One of the things I really enjoy teaching the mustangs is how to stand tied, patiently and safely. I have been to multiple events over the years where someone’s “broke” horse spooks at something while tied, pulls back, and winds up in a wreck, or worse, snaps the rope and gets loose, racing wildly around, endangering others, and upsetting other horses. I have personally had things like plastic bags unexpectedly fly at my horses or tarps nearby get to blowing in a wind gust. Not long ago, I had Grace tied to my trailer, and in a freak moment, her snap got caught on an edge and wedged itself, locking her head down. She started to panic, but then stood still and let me help free her. Every horse should learn to use the thinking side of his brain, and exposing him to “scary” things while tied is a good test of that. Why? Because you’ve removed his ability to escape. So, if he learns to handle the pressure by thinking rather than reacting while standing tied, in my experience, this carries over to every area of his training.
Wild mustangs really have to learn this concept because running away is all they’ve ever known. I literally have to reprogram their brains. Simply tying a reactive horse to a stationary object can be very dangerous. They can panic and really injure themselves. To help prevent injury, I use a multi-step process. First, I introduce the horse to lead pressure and giving their head to the pressure. I do this by simply looping my rope around a bar of my round pen. I pull gently, and they generally try to come to me at first. Only when the horse steps forward towards the bar, the pressure goes away. I can change my position around, but the horse feels the pressure from the direction of the bar. Once he gives nicely to that, I use my special tie ring. These rings allow the rope to slide a little, giving a potentially panicked horse some limited use of his feet. This is by far the best tool I’ve found for tie-training! M
Stress signals
When we think of a horse showing signs of stress, we usually envision head up, ears pinned, quivering, running away to escape, rearing, kicking, etc. In reality, these are signs from a horse that has already offered more subtle signs such as a swishing tail, a little head toss, maybe some pawing, etc. Because those signs weren’t noticed, the stress and resulting signals escalate to something that become dangerous.
There is another stress signal that many folks aren’t aware of, and I have only seen a few times in all the mustangs I’ve trained. Yesterday, I managed to capture it on video. Teeth grinding. It is very subtle, and even easy to miss if you aren’t tuned in. The few times I’ve heard it, the horse was cooperating, and anyone watching and out of ear shot may have never had a clue the horse was experiencing a stressful moment and feeling a bit overwhelmed. In addition, the horses I’ve seen do it had similar personalities—mild-mannered, somewhat introverted, and generally quiet “thinkers” instead of “reactors”. They prefer to make the right decision and avoid drama. They tend to be sensitive to cues and relatively submissive to leadership. A trainer working with a horse like this has to be quick to notice the subtle signs of stress or the horse may just shut down completely and stop responding at all. It’s interesting psychology, but thankfully, a really easy fix!
These introverts just need to be appreciated for who they are, and allowed to absorb and process new information at their own speed. By slowing my training down to meet their needs, I find their confidence increases, and progress actually happens rather quickly compared to the more dramatic extrovert-types. Interesting, isn’t it?
Yesterday, I was giving the 2 year old gelding his first halter and leading lesson. I was applying very little pressure anyway, because he was pretty chill, and so I thought I’d grab a few video clips for his adopter. As you wi
I am so proud of this little mare. If you recall, Vegas arrived knowing only one reaction to pressure—bolting. 13 days ago, the simple act of me picking my stick up off the ground would send her into a panicked frenzy around the pen. She’s still tense and nervous, and I’m sure she’d rather be running away from the pressure, but she has come so far! She is getting better each day at using the thinking side of her brain, rather than the reacting side. This exercise is tough for even the average domestic horse. Yet, she has come this far!! 😁🥰
Evening drive
Fall is in the air. This evening was perfect for a beautiful drive with both my 4-legged girl and one of my 2-legged!😁
