New habits for an older mustang
When I decided to purchase my mustang stallion, Tarot, I knew I had a long road in front of me. He had been in one home for each year he was captive. That made for six different homes before he finally...
View ArticleDjinn’s hoof handling
It’s been a cold and snowy winter so I’ve been locked in the house doing far less horse training than I wish. Today alone the temperature might not climb above 0. I have to content myself with short...
View ArticleThe Golden Bridle
In Greek mythology the magical winged horse, Pegasus, can only be tamed with a golden bridle. Bellerophon needs Pegasus to slay the Chimera and he spends months trying to catch him but he is...
View ArticleLet your horse be right
Yesterday when I went out to train Aesop I had a clear idea in my head about what I wanted the training session to look like. I was going to practice his increasingly solid “riding from the ground”...
View Article“We don’t know what the horse has learned, we only know what we’ve...
Last week I demonstrated how to set up a training session so a horse can learn to stand still around something that scares them even when allowed to spin, trot or canter away as an initial response. I...
View ArticleTransformation
When you see magic portrayed in books and movies, it is often used as a short-cut around reality. You can clean up a room with a wave of a wand or turn a man into a goat to pull your cart. This sort of...
View ArticleWhat’s in a trail ride? Making use of objects to cue learned behaviors and...
Earlier this winter, I did a lot of hiking out in the 100 or so acres behind our farm. There was plenty of soft snow and it wasn’t demanding on cold muscles like accurate arena work. It was a good way...
View ArticleMustang taming using passive strategies to create relaxation: Pendle, Cedar...
Pendle soon after being rounded up in February 2017 Many years ago, when I brought Dragon to a new boarding barn, he was put in a field with a resident horse on the very same day without a proper...
View ArticleThe Meaning of Tame
In my last blog about Pendle, which you can read here, I shared how combining habituation and daily remote food delivery can quickly create relaxation and foster curiosity during the taming process....
View ArticleRemoving Pendle’s Number
ID tags are attached high on the neck with thick climbing cord.When I adopted Pendle, I opted to leave her id number from the BLM tied to her neck rather than stress her in the loading chute with its...
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