. The piaffe was originally used in battle to keep the horse focused, warm, and moving, ready to move forward into battle. It's now used in dressage to help achieve balance, plus collection and impulsion.
It was so peaceful and pretty this morning. Yes, the horses do fine outside. They have billions of hairs that stand up on end (piloerection) to trap pockets of heat next to their bodies. They look extra fluffy in these tempratures. The digestion of grass hay helps a lot to generate heat inside their guts and they go through plenty of hay. Most horses survive outside all winter, but it was so cold. I still lay awake at night sometimes, wondering how they do it, but actually extreme heat is way more dangerous to horse health than the extreme cold.
Laughed so hard! Definitely some truth here on how tough the sport is!
Lesson/Lease Horses
