Drill team

My other passion is Drill Team. Currently I am using my mom's gelding, Trigger. Trigger is, but has not always been, a very reliable horse. He is the perfect example of how when you spend the right amount of time on their back, they become a different horse. Since we began Drill, he has made a complete turn around from the horse he used to be. He is easy going and will do just about anything you ask him to do. When I first started drill team 3 years ago, he was sooo afraid of the flag. But look at him now. We were lead horse/rider for both the Grand Entry(flag drill) and our regular drill. He is the horse that we put all beginners on and he is especially good with little kids and people with special needs. He should be a therapy horse-he is that good!!!

I am currently training one of my mustangs; Kryptonite, for drill. He will be the horse I use next year for the regular drill. That way I can get a little stress off of Trigger.

The pictures below are from the last couple of weeks of training. I have introduced a lot of new things to Patriot. He is a sponge soaking it all up.
I introduced the trailer to Patriot, He wasn't too sure about it. Probably remembering that long ride home from Mississippi

He was brave enough to check out the inside. Good start for the first night.

Patriot loves water, especially when you spray his mouth.

As hot as it has been, a spray off with cool water is quite refreshing.

I do a lot of desensitizing. Here I am jumping from the podium straight at Patriot. He didn't move an inch. Can you say Spook in Place??? What a good boy he is.

Ponying Patriot with Trigger-Mr Dependable.

First attempt at loading Patriot in the trailer. It was getting pretty late as you can tell.

But, he followed me on without any hesitations.

Backing is coming along great. Much better than my previous mustangs. I don't have to cue him very much to get the back.

Trailer loading the second day. Again, he follows me on without hesitation.

Backing out was a different story. He didn't want to step down. So I turned him around in hopes that he would not explode out of the trailer.

Look at how calmly he stepped out of the trailer.

PIG! He couldn't even step completely off of the trailer to grab a bite to eat. I was really pleased that he did not explode out of the trailer.

I'm suppose to do what???

Experimenting with work above Patriot. He doesn't really care.

Leaning a little bit on him.

And putting my weight on him. I even rubbed under his belly where a cinch would go. He could care less.

Patriot is doing amazing. I am uber pleased with his training. He is solid on all of his ground work and he is so smart. He is a working horse, he doesn't like a lot of lovey dovey stuff, just likes to work and is eager to please.

First Day of Training

I start my Mustangs in a small pen about 20' X 20' using a long cane pole. With the size of the pen and the length of the pole, I can stay towards the center of the pen and touch my Mustang without risking injury. This is my Mustang's first touching. The pole servers two purposes; touching and the reward of scratching. The pole will basically rest on the withers until the horse stops, at which points he gets the reward of the pole scratching. I continue the process until I get to touch him all over with the pole. It has worked really well with all of the mustangs that I have trained.

Recap of Week 1

So it has been almost 1 week with Patriot. At first glance I thought that it was going to be harder to train Patriot. He had the air about him that he was not going to give an inch. He would turn his head away from me at first as if to say, if I don't look at her, she's not there! It didn't take long for that proverbial light switch moment. Sunday morning, sometime between my waking up and checking on him and my eating breakfast, Patriot removed his halter. By Sunday evening, I had the halter back on him. It has been all down hill since then. This is the one time that going down hill is good!

Yesterday, I set the round pen back up so that I was no longer working in a small square pen. We are now in the big boy pen. I had been working small circles in the square pen, so lungeing for him was no big deal. He did really great for his first time. He is learning to turn in and face up when he comes to a stop and he is really catching on very quickly.

This was our second time of picking up the front hooves. He is still a little tenative about giving them to me, but is getting better each time.

All good boys get their treat after a good training session and Patriot is no exception. Treats come in the form of a good old fashion scratching in his favorite places.

Meet Mustang Patriot!

Isn't he gorgeous. He is quite a bit taller than my mustang from last year. The round pen is 5ft tall so that gives you an idea of how tall he is. He is in really good condition. He comes from Wyoming and we figure him to be about 1.5 years old based on the vet records for him. He is an easy mover, has a fantastic trot and is very curious, but still very reserved. Not real sure what to think about me just yet. He turns his head away from as if to say, if I don't look at her, she's not there. But, it is very easy to get his attention and I am sure that a break through is just around the corner. I trained him 3 different times on his first day home and he has already made incredible progress from not letting me anywhere near him to letting me pet him. I am so excited to be doing this again. I can't wait to see what this horse develops into.

Day 1-first training session.

Patriot calmly walked out of the chute in Piney Woods, Mississippi and into our trailer. We remained calm the entire trip, eating and drinking every time we stopped.




After Patriot got a good night's rest, it was time to start the training process. He seemed calm enough that I didn't wait any longer. I started out in a round pen establishing lead horse with him. I do this by basically moving him around. I move him, if he stops I take his spot. This has worked with every mustang that I have ever worked with. Next, we move into a smaller square pen about 20 x 20 where I then introduce the cane pole. The smaller pen makes it easier to reach him and the cane pole is an extension of my arm, keeping me at a safe distance until he gets used to the feeling of something touching him. The corners provide a natural stop. When we left the facility in Piney Woods, Patriot had a halter on, but sometime between my waking up to check on him and my eating breakfast which was all of about 30 minutes, he managed to remove his halter. I wasn't overly concerned, he seemed calm enough I figured I would get it back on by the end of the week. Imagine my surprise when he let me slip off his neck rope/number and put the halter on that same evening.

Pick Up!!

I finally get to go pick up my yearling. I will be leaving for Piney Woods, Mississippi on Thursday. I will be back some time Saturday. I can promise that a ton of pictures will be taken and I will post as much as I can. I am really excited to start working with my yearling!!