Monkey
Monkey is doing amazing building his confidence and riding skills.
I cannot wait to finally ride him. Just him wanting me to sit on him and chill feels amazing.
Stay tuned for some news, changes, and Monkeys full story soon. While I was waiting to tell his story until he is ridden, we want to tell it now. He’s an amazing horse with a powerful story. 🥰
Monkey
Video from last night (sped up). Monkey has previously had fear going in. This was his second time going in and the first was a chore. Taking several sessions over several weeks. Taking baby steps. Last session he went in and turned around but was still very unsure. You can see how he just goes in with ease because he remember that last time he went in, turned around, and walked out. What is funny is this time the sheep were kicking the back wall like crazy and Monkey really didn’t want to go in but I asked him and he trusts me so he did it even though the sheep were scaring him. Everyday he’s becoming more and more accustomed to domestic life and learning important things for all the “what ifs”. Like what if he injured himself bad enough that he needed to be on stall rest. Well now that’s not a worry. He is ok going in a stall now.
Willow
Somewhere along the line I forgot something really important about Willow.
She needs her brain worked more than anything.
So yesterday I worked on getting her to pick me up from the opposite side (took a whole 2 min to teach her that). Well then backwards liberty circles became a thing. 😂
What’s this good for? Probably nothing anyone sees any value for. But for Willow it’s everything. She’s learning to use her brain (and body) in very small and powerful ways.
And surprisingly, after we were done she went out and rolled in the freshly groomed dirt. Something I rarely ever see her doing. To me, that means something. That means she’s getting what she needs to relax and feel comfortable here.
Monkey Boy
My Monkey boy. He’s become my world. The outcast. Thrown away. Was told he would end up killing me. But he stands here with me with all the trust. I just love him to pieces. And I love that he is starting to love and trust everyone else too.
Monkey did fantastic yesterday on his front feet trim. 3 weeks ago he wasn’t sure and she was only able to trim a little off and get him even. Yesterday she got a little more off. All the commotion of people and animals and he did fantastic. Dogs walking under him. Nothing really phased him. He was not too happy with the rasp on the 2nd hoof but we just loved to the grass and he was fine. She should be able to get his backs nice and level next time she’s out in 3 weeks. He’s on a 3 week schedule to just get him gradually good with being able to stand sober for all 4 feet at once.
And monkey let me clean his back feet for the first time ever yesterday. He’s never really let me pick them up. He such a good boy. Hopefully in 3 weeks he will be getting his first official ride. Just waiting to get his feet nice and good since they were a little long and wonky.
The other day my sister goes “can I get on monkey again?!” I said sure. I climbed the fence too. And started recording. Then she did this. 🥰
Keep in mind, this girl knows absolutely nothing when it comes to riding or training. And Monkey boy has not been taught to back up like this either. I’ve only backed him up once with a neck rope.
So needless to say I am super proud of both of them.
Things happened last night. Not sure if lonely thought something was up. He was breathing really heavy due to being nervous. Took it slow and kept it short. He’s was just super unsure what was happening. But he did amazing. 🥰 we are going places. We are going to go far in this life together.
Sneak peek on my little sea Monkey. He’s doing great. This is probably the 6th session of teaching him to side up. The 4th or 5th session of sitting on him. He’s such a good boy. Everyone at the barn is in awe of him and love him.
The barn owner told me the other day how great of a horse he is and how far he’s come in just a few short weeks from the scared spastic little stinker who came off the trailer.
Miss Willow bean and I have been working on collection to help fine tune her riding and give her some fancy buttons. Im just 2 weeks she’s finally figuring it out.
I’ve never taught a horse like this before, but I wanted too do what felt right to me and teach her at liberty. Instead of what society says is right and tie her head down to her chest.
Monkey boy learning not only how to load with a ramp but also learning how to self load. He’s such a good boy. His saddle training is underway as well. I have a feeling I could ask him for a walk while on him and he’d be perfectly ok. But he first needs his feet trimmed and some steering training first.
Since people like to make willow and her weight a hot topic. Here she is looking absolutely amazing. And guess what? She’s still gangly at 5yo. Her hips have always stuck out. And likely always will, or at least will for a while. It doesn’t mean that she’s being starved or is skinny. It means she’s just a gangly horse. And there is nothing wrong with that. Just like there is nothing wrong with monkey being built like a QH tank with wide filled out butt and belly. All horses are built different. Just cause mine doesn’t look the way you think she should doesn’t mean I’m starving her. I like my animals looking for, not fat.
