No one in my path is safe

Ride number three on Hammer seemed to confirm that we have beat the mounting issue with him. I could not be more pleased with that It may sound like that is just a simple, single issue, but it is so much more---it is representative of his defensiveness, his random fears poking their heads up, and so many other things. He used to not even want to be touched. But it is OVER! He even seems to enjoy me, and he is completely in love with Madison.

Now other things are surfacing--yesterday he did not want to follow his nose like he normally does. Today that was worse. He also wanted very much to stay in the front corner of the area we were riding in. He was a bit of a menace, truth be told, but I kept at it for 30 minutes or so. I got him to finish up on a good note of playing with the poles, and going where I told him to, then rode him out of the field to the front yard where the trailer was. He was a completely new man out there. It is weird how he seems to have chosen his favorite spots in the pasture already--so I guess I need to change it up re: where we ride. He also spent lots of time just standing still tonight, and is quite adept at that--it gave me a chance to talk on the phone with Jenna, and to learn that the ringing of the phone does not concern him. So, while it did not feel as good as last nite, writing it all out like that shows me that it was not so bad after all. I have some business tomorrow after work, but I am going to try to get on him anyway for a short while, as he will get Thursday and Friday nites off. I cannot wait to get in the Shawnee--I know he will do really well in there, and that will build my confidence in him too.

Because we still had daylight, we decided to put Boogie in the program too. Boogie has only been ridden twice since he came home from training at this time last year. Barry did it but was not happy about it. Boog's little brain was fried at the trainer--and I have no idea why. I know he was not mistreated, and he was already three when he went, so it should not have been immaturity, but maybe it was. The only option we had once he came home was to turn him out and let him let down--and man has he come down. He has become the friendliest horse on the farm--except maybe Radar. He WANTS to be around people which he did not last year.


I knew he would basically require starting over. First, he was terrified of the saddle pad. I mean, he shook, he rocked back on his hocks and spread out like the devil himself was after him, but he was afraid to move his feet. It was bizarre. After a few minutes, he simmered down, and we got the pad on him. That is when I decided to let Madison work with him, and I would take pics to document it all. It also is good for her--she is learning so much, and has such good sense about the horses.

It was not long before he was willing to put up with it. The expression on his facea absolutely kills me though--he looks totally humiliated. She put it on and took it off several times until he was totally cool--then something spooked him and she had to start all over again.
Look how suspicious he is of the thing! I have no idea what he thinks is going to happen to him, but this reminded me that when he got home from training, saddling and even unsaddling were major bears--he would shoot out like a madman when you even took the saddle off. It was the strangest thing. That gives us our next project for him--to get him comfy with that.
It was not even hard, really. He was timid about it, but after the first or second saddling, he was cool with standing there with his lead dragging the ground to be saddled and unsaddled repeatedly, and never moved at all. This goes to show that he did actually learn something in training, and he did retain it--he just needed the down time to become his old self and take things in stride like he always did growing up.
A nice surprise to me was that he was fine with bridling. He started that giraffe thing, it passed quickly. He worried that bit for a half hour or so, chomping and licking and slurping and fiddling with it--that is why he is making a funny face. I noticed later when we were all just standing around talking that he stopped messing with it--that is something I will keep an eye on. He likes to put his tongue over the bit for some reason, which is very peculiar and not helpful at all.

Since we were making progress, I decided that I should consider getting on him. He thinks not. He was adamant that it ought not be today, and that is fair. We threw a lot at him in one night, so we found some things he was able to do easily and quit at that point. Besides, it was dark!

I am definitely going to keep working on him, and get him to feel safe with someone on him again. I think he will come along fine, and it will give us something to do as we go into fall. Squeaklet will also go into this same program, but I do not anticipate nearly the work that Boog will take.

I have big business at work tomorrow, and I need to prepare for that yet tonight. No rest for the weary up in here, is there? At least I had a beautiful sunset to look at as we finished our outside stuff