Dutton’s Safe Horse Challenge Adventure

10/25/2023

Dutton is getting chunky 👀 He has a big November coming, but is happily chilling during October.

09/15/2023

09/15/2023

It’s been quite a while since I updated on Dutton. We have honestly been going at his own pace and with that freedom he’s thriving. Tonight we decided to push the trust and see how a ponying ride went. It took him a moment to figure out what was expected, but then he was fantastic!

05/31/2023

Dutton has gotten a bit of time just being a horse because my middle of June baby ended up having to come at the beginning of May, but we got back to real engagement today and he was so wonderful that we took a step toward the tack process!

Picture of Dutton and of my little early distraction ❤️

04/22/2023

From a horse that wouldn’t let me catch him in a stall without stress, to a horse that doesn’t let me clean stalls solo 😂

It’s the little things that show progress with this boy and I love it ❤️

04/11/2023

This is a very long video (and a bit of a long post) that shows more progress than I think anyone would believe me about. The thing about Dutton is that the big things he does easily (like going to the lake or playing with the pool), but the little things like brushing or touching his legs are HARD for him. So to have a 17 minute grooming session, with him knowing he was tied (though loosely) and being able to just touch all 4 legs with only 1 kick is huge. It’s also something we have consistently worked to over all the time he’s been here to get to. Dutton is going to be fantastic when he’s finished, but he is going to do it in his own time.

I know that several of my videos make this dude look like a chill and easy going guy who is being trained by a slow poke, but it’s because it only took the first week I had him for me to learn his warning signs leading up to a panic moment- pushing horses to their breaking point when they are clearly telling me they are at it isn’t how I train 🤷‍♀️ Dutton has come as far as he has with positive reinforcement training (he isn’t getting cookies, it’s alfalfa pellets that are otherwise part of his normal meals). R+ training is something I am still learning (many thanks to Greenwalt Equine for continuing to teach me and helping me and Dutton grow) and I am far from a master, but progress is certainly being made ❤️

The other rather significant growth is my baby bump, now at 7.5 months pregna

03/29/2023

Small background info- I work an hour and a half from my house. My wonderful and supportive husband works from our house—- which also means he gets to feed horses breakfast.

Dutton has been improving, but still would come in by way of following one of our other horses because catching in an open field is a stepping stone we are building up to.

To get this picture from my husband (who he has shown much more timidness with) was a MASSIVE win today! Dutton is truly starting to put the pieces together and I can’t wait to see everything fall into place ❤️

03/24/2023

Dutton had his first off property adventure!

He rocked:
-loading up/trailering to lake free
-unloading and hitting the muddy trails
-me getting us lost for a solid 2 miles
-having to navigate non-existant trails (he did inquire about the available green snack options for his effort 😂)
-walking across rather deep mud in the overflow area of the lake when I finally figured out how to get where we were going
-strangers yelling at him about how handsome he was
-a decent sized ribbon snake crossing in front of us
-my asking constantly for us to stop so I could stand beside and pet both sides of him all the way back to the doc of his tail
-Vehicles passing 2/3 times (the one was a justified concern, dude was too close)
-having a BLAST showing off his goofy side in the lake
-my requesting annoyingly that he walk beside, not behind me
-being hosed for the first time
-getting back on the trailer and letting me put him in the actual slant slot so I could close the trailer up (I was the only human on the adventure)
-unloading at home!

I am over the moon with how today’s trip went. The positive reinforcement training (side note- when you constantly see me giving him food in the videos it is just alfalfa pellets that would otherwise be with his grain- no cookie monsters in the making here) has really felt like it’s been going well and that we were on the cusp of him building to higher and higher levels of trust—- today showed that off!! ❤️

03/22/2023

So accurate!!

03/22/2023

Ok, so this clip is in the 2 month update, but that’s a long video and this made me giggle at him too much to risk it not being seen 😂

03/22/2023

Long overdo 2 month update-

When I picked Dutton I knew that he was lacking a massive amount of trust- month 2 has just reiterated that fact. In his description it was noted that he came here from out west to be a quick flip for a trainer who quickly discovered that Dutton does things in his own time and rushing him is strongly against everyone’s best interest. That negative time is showing through distinctly right now- which is fine.

This month we have mastered new obstacles, loading, going through water, meeting new friends, dealing with dogs, and tying (nearly).

What have we found difficult? Pretty much anything that would be the introduction for riding- catching in the field, picking up feet/touching his legs without very strong and swift objections, and anything resembling starting to have pressure for a girth.

Dutton doesn’t bat an eye at things that I’ve seen seasoned trail horses have a tantrum over, but things that seem so super simple are immediate stressors for him. Thankfully, that stressor no longer results in an immediate fight/flight response- thanks to R+ training that he’s being exposed to (With guidance from Greenwalt Equine) he now will come back for the reassurance that he’s not going to die.

So, basically— to many many folks this is a boring 2 month update that looks like we’ve gotten no where in the time we’ve had, but to me Dutton is traveling well on his own timeline and undoing the damage that force has caused in the past. We will continue to go at the pace he needs because on a horse like him, he just needs time and patience.

03/16/2023

Not a good picture at all, but Dutton was happy to see/make friends with whose adopter sent him to learn all the things. The difference between these two is truly night and day- love working with them both!

03/16/2023

Some work establishing more comfort this evening

03/15/2023

I owe a big big update, but here’s a little one that felt MASSIVE.

Dutton is a different horse with the halter on vs off— to the point that catching and haltering have actually been a pretty big task for him, which is fine. I also found that the sound of metal on metal was terrifying to him, not just gates, but the sound of a normal cheek clip hitting the metal ring of a halter had him trying to jump out of a stall (in week one). no worrries, we switched to a rope lead rope and build up his comfort. I also found that if you got the rope around his neck he would stand, not out of comfort, but compliance. So, as ridiculously simple as it seems, to have him be fine with my coming in, not putting the lead rope around his neck, and just putting on the cheek clip halter without issue— well I’m excited.

More updates later. Slow and steady still is the way that we go. Dutton and I are in no rush.

03/05/2023

Haven’t intended to be so quiet lately- I will be posting video from last weekend soon and will take more tomorrow. Dutton is being a good kid and we worked on tying this evening- something that has previously caused lots of stress for the big man ❤️

02/20/2023

New obstacles, side to work, and having to wait for reinforcement (because you don’t get to get a habit of demanding). Dutton was really fantastic! I am also becoming more and more convinced that he knows I’m pregnant- he’s so gentle if his head is near my abdomen ❤️

02/20/2023

Short video and a small obstacle, but the video perfectly shows how Dutton is much more willing when the pressure is taken off. This was a new obstacle for him, he wanted to think about it so I gave him the loose lead to do so and he was able to make the choice himself.

We are going slow because Dutton’s reaction to fast is fear. Someone clearly tried to train through force before and now he has to learn that humans won’t all do that. He’s a great horse!