Whewww, A saddle and rider, Finally

I know, I know, no word from the Bar T in over 20 days. Well, I must admit I didn't have much positive to write about. 10 days ago I saddled Pardon for the 3rd or 4th time with little problem. Each time saddled though I would get on and off both sides and he would stand for all this activity and then suddenly burst with fear as if he'd just awoken from a nap sending his rider reaching for the ejector switch. This happened several times with myself and nephew Daniel finding ourselves on the ground in odd shapes. The last ride left Pardon with a saddle totally upside down and slid back! Well let me give you a story to tell; as Pardon rounded the pen in total dis-array Daniel began to slide towards the outside with saddle. His grip on the night-latch was relentless and never gave up 'til he was completely left sided of Pardon. Off he comes and the saddle slips under creating a fright for the young horse. Round and round he went really recking havoc on the round pen. Now, this round pen is 6+ feet tall, 2x8 White Oak boards nailed with 20 penny barn nails. Well, in a matter of 1-2 mins he had brought down 5 boards and didn't seem as if he was giving up. I'd try to step in front of him several times to bring him back to this earth but Pardon was having no part of it. Next thought was open the gate in front of him as he comes around, ok, it worked. He slams on the breaks, hard right, around the gate and out into the pasture before I could cut him off. Now what have I done?....Round the pasture he goes with this nasty saddle moving farther back each time he bucks. Well, he's not having any of that so right thru a 4 wire high tensile fence to the back pasture. This one is much bigger so he has about 4 acres to outrun this saddle. After over 10 min's of this malay he finally stops at the far back corner. I'm finally able to walk up to this poor fellow and give him some relief. Well, as soon as I touched that cinch to loosen it off he goes again. The monster is back! 3-4 more min's, thru 1 more fence and he's in a paddock attached to the round pen with 2 more mustangs. Whew, friends to comfort him but nope, this just scared them all so we're back now in the round pen running, now 3 horses. After a couple of min's we cut the other horses away from Pardon and now he's back where it began. Exhausted from this ordeal Pardon stops and gives me the opportunity to use a razor and cut the cinch strap dropping the saddle under him. Folks, I think this is the ultimate de-sensitivity tool ever. Though, he totally destroyed my best and oldest ranch saddle, a Hermon Hiezer made in Denver, Co around 1900 it did serve its purpose. Inspection showes no cuts, a few abrasions and a totally exhausted horse. Pardon was back to himself later that evening so I wanted to take advantage of this exhausted state for some more exposure. Well, it worked. His first jumps accross logs on the lunge line, sending exercises, cross the bridge, and loading in the trailer. Though we didn't get very far under saddle today we made tremendous advancements in these other tasks. Final analyst. Much more ground work to soften the nerves of this nice horse.

So, for the next 15 days we ground drove, lunged, sent, worked feet, introduced to a bridle, lots of saddling, baths, trimmed feet again, exposed to the outside world beyond the roundpen and pasture. With lots of on and off without saddle and I just could not get him to remove that guard and fear of someone on his back moving around. OK, I'm at a point of giving up or moving to the last ditch effort of causing him to submit himself to the human. I've only had to lay down one other horse in my training career and really didn't want to so I consulted with a super friend of mine, another trainer and excellent finisher on cow horses. Suggestion from Reggie was lets pony Pardon with a rider using his big head horse, Goose. OK, let's give it a try. So we set the date and made it happen. Results, not-to-good! Pardon just could not get the concept of leading along close enough to Goose without a rider for a rider to sit him without being in jeopardy. Several times Pardon who is 14 hands would rear up over Goose, 16.2 hands refusing the pull. Pardon leads super so this was a big fear thing that Reggie working over 2 hrs with Goose and Pardon could not overcome. Our last recourse was to lay him down. Trying to be as calm as possible, with the least amount of stress it took over one hour to finally put Pardon on the ground. If there is another horse in this world with a stronger will I, nor Reggie have yet to meet him. With little force, lots of patience, and a exhausted horse he finally relents and lays down. I began first by putting a blanket over his eyes and completely worked over his entire body with my hands. Removed the blanket and repeated the process. Folks, this was one tired horse and we were concerned if he could get back up on his own. I must say you could watch the fear leave his body as this process continued. After maybe 10-15 min's Reggie and I helped him back up and gave him a short rest and water. So, now lets see how this may have helped. Saddled and with a long lead Daniel mounts Pardon with no issues. We lead him off, left and right, forward and backwards, lunge in a small circle, direction changes, walk and trot and no issues. OK, is this because he's totally exhausted, calmed from laying him down, or did we find his easy button? I can't answer. I'll wait until the next day and see. So, a bath and a lot of just walking around the pasture so Pardon can destress and work out those (I'm sure) tired muscles before supper.

Next morning Pardon did show a more relaxed sense when I entered the stall to get him. His normal snorts and nervous actions were barely noticeable.I saddled Pardon up, a little lunge work, flexing and finally Daniel again mounts up. Pardon showed little concern with this so we move off, first leading, next sending left and right with Daniel giving cues from the saddle and me following up from the ground. As things progressed I was able to remove the lunge line and drive Pardon around the roundpen with left and right turns, stops, starts, walk, trot and lopes. By sessions end Pardon is moving at the request of Daniel as he is beginning to understanding the cues being given without my encouragement. I think we have crossed over and should have plenty of time to make him a competitive prospect for the competition. Pictures will be posted this weekend.

