No Expectations

Well ain't that a handy title for a gig about starting horses under saddle.  But I think starting horses and finally getting them comfortable under saddle is a mixed bag.  There is a degree of uncertainty about the final product that no amount of knowledge and experience can overcome.  As Forest Gump's mom said about life and a box of chocolates, you're never quite sure what in the hell you're going to get.  And that same wisdom holds true for horses.  Never has that been more true than with the three months I spent with "Pink" the five year old filly I started this past summer. 

And for the record, I think she's five and from what I've gathered she is a registered horse, has a good pedigree, and even got some size on her.  But who knows.  The fellow that sent her here is a bit of puzzle himself.  He may have given me the real scoop on the filly but who knows.  He'd called me to inquire about having her started and trained and after a bit of discussion we agreed on two months at $500 per.  Little did I know!  I thought from the little he told me about her, she'd been with her mom for the entire five years and had just been weaned the previous spring and had never been touched by human hands until I loaded her from her pen into my horse trailer the old fashioned way.  I backed into the gate and used a crop to jump her into the front end of the trailer which I'd loaded up with hay.  I got her home OK, carefully fit a pink halter on her while working over the top of her from a rail in the round pen and then turned her out into a smaller pen with water and feed. 

Now back to the fellow who owned the horse;  usually you can get a decent handle of understanding about the horse in question from the owner.  Using even that small bit of background I can normally start a horse with that information in mind and slowly progress to a level that I understand and from where I can continue on.  But Pink didn't follow anything close to the pattern that had been described to me by the owner.  I don't think Pink had ever been out of the pasture she'd been born in and there is a good chance she'd been with mom for five years.  She was terrified of the new surroundings, of me, and anyone else she began to come in contact with over the following days.  I kept her in a smaller pen directly adjacent to the big corral and the bulk of our herd for company and companionship.  And when I turned the big bunch out to pasture that first night Pink busted through the two by six rails of her pen in a frantic effort to stay with her kind.  I put a couple of our older, gentler horses in with her and that did seem to calm her down.  At that point, however, I was really beginning to recognize I had a real project on my plate.  An owner who didn't have a clue what his mare was all about and a trainer who very possibly had bought himself a job he didn't really want.  And no expectations!

A week or so go by and I haven't heard from the owner nor have I gotten the standard deposit fee for training.  But true to my word to the owner I've begun to spend some time around the horse.  I've had my hands all over her, taken her halter off and put it back on a number of times and I'm beginning to recognize some acceptance of the mare to the human touch and my presence.  And she is putting on some weight.  That says something about her as well.  Time to get her to the round pen and let the show begin!

I normally start a horse in the round pen and today is no different.  Pink isn't even halter broke but I manage to lead her that short distance to the round pen where I take that halter and lead rope off and slowly begin to move or longe her around the inside circumference of the rails.  It doesn't take a whole lot of prodding to get her moving and with the help of a crop with a cracker at the end of it I'm sure to get her attention and keep it.  But I don't push her hard.  She's full of adrenaline and fear and looking hard for a way out.  When she tries to duck between two rails I pop that crop and move her past that distraction.  But I'm a little slow on the uptake and on the sixth or seventh trip around she jumps the six foot pen and takes out the top rail doing so.   You've got to see it to believe it.  I've never had a horse jump over the round pen, not this one.  Over the gate, yes, but not over the top rails.
Well, she jumps out twice, and then over the gate once.  We've got a wreck on our hands.  Ya' thnk?

I attach a longe line to her halter and move her out some more with the added control and as she runs by her by- now- normal escape route I can jerk her back on track and keep her in the pen.  We're making progress.  She's beginning to fix that inside eye on me and less on escape routes and I'm even getting her to a slower, less frantic speed while switching directions.  But she bears watching.  I'm not putting any more pressure on her today and so I slow her down by slowing my body language down.  After a few minutes, I lead her in slowly and face her up to me while rubbing the front half of her body.  She's shy and suspicious but with patience and deliberation and with a good workout under her belt she's more accepting of the direction I'm beginning to take her.

After several weeks of round pen work, and as you can see in the photos below, Pink begins to make some real progress in her training.  The shot of her going over the gate on her second training day is her last real stunt.  I'm pushing her through her round pen distractions and helping her develop good habits and an easier disposition.  When she strays into distraction I can bring her back into focus with a verbal cue or the crack of the crop.  She's begun to get very attentive with both eyes now and in most cases I can get her to hook on and face up.  I'm amazed at the relatively quick turn-around she's made.

The five year old mare bears with me through the next sixty days with several one to two hour sessions per week.  Pink doesn't jump the round pen rail again.  I can catch her almost at will and I've begun to saddle and bridle her regularly while sacking her out or desensitizing her to motion, noise, ropes, and tarps.  And by the way, she's put on some good weight and is beginning to look like the quarter horse she is.  Plus, she's mine.  You know, possession is nine tenths of the law!  The owner never has contacted me, nor has he sent a check for board or training.  I'm going to keep the horse, put our brand on her, and that's that!

I've been procrastinating to some extent for a while.  It's getting close to that time to get on her back and under saddle.  Let's see what kind of horse we really have.  Contrary to some of my earlier thoughts, I am beginning to feel pretty good about Pink.  Yes, she was a mess early on in her training but she's come a long way on the ground, as they say, and if my instinct is now anywhere close to solid I am thinking she's become a helluva prospect.  But I always exercise lots of caution anymore when I do that first ride.  You never know for sure how a horse is going to act that first time.  They can blow up, flip over, who knows.  Getting hurt is the last thing I want to have happen at this stage in my life so time, patience, and caution are the keys.  And so is the proper training and ground work.  From the very start of a horse's training regimen, you can learn an enormous amount about a horses' normal behavior from what it shows you on the ground.  Pink has steadily displayed not only a calm demeanor under rigorous training but I've seen a learning curve that only continues to improve.  Judging from those observations I'm thinking she'll acept me being in the saddle with her calmly.  We've worked together well.  She's gotten to know me, developed a respect and trust for my training methods, and yes, I for her increasingly improved responses to those methods.  It hasn't all come real easily but it has come.  We've prepared each other well for that first mounting.  We've gone well beyond what I've able to write in this piece.  There's that subliminal relationship that we've built over a period of time that covers so much more than the mechanical and physical skills of sacking out, saddling, and bridling.  We're there!

And as you might imagine that first swinging up of my right leg over the saddle and into my stirrup is flawless.  Pink's eyes are clearly wide open and focused on me to the rear and on her back.  I give her time, don't make a sudden move, and within minutes I can see her begin to realx and settle.  As she goes, I go.  We've made it.  There's more to come and I'll be keeping you posted on the life of Pink.  She's become a marvelous addition to our herd.  Stay tuned!

 Photos courtesy of our good friend from Defiance, Ohio, Mike Fronk.