Day 11 - A Day of (unplanned) Rest

No training blog today unfortunately.  Last night I started to come down with the flu that Mike has had the last couple of days, and when I woke up this morning with a fever and massive body aches, I knew we wouldn't be doing any training sessions today.


At about 1:00 Mike was able to drag me out of bed and we went to let Marley out into the arena and clean his pen.  He also ate almost an entire bag of carrots because I felt so bad that we couldn't stay long.  The good news is that we are both feeling better as the day goes on, and I'm bound and determined to get out and do some training tomorrow.  Stay tuned, and to keep you from being completely disappointed in this post, here is a photo time-line of the first 10 days.

Day 1: Marley just off the trailer from Canon City

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Day 2: No longer #1670, learns to lead, decides he loves carrots, and spends his first night in his stall.  It was a big day for Marley!

Day 3: Marley gets his first thorough brushing and looses his namesake dreadlocks.  He also makes the journey up to the round pen and back, and learns what the clicker means!

Photo by Katherine Payne Photography

Day 4: Marley allows me to brush his forelock and touch his ears.  He also learns to target to a target pole and he starts picking up his feet for me.

Day 5: Marley wears his first Bridle, first blanket, and gets his tail combed! 

Day 6:  Marley spends hours being groomed and gets used to the mounting block.  He also wears a saddle without the girth and explores the stable grounds.

 Day 7: Marley is fully saddled and bridled, wearing a girth, and lunging quietly.  He has begun responding to me calling him, and walks to the gate eagerly when I come to get him from his stall. 

Day 8: Marley wore western tack for the first time and stood quietly while I got on! What a big day.

Day 9: Marley's second day under saddle.  He begins to feel comfortable moving forward and starts to learn his aids.

Day 10:  Marley takes the day off from training to stretch his legs and run for the first time in the large arena.  He plays for over an hour following me around the arena, meeting new people, and bonding with Mike and I.

Day 10 - Play Day

Marley getting to know Chance and Jalapeno

We took the day off to play with Marley and let him have some fun.  There isn't much to say about any of it, I just want Marley to look forward to sessions, and even play is training when you're working with a horse to gain trust.

My little shaddow

Meeting Mike's friend Scott

Mike's long awaited Marley hug

 

When we went into the big arena for the first time, Marley really let loose and ran around.  It was so fun to see, he would stop and look at me, snort, and then run around again with his tail in the air.  He even followed me over the small "bridge" set up for training.  No halter, no bribing with treats, he just followed me back and forth over it.  Here are photos and videos of the day.  Tomorrow, we'll go back to riding, but today was a wonderful break from planned training sessions.  

Not sure how closely to follow Mike... but maybe he has treats.

Happy after a good run

Marley loves the camera

Day 9 - Second Ride

Yesterday was a giant milestone in Marley's training.  While I'm thrilled with how quickly he is coming along, I want to really be sure that he is comfortable and willing with a rider on his back, and that he doesn't associate me coming out to see him with a hard work out and heavy saddle.  That in mind, my plan for the next week is a lot of play and clicker training games with short, positive rides mixed in. 

It was extremely windy today out at the barn which can be really annoying and hard to deal with when there is dust flying everywhere, but it is also really great de-sense training.  After a good brushing, I saddled him as I had the first day, taking my time and making sure anything he reacted to, we went back to visit.  Once again I had to drag that heavy saddle up to his back, and he stood patiently.  Eventually, I want Marley to be going in both western and english tack to ensure a really great foundation for his future home, whichever discipline they may prefer.

Once I was on, we worked on moving forward.  Right now, I'm basically along for the ride, and anytime Marley goes forward, he is rewarded.  He would still rather just stand in place with me on him, but he really started figuring it out towards the end and cuing off of my voice, which I'm also starting to pair with the proper aids.  Even with a horse bolting around and being a total nut in the arena next to us, Marley was a gentleman and kept his focus in the round pen.  At the end, I did the same as I had yesterday and un-tacked him right in the middle of the round pen, but this time went straight into playing with him.