Here's where we are......and then some

Things are very busy here at the Bar T. With 3 new mustangs and our personal horses combined leaves little time for anything. Pardon continues to make daily progress with the least bit of attention. I think with the time I spent with Medicine Man last year Pardon would already be in the parades. In the past week I’ve only been able to give him an average of 45 min’s per day. I spend more time with him in the stall than the round pen. BUT, with that said here’s where we are. Monday we worked on all the basics learned before any new tasks. Round pen left and right with a stop on command at any point. He did have his favorite spots in the round pen where he was most comfortable but now we can operate in any place. Without lead we can brush his entire body including his tail. He loves his head and pole scratched and rubbing his eyes will almost put him to sleep. With the lounge whip we can crack it all around, slap the ground, and toss it all over his body and around his legs. No problem. Bag on a stick? Well, If you could hold up he would stand while you beat him with it for hours with no interest. Thru his legs, belly, hind-end, manly-parts, no problem. Bug spray? I think he now knows that it keeps those nasty horse fly’s away. I have given him 2 doses of equi-spot and that’s working a lot of the fly issues. A rinse off is tolerated but not really loved. Leads forward and backward on request with a slack rope. He is just beginning to follow slightly without any lead until he gets distracted but can be picked up again just by turning in a circle. I still want him a bit further up on my shoulder as we lead, now he stays about 2 feet behind me. Feet, I have both fronts with little panic from him and can hold 10-15 seconds. Going for the rear feet later this week. Blue tarp is no problem walking on or having it rubbed on him. I did trim his bridle path with electric clippers over the weekend. We even cut back a few whiskers in the process. Now for the new stuff. My goal Monday was to get on his back. That went well. Within 10 min’s of first attempt I had laid across his back from both sides, slid all around from neck to hips and put a pad on and off 10-15 times. The little fellow didn’t quite know what to think when I started jumping up a down as I rubbed his body. I think he envisioned me being the big bad tiger… after we got thru that Pardon only spooked 1 time after I got on moving more from my own fright than his. A super horse. With the pad I was able to get on and off either side at my leisure by the end of the session. I really haven’t found a true issue with this fellow. His trust is slowly overcoming his fears, his manners well outweighs the times he does spook keeping he and I safe during that brief second. Can’t wait until tomorrow. Saddle time!

Day 3 and a Name change!

Back home at last. After being gone 6 days I felt Ricochet would have forgotten most of what we've learned. Yes he was a little shy, would rather run than be close to me but the face up and turns we're still there. It's Sunday evening, 7 days from the last session so a recap on all things learned were in order. It's really been hot lately and today is no exception. Temp is 96 and it 7pm. Wow, I think we need to do this in the fall! I had to rope him again, this must be the last time for roping and we were back in tune within 30 min's. Being so hot I'd brought in a water hose for a bath if he could stand it and boy did he. Being so shy and enjoying the cool water really confused him I think. Good things just can't come from humans........Yes folks, a bath on the 3rd lesson. After the bath a quick squeegee down and back to work. During my absence I thought a lot about a new name. His demeanor just didn't match his name. I gave lots of thought and I came up with the name that will stick. "PARDON" I've never had a horse or worked with a horse that had such manners. Under no circumstance will he run over you, bump into you, push you or just plain ol' walk into you. This fellow really respects his handler and fellow horses. To see him get in a stressful spot, he can't go back, won't go forward over you and left and right are out of the question so he just stands and trembles til the danger passes. What a gentleman! Plans for this evening was to move him out of the roundpen and into a stall in the barn. His fears would not let him walk into the barn. It was getting late so I just decided to try something he has become really great at. Backing! Whenever Pardon just won't walk thru it, over it, around it, or by it we just back right thru it. And does he do it with style. No pressure on the lead or halter. Just a sigh to back and off we go. We backed down the ally and right into his new stall. No problem. We will work on walking in forward tomorrow. So for the remainder of the evening Hay, sweetfeed, and water and a fan to keep cool by.......OHHHH, what a life.

Day 2, Ricochet continues to impress!

Monday morning came with one more chance to work with Ricochet. I had to leave town for a week today and wanted to get his halter on and off, start leading and work on a little de-spooking today.


Right out he came with yesterdays lessons still fresh on his mind. Left, right, face-up were still in the front of his mind. I did have a little trouble touching him so back out with the rope and we had a lead rope on him within ten min's. My nephew, Daniel was down and he is really interested in the horse training stuff. I started with hands all over his body rubbing face, pole, neck, withers, belly and back and worked down both rear legs to his hocks. Yes, sometimes he would run off but patience paid off as he had a complete rub down. I brought Daniel into the roundpen for some additional human exposure and Ricochet picked up on this quickly. We worked on yielding the hindquarters and facing up even when we walked tight circles. This fellow really did catch on quick! We finished up the day with a short lesson in lunging and again, he fell right into the task at hand. I put him away for the remainder of the week in hopes that his memory was as good as his attention.

