Warmsprings Mustangs

We introduced our newest students in our Interactive Lessons, Shima and Seekseekqua.  We show how to move them from their stall to the work area.  Then we introduce them to the bamboo pole.  We are going to have a lot of fun with these two!

We did more with the bamboo pole and both horses got quieter.  The key is taking your time!

We continued with our pole and even managed to rub Seeky with the pole, of course he was hiding behind mom so he loved every minute of it!  When opportunity knocks, we go with it!

Today we were able to work up to rubbing Seeky with our hand!!  We put a rope around Shima as well and worked on getting her to give to it a little.  Great day!!

We worked them both again with the rope and pole, working our way closer to them and Shima even sniffed me!  We also separated them today as well.

Since it was Seekseekqua’s first day alone he was pretty upset, but we were still able to rub him down with the pole and by the end he had settled down

This is the first day we worked Shima alone but she did good! We continued with the pole and rope and even started to pet her a bit!! Yippy! Working with wild ones is so fun!

We made a lot of progress today! Shima did nip at us but all in all did great! We also fashioned our make shift squeeze halter on her and petted her quite a bit.

Seeky did great today! He was much calmer and we sacked him out with the rope on the pole.

Today we show in detail how to put on our make shift squeeze halter using a tame horse. Then we put that halter on Shima and worked with her moving when asked by using a flag. She did great!

Seeky was very funny today! We worked him with the pole, then the rope and then got our hands on him and he loved it!! We did had some camera battery issues, we got though it in perfect time!

Shima is sure coming around! We still start with the bamboo pole but we went quickly to the rope. We worked on getting her to move around us both ways using the flag then rubbed her all over with it! We finished up by putting a halter and drag rope on.

We had battery difficulties again today so was cut short on our time, but Seeky did great!! We were up petting him and worked our way up to his withers!

Seekseekqua sure loves his scratches!! I know he is so close to giving in totally! We were able to get right up beside him today and he was loving the affection! He respects the rope enough that for the most part we can control him easily.

Today we show how to catch Shima with her halter and drag rope on. We then went into some flag work and showed how we go from flag work to leading.

Today we took Shima out into the round corral. Things got a little crazy a couple of times but the work we put in all ready helped us out a ton! We worked moving in a circle with the flag as well as leading some from both sides. We also lead her to her stall to put her away.

Today Seeky really started checking us out!! He is thinking I am a pretty good buddy because I scratch all his itches!!

We changed stuff up a bit today and took Shima into the indoor arena and flagged her off horse back.  This is a fantastic way to build confidence in a horse that is scared.  They have the security of another horse and the person is safer than being on the ground.  Also she started wanting to panic and run away yesterday so I want to stop that as fast as possible and this will do it!

Today we introduced the halter to Seeky. Then we taught him to check it out to get scratches!! It was very fun to watch and his actions were very funny! He is sure coming along good! He will be someones best friend!!

This was the 2nd day flagging Shima and she is definitely getting much better! We worked on rubbing her muzzle today too and are trying to go into her pen several times between sessions to get her better about us approaching her.

We are now just using our rope to get a hold of Seeky instead of needing the bamboo pole. He is doing good and we even put his halter on him today! He wasn’t sure he liked the feel of it but decided it was ok!

Today we continued with our flagging and added teaching Shima how to “pony”. It makes it a lot easier to teach them in a controlled area then out in the hills the first time! She did really well and we look forward to next week!

Well, we upped the anti and really made progress with Seeky today!! We put his halter on again but this time with a rope and progressed to getting him to give to it. The end result was to have him maul my face!! He is so cute!

Today we continued with Shima and flagging but added in working her around in an arena with another horse to teach her how to move fluidly and get some extra energy out of her. She is really starting to come around! We can even hug her now!

Today we put Seeky’s halter on and worked him with it a bit. We then left a drag rope on him and showed how to pet him in his stall.

We continued with flagging Shima off horse back and including teaching her to “pony”.

Today we worked with Seeky and the flag. He did great and really started focusing on us! He is such a ham!!!

We continued with our flagging and ponying, then did some leading from the ground and some moving her around with another horse.

Today we worked Seeky with the flag and got him to move well in both directions.

We did some more flagging with Shima off Tonto, working on getting her to back away and move off away from us. She did really good! We then did some leading on the ground and finished with tying her for the first time.

Today we ventured to the small round corral with Seeky and did some flag work and basic lunging. We also started on our leading when asked and keeping a bubble.

Before we started recording I had moved Shima around with 2 other horses, it really helped her as we started working her today. We did some ponying, getting our move over and back off. Then progressed to getting some of the same things on the ground. She is doing great!!

Today we continued our work in the round corral with some lunging, flag work and including our rope treatment and the starting of picking up his feet.

Today Seeky’s family came to see him!! We covered all the things we did yesterday and included getting petted by his family! The first time someone other than Kitty petted him!

Today we continued our work with Seeky in the round pen. We also added using the squeeze halter to get him to come forward better. We also did the rope treatment, flag work, lunging, and picking up his feet.

We worked Seeky again in the round pen teaching him how to actually “lunge” by adding a whip and asking him to stay in a steady pace longer than normal. We also worked some more on leading and picking up his feet again.

Today we took Seeky out to the indoor arena. He thought it was play time but soon started to focus on his job! We still are using our squeeze halter for lunging and getting him to continue to come towards us when we apply pressure. He is really getting good!! Little temper tantrum but not bad! We also teach moving away from us and stopping today.

Today Seeky’s family made it out again! It was great to show them in person how wonderful he is doing! We worked some more on his lunging, picking up his feet, side passing away, haunch turns, and also tied him up for a while! Then let one of the girls up to visit with him some and he was much better this time!

Today we skipped out lunging and worked on our leading and positioning, haunch turns, side passing, picking up feet, etc. We finished up with tying him. He is soooo smart and really doing fantastic!!

Today we worked on lunging, rope treatment, leading, picking up feet, haunch turns and added a new trick!! How to back when asked!! He is doing great!! We also finished with tying him up for a while.

Today Seeky’s owners were out so I was able to let Mattie work with him. I took time to show how to ask him for the basics and get him to respond to her as he is with me.

We took Seeky out to the outdoor arena today and walked across a cow hide, bridge and poles as well as drug an orange disk. He was outstanding!!

Today we worked with tying Seeky up as we cleaned out his feet, brushed him and got him use to us leaving and coming back. Then we picked up a saddle pad and worked on getting him used to it on the ground and his back. He did great!

Today we are sending Seeky home!! We trimmed up his feet and taught him to load into a trailer. He did a great job and his owners are so excited to have him at home! We will see Seeky from time to time as he grows up and we hope to start him under saddle when he is old enough!