[orse]

Day Nine


I walked out the door with a bounce in my stride. I remembered to wear the horse hair bracelet – it was very beautiful. I made my way promptly to the stable and greeted Promise, going through a very basic touch routine. I stroked her softly, and even though she was still unaccustomed, she seemed to like it a little bit.



I grabbed my lead rope and sat on the fence, letting her thoroughly inspect it. I loosely slung the rope around her neck and she raised her head in surprise, but did not back up. I slung the rope around her carefully, moving it over her back. She stood generally still, and when I was done, I ran her around the yard again, beginning to work on asking for faster paces and slowing down. I flicked the rope behind her legs, and she went off into a trot. After a few minutes of trotting, I called out 'Whoa...' in a calming tone, asking her to slow down. Promise is a new and uneducated horse, so I switched my lead rope to my other hand and held it the other way, not too close as to turn her, but to slow her down. Promise fell cant into a walk. I did the same thing again, and soon, I was asking Promise to make frequent transitions. Promise listened expectantly, trying to take in as much as possible.

I stepped out of the round yard when she had slowed to a walk and left her in the round yard again.





Things I learnt/did today

- We are working on basic walk trot transitions in the round yard with no constriction, Promise is still adjusting.

[orse]

Day Ten


The next morning, I did some liberty, and Promise's reaction was what I was looking for. She was becoming more calm and collected. We had come so far, and it was only day ten. I sighed and kept her going. I just wanted to try one more thing. Joining up - when the horse and rider acknowledge each other. I kept Promise trotting actively, keeping back. After some time waiting, Promise turned in, breathing heavily out of her nostrils. I turned my shoulder to her as she snuffled around my neck, nudging my hat and tipping it off. I tried to contain my giggles as I reached to stroke her once, then grabbed the leadrope. I slung it over her neck as we had practiced before, but began to lead her using the ends. I turned her into a small paddock, watching her crop the grass. I took out a pen and a piece of paper and sat down at my favourite oak tree.



Dear Mandy

Thank you so much for your letter, the bracelet and the DNA test. This is really helpful towards my work with promise. So far, she is doing quite well, but time will really tell.



My hand hovered over the page, as I pondered over what to write next.



Working with a wild mustang is nothing like I thought. They have something about them that makes them so smart, strong and desirable, but so wild and spirited.



I fiddled with the chocolate brown bracelet, looking up to Promise as she cropped the grass, snorting. She was slowly grazing, making her way towards me.



I hope to begin work under the saddle in over a few weeks,----



I jumped as Promise nudged me, making me draw a line across the page. I laughed as she sniffled around me, wondering why I was in the way of her grass. I playfully steered her in the other direction and went back to writing my now very messy letter.



but you never know what might happen between now and then.

Thanks again,

Aria Brennan



I folded the note away and rested my head on the ground. I stared up at the sky, pointing out all the clouds. Maybe I was reluctant to continue with Promise? Maybe I don't want to break what we have already?

I sucked in the sharp country air and sighed heavily as I rolled over onto my side, the warm sunshine rocking me to sleep.





Things I learnt/did today

- We tried joining up
- More comfortable in a paddock.

[orse]

Day Eleven


I was shocked awake by an ice cold trail of slobber, making it's way down my cheek. I gasped and shot up to see Promise sniffing at me. She whinnied and spun on her heels, galloping off in shock. It took a moment to take things in, and I realized I had slept in the paddock all night. I jumped up, and Promise eyed me carefully.

I slammed back to the ground, cold icy tears stinging my face. I cried loudly, my whole body shaking with exhaustion. Why am I here? I screamed in my mind. I'm just some stupid person, who knows nothing about training a wild Mustang. Maybe I should just go home, and leave Promise to the experts.

My eyes gathered with tears again, and I heard a small snuffle from behind my head. I turned to face up, squinting as the sun hit my eyes. There was her muzzle again, her warm breath tickling down my spine. I reached my hand towards her nose and stroked it, soft and velvety. 'Lets prove them wrong.' I whispered.









Things I learnt/did today

- We are beginning to create a bond

[orse]

Day Twelve


Let's prove it to them. Show them anyone can do this.

Promise seemed to like our partnership. I wasn't the leader, dragging her behind me, but I wasn't the follower, pushing her forwards. I took almost 2 hours just to work on touch and ground manners, but I didn't push our limits. Maybe she felt safe enough to

let me know what was wrong with her. I tried to pick up her hooves, but she spooked and scrambled to the other side of the stable, forcing me to place her hoof down before she ran. I approached her with the 'scary metal thing' again, and she shied away. It took some time, but when she caught onto things, she was doing fine.

