Plastic Bags

Last night, I tied some plastic bags to the panels in Rooster's pen in hopes he might become a little more accustomed to the scary objects. This morning I went out to feed, and they were in about 1,000 pieces, scattered around the pen. I guess we can skip that lesson for now!

Week Three - Still Raining

I apologize for the lack of posts... honestly there hasn't been much going on around here.  It's been wet and rainy all week.  I've mentioned this before, but the ground here becomes extremely unstable when saturated, so training time has been limited.  Rooster and I have continued to work on picking up feet, desensitizing around the face, saddling and unsaddling, bringing in some foreign objects like tarps and plastic bags, etc.  He's slowly becoming more comfortable with me.

So in the meantime, I've put some videos together for you!

Week Three - Rooster Tail

After closer investigation of Rooster's tail, I discovered it to be a horrible mess of tangles and dreadlocks underneath the outer layer.  What better way to spend this rainy Monday than some quality time with Rooster, picking away at his tail?  Here is a before and after picture, although it's hard to tell how bad it really was.  There's still some work to be done, but I got everything going mostly in the right direction.

I noticed that Rooster doesn't like me to go from one side to the other behind him.  He says, "No, you can't just go from this side to that side, it's just not right!"  He will get over it.  :)

Wrapping Up Week Two

Rooster's not too sure about his new "do."

The last few days of our adventure so far have been spent working more on picking up feet and desensitizing around his face - two areas Rooster is still pretty shy about.  We did get the saddle on again a couple more times without incident and I spent some time on his back.  He's not quite sure what I'm doing up there or why, but he seems to be OK with it so far.

As you can see, Mother Nature brought us more moisture!  Today we are mane-training: Something I knew little about until recently.  Apparently there's a certain side a horse's mane should always fall on when you are showing - his right side.  I noticed some of the other trainers doing this, so here we are, keeping up with the Jones.'  I can barely braid my own hair... so hopefully I'm doing this kind of right!  Over time, Rooster's mane should naturally fall and stay on his right side.  This will also help showcase his brand, which is on his left side.

We're expecting more rain showers this week, so Rooster and I will be slowing it down again with some more practice on the basics: Feet, head, flexing, desensitizing, grooming, etc.  Time spent doing the "boring" stuff will surely pay off in the end.

Week Two

 

Saddle day was pretty uneventful - a good thing in the horse world!  Rooster took some time to warm up to the saddle, but once it was on - he didn't seem to have a care in the world.  Very proud of this boy - not a single buck!

Week Two - First Saddle Encounter

I'm a horrible blogger because I didn't take any pictures or video this time!  I will try to do better!

Rooster met the saddle and saddle pad for the first time and with much discussion, decided it would be OK to wear it.  We didn't cinch up or move out much, but he seemed to be fine with it flying up onto his back, sitting there and stirrups hanging around him.  At this point, Rooster seems more terrified of me than of anything I come at him with.  I was finally able to walk up to him and pet him without any flinching or trembling - so I know we're getting somewhere!

Tomorrow we'll get the saddle up again and move out.  I'd also like to work more on his legs and feet - he seems confused as to why I am down there.  It reminds me of stallions fighting in the wild.  I've linked to a video demonstrating how wild horses duke it out in the desert (these boys are just playing, though).  Notice how they're always going for the legs.  I wonder if Rooster's instincts start to kick in when I'm coming at his legs?  It must be a battle of the minds in poor Rooster's head: Are you a challenger? Are you a friend? Why do you like me so much???

Week Two - Rooster 2.0

Rooster seemed to enjoy the attention - look at that mane!

We survived week one!  Still a bit spooky, but I know he'll come around.  I'm happy to report that after less than a minute of squirting the detangler spray bottle around Rooster, he didn't have a care in the world about it.

Due to the wet weather we had a few days ago, it's still pretty muddy and we haven't done a ton of work.  I can brush him all over, handle his feet and have no problems walking up to him to snap on a lead rope.  Not making huge strides like some of the other trainers, but again I'm happy with our progress.  Looks like we have sun and 70s in the forecast this week, so my plan is (like it was before the snow storm!) to get him under saddle and hopefully ridden by the weekend.  We'll see how it goes!

Day Five & Six - Finally Relaxed

Day Five decided to bless us with over a half inch of rain, so we skipped round pen work in the interest of safety and opted for some quality one-on-one time.  I'm almost to the point in training where I can't progress much further until I really gain his trust, so I spent some time with him just scratching him all over, working on his face (which he's still extremely shy about) and walking up to him over and over again.  He tenses up every time I approach - so lots of approach and retreat will do Rooster some good.  I didn't feel like we had any break-through moments, but practice makes perfect.