Treats!

Marley has learned to mirror me and I have wanted to progress with that behavior for a few days.  Today he finally trotted when I started running and I was so excited (I think he knew it too).  After I finished smothering him with praises, he had officially figured out the game.  When I walked, he walked. When I stopped, he stopped.  When I ran, he trotted right along side of me.  Unfortunately my Dad had already left (he was my official photographer of the day) so I'll get video of it asap and post it.  It is so dang cute. 

In other news, Marley is now staying overnight without a halter!  Here he is enjoying his dinner and doing an impression of Donald Trump.

Marley's Donald Trump impression.  Nice hair.

Dinner Time!

Day 8 - Under Saddle

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

What do I even say about today?  Marley wore a western saddle for his first time (which when I put it on him should have been terrifying enough) but he didn't mind.  I'm so used to being able to lift a light saddle up and gently set it down on the horse's back, and I simply could not do that with the western saddle.  Instead I kind of drug it up one side of him until it reached his back, set it down with the cinch stuck underneath, and messed with it until it was finally sitting correctly.  Sheesh!  Guess I need to start lifting weights.  Anything I thought that might be a problem for him, like the heavy stirrups bouncing around, the cinch (which is much less giving than an English girth), and the rear cinch which I thought he would be worried about because of his sensitivity on his belly, was a non-issue.  He was once again more excited about the sugar cubes in my pocket than he was about anything else.

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

After a little lunging to make sure he was comfortable in the new set up, I started working on stepping up to the saddle, putting my foot in the stirrup, and going back and forth from his left and right side.  I spent a lot of time putting more of my weight over his back and moving around all over his body.  He was attentive but at no point did he seem nervous about any of it.  Eventually, I stepped up into the stirrup, and never stepped back down.  When I swung my leg over his back and sat down in the saddle, Marley basically just made me look stupid for suiting up in full cross country gear.  Hey, I can't afford to get hurt.

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

I only spent about ten minutes in the saddle.  I started him in a hackamore (a bit-less bridle) and occasionally opened up my right or left hand to get him to take a step, but for the most part all I did was sit up on his back and let him figure out forward movement.  We walked around awkwardly for a bit, and once he figured that out, we even trotted a couple of times around in each direction.  I was thrilled with his willingness and acceptance, so I got off of him and literally took all of the tack off right where we were standing.  I think he actually thought it was kind of fun, as he sniffed around the tack and then followed me around the pen while I cleaned up.

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

There really are no words to describe how excited I am.  The next week is going to be all about figuring out a rider, forward movement, and of course brakes.  I can't wait!

Photo by Forever Yours Photography

Day 7

Seven days!?  Part of me feels like I just picked Marley up yesterday, but then another part feels like I've known him for a long time.  He is really starting to relax in his surroundings, and is much more curious about everything around him.  I walked him a different way to and from his stall today, took him to my car, and let him explore the wash rack.  He's a little spooky, but in my opinion he is doing tremendously well for how few days he has been leading.

I wanted to get Marley used to the mounting block today, so I started off grooming him next to it.  Slowly I moved up the first step, and finally the second.  When he relaxed I brushed his mane (which I've found he really likes) and even braided it!  Don't worry, I took them out so he wouldn't look goofy in front of the other horses, but it was great practice for him.  (Meanwhile, throughout most of Marley's ground training I've been using the clicker.  I reward him when he is relaxed or paying attention to me, depending on the task, and I ignore him if he isn't.) 