I had done a lot of planning as to what to do next, and some people might find my training plans unusual. I sighed. So much had happened in under 2 weeks. I had screwed up. I cautiously scratched the antsy Promise behind her ears. She had sensed a change in my mood, and it was making her upset. I calmed my mood quickly, and tried to approach her again. She spooked and surged forward, slamming me into the wall, the wind being knocked out of my lungs. I could feel the air forcibly being shot out, and I gasped for air, leaning against the wall for support. Promise skittered around the stable, and as she turned her rump towards me, spinning around in her stable, I quickly slipped out, leaving Promise to sort herself out. I stood at the door, watching her calm down. I kept quiet, and held my hand out, she sniffed it and gobbled up the small apple treat I had put on there. 'Good...girl...' I soothed her. 'I might not be the best trainer in the world, but I know I want to work with you.' She snorted and stayed at the door, her ears pricked, as if she was listening to me. 'I want things to work, but so far, our training has been all over the place, and you have been unusually quiet. I know horses don't speak english, but I do know that you are trying to teach me something also.' Promise snorted, shaking her mane and pawing the ground. She seemed sorry.





Things I learnt/did today

- Promise can sense how I am feeling, and it changes her mood also.

[orse]

Day Thirteen


'Up' I called out sharply, making Promise move up into a canter. Things were going better this morning. We were starting from scratch, and it was looking good. I was lungeing Promise with my lead rope, and apart from the fact that she was spooking quite a lot, she listened obediently. She skidded to a stop and cut off a corner of the circle, shaving past me and throwing in a kick. I yelled and flung the rope outwards, and she pigrooted, shifting to the outside of the circle. I kept her cantering, admiring how smooth and powerful her gait was.

It took at good 30 minutes to iron out the bucks, rears and pigroots, and when I finally had her listening, I was proud of my achievement for today. It might take a little bit of work to get her to lunge nicely, but I was happy that I had shown her what I wanted her to do, and she did as I said. Sweat began to break out on Promise's shoulders and neck, so I decided it was time to bring her in. I dropped the rope and called out in a slowing voice, 'whoaa...girl...' Promise slowly fell into a walk and I went to pat her. I touched her neck and she raised her head a fraction, the whites of her eyes showed slightly. I kept stroking her neck as she calmed down inhaling and exhaling deeply. I fed her a piece of apple and swiveled around, Promise following me around the lunge yard a few times. I used my voice to slow her down, as she was becoming accustomed to tones and their meaning.

I fetched a carrot from the feed room, and a small cup of chaff. So far, all she has been eating is grass and the occasional apple or carrot. I fed her the juicy treat and she slobbered all over my hands as I did so.

I grabbed a bucket and poured in the chaff. Chaff was practically grass, seeing as it was made from hay, so I knew it would not upset her diet badly. My plan was to gradually increase the amount of chaff she ate daily over spread times throughout the day, and decrease the amount of grass she ate through the day. The end result would be feeding her only man made food throughout the day, enough for her to be in work, and letting her out to graze during the night. I grabbed the bucket and offered it to Promise, and after being quite reluctant to put her face in the big black bucket, she recognize the scent of the hay and took at greedy munch, chewing methodically. She looked up at me, her brown eyes glowing. She was so beautiful.

I nipped back into the ranch house and whipped up a delicious wrap. I grabbed it and went over to Marley, the bay sabino I usually ride. I grabbed his bridle and jumped on bareback, giving him a squeeze with my heels. We made our way out to the river, near the

jump paddock, and I hopped off. I trusted Marley enough to let him graze freely, so I tied his reins around his head and went to the river. Taking off my boots, I stuck my feet into the refreshing water, wriggling my toes. I bit into the wrap, and the juicy tomatoes bursted in my mouth, as I watched the sun set slowly. I sighed and closed my eyes, chewing slowly.

Before I knew it, the sun had set and the stars came out, twinkling like white little lights in the deep indigo sky. I felt a horse nuzzle me, and I turned around to see Marley.
'Hey, boy. Is it dinner time for you?'
He nickered, and nudged my shoulder.
'Okay, okay..' I laughed, putting my rubbish in my pocket and vaulting back on.

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you.





Things I learnt/did today

- Starting to introduce new feeds.

[orse]

Day Fourteen



I chucked a larger portion of Chaff into Promise's feed bin, and brought her in from the small paddock earlier than usual. I raked myfingers through my forelock and stood by her as she munched methodically on her chaff. She lifted her head up and turned to face me, her head twisted and her nose reaching around to sniff me. 'No, no carrots today, sweetie,' I laughed.

I fiddled around with her mane cautiously, forming a pretty braid. As I was about to secure it, Promise shook her mane, removing the entire braid. I was annoyed, but I couldn't help but laugh. She pawed the ground, looking for more food. I grabbed a thin biscuit of lucerne hay, and chucked it over her round yard fence, leaving her to eat.

