Push Updates

"Little" baby Push turned three on the 13th, which means we can start the actual under saddle training, though we are still going to take it slow, slow, slow.

Leading up to his third birthday, we added ground driving to our repertoire. I wanted him to be familiar with pressure on the bit and what it means in terms of stopping and steering. I also wanted him to be comfortable with me behind his drive line, especially off the circle. Since I spend so much time teaching horses to turn towards me for changes of direction and during general handling, it can be unnerving for them when I later ask them to turn their butts to me for the first time.

To my surprise and delight, Push picked up ground driving very quickly. When we first introduced lunging last year, we met with a lot of panic and resistance, so it was really nice to see him pick up a new concept so easily and willingly. I do think he's starting to understand that we're trying to teach him, not hurt him.

Push already knew how to wear a saddle and bridle, and has probably been sat on before, though I take everything about his history with a grain of salt. All the same, I treated him like he'd never carried a rider. He got used to the thumping of the stirrups very quickly. Unfortunately, April has a huge, solid, immobile mounting block, which is going to take some getting used to. In the mean time, I am using an over turned bucket. It works just as well.

This is what Push thought about putting weight on him:

I do believe I was boring him.

The first time I threw a leg over, I think April was more surprised than Push. I hadn't told her my plan so that she wouldn't have time to worry about it. Push was like, "Yeah, ok, crazy trainer lady sits on top of me now. That's fine." As always, my mantra is, "If you do it right, the first time you sit on a horse should be a total non-event."

Seriously, the polos were much scarier than the rider.

So now we do lots and lots and lots of walking. I started off by having April lead Push around until he learned that leg meant 'go forward'. Thankfully, he is not at all bothered by leg, and we've done so much lunging and ground driving that he's totally comfortable with the bit. For now, I'm riding around on a loose rein and just letting him get comfortable with the idea of carrying a rider. We have all year to get him comfortable at the walk and trot, and I suspect it won't take nearly that long.

Best of all, April has already gotten to sit on her baby horse herself! She is brave and has really gotten comfortable with all the steps of his training process. It's a fun change for me to have an owner who is ready to participate in the breaking/training process on such a young horse. Usually, I just start them and hand the reins to the owner once they're done. I like this way much better :)

I don't think she stopped smiling that day!

Now it's time for lots of repetition. Cross tying and tacking up are a totally normal part of the routine now. We'll keep lunging and working on cementing voice commands for all the gaits. We'll continue to praise him for standing still for mounting, and I've already gotten on him like a normal person, with a foot in the stirrup instead of monkeying my way up there. We'll do lots of bending and moving the haunches and the shoulder. We'll walk, walk, walk, walk, walk until that's boring, and add more steering and contact. Then we'll rinse and repeat at the trot.

I do love baby horses :)