Day Thirteen-Shortcake's First Ride; Penny gets a saddle

Shortcake was pretty awesome today.  She took the saddle really well inside the barn and walked all the way to the round pen with it.  I also put a new halter on her today and she didn't care about it either.  It is time to "mount up".  We did a little ground work before hand and made sure she was comfortable at all gaits with the saddle and then I put the bit into her mouth.  She took it like a champ and proceeded to chomp around on it for a while.  She didn't really like the taste as she gave me the "lip".  She went around a few more time and then it was time for me to be on her back and do the same thing.  I made sure she was good with flexing with the bit and then proceeded to jump up and down next to her then flick my foot at the stirrup and then i went up.  She didn't really move so I got down and did the process over again.  This time I reached over and rubbed her other side and then got down and repeated; only this time i went all the way over.  She didn't move a muscle!!!!  We stood there for a minute and then took off at a walk.  She did very well and we only had a slight crow hop the first time i asked for the canter.  She doesn't want to give to the bit pressure to turn but I am OK with that as long as we get the go and whoa.

Penny is, if you hadn't realized already, a completely different horse.  She is still pretty hesitant about the saddle and not super comfortable with ropes around her hind end.  Christen has done an awesome job with being patient and working with the horse at her pace but still pushing her a little bit more each day.  It never seems like much progress has been made but you can tell that Penny is trusting her a little more each time they work together.  Penny knows Christen won't eat her but I am not sure she knows the saddle won't eat her yet.  Funny thing is that Christen is the one with the saddle.  Hopefully, Christen can start with some drive lines during the next session and she can gain a little more trust and confidence with the saddle on her back.  She is super smart and just needs it to click in her head, and I believe once that happens Penny is going to be an even more awesome horse.

Day eight-eleven

Not much went on these days b/c we had the wonderful rain showers that hit us.  Lots of rain and flooding of our arena and round pen.  However, we did get to spend time in the stalls with the horses and they have become much easier to halter and lead into and out of the stalls.  Christen's horse (Penny) is definitely the smarter of the two, she catches onto things pretty quickly however, that also makes her more stubborn about things as well.  My horse(shortcake) on the other hand is a lot less spooky about things and is able to handle a little bit more pressure.  I think we found a couple of steals from the auction when we got a hold of these two!!

Day Seven-SADDLE DAY

So Yesterday was awesome!!! First we were really busy at the barn.  Christen had a lesson, people came to look at horses, and other folks came in to talk about training.  Everyone wanted to stay and see Christen and I work with our mustangs.  Of course they would want to come on a day when we are introducing something brand new that they have never seen before (saddle and pad).  I took Shortcake out and started with the saddle pad it was pretty interesting she went right up to it and giving into her curious side smelled the blanket and saddle.  However, when I took the blanket into my hands she immediately leaned back almost so the backs of her front legs were on the ground.  Just imagine looking at the sphinx and that is what my horse looked like.  We all died laughing.  She eventually figured it wasn't going to eat her and after about 5 minutes I was slapping it onto her.  She took the saddle a lot better and let me put in on her but was unsure about the stirrups hitting her on the sides.  It took about 25 minutes to get the saddle cinched up and ready to go...and she was off.  She only bucked a few times and when i said whoooooaaaaa she stopped looked at me and relaxed.  I sent her around a few more times making sure she changed directions and trotted and cantered both ways and the day was done.  We walked back to the barn and took the saddle off.  Penny was next and did not take the saddle pad quite as well.  She is a funny horse because after Christen had been working with her for a while you could tell she didn't really care about the pad however, she didn't want it near her either.  She danced around for a while and gave Christen quite a workout to keep up with her but she eventually stopped and let her slap the saddle pad right onto her back.  You know when they say you have to train two horses when your training, is definitely the way Christen has to approach everything with Penny.  She gets it on one side and then you would of thought she had never seen it when she moves to the other.  Even still, every time we see her move she gets more and more amazing with the way she carries herself.  Her natural headset is beautiful and she almost glides around the pen.  She is every thoroughbred like in her looks and is going to make an awesome horse.  It is going to rain tomorrow so I think there will be some inside training and desensitizing.  Big steps today and still a ways to go but I think we can be on them by middle of the week sometime around day ten or eleven!!!!!

Day Six

Today was more of the same.  Not a whole lot of new things thrown at them but we did do the same things over again and they are catching on really well.  Shortcake is a bit of a mover...she doesn't really like to stand still for a long time, which I am not real worried about right now we can work on the when we start riding.  Penny is a longing pro.  She goes when she is supposed to and stops whenever Christen asks.  I think tomorrow we are going to work with the saddle and saddle pad.  Hopefully all goes well!!!!!

Mustangs Day One-Five

Day Five
Today we did more rope training. Ropes around the head the neck and mid line and around the hind end. They started learning that as long as we are here the rope isn't going to eat you. We had few kicks and crow hops (more from Penny than Shortcake) but other than that they did great. They are much more comfortable with touching and rubbing their heads. This was huge for today they figured out that rubbing their forehead actually feels good and it is not that scary. They are also doing really well with putting their halters on. Now if shortcake will let us halter her from her left side and not just her right that would be great. More progress to come hopefully I can be on her back by Sunday!!!
Day Four
Today was awesome! We got all the way down to the round pen and then proceeded to start from there. After Shortcake got over the excitement of being out of her stall for the first time in a couple of days she settled down and started to try and figure out what I was telling her to do. She found out the ropes won't eat and neither will I. We learned that keeping two eyes on Matthew is always a good thing b/c she doesn't have to work as much and can stand still when she looks at me.  Penny is extremely smart and catches onto things very quickly, she has taken very well to sending and yielding her hindquarters.  She very much knows that two eyes on Christen is always the smart thing to do.  Day five should bring more sacking out with lots of ropes, lariats, maybe even a cap gun if I can get my hands on one!
Day Three
Didn't get to the round pen today but more quality time with Shortcake and Penny. Shortcake is taking me walking up to her much better and I can touch her with out her flinching very much now. Penny is doing very well and Christen was able to get a halter on Penny today! YES!!! A huge improvement from yesterday. We get to go to the round pen tomorrow and should be able to get a lot of work accomplished.
Day Two
We both got to touch our mustangs to day and I (Matthew) even got to put a halter on my horse today.  She didn't mind too much but you could tell she wasn't thrilled with the idea of me being anywhere near her face.  Penny let Christen get right up to her right away and let her touch and rub her however, she has been a problem with the whole halter thing.  Not a big deal considering its day two and we usually take them to the round pen on day five.  So I'm thinking that we are OK so far.
Day One
We unloaded the two into their stalls with fresh hay and water and left them to get use to their new surroundings.  They both we not as eager to get off the trailer as I though they would have been.  Shortcake (the strawberry roan) didn't want to get off at all and she stood there with my hat waiving in her face like what you are going to do.  It was pretty interesting hopefully that will translate to later work.  Penny (the chestnut) was much more eager to leave the trailer and get into her new stall.