I love the sound of horses eating. The crunches, and the heavy sighs as they snort in contempt. I leaned over the door lazily, watching Promise eat shyly. When she was done, I took a leap of faith, slipping her halter on. She raised her head in alarm, and I backed out of the stable, leaving her shaking her head and pawing the ground, trying to release it. I decided that three times a day, I would leave her with her halter on for 2 minutes, then come back, take the halter off and praise her. She would soon understand that I was the one that put her halter on, but was kind enough to take it off when she does what I want.





Things I learnt/did today

- We are working on halters now.

[orse]

Day Fifteen


I dragged myself out of bed, sighing heavily as I slowly got changed. I grabbed my equipment and a larger scoop of chaff. When I reached Promise's stable, she was banging on the door, eager for her food. 'Stop that!' I called out, pushing her back and making her wait for her share of breakfast. She took greedy munches out of her bin, making me laugh. She pawed at the ground as she inhaled her breakfast - literally.



I slipped her halter on, and she knew what was coming, even though her behavior had significantly changed. I let her be in the round yard for a longer amount of time before I came back. This time, I wanted to do some work with her before I took the halter off. I clicked at her I began some liberty work, asking her to follow me simply around the yard. She was reluctant at first, but I encouraged her calmly. When I felt we had done a significant amount of work, I cautiously approached, taking her halter off. This time, she stood next to me for a moment before she casually walked off to the other end of the round yard. I hopped over the fence, signalling that our work was done.





Things I learnt/did today

- Promise is slowly accepting the halter.

[orse]

Day Sixteen


I reefed open the massive book, finally finding the page I was looking for. I settled down in the old library chair, as I prepared to read.



Liberty training is a type of communication and body language you teach your horse through leading and positioning. You can teach them how to move with you in a creative and bonding way. The equine learns where they need to stay in order to follow your shoulder and move with you. With a time and patience. you can learn to read the body language of the horse and teach them to follow, for a bond with you, and read your body language.



Hmm, it seemed like a good idea to continue with more liberty.



Your horse should ideally be responding well on the lead. That is, stopping when you do, turning when you do and going at the same speed as you. He should be responding to basic body language. Horses generally enjoy working at liberty and thrive on the mental stimulation it provides. The best candidates are horses who are intelligent, active and often the ones who are troublemakers! Each horse is different and so you may need to alter your cues, rewards and working space for each individual horse.



That sounds just like Promise!



My mind was whirling as I drove back to the ranch. I was thinking of new ways to tighten out bond.

Armed with treats, I took Promise to the round yard. I scratched her neck, feeding her a small treat. I clicked at her, walking ahead. She followed her nose close to the ground. I praised her when she reached me again, and this time, I walked on again, letting her walk with her shoulder next to me. We had already worked on leading, so this was easy, but I was delighted when she began to walk next to me. Her walk was active and she was listening. I clicked again, breaking out into a run. She was reluctant to move at first, but she eventually trotted, following closely behind. I stopped and patted her firmly.

After another half hour of work, Promise began to lose concentration, and I decided it was enough work for the day.





Things I learnt/did today

- We are working on extending what we have done on liberty and eventually learning new things.

[orse]

Day Seventeen


Promise was quite fresh this morning. I watched her as she pigrooted and reared, racing around the yard.
‘She’s a funny one, eh?’ I whirled around to see Tim standing behind me.
‘Oh, yeah,’ I laughed, going to sit on the fence. ‘One minute, she’s fine, the next minute, it’s like everything we have done has been erased.’
‘It’s hard,’ he sighed. Joining me on the fence. ‘Mustangs have a mind of their own, but you need to work with them to change it. I think Promise is highly sensitive to your emotions. I mean, remember what happened when you were upset?’
I nodded, deep in thought.
‘Maybe she’s trying to tell you that your stress is wearing off on her.’ Tim played with a strand of golden straw. ‘When you train a mustang, you need to be focused. Push everything else away and focus just on the horse.’
I laughed. ‘And what exactly do I have to worry about?’
‘You are miles away from home, Aria. Settling in can be stressful, especially with a Mustang to train every day. Promise can feel your stress, and it is making her feel forced. No horse wants to be forcibly restrained.’ Promise had finished scavenging for food, and she walked over to see us at the fence. Tim took my hand and put an object in it. I unfurled my hand to see the horse-hair bracelet. I

grinned, buckling it around my wrist. ‘It was in the feed room.’
‘I must have dropped it…’ Tim laughed, spinning around and jumping off the fence. I grabbed a lead rope and dropped in to the pen. Promise snorted as I scratched behind her ears. I swung the lead rope and she started trotting around the yard. I stopped swinging the rope and turned away, waiting for her to turn in. I could feel her warm breath down the back of my shirt, and I laughed, turning around to praise her. She could feel I was more relaxed.