After a long grooming session, I decided to work on the saddle again.  He was fine when I put it on his back from both sides, so I moved on to working with the girth.  I started again by just attaching it to one side.  When he was fine with that, I lifted it up until it lightly touched his belly.  He wasn't jumpy, but he tensed up and snorted at me, so I stood with the girth in my hand until he relaxed a little, click, then treat.  I did this several times until he went back to closing his eyes and relaxing in the warm sun.  I took the saddle off, brushed him more, and then we started over.  The saddle went back on, the girth was attached, and this time he stood like a gentleman when I brought the girth to his belly.  I was able to buckle the girth on the first hole and walk him around a little bit.  Slowly I worked it up, until it was at least tight enough for him to move around in it without the saddle sliding.  We played the follow game and I brushed him some more.  He seemed completely comfortable. 

When I put the bridle on, I decided that I would ask him to accept the bit first as it is normally done, rather than putting it on like a halter.  At first he was a little unhappy with both of my arms around his face, but he soon opened his mouth and put his head down for me, making it a much more positive experience.  He didn't even chew on the bit at all today, he just stood quietly while I closed the nose band.

I lunged him again, this time with the saddle and bridle, and he did really well.  The saddle flaps were bouncing up and down and I thought maybe it would startle him, but the most he ever did was perk his ears and move into a big trot.  He even cantered with the saddle and bridle on, and was quiet through it all. 

I spent a lot of time grooming him after he had done so well.  I worked around his feet, rubbed his face (which he is also starting to love), and was able to brush his tail.  When he was sweat free, I put his sheet on and took his halter off and we just hung out for a while.  I feel so blessed to know this horse.

Day 6

Another day at the barn working with Marley on my own.  I'm really starting to love the alone time I've gotten with him.  I think I spent 20 minutes just combing his mane today.  The knots were out, but it was just nice to take my time and do nothing with him.  It was so nice and warm today, and Marley almost fell asleep while I brushed him.  I must admit, I think he's starting to look pretty snazzy (for a mustang with 5 days of grooming that is).  Here he is with his coat conditioned, face wiped off (kind of), and his mane cleaned up.  Maybe a bath could be in store for next week?  We shall see.

Training was really fun today.  I took a little break from the target training since he has been doing well with that and played around with him following me and walking up to me when he isn't attached to a lead rope.  I want to start leaving him at night without a halter on, but I'm worried that if something happens and he gets loose, it will be very hard for someone to catch him.  Since I don't have my own property, Marley is boarded and I'm not there 24/7, I worry about situations like that.  He is still wary around a lot of people, but then, he is getting much better.  I was clicking and giving Marley a treat or a pat on the neck (random interrupted reinforcement) any time he would follow me or walk up to me when I left and came back into the round pen.  He figured it out really quickly, so we just played for a little while.

We started with the saddle today.  Yesterday Marley had a blanket and saddle pad on, and he was pretty comfortable with both again today.  I decided to see how he would be with the saddle, so I just picked it up and walked around him with it in my hands.  Surprise surprise, he was too busy looking at anything else to care.  When I placed it on his back, his attention immediately came back to me and he swung his head around and stared at me like "hey!" but he didn't spook or anything.  I walked him around with it on his back, sans girth, and he did really well.  Next I connected the girth to just one side.  Of any place on his body, he is the most nervous about being touched on his belly.  I didn't want to go backwards on any of his training by cinching up a girth, so I just let it hang there.  Eventually I started lifting it up and letting it touch his belly and then allowing it to fall back down again.  He was concerned, but when he relaxed I left it at that.  No need to damage any of the trust we've built up. 

We lunged for about 20 minutes with the bridle on again, this time I had the lunge line connected to the bit rather than the halter.  He's getting a feel for it, and the best part was when I took the bridle off today, he stood so quietly and let me gently take it off of him rather than spitting out the bit.  This makes me very happy.


For the most part, today was just about play and bonding.  The training sessions we did have were short and sweet, but I still spent about 3 hours with him.  He took a little break from chasing me around to get a nice roll in... of course I didn't have my camera in my pocket, so by the time I got it, he was already getting up.  Oh well, they're still cute.

Marley's yoga pose