Brrrr!!

Day Six started out with 8"-10" of snow on the ground and no power!  The rain never let up overnight and instead turned to snow.  Looks like our round pen work will be put on hold for a least another couple days.  It gets way too goopy and slick around here when it's wet.

I spent more time with Rooster this morning, again rubbing and scratching all over.  I'm thrilled to report that for the first time since he's been here, he finally relaxed for me.  I got to scratching his recent Freezebrand, and OH MY it must have been itchy!  He dropped his head and had his eyes about half shut.  THIS was the break-through moment I've been waiting for!  Rooster is finally understanding that I'm not trying to eat him and it's OK to chill out.  For the first time, he let me rub all over his head, nose and underneath his jaw.  I finally felt comfortable enough with our progress to take his lead rope off, which the poor guy has been dragging around since his arrival.

So we've got control of his feet and his mind is coming right along.  I am so excited to see where we go from here.  The moisture is a Godsend for our precious crops, but it's sure putting a damper on my horse activities!  :)

Day Four

Today we worked on more of the same - rubbing, lunging, disengaging hindquarters, etc.  We did some desensitizing to the lead rope, which Rooster tolerated very well.  He doesn't mind it wrapped around his belly, legs, butt, neck or even his head.  He's slowly becoming more comfortable and relaxed with me, but we still have a ways to go.  Didn't want to go back into his pen again, but I was thrilled that after trying to send him just twice, he went right in without a fight.  Good boy!  As you can see, he loves to pose for photos.

Tomorrow I'll get the saddle out and see how far he'll let me take us.  And I'll be coming at him with some detangler for that mane ASAP!

Day Three - First Touch

Today I was able to touch Rooster for the first time!  He is still pretty terrified, but tolerates me.  I was able to rub and scratch his withers, chest, neck and mane.  He is very shy about his face and would not let me touch him there.  Once again, it will simply take time to gain his trust, but we're on the right track.

Can't wait to get to work on that beautiful mane!

After a great session, it was time for Rooster to go back into his pen.  In the round pen, he has a visual of my other two horses, who happen to be mares.  In his pen, he can only see them from one corner.  I'm not sure if that's the reason, but it seemed likely.  He did NOT want to leave the round pen, so we had a little work to do.  I would lead him to the gate between his pen and the round pen, then he'd stop and go no further.  So I tried sending him through and he decided he wanted to just take off in the other direction.  He did pin his ears at me several times, but very briefly.  I am adamant about shutting that behavior down immediately, wild or not.  At any rate, I was finally able to coerce him back into his pen, but I'm hoping we don't have to go through this every day.  Time will tell!

Aside from that small issue, I am super happy with our progress!

Day Two

Rooster has learned to turn and face me for release.  He responds well to the lead rope and seems to be soft and sensitive.  I'm impressed with his lunging skills already!  Although he still won't allow me to touch him, I'm confident we'll pass that milestone within the coming days.

Day One - Rooster

I had several names going through my head for this little guy, but I've decided to call him Rooster.  He's spunky with some attitude, and of course still pretty wary.  I'm excited to see our progress.

Day One consisted of some easy work in his pen.  My primary goal was to get him understanding the lead rope: Release of pressure when you give and face me, which is a very good foundation to have for future training situations.  If he gets scared, he will remember his "safe" place is to stop, turn and face me.

Secondly, I wanted him to understand that when he decides to leave me, we go to work.  When he stands with me, we get to relax.  I wanted to keep it pretty low-key for the first day.  When horses are stressed, it takes a lot longer for the learning to happen.  He caught on very quickly to the lead rope, but is still very unsure of me so getting him more comfortable will take some time.

Rooster definitely had some freak-out moments in the beginning (with halter/lead contact and pressure), but once he started understanding what I was asking of him, he really mellowed out.  He tested me a little with some head tossing and butt/kick threatening, but never pinned his ears or actually kicked out.  I imagine down the road as he becomes more confident in his new surroundings, we'll be enduring a few more tests.

Tomorrow we'll work in the round pen and start getting better control of his mind and his feet.

Pick Up Day

Pick up day has finally come and gone!  We arrived at the corrals around 8:30AM to a line of horse trailers whose drivers were all as anxious as I to see their horses.  It gave us some time to browse the facility and try to catch a glimpse of our horse.  Lots of great animals looking for homes in the Boise facility.

After an hour or so, it was my turn to load.  Down the alleyway came this guy: A 2011 from Hardtrigger Herd Management Area, gathered last October and gelded in February.  We were finally loaded and headed out around 10AM.  After almost 11 hours on the road, we made it home and unloaded.  My poor guy was exhausted (and so was I!)  Much to discover about each other in the coming days.