I finished the day with a few more liberty exercises, proud of the progress we made.






Things I learnt/did today

- Her coat and mane/tail is beginning to develop a nice shine.

[orse]

Day Eighteen


I wasn't happy having to wake up at 6am, but Promise was. I was still wiping the sleep from my eyes as I chucked her chaff in her feed bin, yawning as she snorted happily. I leaned over her stable wall as she inhaled her meal, taking time to look up at me every now and then. I sighed, playing with my special leather halter. I sighed and grabbed a tin of beeswax and a rag. I carefully rubbed the wax into the leather, not missing a spot. The leather became more supple and soft within each stroke. I looked up from my work to see Promise sniffing around in the can of beeswax. I gasped and Promise jerked her head up, knocking the can over in surprise. Caught red handed. I went over to her and she flinched as I tried to open her mouth, finding no beeswax in there. Good. I slipped the halter on her head, and she was startled, but got back to her food.

While I waited for Promise to eat, I grabbed my tack trunk and hauled it into the round yard. I grabbed a bucket of warm water and grabbed the beeswax again. I carefully emptied the contents of the trunk. First was a bucket of boots and polos. I opened it up and unrolled the four polos. Grabbing a soft brush, I brushed the surface of the fleece, getting rid of all the dirt and dust. I then used the brush to clean the plastic outer shells of the four protective boots. I carefully arranged the boots and polos in the bucket, and put it back in the tack trunk. I grabbed the one rug, a stable fleece. Chucking it in a corner, I then grabbed a fleece numnah, a white padded saddle blanket for all purpose and a lilac padded saddle blanket for jumping. They were filthy. I chucked them with the rug, and picked all four items up in a large bundle. I shoved them in the tack room washing machine, and pressed start.

Plonking back down on the tack box, I grabbed my box of brushes and cleaned all of them in Promise's water bucket. Packing them snugly away in the tack box again, I emptied Promise's water, scrubbing it out and refilling it, fresh and clean. I grabbed my AP saddle, special as it was half the weight of a normal saddle, which would be perfect for training Promise to the weight of a saddle. I grabbed the rag and polished the saddle again. I carefully scrubbed the stirrup irons and leathers, putting them back on the saddle. I grabbed the girth and checked it for cracks or frayed webbing. When I was done, I put the girth back on the top of the saddle and covered it with a saddle cover. I then grabbed my jumping saddle, which was rusty and battered with use. I sighed, getting to work with the wax. When the saddle was supple and clean, I checked it's girth too and covered it up.

Along with my special halter, my 5-point breastplate and running martingale with sheepskin is my prized possession. It took months of hard work to buy. I cleaned the sheepskin gently and then cleaned the leather, putting it away again. Finally, I cleaned my hanoverian bridle and snaffle bit carefully. I heard a beep from the washing machine, and grabbed the blankets, chucking them into the dryer. I could hear the ring of the bell from the ranch. Breakfast.

After breakfast, I could barely move I was so full. I trudged back to the dryer, collecting my blankets and tucking them away in the tack box. I hauled the box away, and grabbed a few older brushes. It was time to get her introduced to brushes. My aim was to get her comfortable with the curry comb, dandy brush, body brush and hoof pick. I decided to only do the curry comb today. I carefully worked the comb over her belly and she snorted in surprise. I tried to ignore her as I quickly finished, not wanting to push it. I put the brushes away and took Promise's halter off.

I spun on my heel and walked to the other end of the round yard, and she followed closely. She was delighted when I revealed the treats from their hiding spot, and fed her one. She snorted playfully, her eyes yearning for more. I hid the treats again.

Since I had arrived, I had not visited the indoor or outdoor arena. When I walked into the sheltered but airy indoor arena, I was instantly impressed. I latched the gate and let Promise loose, sitting on the wall as she walked around, figuring out what everything was. I sighed when she rolled in the golden sand. At least it's not mud.

I love the way horses shimmy and shake after they have rolled, their mane flapping around. Promise looked exceptionally ridiculous. I walked up to her again and she sighed making that little snuffly sound that I love. I turned her out into the round yard again. Promise stood behind me still, nudging me.
'What do you want girl?' I stroked her nose.
Promise struck out, pawing the ground.
'Oh.' I grabbed the treats I had left over, and she ate them quickly, spinning around and trotting to the other side of the yard.





Things I learnt/did today

- Promise is beginning to adapt to daily life in a human environment.
- Promise really likes treats. A lot.