New horse at Earthwise Farm & Forest

[Carl Russell]

This summer we got a new horse. The off horse is a mare who had some early work training, but had the last 8 years off with irregular work. These two horses have shown a great capacity to accommodate each other and are working quite smoothly together after less than a month.

Carl

[Does’ Leap]

Hi Carl:

Nice looking and mare and seemingly a good match for your gelding. I would be interested to hear about her integration into your “herd”. Anecdotes about training/working successes and challenges and your approach to them would be appreciated.

George

[Carl Russell]

Well George, my laptop crashed so I am going to give a brief response with thumbs on my iPad.

I was most concerned about my blind mare. I didn’t want her to get taken advantage of…. It’s bad enough with the gelding. She can find her way around, and for the most part the other horse act as a herd for her, but. When they get foodie it can get a bit rough. The new mare is pretty bossie, but they all seem to hold their ground in a fight….with no significant injuries.

I just kept rotating them in and out of pasture. Her in the barn, them out, for about a week, then just let them work it out. Still some fireworks from time to time.

As far as working her….. She had been running away with folks before I got her. I generally just work in the moment with horses, watching how they are reacting, and manage my initiative accordingly, but I couldn’t escape being somewhat mindful of the info, so I held off on much working pressure for a while…. Maybe a month.

I just started with little bits of information, a push here, or there to see how she reacted… To the push, and to the release/reward. She seemed to catch on pretty quickly. I love seeing a horse that is untrusting and thinks they can get away with whatever begin to realize that I have something to offer…. I watch it sweep over them.

One day I decided I’d start hanging harness on her to see how she reacted, and to start fitting her. She was certainly agitated. I think it is clear she had some experience with inadequate leadership whenever the harness was put on. After a few days, the harness fit, and she was taking it with a lot more comfort, so I took her out to see how she would drive…..

Once again, anxiety. She tries to turn around on me, walked sideways, throwing her head all that…. So I just found a few instances where she did what I asked… A step… A whoa… A good turn… And I showed her how I reward that good response, and took her back to the barn…. Did that a few days….. The farther we got from the barn, the more nervous she got, so I didn’t hook to anything, but she dragged a whiffletree around pretty well.

A couple of days later I had hay on the ground so I hitched her with Ted and tedded some hay. She was pretty iffy about bit pressure,and the noisy equipment behind her, but by this time she was showing pretty good signs of trusting me and looking to me for guidance so we worked through it smoothly. This is when I saw the two horses trying to get used to each other… Even accommodating each other. By day three of tedding and raking they were both light on the bit, and still walking with good forward energy.

From there it has been a steady increase in functionality. Learning to lift heavier loads, standing quietly on whoa, and generally she is a great horse. I had a few logs down over a very steep bank and skidded them up about fifty foot climb at about 60% slope….. That got her thinking….. She was pretty soft, so I have been making sure to not over extend her.

Overall I have seen her steadily gain trust in me, and confidence in her own ability to perform as expected. I will be shoeing them all in the next few weeks. That should be a good exercise in communication,and helpful for skidding logs on these greasy trails.

Well my thumbs held out pretty well, Carl

[PhilG]

Hay Carl,
when you say you reward her good response, what all does that reward entail ?
Thanks

[Carl Russell]

Phil, I use pressure to direct the horse, increasing as she needs until she shows an inclination to do as directed….. immediately the reward is a cessation of pressure. I often describe it as light as a feather and hard as a rock, so that while it is a release of pressure, it is not a complete let-go…. I stay right there to make sure she can find the pressure if she needs reaffirmation.

Carl

[PhilG]

Thanks Carl, sometimes its hard for me to treat her like a horse and not a dog 😎

[carl ny]

I think I treat my dog the same way.When we go for a walk and he pulls on me I pull back,when he eases back he gets his reward,a slack or slacker leash. With a 110lb. Rottweiler you don’t want him pulling on the leash all the time. Same with a 2000lb. horse. JMHO

carl ny

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