Cooper's 4th class was called Obstacle, and it was like an arena trail class. We missed getting video of the first half, which saves you from having to watch me run 🙂. We trotted over a series of ground poles, and then kept trotting through a row of cones in a serpentine, came to a halt, and backed up. Then there was a cool obstacle, a raised side pass, with pieces of pool noodle sticking up that rubbed his tummy as he moved sideways over it. He was one of only 2 horses at the whole show who did this successfully. But sadly, you will have to use your imagination. The video picks up where he has to stand with his front feet on a round wooden disc and move his hind feet around in a circle without letting his front feet step off. Then a skinny bridge, where again you can see me struggling to get the lead rope out of his teeth. Then a straddle pole, where he had to keep both of his left feet on the left side, and both right feet on the right side, and then at the end we ground tie.
And finally, Cooper's Freestyle class. For this one we design our own pattern that we feel shows off our horse best. We bring in our own obstacles and choose music, can use costumes and props, and have exactly 3 minutes. We are judged partly on technical skill and horsemanship, and partly on creativity and entertainment value. I was going for a working ranch horse theme because that's what I thought he would be well suited for.
Cooper's third class was called Pattern, and it is the equivalent of 4-H Showmanship. We had to be able to lead at a walk and trot, stop, back, turn 90 degree turns, and 180 degree turns. In his nervousness he took to trying to chew on the lead rope. You might notice me struggling with him on this.
Sorry it has taken me so long to get videos uploaded! Cooper's first class was Body Conditioning; it wa basically a vet check of weight, coat, and hooves. No video of that. His second class was Handling. It is a test of some of the basic skills a gentle mustang should know. We had to be able to lead, pick up feet, release and re-catch in a corral, brush, spray with fly repellent, and load in a trailer.
First time with clippers:-)
We went to the Bolenders Horse Park today to play on their mountain trail obstacle course. Cooper is so brave!
I took Cooper to a playday with some other horses, to practice obstacles. This is an exercise in "sending" where I ask him to go through something without me leading. It does two things; 1, it is a test of his confidence to go first rather than follow me, and 2, it gives him the room to think for himself how he can best navigate the obstacle.
Trotting
What a nice little horse!
Highpoint Show
Last weekend Cooper and I went to a horse show! It was a small gathering, at a facility with a built in obstacle course. It was an excellent opportunity for him to see some activity and be around new people, horses, and situations. There were 15 obstacles in all; here are his best ones :-). We placed 6th out of 12 horses. Very respectable for his first show!
Bike
I have a long list of things I'd like to expose Cooper to, things that could be scary. We call it "de-sensitizing". A horse that spooks at things can seriously hurt himself and his rider. Today my son, Drew, came out to help, riding his bike around for Cooper to see.
Grazing
Cooper and I are at the half way point in our time together! It has flown by! And he has come SO far. He has checked off all the basic skills; be caught, haltered, lead, stand tied, be groomed, have his feet trimmed by a farrier, and load in a horse trailer. He also has been ponied on trails, been to a small clinic with other horses, been to the vet, and a number of other things. From here on out, we will be preparing for the show Aug 4-6; lots of things to fine tune. For today, here's a video of Cooper eating grass in the yard :-)
Saddle
Cooper gets to wear a pony saddle!
Learning to load.
Woo Hoo! This was his very first try at trailer loading! I am so pleased! My trailer has been off getting some repairs, so this was the first chance we've had to try this since he got here. And you may notice, he is very food motivated :-)
Tarp crossing
I'm starting to work on obstacles with Cooper. They teach a horse to have confidence when they encounter whacky things in life. This is his first time seeing this obstacle. Full disclosure though; he had already seen a tarp once before, and it had hay on it, so he was partly prepared to succeed at this :-)
First time out!
For Cooper's first venture out of the corral, I enlisted the help of Stella. Cooper was perfect! This was at the end of riding out around the pasture.
My husband asked the other day, "what are some of your next goals with Cooper?"
My philosophy is that a horse with good manners will always be wanted and find a home. It is the horses with bad manners who get labelled a "problem horse" and then get passed from one person to another, often ending up in a bad situation. So I do a horse a great service if I train him to be a good horse citizen. Here are the skills Cooper needs to know; to be easy to approach and catch, to be haltered, to lead willingly and respectfully, to stand tied up, to be touched and brushed all over his whole body, to be able to lift his hooves for a horse shoer, and to load in a horse trailer. Today's progress is that I brushed all the way to his hip on both sides, and was able to lift his front hooves!
Breakthrough day for Cooper! Building on yesterday's progress, (scratching his neck with a whip) we got all the way to me scratching his neck with my hand, I took off his neck tag number, practiced clipping on a lead rope, and took off the drag rope he has been wearing since he got here. I also went back to using the whip and was able to rub all along his back, the sides of his tummy, and up and down his front legs. Thanks to my husband for this video!
Baby Steps
I haven't gotten much farther with petting him, but he learned something new today :-) Baby Steps!