This live video is merely to prove to Carrie and the rest of the people who spread lies about Laken yesterday regarding a horse named Luca. The horse at the ale barn was not him. He is still at the boarding facility and has 2 people lined up to buy him. These people want to use every excuse as to why Laken is such this horrible human being that they make up lies Carrie refused to get on a video call yesterday after making her post so it could be proven that the horse she was lying about was not at the sale. Carrie fundraised over $200 by spreading lies about Laken. Laken deserves a public apology from Colorado Horse Rescue Network and all the other rescues who were at the auction and lied to Carrie. Also not the horse at auction had a front leg injury and Carrie manifested that Laken injured Luca. The horse at the auction also had an origination city of Windsor CO when all her horses are in the boarding facilities name and come from Greeley, CO. These people need to stop. A more in-depth post will be shared regarding the double standards, bully, harassment, and sheer disgusting behavior coming from Carrie and the others. The behavior of these individuals is absolutely sickening.
And side note: the vet is finally coming out this weekend to remove his bean in his sheath and to so his teeth and possibly remove the non cancerous lump from his neck. So yeah he’s being well taken care of.
Wow. A little over 2 years since I last saddled him and he did amazing. I have barely touched this dude the last 2 years. But he acts like he hasn’t had a day off. Love this boy to pieces. He’s never going anywhere. 🥰
Do you lead the horse or does the horse lead you? 😂 I guess it’s time to start ground driving this girl. Love that miss Willow can go so long without being handled and still be the same exact horse.
I’ll slowly be posting all but Willow and Monkey for sale so stay tuned. After that my focus is on my two horses only. I’ll keep this page up to occasionally post, but I’ll be officially done training horses going forward. Im just trying to love on with my life and cut the losses from everything that’s happened.
Please enjoy the view of my ass while watching this very boring video.
She is broke to ride with several years under her belt. However, she has a bucking issue when you get on her. And I mean full on bronc.
Now we have found some potential things that could have caused the bucking. One was her hips were pretty locked up. The other was she was being ridden (not by me and not while I was there) with the saddle too far forward and on her scapulas. Both could have caused her to buck. This is the first session with a different saddle since she got adjusted by the chiropractor.
What better way to restart a horse than with trust. Letting her be at liberty gives her 100% control over the entire situation. Not only am I putting my trust in her, but I'm putting it in myself to be able to properly read her cues to tell me when it's too much for her. When I've hit her threshold.
I worked on getting her completely relaxed before I tried getting on her. I felt her energy and it was low. She was mellow. So I tested her. She was slightly bothered but not the head to the sky that she has been. We will get there.
I even think she started to fall asleep at the end.
Gah. Mila and I have never really had that soul crushing connection. Which is why I would like to find her a good home with someone who could dote on her like she deserves. But man she's really worming her way into my heart since I started talking about rehoming her. Day 2 and she let me catch her easy again and this time next to her friends. She also crossed water like it was nobody's business. She's going to make a nice mount.
What does it mean to provide a horse with a good groundwork foundation to prepare them for riding?
It means sitting on them for the first time bareback and bridleless while you hang out.
It means riding them bareback in a soft rope halter for their first ride.
It means being able to saddle them in a large area at liberty while they sleep.
It means complete acceptance of the saddle with no bucking, rearing, bolting, etc.
It means having an amazing relaxed first ride.
It means having all steering, backwards, forwards, and sideways movement of the horse before you even get on.
It means being able to take your horse out in a large riding area alone without any issues.
It means hopping on your horse bareback and riding them from pasture to the barn despite the fact that they have just a few rides on them.
It means being able to climb on anything and have your horse wanting to pick you up.
It means going on a trail ride down a busy road despite never having been exposed to cars or even loping under saddle.
It means transitioning between gaits with a verbal cue alone.
It means having a loud sports car flying by at 90+ mph just 10 feet from you on your horse and them just barely flinching.
It means having a horse whose first instinct is not to panic.
Willow has struggled to cantor under saddle becuase she has no desire to be a fast horse. She has had maybe 10 very short (less than 15 min each) rides over the last year with about 5 or so of them being the last few months. Yesterday I saddled her up and she was amazing despite the fact that her confidence is like 10%. on the way back she got herself into the fastest trot she could without going into a cantor. I let her have her speed until she decided to slow down. Next time she got up to that speed again I asked her for a little more through our verbal cue to cantor and she not only gave it to me, but she took it and literally ran with it. I got the most amazing solid cantor out of her for the first time. It
