My Summer Of Horses (occasional pictures)

[NotOfTwo]

So many people here have asked me what I have been doing this summer that I decided to start a thread to tell the story. JK about two have asked. Ha.

Anyway. I have been training a few horses at a farm where I used to work. It has been very challenging and fun. There are four victims that are learning how to be well-mannered, useful equines. Among them are quite the variety of personalities and issues. Two had never been ridden and two have some problems under saddle.

I am working with a friend that used to be my helper when I ran the farm. She is the better rider and so she does the majority of the under saddle work. We are a great team. I plan to type her at some point because I am dying to know what she is, not that it matters, as we work so well together.

The first horse I started the ground work on, was born on the farm. I had actually started some things with him years ago but lost touch with the friend that owned him. She had a trainer work with him later and they ran into some serious issues with him. He had not been really ridden successfully as he had two people fall off before he really had a positive experience.

This is him the first time I got on him, after extensive sacking out; desensitizing him to scary things like blankets, human bodies laying on him etc. Quite the process, as he is very fearful. Patience, great patience needed.

He is still shedding out in this pic. He is nice and slick now.

 

[NotOfTwo]

I should probably work on resizing the pictures I see. Hmm.

 

[Domino]

I'm going to love this thread. *fellow horse person* A great way to spend a summer too.

 

[NotOfTwo]

So the summer is falling apart, I thought we had to the end of August but now it is just two more weeks. Sigh. Here is another horse we are working on. He is our bossy horse. He is a whole different kind of challenge. When he is afraid he tries to kill the scary object, we have almost trained that out of him, but I suspect when in doubt, his fall back response will be, kick it to death! This is me ground driving him. He can now walk and trot under saddle. He is going to be a good one as long as he is kept in his place.