Face touching has been a challenge so this is a win I'll take!
We were done and just walking around together picking things up, but #showdownteamdice thought the keys might be scary...
Come see him live in action at Dakota Showdown Horse Trainer Challenge Finale August 24-25th in Yankton, SD
#showdownteamdice has been backing down, just focusing on building trust in the chaos. Dice has a very hard time dealing with multiple stimuli, say working with me and seeing a person walk into the arena or by the arena. He gets very nervous about unfamiliar people still. My goal is to teach him that if he just trusts me and focuses on me, he will be ok!
I didn't get to start our journey the way I normally would with a horse like him so my approach right now is a little backwards from the other teams, but I think in the long run this will be best for Dice.
Is Dice your favorite Showdown horse? Show your support by voting him fan favorite and be entered to win a prize here: https://givebutter.com/2024fanfavorite/teamdice
Join us for the Dakota Showdown Finale on Aug 24-25, 2024 in Yankton, SD
⭐ General Info http://www.dakotashowdown.com
⭐ Apply to adopt: https://www.dakotashowdown.com/adopt
⭐ Be a Sponsor: http://dakotashowdown.com/sponsors
Huge thanks to Alexis Louis for helping me out by ponying Dice this evening! Dice is very nervous about people above and beside him like fences, mounting blocks, and people on other horses, so this exercise allowed him to move his feet while we maintain the scary position. He got better tonight, although not as far as I would have liked. There may be more of this in the coming days.
#showdownteamdice also survived his first under saddle spook 🤣 a shovel being dragged along the ground did it. No video (thank goodness, I almost bit it) but we all stayed where we belonged, and were able to stop and think, and did get through the scary shovel monster experience.
Don't miss us at Dakota Showdown Horse Trainer Challenge in just 20 days!
Is Dice your favorite Showdown horse? Show your support by voting him fan favorite and be entered to win a prize here: https://givebutter.com/2024fanfavorite/teamdice
Interested in adopting Dice? Follow the link below!
Join us for the Dakota Showdown Finale on Aug 24-25, 2024 in Yankton, SD
⭐ General Info http://www.dakotashowdown.com
⭐ Apply to adopt: https://www.dakotashowdown.com/adopt
⭐ Be a Sponsor: http://dakotashowdown.com/sponsors
I'm a little behind on #showdownteamdice updates, so stay tuned! To start, here is a clip of Dice's first little walk around, just getting used to walking around with a person on his back. He did so well, even steered a bit when he got stuck on the fence and Shawn Schilling sweet filly next door started chewing on my foot 🤣
Is Dice your favorite Showdown horse? Show your support by voting him fan favorite and be entered to win a prize here: https://givebutter.com/2024fanfavorite/teamdice
Interested in adopting Dice? Follow the link below!
Join us for the Dakota Showdown Horse Trainer Challenge Finale on Aug 24-25, 2024 in Yankton, SD
⭐ General Info http://www.dakotashowdown.com
⭐ Apply to adopt: https://www.dakotashowdown.com/adopt
⭐ Be a Sponsor: http://dakotashowdown.com/sponsors
Look at #showdownteamdice go!!! This is his first time being mounted, and as you can see he is VERY nervous, so I did not swing my leg over. When introducing a horse to a new skill, I think it's important to break it down as much as possible, only giving them one thing to think about at a time. With backing, first it's the cinch (think surcingle or bareback pad), then saddle, then moving with the saddle, then the saddle being flopped and pulled on. I like to also introduce them to a person above them, then weight, separately from a saddle to start too.
This approach allows the horse to think about everything individually and relax with all of it, rather than being overwhelmed by many new sensations at once, making the experience more manageable.
Is Dice your favorite Showdown horse? Show your support by voting him fan favorite and be entered to win a prize here: https://givebutter.com/2024fanfavorite/teamdice
Interested in adopting Dice? Follow the link below!
Join us for the Dakota Showdown Finale on Aug 24-25, 2024 in Yankton, SD
⭐ General Info http://www.dakotashowdown.com
⭐ Apply to adopt: https://www.dakotashowdown.com/adopt
⭐ Be a Sponsor: http://dakotashowdown.com/sponsors
#showdownteamdice after figuring out he was in fact, supposed to walk in front of me. Notice how he also waited for me to ask him to step down, front and back feet separately, a huge improvement from the video with his update. All this in just a few minutes!