The chaos that is our farm. No horse stands a chance. I'm extremely excited at Pucks ability to handle some insanity. I hope he will take the stress of a show environment in stride.
Puck ducks first mini trail ride down the road. He wanted to keep on going and was mad I made him turn around to head home lol. We even went through a few ditches. Very good boy.
This is maybe the third time I've asked Puck to move undersaddle. This is his first time responding so well to being asked to back undersaddle.
I feel like he is taking a lot longer to get the hang of things, but I am still worried about over asking and having him become scared or worried and start back tracking, so slow and steady it is! He was a very good boy.
Wild Mustang turned Yard Horse ♡. 🐎
Puck at liberty in the big arena. Had all intentions to work on riding and the bridle again, however I was sidetracked! We haven't worked at liberty since I have been working on correcting his leading, I was pleasantly surprised how well our leading skills carried over into our liberty! Good boy Puck.
First time sitting on Puck! Monting and dismounting. The first clip was last week, he was pretty unsure still, so we took a brake and worked on other things, and the second clip was today. Tomorrow we will ask for more ♡. What a good boy.
Slow and steady. Progress everyday. It took a while for him to be comfortable with me being close to him and asking him to move. Now we are figuring out moving away from direct and indirect pressure. We also have the very baby begging of liberty circles, which is much better on his right then the left. Not to mention the giant ball can now go for a ride and the flappy things are getting much better!
Once again, he looks super calm, and is, but I'm not pushing him, he is jumpy still around people and even me if I move to quickly to close. I am waiting for our first ride until that goes away a bit more. In the meantime, there's so much to do!
If we are scared of the flappy thing, we must wear the flappy things! LOL. The last couple days we went back to doing everything at liberty. I think I behave differently when I know I can't just grab hold of the halter/lead and keep him with me. Something I need to become more conscious of. He also really enjoys this play time. This is the first day he was super duper calm and accepting of the flappy sheet. We also worked on liberty circles! Video tomorrow hopefully.
Puck coming to see me in the big arena. He is very aware when I'm outside and calls to me for his "turn".
He's become easier to catch then I ever expected!
Windy days are for flappy things! He was not a fan of this sheet, but did offer to follow me through a few times. I believe we will need to go back and work on flags.
The important thing when asking for things like this, is that you give them time to think and process.
Today I let Cass in to play with Puck.
I got the big ball put together for them to play with.
Puck was pretty interested, but not nearly as excited about it as Cass haha. He took it to another level haha.
Puck went for a walk down the road to see the neighbors cows and practice jumping ditches. He was super!
John caught the first time asking Puck to load on the trailer. I figured he would get on, but not quite so quickly and not so calmly! Exciting things.
Pucks first trim! Ground tied and on the box. What an extremely useful tool this has become.
We did what I call an ugly trim, to keep it quick and easy and stay a good experience. I will work on them more next week.
At the end of the video we have also been working on lunging at a walk, this was day 2!
Side note, I've had several people ask if Puck was actually very wild to begin with . That answer is yes. But I didn't try to provoke that wildness and have him running all around, kicking, rearing, spooking etc. Not that I think people actually try for that, but that is what seems to happen when the horse is not prepared, and I have the luxury or time.
I try to do everything with him in a calculated order. Baby steps every day, one domino after another. Possibly this makes for boring videos and the appearance of a domestic horse lol, but I know Pucks limits and I test and cross them sparingly and mostly only when he gives permission.
Pucks third day being haltered and learning to give to pressure. I've left the leather halter on just to help make practicing to halter with the rope halter easier. He has a harder time with me on his left side then the right so to halter from the left side where the buckle or tie is, is more difficult.
Of course I did not get a video yesterday of our session. He was not very confident with being led and spooked and bolted a few times. I switched to a long lunge line and I put it around a post so to give me a bit more of a chance to keep hold of the rope if he tried to bolt. He of course did not at this point, so we worked on stepping his hips over to the right and left while "dummy tied". Today I wasn't really sure what to expect, but he was leaps and bounds better than yesterday. Here I am purposely not really trying to get him to follow me, I want him to stop as many times as possible so that I can use the opportunity to ask him to give to the halter pressure. He is really figuring it out and staying calm. I can not wait to let him out in the pasture!
Playing around today, Pan wanted to do somthing so I jumped on bridless and we wandered to the round pen which I had left open for Puck to hang out in. So I figured we'd see what he thought of Pan while I was riding him. He followed us quite a bit and then hopped up on the box lol. This could be the making of an act. You never know.
Puck! First time being groomed with an actual brush and first time picking up hind legs! This is the third day or so for the front. Last Thursday I said to someone it would be crazy to try and pick up his hind feet for the first time without a halter.
I am learning I really need to let go of some rules I've placed in my head over the years.
At the end of our sessions I usually just hang out on the mounting block for a few minutes and do some book work, today he was feeling extra lovey and itchy ♡. #mustang #puck #wildblmmustang #JacksonMountians #puckduck
Puck is pretty amazing. What the pedestal has given us is incredible. Because he is now taller then me, I think he feels more confident and has an area to focus on standing still, I'm able to touch further down him body and his legs. He even let me touch his belly for the first time today. I was not expecting pedestal training to help quite so much. And check him out! Day 3 with the box and he's already figured out all 4 feet!