School begans!

After arriving home early on Sunday morning, 2 AM I gave my project a little rest until Sunday evening. I had planned on getting the halter off, number tag off, and a little hands on before the day was done. Having only 1 roundpen and 2 mustangs we (Chapin and I) are having to schedule our times so as not to conflict. Chapin was in first and gave me the pen around 7 in the evening so I could have a couple of hours before dark. I picked a name during the ride home for my horse due to his reaction in and around confined areas. In watching him he reminded me of a pinball bouncing off anything he touched. Hence, the name Ricochet came to be.

Ricochet entered the roundpen with purpose. He was a little lost without Chapin's horse, "Razin Cain" in the pen so his focus was on the attached stalls. It didn't take long for Ricochet to pull into my world and he was very quick in facing up. This was really exciting because this can sometimes take 15 min's. With him, in less than 5. Direction change went well after that and he seemed genuinely interested in what was going on. After about 30 min's of left, right, face-up and follow me with his head I decided to put a rope on him to speed things up and go for the touch. Without the rope I was able to get within 10 feet of him. I didn't want to make the same mistake I did with Medicine Man in working til dark and having to deal with that.

So, out comes a new rope my kids game me for Father's day with a Buck Brannoman honda and around his neck it goes. Now, here was a big surprise, no bucking, kicking, snorting, or rude behavior when he felt the rope across his body or the pressure on his neck. (I had already thrown the rope on him several times during the initial roundpen work to kinda de-sensitize him to the new feel). Within 5 min's he was facing up fully and backing away from me when I applied to much pressure with my body. What else could you ask for! Within 30 min's, I was able to touch him on the forehead and a jaw rub. We had several observers that evening so the distractions were very large for this close contact. Our friend Helena decided she wanted to try her hand at this mustang taming stuff so in she comes and gives it a try. One thing I failed to tell her was don't try to hold him when he runs off, wait until the burst is over and have him face back up using the rope. Well, he gave her a real sand ski trip across the roundpen and her poor hands just could take the sliding rope and she wound up with several rope burns. I think she maybe learned a lesson. After a few touches I removed the number tag, removed the rope and gave him the rest of the evening to soak-in his lesson. Monday would bring new and exciting things.

Another horse? Just what I needed!

I just had the fill in the mustang world on a future addition to the Bar T before I get underway with my EMM Mustang. In early May while researching the BLM internet auction site I ran across the seldom seen mustang. A splattered paint, 15.2 hands, 5 years old and looking for a home. This young man was captured in CA 18 months ago and had not made it to an adoption site. Well, as luck would have it I was able to adopt him for a mear $280.00. I arranged shipment via the BLM (free if your willing to wait for them to leap frog your horse from the holding site to a local adoption) to Archdale. While we were in IL picking up our 3 EMM horses we where walking around the site and low and behold, there he stands awaiting transportation to NC . Not having enough room in the trailer or room here at the BAR T until we have these 3 manageable we just had to leave him in IL. I hope to have my EMM mustang well on his way by the time he gets here. I haven't named him yet so if anyone has any ideas just run'em up the flag pole!

Horses Arrive

Welcome all to the next Extreme Mustang Makeover 2008. We've just returned from Ewing, IL with our new gifts from BLM/EMM. The trip up was with much anticipation as to what was awaiting. After 12 hours on the road we arrived at the facility at 9:00 am. We were 2nd in line for our horses so we had some time to look around and check out the grounds. They had alot of horses ranging from weanling's to mature horses separated mainly by age in holding pens. Each pen of adequate size to support the number of horses with no overcrowding. They all had plenty of hay and fresh water. During our walk around we were surprised with 1 horse in particular. A very flashy paint gilding very similar to one I adopted earlier from the Internet adoption site. Well, as fate has it he was the same. I had adopted him in early May and arranged for shipment to our local adoption site here in NC for the annual adoption in July. Well, seems as if they have leap-frogged him to IL awaiting the local adoption here. This really was a pleasant surprise.
OK, own to the draw. Again as last year selection for horses had already been made prior to the trainer arrivals so there would be no favoritism. WE backed up to the pens and had our first look at our new projects. As mentioned earlier we were there for 3 horses. 2 EMM horses and a yearling for the yearling challenge. First out of the pen was a nice yearling, a bay filly with legs as long as a giraffe. That's for Emily and was she happy! 2 down the line was a bold and very stocky chestnut that turned out to be mine. More on him later. And third was Chapin's bay, a 3 year old slender but healthy gilding. As BLM requires a halter was put on all the horses with little trouble. The handlers at the facility were excellent in handling the horses and created a near to none stressful environment for the mustangs. Horses loaded and back on the road. We decided to stop a couple of hours down the road after they had settled in for a little hay and water. The trip went well afterwards and they ate and drank for the entire ride home. We arrived back at the Bar T around 1:00 AM and released our new friends directly into the round pen for sorting out later after a few hours of sleep.